Stocking up is easy, once you get the hang of it. When you find an exceptional deal, you buy as much as you can afford and reasonably use before it spoils.
I recently found peanut butter on sale, with a coupon, for $1.00 a pound. I bought six jars.
We also have two years worth of Hefty garbage bags, because I was able to combine an exceptional loss leader with twenty high-value coupons that I bought on eBay for less than $2.00.
The stock-up grocery plan is reliant upon a price book. Amy Dacyczyn introduced the idea in her book, The Tightwad Gazette, and that is still the best description available.
Basically, the price book is a record of the unit price of the groceries and household items that you regularly buy. With this book in hand, you will always know if a sale is really a good deal.
I had a really hard time getting my price book going. I knew that it was necessary, if I was really going to cut my food budget so deeply, but I just couldn't get my head around it.
Finally, I just started a page in an old pocket-sized notebook for every item that I got at a really good price. I recorded my deal, and figured out the unit price.
There are many benefits to stocking up on food and other daily needs. Some of them are surprisingly intangible. There is a certain peace that comes from knowing that your home is well enough stocked to get you through a few months of ... anything.
It's also easier to give up restaurant meals if you have everything you need to cook a scrumptious meal right at your fingertips.
I have saved even more money because having lots of food in the house reduces my 5 p.m. what's-for-dinner anxiety. This has completely and quite painlessly gotten rid of frantic hamburger and pizza runs.
Wow, micksgirl--I've never seen an actual list that someone thought up. I have a great stockpile that I built on my own, but it's much different from what you have listed. I think it's a great idea to put a certain amount aside to help build up your stockpile, but remember that it's not written in stone. There are things on your list that we wouldn't use and other items that aren't on your list that we use a lot of. Keep an open mind so you can take advantage of loss leader sales, items that are on sale that you have coupons for, and things that you have happened to run out of. I've found that a garden which I freeze and can out of have helped us tremendously, but there is an initial expense. Also, don't forget to add things like toilet tissue, hand soap, and toothpaste. Just never quit. In time you will figure out the best system that works for you.
I live in an apt right now but we are moving this summer to a house, hopefully with a pantry. I have been dying to start stocking up on good deals. This is a five dollar a week pantry stockup that I plan on trying.
"Food storage for $5 a week
Set aside $5 a week to buy the specific items each week. You will have a kitty set aside that you put the $5 in and you can't touch it for any reason but to buy the food storage item for that week. Put in the remaining change back into the kitty. Some things in the beginning are going to be cheap and then later will be more expensive. In order to pay for the expensive stuff later you need to keep the leftover money in the kitty. Weeks 38 and 44 you will have "off" to replenish the kitty.
700lbs of wheat, 240 lbs sugar, 40 lbs of powdered milk, 13 lbs of salt, 10 lbs of honey, 5 lbs of peanut butter, 45 cans of tomato soup, 32 cans mushroom soup, 15 cans tuna fish, 10 macaroni and cheese dinners, 500 aspirin, and 730 multiple vitamins They suggest adding 6lbs of dried yeast and 6 lbs of shortening and this should be enough to sustain 2 people for a year. For every 2 people you have in your family add $5 more and double or triple the amount of whatever you are buying that week. "
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