Stockpiling - a lifestyle
I have had people ask me "WHY do you buy 10 cans of spaghetti sauce or 10 boxes of pasta at a time"? It's a simple answer: Stockpiling.
Stockpiling is a time-proven method to combine the discounting power of coupons, sales, and rebates over the long term to free up some much needed cash. Finding that killer deal and then buying not one or two, but as many as you can at the super deal price. This requires you to have as many coupons as possible for every item at any given time (why it's nice to know the newspaper coupon inserts in advance so you can get extra papers!). Then corner the market, and store them away. Some people call this "cherry picking" - you really only shop the loss leaders and sales specials at the store - ignoring the other items until they go on sale. Create your own mini warehouse in your home and you are no longer depending on the store to give you a great price. You can wait it out, until another super deal comes along.
HOW much is TOO much?
There can be a fine line between stockpiling and hoarding (according to my husband). I like to shoot for at least a three months supply of basic items, from toothpaste and shampoo to pasta and rice. Ten tubes of toothpaste, purchased at 0 – 50 cents a tube during a sale/coupon/rebate, is ten tubes of toothpaste you are not going to pay $4 each for a month from now. That’s $35 – 40 of savings on one item alone…multiply that by the number of tubes your family uses a year, and you can begin to identify the potential savings.
If you realize that you are going through only 1 tube a month - then gift some of those extra ones to other family members or your local food pantry!
My dear hubby wonders why I bring home 10 boxes of cereal when we have 4 left in the cupboard...he would just buy two a week at the $4 a box. For less than that $8 - I can get five to six times as many boxes! They keep for 3 months EASILY (longer if in your Tupperware...) Right there, if we say i got 10 boxes for $8 -- I have saved $24 on cereal! This shows what HE thinks is a good cereal cupboard (good thing I am hitting a great sale this week!)
Some people think that they simply don't have enough cupboard space to do this -- here is a quick tip! Many people put shelves in their basement or garage for their pantry overflow. A quick $29 set of plastic shelving will more than pay for itself in the first month of use! A chest freezer comes in handy too- when you buy things like meat in bulk, it won't keep long in the fridge. (Not three months long, LOL). Now you can cook things off in advance, stock up on more yogurt and cheese, take advantage of frozen veggie offers, even ready to eat microwave meals.
When is it not a good deal?
If it is something your family doesn't like or would never eat - why stock up on it? Free for the sake of Free is no bargain if it just takes up shelf space! I don't personally choose to bring home things like Instant Potatoes, Ecto Coolers, Granola Bars, etc. All those lovely things that are riddled with high fructose corn syrup, preservatives I can't pronounce, etc. You can tell from my grocery summaries what I do bring home...a lot of pantry basics, fruit, veggies, meat and the occasional junk for my husband who still thinks that Spaghettios are a food group. (sigh)
Stockpiling DOES pay off - you end up saving 60-85% off everything, but it takes a bit of time to build it up - count on a good 3-4 months as you work your way through the store selling cycle and take advantage of it. This gives you small insight to my pantry...
And what I use the old "ice box" for -- yes, it is a VERY old house!
Stockpiling is a time-proven method to combine the discounting power of coupons, sales, and rebates over the long term to free up some much needed cash. Finding that killer deal and then buying not one or two, but as many as you can at the super deal price. This requires you to have as many coupons as possible for every item at any given time (why it's nice to know the newspaper coupon inserts in advance so you can get extra papers!). Then corner the market, and store them away. Some people call this "cherry picking" - you really only shop the loss leaders and sales specials at the store - ignoring the other items until they go on sale. Create your own mini warehouse in your home and you are no longer depending on the store to give you a great price. You can wait it out, until another super deal comes along.
HOW much is TOO much?
There can be a fine line between stockpiling and hoarding (according to my husband). I like to shoot for at least a three months supply of basic items, from toothpaste and shampoo to pasta and rice. Ten tubes of toothpaste, purchased at 0 – 50 cents a tube during a sale/coupon/rebate, is ten tubes of toothpaste you are not going to pay $4 each for a month from now. That’s $35 – 40 of savings on one item alone…multiply that by the number of tubes your family uses a year, and you can begin to identify the potential savings.
If you realize that you are going through only 1 tube a month - then gift some of those extra ones to other family members or your local food pantry!
My dear hubby wonders why I bring home 10 boxes of cereal when we have 4 left in the cupboard...he would just buy two a week at the $4 a box. For less than that $8 - I can get five to six times as many boxes! They keep for 3 months EASILY (longer if in your Tupperware...) Right there, if we say i got 10 boxes for $8 -- I have saved $24 on cereal! This shows what HE thinks is a good cereal cupboard (good thing I am hitting a great sale this week!)Some people think that they simply don't have enough cupboard space to do this -- here is a quick tip! Many people put shelves in their basement or garage for their pantry overflow. A quick $29 set of plastic shelving will more than pay for itself in the first month of use! A chest freezer comes in handy too- when you buy things like meat in bulk, it won't keep long in the fridge. (Not three months long, LOL). Now you can cook things off in advance, stock up on more yogurt and cheese, take advantage of frozen veggie offers, even ready to eat microwave meals.
When is it not a good deal?
If it is something your family doesn't like or would never eat - why stock up on it? Free for the sake of Free is no bargain if it just takes up shelf space! I don't personally choose to bring home things like Instant Potatoes, Ecto Coolers, Granola Bars, etc. All those lovely things that are riddled with high fructose corn syrup, preservatives I can't pronounce, etc. You can tell from my grocery summaries what I do bring home...a lot of pantry basics, fruit, veggies, meat and the occasional junk for my husband who still thinks that Spaghettios are a food group. (sigh)
Stockpiling DOES pay off - you end up saving 60-85% off everything, but it takes a bit of time to build it up - count on a good 3-4 months as you work your way through the store selling cycle and take advantage of it. This gives you small insight to my pantry...
And what I use the old "ice box" for -- yes, it is a VERY old house!
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