Giving Back Opportunity: Local Family Needs Our Help

One of the reasons I love couponing the most is the ability it gives me to share and donate more than I would otherwise be in a position to. So when we hear about opportunities to give back, we like to pass them on so if couponing has allowed you an ample stockpile and you have a few things to spare, you too can help out!

This opportunity springs from a heart-wrenching story (you can read the full story HERE). The short version is that Jodi Bryant, a 4th grade teacher, gave birth to a bouncing baby boy last month. The same day she brought new life into this world, she learned that one would be taken from her shortly. Her husband had been diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. The average survival rate is twelve short months, and after having an emergency surgery to remove his tumor he is now disabled and will require round the clock care.

Friends and coworkers of the Bryant family have stepped up to the plate and organized a great local fundraiser/silent auction that will take place in 2 days. The goal is to raise enough money for Jodi Bryant to take a leave of absence from her teaching job to care for her newborn and her husband.

Silent Auction for the Bryant Family

Where: Chapparal Elementary School, 1155 N. Deer Creek Lane Meridian, ID

When: Wednesday, February 1st from 5:30-7 pm

What: Silent auction on amazing prizes including Roaring Springs and Wahooz passes, restaurant gifts cards and more. We even donated a Kindle to that will be in a raffle!!

If you are unable to attend that great event, you can still help! You can help feed the Bryant family by donating a portion of your stockpile! 

Stockpile Drop-off Locations

Boise: 3312 S Ithaca Ave (private residence-leave donation in box on porch)

Meridian: Chapparal Elementary School, 1155 N. Deer Creek Lane (take to office & say it’s a donation for Jodi Bryant)

Kuna: 11980 Dynamite Ln (private residence-leave donation in box on porch)

Charitable donations can be made to:

We understand not everyone is in a position where they can contribute
to causes like this and that’s okay! But if you are able, we’d love your support!

Extreme Couponing Equals Extreme Blessings

TLC’s Extreme Couponing is back tonight.

We often get emails from our readers about amazing shopping trips. We love seeing your couponing success stories and wish we could share them all. The following email though was too great not to share.

Reader Stacy exemplifies one of the greatest aspects of Extreme Couponing: Giving back!

“The organization I work for had a friendly departmental contest to see which department could donate the most items for the Food Bank. Being a couponer, I became the department’s “secret weapon.” Your site was the other secret weapon. I’m thrilled to report that we were able to donate 1,508 items (1,267 lbs) from the generous $585 contributed by the department.

The best part was that we were able to donate some really useful groceries such as cream of chicken, mushroom soup, chicken noodle, tomato, and various Progresso soups, chili, corn, green beans, canned salmon, Annie’s mac & cheese, cereal, BBQ sauces, marinades, a turkey and so much more. The icing on the cake was that we won the surprisingly very competitive competition.

Being a couponer, I wasn’t satisfied with the results and know we could have done better. But given our 2-week window, I am very proud of my co-workers and was happy to put my coupon skills to work for such a good cause.

This Thanksgiving I’m grateful to you FAB Gals.”

So much to say about that email!

1. How awesome is that?!! OVER ONE THOUSAND LBS OF FOOD DONATED!! I have a hunch there will be a lot of grateful people on the receiving end of that donation. You. Are. Amazing.

2. Those are the stories of Extreme Couponing we LOVE to hear! We love that couponing allows many to give a little or a lot when they would often not be in a financial position to help otherwise.

3. Makes me giggle that after all of that food was donated, she still thought she could have done better. Now there’s a true couponer!

4. Stacy, while we are so glad you are grateful for us, it is readers like you that make us so dang proud. You motivate us to keep doing what we do. We HEART our readers!!

Now a challenge:

We want more emails like the one above. We want to see examples of charitable couponing, whether great or small. Did you gather a basket of couponed items for a neighbor? Did you donate items to a homeless shelter? Email us with a story and a picture.

