20 SOMETHING DOING SOMETHING: Brittany Pollock McCandies & My Coins Matter
The next 20 something started couponing because one day she didn’t have enough coins, forcing her to choose between diapers and dish soap. She began teaching others and it has now turned into a group where Brittany Pollock McCandies and her two sisters, J’Mia and Ikeshia, help others save coins all over the world, but it doesn't stop there, Brittany and other couponers have come together to use their stockpile to give to others. She has definitely created a wave, and I was able to sit down with her and found out how all this started!
Once, I thought I was going to Target with my sister to look at home stuff when we ended up in detergent for 30 minutes as she scrolled thru her coupon folder trying to find deals. I couldn't believe it the infamous "My Coins Matter" had even gotten to my mom and sister! (Which is a plus because my mom totally just looked out with some detergent pods this weekend!) Couponing is a big deal and Brittany has definitely increased the wave, especially for the 20 somethings.
“It took months for me to get it. At first I was spending too much money, I failed shopping trips. I would have all the right Q’s but I would see the person I’m learning from spend a dollar while I’m spending $7!"
Her older sister, Ikeshia, tried to teach her how to coupon but at first it was NOT going well. She
gave up!Then came the day that she had to choose between diapers and dish detergent and just could not wait until payday. Her sister refused to just let her take from her stockpile. Instead she made her get serious and decided to teach her. Once Brittany got the hang of it she began to teach others. She began holding classes and now has a Facebook group that is always LIT. If you’re apart, your notifications are always going crazy from everyone posting what they learned and sharing their hauls! I was surprised to see my mom and cousins in other cities posting their hauls in "My Coins Matter".
"After I had my first class I realized that I really loved helping people and teaching people how to save.”
The "My Coins Matter" name is known in the stores, and even though extreme couponers don't have the best relationship with cashiers, Brittany does not want it to be that way and tries to help her group do everything the right way without glitches. She has definitely cultivated a community that loves to save money and help others save money by sharing their couponing stories and advice. Her group is constantly growing and she wants it to continue to grow with things being done the right way.
Brittany has accumulated so much from her hauls that she will never run out of diapers or dish detergent ever again but she has also started sharing this stockpile wealth she has accrued.
Brittany and her friend Porsha Wilson, a fellow couponer, created "Lifeline" an organization that reaches out to the disenfranchised or under resourced in our community. They donate much of their surplus from couponing to "Lifeline" where they then make and give care packages to women at the battered women’s shelter. They also have had loads of food that they did not want to go to waste so instead they made tons of baked spaghetti, salads, and bread in order to serve meals to the residents at Sunrise Towers.
She knows the group is big but she wants everyone to be able to keep up and be apart. She has so much more she wants to share but being a mother comes first. She tries to include the kids in her couponing by bribing them to help her find peelies and blinkes while she's crunching numbers in stores. She is hoping to focus on better ways to get information out to people so everyone can learn and beginners don't feel left out. Whether it's with more classes, through a new website, or with more videos, "My Coins Matter" has a lot in store for everyone in the near future.
