Learn to Build a Stockpile
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Time was long ago, that I would go to the grocery store with a list of all the things that I wanted to buy. Today, I decide what I want based on what’s on sale.This reversal in my thinking has helped us trim our grocery budget enormously. Three years ago I regularly spent $800-1000 each month to feed our family of then 7. I’ve shaved that down to about $600/month on average.
This new way of doing things can be a little restricting sometimes, but overall it works out.
You see, I practice what some people call, stockpiling. I buy things on sale before I need them and keep them on hand in the pantry.
What Stockpiling Is Not
Now let me clarify between what I do and hoarding. You’ve probably heard plenty of horror stories about people who died with closets and closets of food and other belongings that they didn’t really need. Due to fears, some probably very real, they didn’t want to be without. And so they bought without as much purpose as they did compulsion. They bought when they didn’t need it, and they never used it.
Frankly, I call that waste.
In my mind, a proper “stockpile” is one that is used. I may buy 10 boxes of cereal at one time at a great price on sale and with coupons, but they get eaten within a couple months, avoiding waste and avoiding a bigger bill at the grocery store.
You see, I could buy two boxes of cereal for five weeks at pay whatever the going rate was, usually about $2 a box. That turns out to be about $20. OR I can buy ten at one time for about $0.50 a box and spend a mere $5. Over five week’s time, I’ve saved $15.
That is stockpiling.
Important Guidelines for Stockpiling
There are some guidelines to keep in mind when you’re building and maintaining a well-stocked pantry on a budget.
- Don’t buy something you won’t eat. Unless you’re sure you and your family are going to like it and use it, don’t buy it. Even if it’s a great deal. Even if it’s free. Don’t buy it. The only exception to this rule is when you are sure you can and will donate it to someone who will put that product to good use.
- Check the expiration dates. Make sure the item is something that you can store for a reasonable amount of time.
- Make sure you have room at home to store it. It’s not a deal if it drives your family bonkers as they trip over said “good deals.” Only purchase what you can reasonably store.
- Don’t eat it all at once. In the above scenario, my ten boxes of cereal should last five weeks. Well, my kids could eat ten boxes of cereal in one day. So, you need to have some kind of control over your stockpile. I have a very tall closet pantry where we store our dry goods. If I have excess of an item that the family could consume too quickly, the extras go way up high where my kids are least likely to get them. The 20 cans of tomatoes which they will not open go on the bottom shelves.
- Make sure it does get eaten. Once you get a stockpile going, you may forget what you have. Rotate your stock frequently. Tidy your cupboards weekly. Build your meal plans from what you already have. And eat from the pantry yearly. It’s not a deal unless you use it.
Stockpiling Happens Over Time
If you’re just starting out in building a frugal pantry, your grocery trips will look kind of odd.
- You’ll be shopping from the sales.
- Items may or may not go together in an obvious way.
- Multiples of one item will look really funny in your cart.
It’s okay if the checker doesn’t understand the method to your madness. You do.
This past week a recent trip to Walmart produced these items in my cart:
3 bottles of Genesis Today juices ($6 – $1 coupon = $5 ea)
3 bottles of Hunts Ketchup ($1 – $0.20 coupon = $0.80 ea)
2 packages of La Creme Mousse yogurt ($2.19 – BOGO coupon = $1.10 ea)
Now that’s a weird combination. Sure, I also bought a gallon of milk and some birthday party stuff. But, I browsed the aisles and saw these items on rollback. I knew I had coupons in my coupon box which greatly reduced the prices of these items. I checked the expiration dates and I knew that I had space to store these items so we wouldn’t feel like we had to eat them up quicker than need be. While it may have been a weird combination, I was building our stockpile, saving us money on those items that we enjoy and will use over the coming weeks and months.
Do you practice stockpiling? Or does this sound totally wacky to you?
See ya in the comments.
