Thoughtful Thursday - Pay it Forward

I have blogged about Paying it Forward before, but I thought this would be another easy Thoughtful Thursday posting since I'm just getting this started!  As most of you probably know the concept of pay it forward is doing something for someone and instead of having them 'pay you back' for it, you ask them to 'pay it forward' and do something for someone else!  I love this concept!  I think in my last Pay It Forward Post, I left some high dollar coupons for some expensive formula for an unsuspecting person at Kroger.  I still do this, especially with baby-related product coupons.  Babies are expensive!!!

Just this week, I sent a mommy friend two diaper coupons because we are all stocked up for a few weeks and I have recently received a TON of diaper coupons!  We buy Pampers because that is the only diaper brand that does not seem to leak on Ryne or cause him to break out in a rash!  I have received some free Cruisers with Dry Max samples with coupons included, plus Target and Kroger give me Pampers catalina coupons.  So I have several diaper coupons expire each month until the end of the year!  When you pay $9 for 30 something diapers, being able to save $1-$3 on a pack is like winning the lottery!  30 diapers only last a few days, maybe a week (and that's a big MAYBE).

Also this week, I contacted another Mommy friend with a new baby.  I have a lot of non-Pampers brand diapers that we were given that obviously did not work for Ryne, so I saved them to give them to someone else who can use them.  I have roughly 3 packs of diapers with only one or two diapers used out of each pack.  That's close to $30 worth of diapers that I'll be giving a friend of mine.  My hopes for these two gestures is that they will give to someone else (maybe another Mommy) something one day to help another Mommy out!

One of the reasons I picked this topic for this week's Thoughtful Thursday, is that I found myself not being quite as thoughtful as I usually am.  Last week with Ryne's first birthday happening, I got consumed in trying to have the most fab party for my child and wasn't thinking much about anyone that was not a friend or relative.

Friday, I was at Walmart buying cups, plates, napkins , etc. for Ryne's party.  I got in line behind a lady who was buying a few items to make a lasagna.  Her total came to under $9, which I was surprised because I thought it would be more for what she had.  She ran her debit card and the cashier told her that it was not going through.  The lady swiped her card again and again got the same response from the cashier.  So the lady said that she would go to the ATM right quick and get cash for the purchase.  I just stood there thinking about whether or not I should have purchased a $7 fishbowl to use as a serving dish for the goldfish crackers for Ryne's party.  I assumed she would come back with the cash and pay for the   groceries.  There was a line at the ATM so the cashier canceled out the lady's transaction to go ahead and check me out.  So she left the lady's grocery items sitting on top of the grocery bag carousel thing.  Then I saw the cashier look over my shoulder and say, "so you don't want the items" but I did nothing.  When I got in the car I stopped for a minute to think about what happened and I felt terrible for not having the cashier add the lady's groceries in when my purchase and just giving them to her.  $9 dollars isn't a lot when you have money, but when you don't have it, $9 is a meal for a family or several days worth of food for one person.   I realized I was too caught up in planning and buying for a birthday party and I should have been more concerned with helping someone out.

So this week, keep your eye open for a chance to Pay It Forward.  It doesn't have to be a big gesture.  Sometimes the smallest things can help, and sometimes the small things to us are big things to others!