Spinoff from cj's stockpile thread

[Michelle]

How does one know how much to stockpile when preparing for winter? I know that keeping track of what you use will be good for future years, but what can I do for this year? In other words, where do I start?

[SewCrafty]

I honestly don't know Michelle, but this is what I have done this year.

Flour has been on sale for 68¢ for 5# so I have purchased about 20 pounds, that should be good for just the 2 of us at least until Christmas. It will depend on how much baking I do for the holidays if it will go further. The rest will just be used for bread making mainly once it cools off enough to turn on the oven again.

Sugar has been on sale for $1.38 per 5 pounds, so far I have 15 pounds of that. I was guessing on that as I make fudge for the holidays, but otherwise use very little sugar througout the year.

Our local grocery store all month has been having a "Can-Can Sale" you are limited to 3 offers per shopping trip. So each trip I have gotten 3 cases of veggies. I know have enough for 96 meals, which if used every day is only enough for a little over 3 months. But with soups and such filling in for other meals, I should do okay for a bit. I may go get more this month.

I also have been purchasing pasta on sale at 2 pounds /$1 and now have about 20 pounds. That should be plenty for just us 2.

I put in a garden this year, so have enough pickles canned for us and I am still doing up tomatoes. I canned 7 pints of spaghetti sauce the other day and will probably make up one more batch of that, the rest will just be plain tomatoes for various recipes.

In the last 2 weeks I have purchased enough meat on sale for about 45 meals, some will be good for 2 meals. I still have to get more olive oil, peanut butter and yeast. I still have lots of berries in my freezer and with the meat I just bought I don't have room in either of my freezers for a toothpick right now, so no more buying anything for the freezer for a while for me.

Toiletries, soaps etc... I always have plenty on hand, so am good with that stuff.

I really don't know how much of anything we use, but I think I am pretty well prepared so that I won't have to do a lot of driving this coming winter. Just to the local store 5 miles away for dairy and fresh produce is all.

Probably haven't answered your question, sorry about that, but I would love to hear other's answers to it.

[sunshine]

For this year? no background info?

I'd start by stocking up on loss leaders that you know your family will eat, items you know you'll use.

What's the longest time frame you ancipate needing your stockpile? For us, we get hit with snowstorms that block roads for about a week at a time. . . so I make sure I have enough food, medicine, entertainment items for at least that long.

Do you anticipate power outages? What time frame there too? We lose power multiple times over the year. . . generally only for a few hours at a time, but occasionally for about a week at a time. . .I make sure we have plenty of non perishable foods, canned goods (and a manual means to open them) etc. I have a propane stove in my kitchen, hand mixers, and so forth. We have hurricane lamps and oil. . . . . .

[homesteadmamma]

Michelle, just as the other ladies said, start with loss leaders.

An example: canned tomatoes are a loss leader. You use canned tomatoes in many things (soup, pasta, etc.) Buy a few for your pantry, then buy an extra 5-10 (or more if you can) for your stockpile. (btw - I don't have a clue if you use canned tomatoes, its just an example.)

If you find flour on sale at a good price, purchase extra. Same with sugar, rolled oats, rice. It can be frozen and you will always use those (if you cook from scratch).

The first year I did this, I would purchase loss leaders and ALWAYS purchased 5 or more than I would normally. It took me almost 3 months to get my stockpile where I wanted to. However, with gardening that stockpile ended up lasting me almost two years while dh was out of work.

Also look for case-lot sales. I often purchase when there these sales are on. One word of caution here though: Make sure you check to see if it really is a good sale. ie: Canned milk here is $1.99 per can. We just had a case lot sale and it was then $1.09 per can. Quite a savings. Canned peaches were a different story. Purchasing them by case-lot only saved me a couple pennies and I could purchase them cheaper when they were a loss leader.

I never purchase a loss leader just because its a loss leader. Nor do I purchase something on sale just because it's on sale. I have to use it and know that it will be used.

Another really good place to start is toiletries. Two years ago I found a great loss leader on men's deodarant. I purchased 12 and had enough for just over a year. Toilet paper goes on sale - I purchase two extra (24's) each time it goes on sale. Right now I have enough for 2 months. I'm waiting for the next sale.

Watch also for laundry soap, dish soap, hand soap. When you see a good sale, purchase an extra one or two. I purchased enough Tide liquid laundry soap last Dec. when it was a huge loss leader than I still have enough to last me well into next summer.

I also garden which makes a huge difference. I don't purchased canned veggies. We don't like them, we like frozen much better.


A word of advice - start small otherwise it becomes so overwhelming. Keep track of what you use a lot of and then watch for loss leaders. Also sometimes items can be on at a good sale and not even a loss leader. For anyone who doesn't know what a loss leader is - its the items for sale on the cover page of store flyers.

[joyofsix]

Just my two cents, I keep a tally of what I use monthly. I buy an extra or two of each thing in the late summer and fall as $$ permit. Like someone said above, I know this is stuff we'll eat no matter what. I pick up stuff if it's a good sale too. My goal is to be able to avoid dragging six kids out in the snow to the grocery. This give me leeway and enough we can skip the store if we feel like it or have a storm. Don't forget paper products, TP, feminine needs etc. Now one wants to run to the store in sleet for that.

[forestdale]

Michelle, write down all the meals, cakes, cookies and snacks you remember cooking in the past month. When you have your list, go through it and make another separate list of ingredients. Write the ingredients used to make it all, if you use an ingredient once, just write its name, if you use it more than once, place a cross next to the ingredient for each time you use it. So your ingredients list might look like this:

Flour xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sugar xxxxxxxxxx
Pasta xxxxx
Rice xxxx
Bacon x
Ground beef xxxxxxxx
Fish xxxx
Vanilla xx
Choc chips x
Barley
Lentils
Split peas x

When you've finished your ingredients list, you'll have a good idea of what you use a lot of, and what you use, but only in small amounts. Then you can make up your shopping list and begin to search out your loss leaders and sales for all those ingredients. Take notes of the amounts you buy and use in a month and the following month you'll have a better idea of what to buy. It won't be perfect the first month but you'll soon get to know your patterns.

[SewCrafty]

Hey, great idea Rhonda, thanks!

[QuilterMom]

http://frugalvillage.com/forums/show...t=preparedness

[Michelle]

Thanks Rhonda

Does anyone else have very few loss leaders at your store? I hardly ever see any really good deals on things, unless I go 20-25 min out of our way. Most of the time those deals aren't worth it since the price of gas is so high.

[Michelle]

Originally posted by QuilterMom
http://frugalvillage.com/forums/show...t=preparedness

Thanks.