We’ll post some of them over the next few weeks to give everyone a glimpse of the amazing side of Extreme Couponing!

______________________________________________________________

Need help getting started on your journey to Extreme Couponing (done right!).

Our 90-minute coupon class on DVD will teach you step by step the correct and ethical way to implement extreme couponing. Use code EXTREME for a 55% discount at check out.

Giving Back Opportunity: Thanksgiving Baskets

 Attention Treasure Valley Locals!

We are so excited to tell you about an awesome opportunity to give back! 

We have teamed with The Journey  to offer Thanksgiving Dinner Baskets this year to those who are having a difficult time financially. We have seen how giving and generous our readers are and we know you will want to get involved!

How you can help:

Donate or Volunteer

•  They need donations to make this happen!  We can use our fabulous couponing skills to help make Thanksgiving Dinner possible for many families in the valley this month! 
• You can also get involved by helping to assemble dinner baskets on Monday November 21.

 Items Needed:

•  Fresh Potatoes
• Canned Green Beans
• Canned Corn
• Gravy
• Jelly
• Rolls
• Stuffing

 *Walmart and Fred Meyer have picked up the tab for the TURKEY!  Yay and a big THANK YOU to them! 

You can drop off your donations at any American Family Insurance Office throughout the Treasure Valley.   

What’s in it for you?

The satisfaction of helping familes in our community, maybe even someone you know.  If you or anyone that you know are truely in need of a Thanksgiving box, please contact the two FABULOUS fruGALs who are heading up this project: 

 Katie Murphy at littlered2@cableone.net
Monica Stamper at good4adeal@gmail.com. 

Lifestyles Of The Fabuless FruGALS

The War Room.  Midnight. Please tell me you bought a raffle ticket.  It would make the fact that we stayed up all night assembling binders, organizing displays and stuffing our faces with WhoNu cookies totally worth it.

If you have not bought a raffle ticket for our FABuLESS raffle benefiting the City Light Home for Woman & Children yet there are only a few hours left!  Go HERE to buy a ticket for your chance to win one of these FABuLESS prizes!

Cherry Red KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer

{Prize can be shipped}

“Start-Up Stockpile #1!”

{Must be present to win}

$70 Gift Card for Designer Jeans

{Prize can be shipped}

Romantic Date Night!

{Must be present to win}

  Start-Up Stockpile #2!

{Must be present to win}

Ready to Use Coupon Binder (w/ extras)!

{Prize can be shipped}

If you are a new couponer (or are looking to upgrade) you will definitely want to buy a few raffle tickets for this!  One coupon binder filled with over $2,500 worth of coupons, store booklets, free product coupons PLUS a copy of our Seven Secrets to Successful Couponing DVD.  This coupon binder also comes with a Starbucks gift card and over $50 in Box Tops certificates to donate to your local school.

Date Night Done Right!

{Prize can be shipped-but can only be used locally}

Enjoy a 1-night stay in a luxurious suite at the Oxford Suites, but not before you dine at The Creperie (2 crepes and 2 drinks included) and enjoy a movie at Edwards Stadium 22 Theater (2 movie tickets included). Grab your sweetie, your best friend or your kiddos and enjoy this FAB night out!

5 Metro Express Car Wash Passes

{Prize can be shipped-but can only be used locally}

$50 Zaycon Food Credit

{Prize can be shipped}

Use your $50 Zaycon Food credit to order anything from their next event. Chicken? Bacon? Ground Beef? Peaches? Cherries? The list goes on!

$25 Fred Meyer Gift Card

{Prize can be shipped}

$25 Famous Dave’s BBQ Gift Card

{Prize can be shipped}

One Hour Massage (Thanks Shellie)

Local Only

Canon PIXMA MX410 Inkjet Multifunction Printer!!

$30 Olive Garden Gift Card

 

 

Photo Shoot from Around the Way Photography($225 value).

Photo session with hi-res images on a CD along with a copy write release.

