Buy One Get More Free and Feed Another Family

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of each year. In fact, this is when my husband and I host our annual holiday party. My husband, a Louisiana native, smokes several turkeys and makes an authentic Cajun gumbo. I bake at least a half dozen specialty desserts from scratch. We ask our friends to bring their favorite holiday side dishes and that completes the meal. It’s a 13-year tradition that saves us money, but still lets everyone have a great time with great food and great company.

But what about the families who have nothing? Sadly, there are families in our own neighborhoods that will struggle to put a meal on the table on Thanksgiving Day. What about families who struggle to buy food on a regular basis? There's a way you can help feed families without spending extra money. Will join me in helping feed a family this year?

It’s really very simple. Take advantage of Buy One Get One (or two or three) Free sales. Looking through the grocery store ads today, I saw a bunch of these specials. Albertsons has both Tilapia and pork tenderloins on sale. When you buy one package, you get three free. That’s four pounds of fish or four pork tenderloins for the price of one. You could keep two and still give two away at no extra cost. Albertsons actually has several buy one get one or more free sales this week: ground sausage, beef roasts, steaks, pork ribs, bread, soft drinks and more. Keep one or more for yourself and donate the others to a food pantry, church or even a family you know that is struggling. It really makes a difference.


A friend of mine gets a side of beef every year from her in-laws for Christmas. Her small family never goes through all of it. This year, when my husband and I struggled, she let me shop in her deep freeze (and then put a bunch more in my bag when I wasn’t looking). If the items you would normally buy give you an opportunity to get one or more free, it’s costing you nothing to give one or more away. You have to buy the first one to get the rest free, so why not give your extra item(s) to someone who can’t even afford to buy the first one?

Now I realize this requires a little effort, because you have to know where the sales are. The sales ads come to my house every week. If you don’t receive them, you can go to individual grocery store websites to view them. Time is something we all have. Money isn’t. Food isn’t. Shelter isn’t. If you have these things, please take even five minutes of your day to figure out where you can shop and feed a family for free.