2010 Donations....And Looking Ahead to 2011

Last year, thanks partly to coupon usage, rebating and stockpiling items when at rock bottom prices, I was able to feed my family of 4-5 on a total of  $2,291.67 for a retail value of $18,932.69 worth of groceries/toiletries.

Ok....so my 'actual' costs are really higher than $2,291.67 when you add in the gas for the car to go buy the food, the cost of Sunday newspapers or eBay purchases to get coupons, the cost of printer ink and paper to make my own internet coupons, etc.  But let's use that number for arguments sake. ;-)

And not only did we feed our family on this amount, we donated over $700 worth of food to our local food bank.  That's 366 items over the course of a year.  It worked out to just about 1 item per day for a whole year.
I kept track of it all on the blog.

Here are the photos--

April's haul....

May's lot...

July's contribution....

 December's donation....

December's load was mostly toiletries but I had some other food that I didn't get a picture of....I was sort of rushed to get it all up to the food bank before the month ended, so no pictures of nice neatly laid out stuff this trip. 8-)

Add in the cash donation we made as part of participating in the June Food Stamp Challenge over at the Non-Consumer Advocate Blog as well as the food I gave to family members which we estimated to be in the $500 regular retail ballpark and we were able to make our $2,291.67 out of pocket expenditure stretch quite far!

I'll be taking up another load of food and toiletries on Friday to our local food bank.  I'm hoping that this will be just the first of many trips my strategic way of shopping will allow me to share with my local community in 2011.

So what is the point of this post?
It's not to show-off what we did last year to give back....though y'all know I am not above showing-off sometimes. ;-)
It's to show that everyone is capable of finding ways to help in their own community.  And that ALL donations are appreciated....from the largest to the smallest.
And to bring awareness that many Food Banks struggle with lack of donations, especially in-between the Holidays.  People get all compassionate and giving around the Holidays but the donations tend to dry up at other times of the year.

I often get items for free at Rite-Aid.  Ok, so I don't necessarily NEED that item for my family.
But I get it anyway because I know there is someone in my community who doesn't know to or care about taking the time to get it for free even though they really could use it.
So I get it and donate it at the food bank.
Someone who needs it and can't afford to pay for it gets the item and I get Karma points, Brownie points, Credit with the Man Upstairs, a good feeling in the pitt of my stomach, et cetera knowing I did something to help someone else.

If your soul is feeling out of whack, try a little giving and see how much better you feel!
It's better than Crack!!....or so I've heard.....


I'd like to Challenge all of you dear readers to make 2011  the Year you GIVE!

*If the Boy Scouts or some other Service Organization comes around door-to-door asking for food, open your pantry & give if you have something to spare. 
*If the local drug store chain has some freebie available, go get it and start a donation pile for your local homeless group, domestic abuse shelter, church food pantry.
*If you have a few extra coupons, clip them and pair with some sales at your grocery store to get a few extra items of food for a neighbor who is struggling to feed their family due to an unexpected job loss.
*If you don't have a pet but get great pet food coupons in your paper, pair those with a sale/deal at your local store to get items to donate to your local animal shelter....or pass along those coupons to the shelter if they can use them.

So let's hear some ways you plan to give back to your community in 2011.

Sluggy