Give More At The Grocery Store

Ever since I decided to Give More this year, I have been thinking about how I need to include Brook in this. She's only 2, but I think that she's old enough to understand the basic concept of giving things to people that need them as long as I can illustrate it in a simple way.

I was trying to think of some way I can start having her participate in giving. Sure we're always teaching her to share her toys and to give hugs and kisses, but I wanted to find something her and I could do together that would be a great life lesson.

I struggle with being generous and giving with my finances . . . call me a scrooge, but I'm being honest. It's hard for me to donate money without grumbling. I think if I had practiced it more as a child and a teen, it would be more natural for me now instead of like pulling teeth. I hope to change that in myself this year, and also to raise Brook in a way that she will be a naturally giving, generous person.

So we've incorporated a little giving into our weekly grocery shop.

Every week when I take Brook grocery shopping, we pick out 2 or 3 items to donate to the food bank. I usually choose a bulk box of pasta, or a bag of rice, sometimes canned vegetables. Brook chooses something "Fun" that is a rare treat around here like chocolate covered granola bars, fruit gummies, or flavored instant oatmeal.

I've found it works two-fold because if she sees a brightly colored, cartoon festooned box and starts up the "Mommy I want that!" chorus, I can talk to her about choosing that item as something to give to the boys and girls who don't have enough food to eat. She is thrilled to hug the box as we wheel around the store, and equally as thrilled to toss it into the donation bin at the end of the grocery tills. We talk about giving the food to some boy or girl whose Mommy doesn't have any yummy food to give them, so we can help by giving them this yummy treat. That way she feels like she "gets" some of those sugary items without actually taking them home and eating them, which makes me happy too.

I know donating sugary snacks and treats may not be the most healthful choices to be donating. I do. Which is why MY choices are always healthy, and she gets to choose 1 junky/kid food to give. My logic is that those foods tend to be status foods around the lunch table at school and on the playground. I remember when I was a kid being so jealous of the kids at school who had things like Gushers and Dunkaroos,

and on the rare occasion my mom would put them in my lunch how proud I was, and what a big production was made of pulling them out of my lunch box and enjoying them noisily in front of all the kids who only had homemade cookies as their treat.


Anyway . . .

I can still remember who the "poor" kids at my school were. And I mostly remember that because of the fact that they brought their lunches in a plastic grocery bag, and they usually had a sandwich and an apple while everyone else was eating granola bars, cookies, and cracker sandwiches filled with fake cheese. Their lunches were different than everyone else and in the lion's den that elementary school tends to be, those little differences were all it took for someone to be labelled "poor" or" uncool".

I know everyone needs good nutrition, but if I can give some little girl a pack of Dora gummies to take to school for the first time ever, so she can be proud to show off the contents of her lunch box, then that's what I'm going to do. And I'll throw in some green beans and pasta for mom :)

Spend Less, Give More

Of course I found this on Pinterest . . . so fitting!

Spend Less, Give More

I've never really done New Year's Resolutions before. Oh sure I've decided I wanted to lose weight, or set "goals" like buying a house or getting pregnant  . . .but usually things that were already in the works or I had been preparing for a long time already. I'm in the camp that New Year's resolutions are mostly hokey and something that no one sticks with anyway, so why bother?

But this year, I have a definite New Year's resolution. Well, it's not really a resolution as much as it is a phrase . . . maybe I should call it a motto? Or maybe I should go with Ali's idea and just say it's my word for the year?

It all started a few weeks ago when our pastor did a sermon on spending less and giving more this holiday season. I'm sure pastors everywhere gave similar versions, as did many grandmothers and moms and teachers . . . I think spending less has become something of a motto itself around Christmastime now.

But he said something that really struck a chord with me. It was something along the lines of "We were MADE to serve and to give, not to consume." I could not stop thinking about that. And the theme of "Spend Less, Give More" was carried on at church leading up to the holidays, each week speaking to me more and more. That phrase was rolling over and over in my mind all month long. The Mister and I talked about it and found some ways to give - we donated a little money here, dropped cash into the pots of the bell ringers outside of Walmart, helped an old lady with her groceries.

On Christmas Eve our church set a goal of raising $10,000 to drill a well in Africa for a village without clean drinking water. We gave cash; maybe not much to some people but it was a lot for us and our budget. As we watched a video showing children in Africa dancing and splashing in the spray of clean water after receiving their well I felt really good that I was helping such a great cause.  I would even go so far as to say that I was feeling pretty good about myself.

We had a lovely Christmas and both gave and received all sorts of stuff that we didn't need.

Today I went shopping. The week after Christmas is like Black Friday in Canada, full of amazing deals you will never see again all year. I had been saving some money I had earned by selling things I didn't want anymore on a local swap site, and so I bought some new clothes at %70 off, and used gift cards to get a pretty light fixture and paint for my daughter's room. I was really enjoying an afternoon out to myself when I pulled into my favorite store.

Winners.

Winners is one of those discount department stores that has designer brands and great stuff, all at discounted prices. I LOVE to shop there, it's where I buy most of my home decor and a lot of my cosmetics and clothes.

I pulled into the parking lot, pull out my wallet and  felt that little butterfly feeling of excitement that I get when I am on the hunt for great deals. I opened my car door, and I saw it.

Giant red signs, plastered in every window of the store.

And on those signs the words "Spend Less, Give More"


This year I have decided to make that phrase my resolution. I'm not saying that I won't ever spend money on frivilous things or that I planning to give away all my posessions. But I feel like I need to work on being less selfish and have my eyes opened to more ways that I can help and serve others.

Here's to a year of giving more and spending less!