Sometimes when I'm out enjoying a great sale like the one that just took place at Jewel, people will ask me what I'm doing with all the food I'm buying. It's no secret that I am a weekly contributor to our local food pantry. I love contributing to the food pantry because I know exactly where my donations are going and that they're being used -- and it's just a cause I strongly believe in. People need to eat, and I've been really blessed to know how to shop on the cheap. I can spend a small amount of money and walk in the pantry with a large amount of food for them.

Our pantry has been hit hard over the past month serving double the residents that it did even just a month ago, and I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. Each week, the pantry offers a list in our church newsletter of items they need. Earlier this month, the list said "Anything and everything. We are bare to the walls." Reading that just broke my heart.

So today I did the Jewel deal a few more times, and my children and I took 5 bags of groceries to the food pantry. The last time I was at the pantry, I offered to take one of their employees shopping with me to show them how to get the deals. Today, they took me up on it! Mary was a very good student of the Jewel deal, and it was such a great feeling to help her fill a cart full of food for our pantry and show her exactly how to make the pantry's monetary donations stretch even further.

The best part? We ran into my friend Amy at the Jewel and she was in the checkout lane doing the deal another 10 times, back to back. Her cart was LOADED with food when Mary and I were ready to leave with the pantry's purchases.

Amy followed us out and pushed her cart over to the food pantry's van too, and she told Mary that much of her cart of food was also for the pantry. So their van went back to the food pantry with even more food than they expected -- about 19 trips through the checkout lane's worth! And because we also used coupons with the items we bought -- I believe the total everyone spent was under $10. (And, of course, the pantry still has a $10 Catalina coupon to use later from this deal!)

If you're enjoying these deals as much as we are, consider donating some of what you're getting too. I guarantee that it will make you feel fantastic to do so.