Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The Season of Giving - The Frugal Way

Now is a wonderful time to start thinking about what you can do to help others during the holiday season. There are numerous ways to help others and not put a financial burden on yourself. The area I live in was listed in Forbes magazine as No. 4 on a list of 10-most-vulnerable cities and towns in America. The job market here is terrible and getting worse daily.

Below is a few things that I am doing to help others while spending very little or no money.


1) Give a Kid a Coat Campaign - I have donated 4 coats this year that will be cleaned and handout out to children in need.

2) Samartian's Purse - Operation Christmas Child - I love to do these. I have completed 4 and I have spent less that $5.

3) Food Pantries - You can find a food pantry by searching with your zip code or you may know of one locally that is not listed. I have taken $5 for the past 3 weeks and purchased great items to donate. It is amazing what you can get for $5 with sales and coupons.

4) Donating by Clicking - Lots of great things to choose from and all this costs is a few minutes of your time.

5) Holiday Mail for Heroes - Send a few extra Christmas Cards - Send a recovering soldier, servicemen, and veterans in the US and abroad Christmas Cards. The goal is to distribute 1 million pieces of holiday mail. Holiday cards should be mailed to: Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456 Capitol Heights, MD. 20791-5456

6) Toys for Tots - Every child should have something from Santa Christmas morning. Look for great gifts on clearance. You can also find new toys at yard sales and thrift stores. I always seem to end up with a couple of new toys from my daughter. Ever since Payton was born she always seems to get 2 of something either at Christmas or for her birthday. Instead of exchanging I always save the item to donate. This is something I hope she continues to do as she gets older.


What other great frugal ways have you found to help others?

3 comments:

Audra Krell said...

What a great list you have here. I just got a ton of ideas. In the past, I have held a large cookie exchange asking each person to bring a new unwrapped toy. Then I find an organization that won't be helped by Toys for Tots and the kids and I take the toys down for distribution. Free medical clinics are a great place for this.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful way to show the true meaning of Christmas. Great list of ideas. Happy Thanksgiving.L

Amy said...

I had the same theme for my WFMW this past week. I don't think we mentioned any of the same organizations, though! Thanks for these--there are a couple here I've never known about.

P.S. I visited your town once when I was in college!