5 Appetizer Coupons from T.G.I.Fridays

One Pair of Designer Sun Glasses from Vision One

Local Only Prize

*NEW* Raffle Prizes: Canon Printer, Olive Garden Gift Card and MORE!

Our FAB Coupon Workshop is TOMORROW!

Don’t worry if you didn’t snag a spot in a class (or you’re wait listed), you don’t need a ticket to get into the Expo! Everybody’s welcome. We’ll have 10 educational booths, so come enjoy a fun FREE evening with the Fabs (say that 10 times fast)!

Have you donated for your chance to win some FAB prizes?

Well here are a few more reasons to get those tickets! Check out the prizes we just added TODAY (missed yesterday’s additions? Head HERE):

Canon PIXMA MX410 Inkjet Multifunction Printer!!

$30 Olive Garden Gift Card

Photo Shoot from Around the Way Photography($225 value).

Photo session with hi-res images on a CD along with a copy write release.

5 Appetizer Coupons from T.G.I.Fridays

Check out all the FAB Raffle Prizes HERE!

Don’t have a PayPal account? You can still make a donation! Just click on “continue:

ONE ticket for $3.00:

TEN tickets for $10.00:

THIRTY tickets for $25.00:

 

If You Teach a Man to Fish {PLUS An Update on Our Now FREE FREE FREE Couponing Workshop}

As most of you have noticed, we have not posted anything about our annual Pay it Forward Charity Yard Sale. While it breaks my heart to say it out loud (okay so technically I’m writing it, but I digress), we won’t be having it this year. There were a number of driving factors behind that decision and it SERIOUSLY hurts my heart that we won’t be holding it, but this year we decided to take a different approach to a charity fundraiser. That is how the Couponing Workshop was born.

The initial idea was to organize a huge educational couponing event. Check. Then we would charge $25 per person and donate 100% of the proceeds to a very deserving charity. Check. Then everyone would feel all warm and fuzzy. Hmmm. Didn’t happen.

We felt something was off. In our eagerness to donate as much money as possible to the City Light Women and Children’s Shelter we overlooked one key element. YOU. Our fabuless readers. YOU. Who have allowed us to carry on for years on this silly site of ours because you continue to offer us your unwavering support. YOU. Who quite possibly might be struggling just as much as any charity out there.

You see donating to charity is AMAZING. And that’s still part of the plan. But we strongly believe around these parts that if you give a man a fish, his belly will be full for a bit. But if you TEACH that man to fish, he will not only maintain a belly full of fish, but also feed those around him (and possibly teach others to fish too).

I get that I just butchered that old saying, but hopefully you get the point. We want you to come learn how to coupon (aka. fish) and then see how it changes your life. And we want to give you that opportunity for FREE.

No more $25 fee for the MEGA Rad Couponing Workshop. You don’t have to pay a dime.

You still need to register (we have to cap it) and you do have to bring a canned food item AND you do have to make us a promise:

You will either share your fish with others, or teach those around you to fish. And you have to promise. Or we won’t let you in for free. Got it?

Now about raising money. Here’s how we’re going to do that:

We are going to have the most amazing raffle!

So amazing in fact that you are going to want to buy raffle tickets-LOTS of raffle tickets.

• You can win 1 of NINE prizes. (We’ll be telling you more about those prizes each night in our That’s A Wrap post.)
• You can pre-buy raffle tickets for a steal of a deal! ($3/1,  $10/10 or $25/30!! What a steal!)
  
• Raffle ticket prices will be higher during the workshop, so buy them early! ($4/1,  $10/5 or $25/15. See why you want to pre-buy them?!)
  
• Can’t come or not local? You can still donate for a chance to win most of the prizes, including the fantastic prize you see below! Select prizes can only be won if present (shipping some of the great prizes would be a logistical nightmare!). So another great reason to be there!
• Make sure you REGISTER for the event too!!  We need to know you’re coming!

