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Stockpiling
I had a hard time coming up with what to blog about this week. Mrs. January (http://www.mrsjanuary.com/) did an awesome snippet this past week on stockpiles, how to create one and why they are important in order to save money, so I thought I would expand on this topic a bit more:
A stockpile is where you keep excess items you purchase when you buy more then you will use.
Benefits to Stockpiling:
-The biggest reason to stockpile is to spend less. You may have to invest more money at first (by purchasing more than you normally would), but in the long run it will save you money (as you won't be purchasing these items at full price ever again). Only buy items you will use when they are on an INCREDIBLE sale (lowest you have ever seen). This way you won't have to purchase that item again until another great sale (thus saving you money in the long run).
-You will never run out of the things you use a lot of. Stocking up on things like toilet paper, paper towel, diapers etc. ensures you will never run out and have to purchase these items at full price when they are NOT on sale.
- You'll always have food to make into meals.
There are a few points you should keep in mind when creating a stockpile:
1. What to Stockpile - Determine items that you use on a day to day or weekly basis. Those are the items you should stockpile a lot of. Items you use only once in a while are still good to stockpile when they are on sale, however you may decide to only purchase 10-12 of that item, rather than 40.
2. Expiry dates - Only buy enough of an item that you will use it up before it expires. Purchasing 40 cans of beans that expire in 6 months is probably a little unrealistic (unless you love beans!)
3. How Long? - Typically I stockpile enough of my items for a year. For example, if pasta sauce goes on a really good sale I typically will buy 12-15 jars. We only eat pasta about once every 3 weeks, so those jars will last me a year and I won't have to buy anymore sauce until it goes on a really good sale again.
Stocking Up:
1. Use Coupons on items that are already on sale:
Look for items that you use that are on sale that you ALSO have a coupon for. For example: This week Walmart has Royale Toilet Paper and Paper Towel on sale from $7.78 for $4.78. There was a $2.00 coupon for both that they released at Christmas making them $2.78 each, which is a steal! I'll definitely be using up all my coupons this week to get them for next to nothing and I won't have to purchase again until another great sale!
2. Look for Reduced to Clear Items:
There are always meat items labeled with reduced to clear stickers or 50% off labels. This meat is fine to purchase and eat as long as you freeze it right away and take it out only when you need to use it.
3. Buy a Chest Freezer
This is one thing my husband and I purchased this year. The Brick had a small chest freezer on for $175 during one of their monthly sales. We scooped it up and have it already stocked with frozen blueberries and pumpkin.
4. Buy in Bulk/Vaccum Sealer
We have a Costco membership which has been a lifesaver for our growing family. Some things are definitely NOT good deals at Costco (such as toilet paper and paper towel), only because I can get those items cheaper by couponing. But, for some food items that I cannot get coupons for buying in bulk in cheaper. For these items, such as hotdogs/bacon we have a vaccum sealer. We portion out the meat and use the freezer vaccum bags to freeze them into portion sized meals.
My challenge to everyone this week is to find one item on sale that you use regularly and buy a bit more than you normally would, thus starting your stockpile!
Total Spent Week 4: $153.68
Total Coupon Used Week 4: $43.48
YTD Grocery Total: $505.44
Coupons To Date: $97.01
% Savings to Date: 16%
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