- You are covered in an emergency! FEMA suggests having at least 72 hours of food you can eat, when you don't have power to cook AND a supply of bottled water. People from Hurricane Irene on the East coast didn't think they would be cut off from food and water for over a week, but they were. A small stockpile could have helped them out! In the Midwest, we have blizzards, ice storms and more -- it's not uncommon to get over a foot of snow overnight and you HAVE to stay home.
- Fiscal responsibility. You can buy things at rock bottom prices and hold out until you really need more or the next big sale comes along. It won't take long for you to see a big savings in your spending...many weeks you will look at the store ads and realize that you do NOT have to go shopping because you have enough. It's a great feeling! Soon you will have "extra" money at the end of the month that you can uses to pay off that credit card, tuck into your retirement account, build that college savings fund or assist your church.
- Security! It's an unsure time for many - people are loosing their jobs, their homes and more. If you have 3-6 months of basic food and personal care items, you have one less thing to worry about as it can take MONTHS to get in on some of the programs that you would qualify for. Your family can at least EAT!
- Stewardship. If you find someone down on their luck, or with a family emergency, it is easy for you to bless them with food/personal care items if all you have to do is take if off of the shelf! It really makes it easy to help others and doesn't take a huge chunk of your budget.
If you are new to couponing, and have figured out your new grocery budget, use only 25-35% of it to build your stockpile as you keep shopping "normally" with the balance of your budget.
Stock up on your basics.
Make a list of the 30 most common things you use and watch for the deals on those. Matching a coupon to the item when it is on SALE helps maximize your savings and creates a stock up opportunity!
Work the Meat Selling Cycles of your store.
Each store has a rough 6 to 8 week cycle of meat sales. If ground beef is on sale this week for $1.79/#, get enough to last you 6-8 weeks at that cheaper price. Next week, it might be boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.69/#. Again, get enough to last you 6-8 weeks! At the end of your store's cycle, you will see yourself saving 20-25% off your normal grocery budget, even if you never clip a coupon!
Watch produce.
It makes sense to stay with in season, fresh produce than to buy it out of season. Strawberries in May for $1/# are a much better buy than strawberries in September for $3.50/#. A general rule of thumb is to stay under $1 a pound, and if you see little FRESH produce, look at the frozen produce! It's picked at it's peak and frozen quickly - and you will find it much tastier than veggies from a can.
Watch the NON Produce seasonal items!
January = Diet/health items
February = Chocolate and Canned Food Month
March = Frozen foods
April = Easter items
May = BBQ/Cookoff items (think condiments, hot dogs and brats)
June = National Dairy Month
July = More Cookoff items
August = Back To School/granola bars, juice boxes, fruit chewies
September = Back to school supplies
October = Halloween
November = Baking items
December = Dinner items (gravies, stuffing, potatoes, etc)
FIFO
First in, First out. You need to rotate your inventory just like they do at the stores - so you use the oldest items before the newer ones. If the expiration dates are too small to see easily, use a Sharpie and make them BIGGER.
Got a Chest Freezer?
Make an inventory list! I love the idea HERE
Keep it organized! A friend of mine says the difference between stockpilers and hoarders is simple: stockpiles don't have dust!
If you have a lot of canned goods and are stumped for storage, consider these! They automatically rotate the food for you so you use the oldest items first AND is inexpensive. A four pack for shelves runs under $14 -- and you save 10% when you buy five or more sets when you enter the code SAVE10 at checkout.
We will keep adding more tips -- we hopes it helps you!
