Friday, June 3, 2011

Couponing for Jesus



You may think that a mother of five would coupon to make ends meet, but what if I told you that she coupons because of a revelation from the Holy Spirit!  If you've been in America, especially for the last few months, you've heard about the coupon crazed people wiping out grocery store shelves of....croutons??!??!! Yes, that's right, in one episode of TLC's "Extreme Couponing" a lady swiped 96 bags of croutons.

After reading the book, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan, the Spirit prompted Jereka to draw up her first household budget, and to create a "giving" portion, and I'm not speaking of tithes, which is a tenth of your earnings and the first fruits.

Are we in love with God or His stuff????  Click the video to find out!

The "giving" portion of Jereka's budget would be to help people in need and others who specifically asked her for money or help.  This budget item comes directly from her couponing adventures.  Also, she is always ready and willing to give away her finds; she operates on a "what's mine is yours philosophy" and she is always ready to give and has never been left without.

Jereka proclaims that she is completely obsessed with the love of God and wants Him to show her how to love Him...and He did that through His instruction to her about being diligent with her finances and helping His people.  Many people believe that if you help someone, then you will be lacking, however, that is never the case.  Jereka will tell you that anything God tells us to do would not put us in a bind.

Look at the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (one of my favorite Bible stories).  She made a cake (bread-like patty) for Elijah with her last flour and oil, and let me mention there was a severe famine in her country at the time AND Elijah was a stranger to her.  Although, what she made for him was her last, the bin of flour and the jar of oil never ran out, and she and her son ate for many days.  How many of us would have given Elijah the cock-eyed twisted mouth funky face...I know I would have.  The widow gave her last, but the Lord never let her supply run out.

Jereka's Coupon Binder
Jereka, has slashed her grocery budget by $400 or more per month, and here's how: getting coupons from the manufacturers websites, the Chicago Tribune, Coupon Mom, and even ordering coupons from Coupon Clipper.  Couponing takes a lot of prep work with scouting out stores, looking at sale ads, organizing your coupons, however, it's well worth if for Jereka.

Jereka's Stockpile
Although, she still considers herself a novice at couponing, her biggest score so far was at Walgreens.  She got $50 worth of stuff for $3.91.  Here's what she picked up: toothbrushes, body wash, bar soap, chips, Cheerios, Huggies Swim Pants, Advil PM, deoderant, Axe body spray, and Cantu Shea Butter.

Like many, she enjoys the thrill of the deal, however, she's helped people along this journey that began with that specific purpose in mind.  She's helped single mothers and people who are out of work right now.  She would even give YOU her entire supply if you showed up at her doorstep today and said you were in need.  For this reason, I've kept her true identity a secret and cannot reveal her face...just kidding!

However, in all seriousness, Jereka is just a woman relentlessly following God through couponing.  He can use anything for His glory!

Has God instructed you to do something for His kingdom or His people?  What is it?


TiAnna Mae- I always think God is going to instruct me to do something BIG like: go to Haiti and help out after the earthquake, or start a homeless shelter.  However, He usually tells me to do things like pick up trash on the floor, give homeless people a McDonald's or Subway meal, and ask random people who are crying if they are okay and pray for them.


Check out Smockity Frocks for more money saving tips!



6 comments:

  1. This is an awesome and challenging post! Jereka sounds like quite a woman!! I also love what Francis Chan had to say about being in love with Jesus vs. being in love with the stuff that He can provide.

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  2. I KNEW this would resonate with you!

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  3. I'd like to know her method. I've just never been any good at couponing, which is why I just stick to Aldi. :)

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  4. From what I understand, you can't be loyal to a particular store and you probably will have to go to more than one store. It's all about figuring out who has a particular item the cheapest (i.e. 10 for $10 sales, etc), ordering and printing coupons from everywhere, and then only shopping at stores who double coupons. So, last week many grocery store chains had bar-b-q sauce for a $1 in honor of Memorial Day. Let's say you had a coupon for $0.50 off and you went to a store that doubles. That means you can get as many bar-b-q sauces that you had coupons for for free.

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  5. The problem is, and what most people don't talk about, is that couponing takes TIME. So you have to figure out if all of that work is worth your time. For me, at this phase in life, it's simply not doable...so Aldi is where I go, and I'm always amazed at how much I save shopping there.

    I used to go to CVS at 11 pm to stock up on 22 tubes of toothpaste for $3, but it started cluttering up my house and my life and wasn't worth it to me.

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  6. Oh yes...it definitely takes lots of time and I don't think there's any other way around that. Like you said, you have to decide if it's worth it for you. Jereka is such a sweetie that she has given me the coupons for things that I like to buy, and she has also purchased items for me.

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