Have you ever been stopped at a stoplight and approached by someone who is homeless? You want to do something, but a lot of times you just aren’t sure what to do. Sometimes you don’t have cash with you or some people may simply feel uncomfortable handing out money. An alternative way to help would be to hand out something useful and something that can help someone feel special: Blessing Bags.
Blessing Bags are simple to assemble: they’re essentially storage bags filled with necessary items that a person will use every day. Keep them organized in your car to hand out to those you see in need.
One of the great parts is that you can usually get many of these items for FREE (or at least super cheap) at drug stores and/or grocery stores by using coupons! You can check out my page of the top drugstore deals for the week to see where to grab Blessing Bag items at great prices.
Blessing Bag Item Ideas:
-toothbrush/toothpaste
-tissues
-face wash
-pain reliever (tylenol, advil, etc.)
-razor
-bandages
-deodorant
-comb
-lip balm
-soap/shampoo
-socks
-juice
-bottled water
-applesauce packs
-protein/granola bars
-nuts & dried fruits
-food gift cards
-any other non-perishable items that will fit in a storage bag
-items that will simply make the person feel loved (chewing gum, candy, deck of cards, small notebook, pen, encouraging note, etc.)
Buying and filling Blessing Bags would be a great activity for a church or other group to show love to those in its community. Here’s a tip: if you’ll be keeping these in your car, try to buy items that won’t melt or damage in the heat, e.g. chocolate.
What else would you put in a Blessing Bag?
There comes a time in most people’s lives where home-cooked meals get placed on the back burner. New babies, unexpected hard times, sickness, or simply being overwhelmed by life can all cause an adjustment to your priorities. A great way to bless a friend going through a life change is to feed them a hot meal.
The way you go about feeding a person in need depends on the person’s situation. If they are willing to host you in their home, you could simply bring over a meal and have dinner with them. Most of the time, though, it’s easier to pack up a meal in a way that is easily frozen, easily transported, and can be cooked in a jiffy for those who have too much going on to think about entertaining or starting from scratch.
Here are some things to remember when you’re preparing meals:
-Pack the meals in containers that don’t need to be returned.
-Avoid common allergens or inquire about the person’s special dietary needs.
-Include the ingredients and instructions on how to prepare the meal.
-Try to stick to well-rounded, nutritious meals. Cake and pies are nice, but a house full of desserts isn’t really going to sustain a family.
These recipes that I’ve found are simple to prepare and are perfect for freezing and transporting.
The prices listed are based on an average price of what’s on sale this week at various stores and are subject to change weekly.
Extra-Easy Lasagna – recipe
ground beef – $2.99 lb
pasta sauce – $1.09
shredded cheese – $2.50
Turkey Chili – recipe
ground turkey – $3.61
onions – 99¢ lb
canned tomatoes – $1.20
bell pepper – 79¢
Chicken and Dumplings – recipe
chicken drumsticks – $1.29 lb
potatoes – $2.50 5 lb bag
onions – 99¢ lb
Shepherd’s Pie – recipe
potatoes – $2.50 5 lb bag
shredded cheese – $2.50
ground beef – $2.99 lb
ketchup – $1.49
Easy Minestrone Soup – recipe
beans – 99¢
canned tomatoes – $1.20
cabbage – 59¢ lb
elbow macaroni – $1
See more menu plans!
Get a FREE La Bella Styling Gel product at Rite Aid. This deal starts 8/10 but go ahead and print your coupon for $1 off.
There is also a $2 +Up Rewards available, so don’t miss out. If you don’t use this product, perhaps a friend does, or go ahead and donate it since it’s FREE.
La Bella Product Coupon
-$1 off La Bella product, excl trial size printable
Deal Idea:
Buy:
$2 +UP WYB La Bella, Jhirmack, L.A. Looks, Prell or Pure Shine, $2.99
Use:
-$1 off La Bella product, excl trial size printable
(use $1 off, makes it FREE)
There is a limit of 2, so you can do the deal twice. The deal runs 8/10-8/16.
If you have a Preschooler or a 12th grader going back to school, The Modest Mom blog has you covered! Download these FREE Back to School Printables for kids in Preschool through 12th Grade.
There is a fire hat, sheriff badge, nurse hat, Princess crown, and more that is available for Preschool through seventh grade that the kids can color or learn from so make sure to check it out.
Fill out the form provided, confirm your email address and you will be automatically taken to the page for you to download the files! These are always good to have for a long car ride or when the kids need to sit still, plus they are FREE!
See more Freebies.
Here’s a reminder for you to mark your calendars for Museum Day Live! On September 27th, Smithsonian Museum is hosting a day where you can get FREE tickets to participating museums across the country!
Smithsonian museums are free every day, so they are wanting every one across the country to experience the same fun.
You can register for (2) tickets for participating museums on their website. Go ahead and grab your tickets now.
See more freebies!
Here are the new Checkout 51 coupons! You can save on onions, People magazine, Doritos, and more!
Checkout 51 is FREE and you’ll be able to save money on top of store sales and coupons. Watch my Checkout 51 video for more details.
New coupons are added every Thursday and last until the following Wednesday. These coupons will be good through Wednesday, 8/13.
New Checkout 51 Coupons:
.25 off Onions
$1 off Canned Dole Pineapple Juice (excl. chilled & frozen)
.25/1 Doritos, 9 oz +
$1 off People Magazine
.25/1 Animeals for Kids Sauce Read More→
Here are the top printable coupons from today! Lots of these have great deals to go with them, so be sure and check out the printable coupons page for details!