Already register for the class and pay your $25? You have 2 options:

1. Use your $25 as a credit and get 30 raffle tickets!
2. Request a refund and we will get you your $25 back ASAP (we sent you an email… so check it!)!

And now for a glimpse of those AMAZING raffle prizes I told you about earlier….

Cherry Red KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer anyone?

Seriously. It can be yours!

Donate to the Red Cross and get a FREE Bloggers Recipe Book!

We can ALL feel a little better knowing we are donating to a cause that can help!!!

Where we can’t be there to help, we can donate to the Red Cross so they can be.

Tomorrow

Wednesday August 31st is the

LAST day

to order the recipe book!

 For $10.00, you’ll get a beautiful recipe book compiled by more than 50 bloggers favorite tried and true recipes!

100% of the money goes to Red Cross

It’s a no brainer if you ask me.

This all started because of the devastation witnessed in Japan and feeling like there was nothing we could do to help.

We can help!

Every little donation adds up.   Look how much has been raised because of all the donations (this is being advertised through out the blogosphere)

$13,400!

Now, with Hurricane Irene, there is a need more than ever!

From the Red Cross website:

“Sunday, August 28, 2011 — Mandatory evacuations and power outages have forced people from their homes all over the east coast and more than 27,000 spent Saturday night in Red Cross shelters.”

People have been homeless and hungry.

Shelter at Nassau Community College in Garden City NY reached capacity by 6pm.

Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles are staging in Raleigh NC before Hurricane

The 2011 Atlantic Hurricane season started on June 1 and lasts until the end of November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that 12-18 named storms, 6-10 hurricanes and 3-6 major hurricanes could occur this year.  

“While it is too early to know the full extent of the storm’s damage, the Red Cross expects to be helping people for the next several weeks.

The Red Cross has relief operations ongoing in more than a dozen states and thousands of disaster workers helping people from North Carolina to New England. Every Red Cross feeding truck east of theRocky Mountains – more than 250 – are set to go into neighborhoods as soon as conditions permit. Tens of thousands of pre-packaged meals are in position, and the Red Cross is working with its community partners to have feeding kitchens in place after the storm moves through.

The Red Cross has relief operations ongoing in more than a dozen states and thousands of disaster workers helping people from North Carolina to New England. Every Red Cross feeding truck east of the Rocky Mountains – more than 250 – are set to go into neighborhoods as soon as conditions permit. Tens of thousands of pre-packaged meals are in position, and the Red Cross is working with its community partners to have feeding kitchens in place after the storm moves through.

“This is a big response involving multiple states and the response will cost millions,” Shimanski said. If people would like to help, they can click or text to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Donations can be made by visiting www.redcross.org or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.”

OR

You can make the same donation

AND get a fantastic recipe book!

Either way

The Red Cross is there to help

so let’s join together and support them!

We can all spare $10.00. Please do if at all possible and then tweet, email, call, or something your friend and tell them to as well. 

Here is the link one last time.

http://recipestohelp.bigcartel.com

Ordering Issues Help

We realize there has been some frustration with the process of buying the hard cover book. Paper Coterie usually prints photobooks that you make and not already finished products so the process to get to your cart can be a bit confusing.

50+ Top Blogs All Time Favorite Recipes

It’s here! It’s here!

After literally MONTHS of creating, the “50+ Top Blogs All Time Favorite Recipes” cookbook is HERE!!! You may have seen a sneak peek of this gorgeous recipe book this past month. We hope you have been anxiously awaiting it. Now, until the end of August, it’s available for purchase. But wait, scratch that, it’s not a purchase. The best part is…

it’s a donation!

100% of your donation will go to the American Red Cross to help the many people who have been affected by recent natural disasters around the world.

After seeing the devastation in Japan, several top blogs teamed together wanting to somehow make a difference. More than 50 blogs donated one of their favorite recipes to be compiled into an incredible cookbook designed by chickabug (design talent was 100% donated as well). Basically a lot of people worked really hard to make something extraordinary. Now, it’s in your hands to make a difference.

