Now What: Stockpiling

You’ve Got Your List - Now What?


B) Building a Stock Pile - Buying Ahead
** See Stock Pile Price List-In the previous situation with toilet paper, because you are out of TP (and assumably cannot live without it) you are essentially stuck with paying whatever the store has the product priced for that day, minus any coupons you happen to have.

-“Building a Stock Pile” means building an extra supply of commonly and frequently used items when the price drops low, so that you have extra on hand and don’t have to make a special trip when you run out - because you usually wind up paying top dollar when you have to make that extra trip.

-If you never used coupons but bought items only when they were on sale, you would still save a lot of money.
          ~Many products are “shelf stable,” meaning that they can sit on a shelf (the stores or yours!) for a long time without going bad. These are ideal products to have in your stockpile.
          ~Other products are perishable, such as milk or onions and potatoes. Some perishables can be frozen to extend their life before going bad. These items have to be selected carefully to ensure that the quantity purchased can be used before going bad.
          ~When stores put those commonly used items on sale, you should consider how much of that item your family uses and how often the product goes on sale.
          ~In a perfect world, you would buy enough of that item to last you and your family until the item goes on sale again - meaning that you would not have to purchase any of that item at full price, as you have purchased all that you need at sale price.
          ~As you coupon more and more, you will begin to notice sale cycles for the stores you frequent. This will aid you in reaching maximum savings without having 3 years worth of pasta on hand. You simply don’t need that much when pasta goes on sale every 3 weeks!
          -Slowly as you build a stockpile, you will find that you purchase fewer and fewer shelf-stable items each week for your meal plans, and purchase more according to sale fliers and what you have coupons for.

**As you build your stock pile, you will also feel like you aren’t saving any money. In truth, hopefully you are saving a bit of money but walking home with way more items in your bags for the same amount spent as before you started paying more attention to sales and coupons. The savings come when you have a decent stockpile built and stop paying full price for anything!