Please teach me HOW to stockpile

[Sophiasmama]

I'm very interested in stockpiling...but unsure how or where to start...Any tips? Janine

[shoiji]

Here are some ideas:

Identify where you will keep your stockpile.

Make a list of the foods your family eats.

There should be a list of when the best time of the year is to purchase items such as produce, picnic supplies, baking supplies.

If using newspaper coupons purchase a newspaper from a large city in your area. You can stand at the store and look through the paper before buying it. The larger city newspapers tend to have the best coupons. Remember that you may not get coupons on a holiday weekend. I always check before I buy the sunday newspaper.

Find good quality reuseable storage containers for items that you might want to store food in to avoid bugs.

If you find good deals on items such as beans, noodles, and flour but want to make sure you will not get bugs place package in freezer for 24 hours.

Try to familiarize yourself with the best prices/store in your area to know when items are the best buy.

Try the couponmom website. She makes it really easy to match sales with coupons.

I try to stay away from highly processed foods so I tend to use coupons on pet supplies, personal care items, frozen produce, canned produce, breyers ice cream, detergent.

Initially it will cost a little more to build up a good stockpile for your family. I now am able to use my stockpile and purchase what I might need at the grocery store and can see that I am really saving money.

There are times when my stockpile would give me really odd meals if I had to eat strictly from it. But I would have food to eat.

Also, when I first started I took great pride in my stockpile. But I barely used it. It took me a while to realize I had to use it to get any benefit from it. lol

It may take a while to figure out what the best way to stockpile is for your family. So do not get discouraged.

[zakity]

When something is on sale that you normally use, buy several.

I acquired food grade 5 gallon buckets and got gamma lids for them to store things in (flour, sugar, beans, etc). I only put things that store well long term in the buckets. I also only store things that we will use up in a period of time in the buckets. We go through 150 lbs of flour a year, so two buckets are dedicated to flour. The only beans we go through in quantity are pintos and so we have a bucket of those. We also have a "misc" bucket for small amounts of things. We have some lentils in there and we might still have a small amount of corn meal in that bucket still.

[Sophiasmama]

Thanks so much...off to make a master list.

[Daisygirl]

I don't have tons of extra money for stockpiling. However, now that I have some basics stockpiled I can go for weeks without a real grocery trip. This allows me to save up for those times that the sales are really good.

I check the flyers weekly and set up my list based on what is on sale and ONLY what is on sale. I prefer a good loss leader. Some weeks I buy a dozen of only a couple of things. Then other weeks there are so many good things that I buy 4 each of 20 items. I have several closets and cupboards loaded to the max and it's a great feeling of security to have all of this food.

[Contrary Housewife]

Buy what you eat, eat what you buy.

I started by getting 1 or 2 extra items -- of things I would normally buy and cook up -- when they were on sale.

Don't buy more than you think you're going to eat in a year, after that things do get stale, dry out, get freezer burned, go rancid, etc. I would suggest you start out just with a 2-3 month stock up.

While you are eating off this stockpile, keep an eye out for more sales and savings, and be ready to replenish what you are using up when the next sale comes. Rotate the newer purchases to the back, eat up the older foods.

[oheoh's momma]

My stockpile is small but i usually buy whats on sale and buy extra.spaghetti sauce, canned veggies, fruit, tuna, dry goods that have a long storage life. I buy extra paper products, cleaning stuff, hygiene, and pet food. winters can get bad here so stockpile what works for you, buy 1 get 1 free is good way to start. remember you can store stuff under beds and under couches

[savvy_sniper]

Start out slow! Stock what you eat and eat what you stock, rotate your stock - first in, first out, make sure you store it properly so it doesn't get wet, bugs, mice, etc. Check expiration dates when buying. A good place to start is with HBAs.

Knowing how much of something you use is important. Dating the box, can, package, when you open it and noting when you use it up will give you a good idea.

I started out stockpiling for hurricane preparedness (two weeks of food and supplies). It grew from there.

I ONLY buy and add to my stockpile when I find deals, have coupons, etc. I recently found 16 large cans of Alpo for 59 cents ea (regularly $1.10 ea).

I shop at Kroger, HEB, a little at WalMart, Big Lots, and a salvage store. I also buy in bulk from Honeyville Grain. Since I have a healthy stockpile I can wait til I find things on sale.

[Pemberleyan]

My tip is to learn the shelf life of different products so that you can avoid waste. It might seem obvious, but I have seen photos of stockpiles containing, for instance, a couple of dozen jars of peanut butter or salad dressing. Now, depending on how much a particular family goes through, that may not be a problem, but anything containing oil or fat will go rancid in a few months or a year or so without refrigeration. This includes dog food, nuts, mayo, shortening, oil, and even coffee, etc.

I have been surprised by how quickly saltine crackers go stale, so I don't buy these ahead anymore unless I have room in the freezer. Because we love coffee and some reports say it will more than double in price, we have bought a lot of it and have made room to refrigerate it.

[dinah]

i'm just starting out, but i'm starting with HBA's because they have such a long shelf life. i've got shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, and toilet paper so far. i also have some cleaning supplies. once i get a real good collection of toothpastes, tampons, and soaps, etc. i'm going to move into foods.

my advice is to go slow, know what you have, rotate, and get the right kind of storage containers for foods.. i've done a lot of internet lurking about stockpiling and something i've read a lot of is things going bad or getting infested with rodents or insects or someone buying too much of 1 kind of food that doesn't get eaten.

[marjorie]

All good advice. I'd suggest figuring out what is costing you alot now, and trying to find deals on those items first. It will help to free up more money to take advantage of sales. I started my first stockpile very slowly because of $$ issues- 1 extra can of green beans. lol

[Sophiasmama]

What are HBA's? Sorry I'm that new to this. Can a person stockpile laundry items? They seem to be onsale a bit...sometimes canned(tin) seem to not have an expiration date...can anyone tell me the slef life of this stuff...or does it vary depending on acidity? Thanks so much for your input.

[frugalfranny]

Great info given..........yep, go slow.

Don't 'blow the budget' just to stockpile.

Know what your family uses A LOT OF.........and go for that first....if the prices are good.

I won't use a coupon just because I have one........if I don't care about being 'brand specific' on that item and something else is cheaper.

I don't even keep track of things that have an extremely long life.........TP and other paper, plastic products that I use. But I have plenty of storage room too. So....when I see a REALLY GOOD sale (far and few between these days!!) I buy one or two.

You will learn to buy according to your storage space and use of items. Some things are even heavier seasonal purchases if you have a garden..........do canning.......etc.

[dinah]

What are HBA's?

HBA = Health and beauty aids.

it took me a while to figure out what it stood for too.

[savvy_sniper]

This link is to stockpiling info on about.com.

Build a Grocery Stockpile

I searched "how to stockpile".