Saving Your Checkbook While Serving Others

If you want to learn how to save a few bucks on your next trip to the grocery store or mall from a Christian perspective, than Clair Boone is a good person to ask.

Boone, who lives just outside Chicago, operates the Web site Mummy Deals which is more than just another place to load up on Internet coupons.

“It started about two years ago,” explained Boone, a native Briton. “I was shopping for diapers at about $8 a pack and with a number of strategies was able to get that down to 20 cents a pack. I ended up buying 38 packs.

“Saving money takes time, but I was able to accumulate enough deals to make it work. Friends would ask me how I did it and I told them, ‘Frugal is the new black.’”

A journalist by trade, Boone put her writing and researching skills to work to develop her curriculum to teach others about saving large amounts of money.

“There are all kinds of different ways,” Boone said.  “There are a lot articles different newspapers you can share if you just look for them. There are tips and tricks to save how to get box coupons which give free groceries.  Facebook is a relatively new phenomenon in all this. You become a fan of different products and accumulate free coupons. … Some of it is about mining the Internet and some of it being contacted by companies to discuss their products.”

When the recession hit in late 2008, the strategies became all the more pertinent.

“We all know right now the economy isn’t that great,” she said. “We know we need to be good stewards of our money to honor the Lord.”

That aspect of it is benefitting one of the most well-established charities as the holidays approach in Operation Christmas Child. The ministry sends shoe boxes filled with goodies for ether a boy or a girl to underdeveloped around the globe. As the group ramps up for its busy season, Boone already has boxes ready to go.

And, of course, plenty of money was saved to maximize how much was spent and how many children can receive the boxes.

“(My husband) Tim and I have been packing boxes for 9 or 10 years and it’s so easy to work with so easy to work with,” Boone said. “It’s a great way to use some of these money-saving strategies. I had a friend recently who laid out all the items she had for the box and asked her how much she was spending. It was $35.

“There’s all kinds of ways to cut that down. I never go over $7 a box and I’m writing know about how you can do 45 boxes for $45.”

With boxes already to go for this year, Boone hits holiday sales to begin stocking up fro the following year, creating a faithful year-round cycle of giving.

“We have not only been able to live frugally on one income instead of two, nut we’ve been able to tithe and give above and beyond to others,” she said. “We feel the Lord is telling us we have an obligation, and it is an honor and a privilege to teach other people around us.

“It frees up time and money for other things. It doesn’t take but a minute or two of time to prepare a basket of goodies to a single mom and to be able to share with others. What you’re doing in your extra time then, we feel, is giving glory to God.”

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