Giving that doesn't cost a dime

A little over two years ago, we made this somewhat non-sensical decision, took a little leap of faith, and I became a stay at home Mom. Our income was cut in half, and we became real resourceful real fast. I can't wait to share with you what the Lord has taught me about my prideful heart and His provision during this time. But that's another post for another day.

For now, I want to share with you a smidge of some of the ways we have been able to give charitably over the last couple of years. When your income is cut in half, but your heart grows exponentially for great organizations that love people well or for other needs in the community … Well, you have to get a little inventive with how you can best serve and bless them.

First, I am a tried and true fan of Kroger. I love that store. My local store always has the kindest employees that go out of their way to help me… and I feel like I really do get great deals there, too! One thing I really love about Kroger is their Community Rewards Program. All you do is login with your Kroger Plus Card, look up your non-profit organization you want to support.. and BAM! They start receiving rewards based on your purchases! I chose a really great Pregnancy Center in the next town over, Tomball Pregnancy Center, to receive the rewards from my shopping.

Another great thing about Kroger is all the sales they run! They have great specials, and I can combine those with coupons found on their app or their website…. and I can save big bucks doing this! I can't even tell you how stupid happy I get when I find a great sale and get my groceries at a great price. Over time, the Lord softened my heart and I was encouraged to give more sacrificially. So instead of keeping those extra pennies I saved to myself, I'd fill in the gaps of my grocery budget. When I save a few dollars on whatever meat happens to be on sale and lower than I budgeted, I might buy a few extra rolls of toilet paper and donate them to our refugee ministry. Other weeks, I might watch sales on diapers or formula to bless a family in our church. At first, I felt a little silly with how little I could give based on what our money would allow. Then, I realized how foolish and prideful those sentiments were. It's not about how much I can give.. but what's at the heart of my giving.

Next, I can't tell you how much I love being an Amazon Prime member. It is A-MUH-ZING! The hubs uses it a whole bunch for church stuff.. and so do I, and it's made Christmas shopping 10x better. But, I also love that a portion of all of our purchases goes toward ending sex-trafficking. At no cost to me, Amazon Smile kicks back some of the profits from our buys to our chosen non-profit org, Love146. "Founded in 2002, Love146 works toward the abolition of child sex slavery and exploitation through prevention and aftercare solutions, contributing to a growing abolition movement. Love146 combats child sex slavery and exploitation with the unexpected and restores survivors with excellence."

Now, don't just sit there all kerbobbled and flabbergasted for too long because you didn't know about these avenues of giving sooner! Get to it, register your Shopper Card with Kroger for Community Rewards and choose your favorite non-profit org to receive kickbacks from all your Amazon purchases through Amazon Smile! Or even better, see if your preferred grocer or any other kind of stores offer these same type of "incentives"! 

(**I am in no way being paid or receiving any kind of promotional kick-backs from either Kroger, Amazon or the listed non-profit organizations for this blog post of any activity that happens as a result!)