I’d like to explain some of the benefits of having a stockpile. You almost NEVER have to pay full price for something when you need it because you are stockpiling when things are on sale, and hopefully with a coupon. You almost always have something on hand to cook for dinner, make for lunch or to put together a quick snack. And if you happen to have bad weather, you’ll be all set for food. Stockpiling DOES save you money, if you do it slowly. Don’t try to get everything in one shopping trip. It could take months to build up a good stockpile. One thing to remember is that just about everything has an expiration date. When my mother first began her stock pile, she quickly realized she couldn’t stock pile everything because some things don’t have a long shelf life, like salad dressings. So be careful and if the shelf life isn’t long, then don’t get more than you can use in that time period. Most sales happen in cycles so you’ll be able to get more at a good price again.
Stockpiling is not for everyone but for those who do want to try and build a stockpile, here are some ways to get it going.
How to begin your stockpile….
- Figure out how much money you want to spend each week building up your stockpile. You can start with $20 if you’d like. With sales and coupons, $20 can go very far.
- Make a list of the things you seem to use most often or run out of the most. Those are things you DO want to stockpile first. Remember, we aren’t’ just talking about food. You can stockpile health and beauty items too.
- Again, don’t run out and buy everything at once. When the weekly sales flyer’s come, sit down and look to see if any of the items on your list are on sale that week.
- Next you want to see if you have (or can get) coupons for those items. Coupons can come from many different sources…. The Sunday newspaper, Magazines, Boxes of products, the mail, printed from the Internet, from your family or friends and you can even purchase coupons on eBay or from a coupon clipping service.
- To begin, I suggest you ONLY buy items you have coupons for that are on sale that week. Figure out how much you can get with the amount you set aside for your stockpile.
- Repeat this each week until you have a good stockpile going. Then just replenish as needed.
As you build your stockpile you may find items that never have coupons that you really want to stockpile. That is OK, but ONLY buy them when they are on sale. Remember the purpose to a stockpile is to help you save money. There will be weeks where you can get items for FREE with the right sale and the right coupons. If that’s the case, go crazy and get as much as you want. But try to leave some in the store for the next person. I know I hate when I go buy something and there are no more left.
Saving money can be and is addicting. Be sure to teach everyone you know how to do it so they don’t take everything from your stockpile!