Top Printable Coupons (zip 30003):
Food
.75/1 Dole Shakers printable
$1 off Hawaiian Punch bottles, 6 pk. 10 oz printable
$1 off Jennie-O turkey breakfast sausage links or patties (zip 80004) printable
$1/4 Minute Maid fruit drink or lemonade, 59 oz printable
$1.25/2 Simply Potatoes Mashed item, 21-24 oz (zip 19187) printable
Personal Care
$1 off Banana Boat or Hawaiian Tropic sun care, 3 oz+, excl lip balm printable
$2 off Revlon eye item printable
Household
$1 off Scrubbing Bubbles bath cleaning item printable
Now that Food City has a weekly ad starting Wednesday, here are all the deals that started today, 8/6, at your local Food City.
If you see any deals or coupons I missed leave a comment and I’ll add them to the list!
Mega Savings Event
- Mix or Match 4 General Mills Products, get $4 off at Register
-
Fiber One or Nature Valley Granola Bars, 4.1-8.9 oz, $1.49
-.50/1 Nature Valley granola bars, 5 ct.+, granola thins or soft baked oatmeal squares printable
-.50/1 Fiber One Protein chewy bars printable
-.50/1 Nature Valley Protein chewy bars printable
-.50/1 Fiber One Chewy bars or 90 calorie items printable
-.50/1 Fiber One streusel bars printable
-.50/1 Fiber One meal bar, 5 ct.+ printable
-.50/1 Fiber One Chewy bars, 90 cal item, Protein Chewy bars, Streusel bars or Meal bar, SS 6/22
-.60/1 Fiber One Streusel Bars printable
-.60/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars 5 ct+, Granola Thins, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits printable
-.50/1 Fiber One Chewy Bars, 90 Calorie bars or brownies or cakes, Protein Chewy Bars, Streusel or meal bars, Food City eCoupon (limit reached)
-.75/1 Fiber One Streusel Bars , SS 7/13
-.50/2 Nature Valley Granola Bars 5ct+, Granola Thins, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits , SS 7/13
-.50/1 Nature Valley Crunchy Bars, 5 ct+ printable
-.60/1 Fiber One Streusel bars box printable
-.60/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars, 5 ct.+, Granola Thins, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits printable
-.50/1 Fiber One chewy bars, 90 calorie items, protein chewy bars, streusel bars or meal bar, SS 8/03
-.50/1 Nature Valley granola bars, 5 ct.+, soft-baked oatmeal squares or breakfast biscuits, SS 8/03
-.60/1 Fiber One Chewy Bars or 90 Calorie products printable
-.60/1 Fiber One Meal Bars, 5 ct+ printable
-.60/1 Fiber One Chewy Bars or 90 Calorie products printable
-.60/1 Fiber One Meal Bars printable
-.50/1 Nature Valley granola bars, 5 ct.+, granola thins, soft-baked oatmeal squares or breakfast biscuits printable
-.50/1 Fiber One Chewy Bars, 90 Calorie products, Protein Chewy Bars, Streusel Bars or Meal Bars, SavingStar eCoupon
-.50/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Granola Thins, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits, 5 ct+, SavingStar eCoupon
-.50/1 Fiber One Chewy Bars, 90 Calorie bars or brownies or cakes, Protein Chewy Bars, Streusel or meal bars, Food City eCoupon
-.50/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars 5 ct., Granola Thins, Soft-Baked oatmeal Sqauares or Breakfast Biscuits, Food City eCoupon
(.75/1 and Saving Star makes it 24¢) - General Mills Fruit Snacks, 5-8 oz, 99¢
-.50/2 General Mills Fruit Snacks, Food City eCoupon (limit reached)
-.50/2 General Mills Betty Crocker Fruit by the Food, Fruit Gushers or Fruit Roll-ups, SavingStar eCoupon
-.50/2 General Mills Betty Crocker fruit snacks, Food City eCoupon
(.50/2 and SavingStar makes it 49¢) - General Mills Golden Grahams, Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp or Trix, 8.9-12.2 oz, $1.49
-.75/1 General Mills Original Cheerios cereal printable
-$1/2 General Mills Cheerios cereal printable
-.75/1 General Mills Golden Grahams cereal printable (limit reached)
-.50/1 General Mills Original Cheerios cereal in yellow box printable (limit reached)
-.75/1 General Mills Golden Grahams cereal, Food City eCoupon (limit reached)
-.75/1 General Mills selected Cheerios cereals, Food City eCoupon (limit reached)
-$1/3 General Mills Big G Cereals , SS 7/13
-$1/2 General Mills Big G cereals, SS 8/03
-.85/1 General Mills Trix cereal printable
-.85/1 General Mills Trix cereal printable
-.75/1 General Mills Trix cereal printable
-.50/1 General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal printable
-.75/1 General Mills Trix cereal, SavingStar eCoupon
(.85/1 and SavingStar makes it FREE)
Keep out those pesky bugs with Raid! Make sure to go ahead and print your high-value $3 off coupon and head to Walgreens.
There is also a $1 off Raid Insect Control store coupon found in the August Savings Booklet that can make for some great deals too. If you aren’t a Walgreens Shopper, don’t forget that Bi-Lo will also take their store coupons!
Raid Coupon
$3 off Raid Max Bug Barrier with Reusable Auto Trigger or Defense Marker printable
Walgreens Deals:
Buy:
Raid Bug Barrier Reusable Auto Trigger $7.99
Use:
$3 off Raid Max Bug Barrier with Reusable Auto Trigger or Defense Marker printable
-$1 off Raid product, August Walgreens booklet
makes it $3.99
Buy:
Raid MAX Bug Barrier Defense Marker $8.49
Use:
$3 off Raid Max Bug Barrier with Reusable Auto Trigger or Defense Marker printable
-$1 off Raid product, August Walgreens booklet
makes it $4.49
