iMommies

I like coupons, or rather, I like the CONCEPT of coupons…because I like to save money.  Coupons are actually a HUGE hassle for me, so you’ll never see me perusing the aisles with a coupon organizer and hundreds of dollars worth of savings seeping out into my cart.  Shopping with coupons can take a great deal of time to organize, and time is one of those things that we all simply HAVE to prioritize.  Unfortunately, coupon management doesn’t even make it onto my list, let alone anywhere near the “actually getting done” area of the list…BUT…when I see a good coupon deal (and it’s typically an internet coupon, so I can print MANY of them), I do use them, and as the title suggests…stock the pantry.

Today’s Stock the Pantry item is actually a great deal (if you eat tuna).  SuperTarget has an online coupon for $0.50 off 1 can of Starkist Tuna, and it’s good through 09/29/07.  Prices vary by location, but here in Denton, Texas, the regular price is $0.62 for each 6-oz. can.  Because it’s an online coupon, you can print as many as you like, and purchase canned tuna fish for $0.12 each - 8 cans for less than a dollar!

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PrivacyWear is a new line of clothing (for men and women) that donates a portion of every sale to breast cancer research.  Look for this new brand in all major department stores, and in the meantime, wear your free PrivacyWear tank top with pride, knowing that you’re promoting a new line of clothing…and by doing so, contributing to the prevention of, and cure for, breast cancer. 

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The FTD 13th annual Good Neighbor holiday will take place this Wednesday, September 05, 2007.  Not all stores participate, but there are several FTD locations across the country that plan local events, including the free bouquet giveaway, which usually consists of a dozen roses per visitor.  The idea behind Good Neighbor Day is that you keep one flower for yourself, and give 1 away to each of 11 neighbors.   

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A friend of mine is really into this, and he has been since they started this campaign. After looking into it myself, I realized that it really is a worthwhile organization. They don’t want any money, and normally, that’s a good sign of something legitimate. Also, their website is LOADED with information on current events, action points, and OTHER organizations that help fight worldwide poverty. Check them out.

Here’s your chance to contribute your writings for a book-in-the-making.  Stace Stevens is writing a book on behind-the-scenes hotel stories, and the interesting things that happen in hotels (pretty broad topic!), and is specifically looking for people who have (now, or in the past) worked for a hotel in any capacity. 

Each chapter will be dedicated to a different hotel department, depicting stories of wild guests, the things guests do, pranks, Bridezillas, secret rendezous, housekeeping nightmares, security issues, sneaky employees, catering events gone wrong, conventions gone wild, kitchen mishaps, scary things and just about anything you want to write about. Stace, who already has a publisher, will even correct the grammar and spelling - all they need is your story (with all personal and hotel names omitted). 

If interested in submitting your story, include the city and state where the hotel is located, and email to hotelstories@comcast.net.  Each entry will receive a reply, and authors of all published contributions will receive $50-$100, plus a matching contribution to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.  If you need further information, call Stace Stevens directly at 719-331-6103.

If you have a small business or nonprofit organization, you may benefit from the Xerox FreeColorPrinters program.  If you print between 2,000 and 4,000 pages per month and have at least one employee, you’ll very likely be eligible to receive the Phaser 8560 printer (it can be returned at any time, but after 3 years it’s yours to keep with no further obligations), along with free service and support.  In exchange, you must be willing to send in the monthly usage reports (done right from the printer) and purchase all of your ink supplies from Xerox (for the first 3 years). 

This could be a great program for many small businesses, but make sure you have all of the details first.  There are fees associated with not printing at least 2,000 pages per month, or failing to submit the monthly usage reports.  The ink prices are higher than a standard home printer, but go much further than the home printer cartridges too, so if your organization is operating on one of these low-volume printers, you should definitely look into this program.  The estimated cost of printing is $0.01 to $0.10 per page (black & white vs. color), which is definitely not a bad price.  The time savings could be advantageous as well, turning out as many as 30 color prints per minute.

ArkALMIGHTY offers a free website for each church to coordinate services within their congregation.  Members can post a need for assistance, and other members can view and volunteer in areas they choose.  If you don’t already have an online volunteer scheduling service in your church, you might start out with ArkALMIGHTY.  In addition to helping out members, it promotes congregational support, and allows members to develop relationships with others that they might not have known about otherwise.   

If you have a need outside of your church, within your circle of family and friends, Lotsa Helping Hands is a really helpful site for coordinating volunteer services.

If you teach a young Sunday School class, or participate in a Christmas Stocking program for underprivileged children, you can order up to 48 free Donkey Ollie DVDs (others available upon request).    The Adventures of Donkey Ollie movies tell the stories of Jesus through the eyes of a donkey and other lovable animals (very cute!).

The distribution of these free movies is funded by CarAngel, and their objective is to place free copies in EVERY Sunday School, Preschool, and Library.  Order for your class today, or check with your child’s teacher to see if they’ve already ordered.

I mentioned we had a garage sale Saturday, but we tried something new for the leftovers.  We donate to CCA (local Christians in Community Action organization) several times a year, and write off the itemized donations when filing our tax return.  Our local donation center does not itemize our donations for us - instead they give us a small receipt with some basic categories of items checked off.  This can be a huge headache during tax season to try and remember what was donated (and frankly, it scares me to not have the exact list).

Saturday afternoon, I sat down with a notebook and wrote down each item that was being taken to the donation center.  It was all laid out in front of me from the garage sale, so was easy to do.

When we dropped off our donation, we had the center sign our list and then stapled that list to the receipt they gave us, and filed both away in our Tax Prep folder.  Next year, when we need to itemize this year’s donations (using It’s Deductible software), we’ll just refer to the already organized paperwork.

For those of you who ordered a lemonade stand from Sunkist and have not yet received it, thought I’d share a picture of ours after it was put together.

The Business Plan:  Wyatt sold 3 oz. Dixie cups of lemonade for $0.25, gave each customer a Starburst, and chose to donate proceeds to the National MS Society.

Marketing:  We had a garage sale the same day, and Wyatt’s stand was set up at the edge of the driveway so that potential customers would see him easily.  Some customers came directly to him, and others he approached with a salesman’s pitch - something different every time, but very convincing! 

Revenue and Expenses:  Total lemonade sales for the day (8am-1pm) amounted to $9.50.  We donated $4.00 for lemons and Starbursts, and labor cost was $0.15 (only a 2-year old sister would work for this kind of money).  He’s keeping $4.15 to purchase lemons and candy for another day of business, so his total donation from Saturday is $5.20.


If you did not order the lemonade stand from Sunkist and would like to do so, click here.

The stand came with a lemon peeler, plastic juicer, and recipes for different varieties of lemonade.  Sunkist’s site also has printable signs and sales worksheets.