This one-of-a-kind cookbook was originally only going to be offered as an E-book for a $10 donation. But after receiving feedback from readers, we realized that many of you want a physical copy. We approached our favorite publisher, Paper Coterie, who was willing to donate 100% of the supplies, and 100% of the cost of printing for this amazing cause. Are you feeling the warm tinglies yet?! We are!!! This started out as one person having an idea. Now over 50 blogs and an amazing publisher are involved and now it’s YOUR turn.

Together we can will make a difference.

The E-book is for sale here for a $1o donation. If you have a computer in your kitchen or an electronic reader, (ipad, kindle,etc.) this is the copy for you. You can just click on the recipe you want from the table of contents and it will take you right there. It’s sweet.

The hard cover cookbook is also available, (wait for it…) for only $10.  {{UPDATE: They are trying to update the site… try after noon and it should show the $10 price as well as 4ish shipping}}

You will be amazed at the quality of this book. The only extra expense you will have will be for shipping ($4 or more depending on where you live and how many copies you order).

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You can smile knowing you made a difference to someone, somewhere. And you can smile because you will have a beautiful full color recipe book with gorgeous pictures and delicious recipes to try. We truly hope you love the cookbook. We think you will. You might just want to buy one for your mom, sister, and mother-in-law for Christmas.

Please share this post with your friends and family on your blog, facebook, and twitter. Let’s make this go VIRAL! How cool would that be?

Here is a button to put on your blog:

and the link:

http://recipestohelp.bigcartel.com/

Remember 100% of the proceeds will be benefiting the American Red Cross.

*The American Red Cross name is used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of any product, service, company, individual or political position. For more information about the American Red Cross, please call 1-800-HELP NOW or email info@usa.redcross.org.

Gearing Up: 3rd Annual Pay It Forward Garage Sale

It’s Back!

One of our favorite things about being a part of this couponing community is your willingness to serve and give back.  Seeing that in action each year during our Annual Pay It Forward Charity Sale makes us sob like babies (seriously, start stockpiling Kleenex cause we’re gonna need it!).

It all started a few years ago with a simple desire to help. What it has blossomed into the past two years has taken our breath away and reminded us how amazing our readers are (we’ve raised over $7,000!!!).

We are ironing out all of the details for our 3rd annual sale. We are thrilled to be partnering with Other Mothers Boise this year and suspect this sale will raise more money than ever! But as always, we do need your help with a few items of business as we prepare:

1. We need nominations. ASAP. Do you know a deserving family? Does someone near and dear to you have an immediate need that we can help with? Do you have a loved one struggling valiantly with circumstances beyond their control? We want to hear about them. Simply email us at fabulesslyfrugal at gmail dot com and tell us their story. We will select the family/individuals we are going to help this year from your nominations.

2. Save the date. The sale this year will be September 16-17 (yep-it’s 2 days this year!) from 8am-3pm. Mark it down on your calendars now!

3. Wanna volunteer? We have always been nervous that no one will come out to help us and we will be in over our heads. But you guys always deliver in a HUGE way. This year we need your help before, during and after the sale. We need donations for the sale and the bake sale, man power to help tag, sort and organize all the sale items and then a little sale-day army to help man the event. You in?

4. We need your stuff! Get digging through your closets/garages/storage sheds and instead of calling up the Arc, save your gently used items for the sale. We’d love your clothing, books, baby items, furniture , games, toys, etc. Are you having a garage sale this summer? Save your leftovers for a great cause!

So are you ready for the most amazing sale yet? We sure are. Stay tuned for more info and GET THOSE NOMINATIONS IN!

*We will be closing nominations and selecting our families on July 18th. So HURRY!*

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive 5/14

Don’t forget… tomorrow is the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger food drive.  Whether  you’re able to donate one can or a full bag of non perishable groceries… your local food bank would really appreciate it.  Simply leave your donation next to your mail box tomorrow morning for your letter carrier to pick up.

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