Thanks to Stop & Shop this week, I have a great donation to the Dedham Food Pantry as part if The Penny Experiment!
Before I share my donation, I would like to get up on the Maven’s soapbox:
Though I think it is important to get great deals for your family and donate to those who need it, I DO NOT BELIEVE IN BEING SELFISH! I realize that some readers had trouble getting cereal at Stop & Shop this week because some couponers had bought 200 boxes – to donate – but still it made it impossible for other shoppers to get in on the deal. I do not think that is the proper way to coupon or donate – THAT IS MY OPINION ONLY. If you are going to buy that much, you need to work with store management to get a special order!
Because I did not know about the deal ahead of time, I chose to get quantities by going to 2 different stores, multiple trips throughout the week. I only bought 6 at a time, taking note of inventory levels. MY STORE HAD TONS!! I would NOT have gotten this much if the inventory was not there – and even though it was all there the first day, I chose to spread out my purchases to allow others the chance. That is just my beliefs. I hope you were able to get some.
DONATION = 42 boxes of cereal = $150 worth
COST = better than FREE
OK – I am horrible at taking pictures of receipts. I am working on it!! What this particular one shows is that I bought 12 boxes of cereal on sale for $18 – $6 in coupons = $12, then got 2 $10 catalinas. For the ones I did not have coupons – Buy 6 = $9, get $10 catalina = FREE
This is the 2nd week I have made it JUST IN TIME to donate because of a change in hours – sign says 3-5pm, but I got there at 4:30 (new closing hours). Make sure you find out the hours of your local food pantry. Hopefully next time there will be some time to spare and I can take some more pics and introduce you all to the wonderful volunteers there.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Love it! Like I said before I lived in that area before and I am sure the food is much appreciated.
Thank you for the reminder about not clearing the shelves! I've been told that if you know of a great deal coming up you can talk to the manager so they get more. Then you can even pick it up in the original packing boxes making delivery to the food pantry even easier.
Cereal is so expensive I bet the food pantry was thrilled to see you:)
carrie
What a great post Maven! Even better is your donation to the food pantry.
I have 12 boxes to donate and am going through my stockpile this weekend to rotate and check expiration labels so I can add to my donation.
Stockpiling is not just for my growing family it's rewards the food pantry as well.
THANKS for inspiring me to get out and help others with deals and coupons…
Awesome post!
Stacy
Nice! I agree with you on clearing the shelves. I also noticed last time I was at my Stop & Shop (in Reading) that they had some plastic bins in the front of the store by the registers for donations to the local food pantry – great idea! I don't know where my closest food pantry is, but now they've made it even easier. I wonder if Stop & Shop as a whole is going to start doing this? Anyone else run across that in their S&S?
Good Job!!!
Your email from "Kontacts" is not working–It keeps telling me I imputing the wrong code–how else can we contact you???
suzanne – sorry about that, I will look into it… you can email me at lmmahoney1 (at) gmail.com
Awesome! I also donate for the Penny Experiment. I totally agree with you on the clearing the shelves point. I always try to be considerate of others & make sure I'm not taking everything. Donations are great, but if you're clearing the shelves for the sake of a donation that's missing the point entirely!
Donations are great, but I wish food pantries wouldn't accept "sugar" cereal.
Andrea – I agree and usually donate the healthy stuff – mostly cheerios, special K, etc. – in this case, there were more sugary cereals than I normally would like, but it was free and they always need cereal so I figured it was better than nothing.
Wonderful! Thank you so much for participating and finding these great deals for your local food bank. Always greatly appreciated.
Just a bit off topic but how wonderful would it be if they would just not put High Fructose Corn Syrup in "kids" cereal (or any cereal)?
Have you tried using the macro setting on your camera? It looks like a flower–I was so thrilled to find this setting so I could take close-up photos. I'm definitely not a camera wiz but thought this might help with your receipt photos!
Anon – thanks for the photo tip, I will check that out – I have no idea how to use half the stuff on my camera – LOL!