I’m a huge advocate of stockpiling… but you make great points that anyone wanting to stockpile need to remember. There is nothing worse than have to toss out an expired item because you didn’t rotate stock. Even if you pay less for an item, waste is still waste!
I’ve been stockpiling for a year and learning lessons along the way. What to buy a lot of & what we don’t need/use. You’re right in terms of passing up a ‘free’ item when you don’t use it or need it. (but that’s hard to do sometimes!) I just bought shelving and plastic see-through bins with lids for our stockpile area – it’s been extremely helpful. To help rotate our stock, I mark everything with the month & year of expiration with a sharpie marker so that I can see it better.
I was using this method a bit at Costco, but overspending my budget because I’d buy on top of my “regulars” I just started trying this method about two weeks ago. I’m finding I’m a little tight on my budget right now because I’m just now stocking up, but from my understanding, it will even itself out. I already have plenty of meat in the freezer, so I should be able to stretch it out with all my other things. I’d love to read more on this too. 🙂
Excellent post! I usually stockpile a lot of health and beauty items, like toothpaste, body wash and shampoo when they are on sale. I have limited space in my kitchen (meaning worst cabinets EVER), so it’s rare that I’m able to stockpile food really well. I do buy mandarin oranges in bulk for my son’s lunchbox and Splenda packets by the 1000’s. If I find a food sale I can’t pass up, I just stockpile food items in my linen closet behind the pillowcases!
Building a stockpile has saved our budget! This along with couponing has helped me to save $150/month! It took a while for my husband to be okay with it. He thought it was crazy to buy so much, but when I explained to him and he’s been seeing the savings, he’s become better with it;)
I am a total stockpiler – especially since my husband took a 15% pay cut. I had a freind say to me a few months back – ” You know that show Hoarders? That totally reminds me of you!” I was totally mortified. I in no way think I am a hoarder. In fact I am often accused of throwing things that are needed out. It bothered me so much that I told my husband, he got a good laugh out of it. He said if that friend would look at herself she would see she is way more of a hoarder than I will ever be. I am just a smart shopper and I have been preparing our family in case we get into some real financial trouble at least we will be able to eat decently for a few months.
I guess I am glad that I don’t watch much TV. 😉
I LOVE using coupons to stockpile–you can save SO much money! If you need extra coupons, go to my website http://www.couponkutters.com to find what you need to go with sales, etc!
Coupons are limited in our area paper and tend to be for processed foods, so I rarely bother with them. I shop the sales, stick to basics, etc. Our bill for 6 for the week last night was $67 and I think our groceries are expensive out here since we live in the country and it’s 2 hours from the distribution centers. Now no real meat was purchased, only fresh vegetables, staples (flours, yeast, sugar, oil, etc), the complimentary things that go into meals, such as sour cream, cheese, seasonings and milk, butter, etc. But I have meat in the freezer from a friend who butchered a cow, chicken bought previously on sale, so no new meat was needed. By shopping for mostly simple foods, we have managed to weather many a bad paycheck on $50-75 per week.
i do a bit but there’s some obsessive compulsive hoarding the family genes here (like we found 50+ year old food in my grandfather’s pantry when he passed away) so i try not to let myself get carried away. i’ll only stockpile something if i already know i like it and it’s my preferred brand.
Ah, yes. I had visions of my gramma’s basement when I was writing that post. 😉
I love stockpiling!! I started really getting into coupons in October. At first the whole concept seemed overwhelming, but it just took a little while to get the hang of it! I love having extra toiletries on hand when we need it. It is definitely better than having to run to the store all the time to get a product. Plus stockpiling allows our family to donate items. We save money getting things when they are the cheapest, so we are then able to give those items away, without feeling the burden of the item’s price. (If that makes sense 🙂 )
I recently did something similiar, gave toliet paper rolls that I got for free with coupons to my brother who is really tight on money. It made me feel so good to be able to help him out a little. I also give him many of the samples I send away for!