SourceI try to practice a random act of kindness everyday for the simple, selfish reason that it makes me feel smug and generous. Paradoxical, no? Also, I believe in karma and I've been on the receiving end of many random acts of kindness which have saved me in times of desperate need, so I feel like I need to send that positive energy back out into the universe. (Why yes, I am from California.)
We've all heard about paying for someone's bridge toll behind you or some such thing, but that's not exactly frugal and we can't all afford to do such things on a regular basis. Some things I do frequently include:
1. Complimenting strangers on the subway.
2. When I see people standing on the street looking at a map I ask, "Can I help you find anything?" and then give them directions.
3. Guerrilla couponing.
The last one is my favorite. It's so simple and free and I know it would make my day if it ever happened to me. I cut out coupons for products I know I'm not going to buy and then leave it on that product in the store. Then when an unsuspecting shopper goes to pick up some brand of laundry detergent I don't use, voila $1.00 off! Think how excited you would be if you found a $1.00 bill on the ground. It's almost as good.
I don't subscribe to the newspaper so I don't get tons of coupons, but I do get some in the mail weekly. It takes me less than 5 minutes to cut them out and then I just sprinkle them around the grocery store as I'm doing my own shopping. It also adds probably less than 5 minutes to my trip.
Random acts of (frugal) kindness work for me.
We've all heard about paying for someone's bridge toll behind you or some such thing, but that's not exactly frugal and we can't all afford to do such things on a regular basis. Some things I do frequently include:
1. Complimenting strangers on the subway.
2. When I see people standing on the street looking at a map I ask, "Can I help you find anything?" and then give them directions.
3. Guerrilla couponing.
The last one is my favorite. It's so simple and free and I know it would make my day if it ever happened to me. I cut out coupons for products I know I'm not going to buy and then leave it on that product in the store. Then when an unsuspecting shopper goes to pick up some brand of laundry detergent I don't use, voila $1.00 off! Think how excited you would be if you found a $1.00 bill on the ground. It's almost as good.
I don't subscribe to the newspaper so I don't get tons of coupons, but I do get some in the mail weekly. It takes me less than 5 minutes to cut them out and then I just sprinkle them around the grocery store as I'm doing my own shopping. It also adds probably less than 5 minutes to my trip.
Random acts of (frugal) kindness work for me.
I also like to play Coupon Fairy and leave coupons for others. I try to go through all my coupons and catch the ones that are about to expire too. If I can't use them hopefully someone else can.
ReplyDeleteI do the Coupon Fairy thing, too... and I know there is at least one other person in my city who does it, because I often find coupons at both grocery stores and Target sitting by items. It's great. I feel like I'm in some secret coupon society or something, LOL!
ReplyDeleteI thought I was the only one who called it being a "coupon fairy"! How nice to know that there are sister fairies out there.
ReplyDeleteOnce they were doubling coupons (rare in Seattle) and there was also an in-store rebate on Kellogg's cereal. I saw a woman with a kid comparing prices on cereal. When I gave her the coupons, she ended up with five boxes of corn flakes for less than $2. The look of pure relief on her face when I described the deal...Well, it made me glad I'd clipped the extras.