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When I first started using coupons I spent a lot of time reading about stockpiles and thinking about stockpiling and still never got started. I’ve thought a lot about why I just sat on the sidelines knowing that people were stockpiling with success and yet I never took the plunge.
Here’s what I decided: It’s overwhelming. There, I said it. We all know that looking at someone’s stockpile makes you think you have to immediately have a pantry and closet full of items and honestly it’s like we don’t know where to start.
When stockpiling you have to remember why you are doing this. You are stockpiling to ultimately reduce the amount of money you spend on budget items. So there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Only stockpile items you need – Make a list of the top 10 items you use on a weekly basis. I have a Health and Beauty List and a Food List.
- Only buy at Rock Bottom Prices – This is actually easier said than done since prices and sales come and go and it gets easier the longer you do it. But a general rule to start off is to buy at 50% and stockpile at 75% or more of normal retail prices.
So if I have Macaroni & Cheese on my list of items I use on a weekly basis and it’s normally $1 a box. I’m going to buy at $0.50 a box or as close to that number as I can get, but when I find it for $0.50 a box and I have a coupon for $1/4 making it $0.25 a box then I’m going to stockpile so that eventually I’m not ever paying $0.50
Another reason I didn’t start stockpiling sooner is that, well… Stockpiling costs money. I had finally gotten my budget in balance again, but I didn’t have extra money to buy extra items. I was “making ends meet” on a weekly basis so adding in items I wasn’t going to use seemed daunting.
I really do believe that couponing and saving money can enable you to have so much more. However as with anything in life there is often a degree of sacrifice required to get ahead.
- $10 a week is all it takes to get ahead. Just think if you could buy cereal for $1 a box then you could buy 10 boxes of cereal! So where do you find that extra $10? The easiest thing I know of is to give up $10 worth of Snack items, Soft drinks, Orange Juice, etc. If you can give up 2 or 3 $3-$4 items for one week then you can begin.
Here’s an example to help you understand:
Week 1:
- Sacrifice $10 worth of items you can consider (Extra’s) Don’t worry these will eventually come back into your budget.
- Use that $10 to stockpile one item that you use on a weekly basis
- If you can purchase 10 boxes of cereal for $1 each rather than $3 each
And you use 1 box of cereal a week then you will have saved $2 out of your grocery budget every week for the next 9 weeks. ($18 Savings)Week 2:
- This week you only need to reduce the items you are purchasing by $8 (Since you are already saving $2 from the cereal) You should still have $10 to work with.
- Try buying another staple. Check the ads for the best price or check my site for the best match ups. Purchase something like Cheese If you can find 10 bags of cheese for $10 and you normally pay $2.50 a bag you will save $13.50 over the next 9 weeks.
Week 3:
- This week you only need to reduce your items by $10 – 2 – 1.50 (Your savings from previous weeks) = $6.50 this allows you maintain your $10 weekly Stockpile budget.
- Find another item you buy on a weekly basis. If you continue this trend it won’t take long to be able to purchase all your normal items and still have the remaining $10 to spend stockpiling. You will be amazed at just how fast your stockpile grows and how fast you can start to see the freedom in your budget.
Remember, this same strategy can be used with just about any budget item.
I would love to know what you used to start your stockpile. Did you have a plan, or did you just try to purchase items that were free to get you ahead. There’s no wrong answer but I would love to here your thoughts on this subject.
Photo Credit: babaghan
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I started stockpiling about 1 month after I started couponing. I have a good stock of health and beauty products, toilet paper, and some foods. My most favorite stock pile item is Pepsi products. The last time that I replenished my stock of 2 liter Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper was about a week ago. They went on sale for $0.74/ea when you buy 10. I had $1.00/2 coupons, making (2) 2liters $0.54/2. So yes I stocked up. I do watch the dates on the 2 liters and I store them in a cool, dark place so they don’t go bad. I haven’t had any problems with them going bad, and usually have enough to do me till they go on sale again. It is an awesome feeling to purchase 100 pop, for under $27.00, and knowing that they will last me for at least 3 month.
I have started stockpiling just in the last few weeks, most of the way that I have found is to buy what I need. We have always had a stock of the basics and we use a decent amount of shopping money to keep us comfortable, but we also have decided that there are things that we want, that we cannot have with cutting the fat somewhere.
We cut our budget back by $50 a week and have still been able to buy the things we like and want with out going over our new shopping budget.
First let me say I really enjoy your blog. How I started stockpiling was just about 4 months ago. I couldn’t believe how fast I obtained a huge stockpile of health and beauty items, cleaning supplies, and paper products. I have a small stockpile of food, but getting there. All our local supermarkets stink when it comes to coupons. Most around here don’t even accept the printed and if they do, there aren’t many that double – and even if they double them, they only double the low value ones because they only double up to $1.00. So I don’t get really big savings on food like those that have an Albertson’s or Publix, etc. Anyway, when I first started couponing, that very first week, KMart had one of their doubling events on EVERYTHING in the store. Well, this allowed for some very cheap or free items. My husband and I went every day for the entire week and that was the start of our stockpile. Then I discovered Target, where I never shopped prior to couponing, and the deals were unbelievable. Then I added Rite Aid and am always scoring huge there. I’ve just recently been attempting to figure out CVS and Walgreens. I just take one store at a time and add it to my places to shop and coupon. I make sure I have the hang of one before adding another. Of course, whenever I can grab something very cheap or free at Wal-Mart, I do. That’s where I used to shop for most things, but I find I don’t get the deals there that I do at Target and of course, my local grocery stores, I try to do the best I could but really hope to stockpile more food items than just the food that our local Target and Wal-Mart carry.
Great post! Thank you : )
To stockpile I just buy whats on a good deal that my husband and I use. I won’t get items if I know we don’t like them. Stockpiling of toiletries is easy to me because you don’t use them as quickly as food so if you find a good deal on body wash every 6 months, that is okay because it takes awhile to use it.
Great, helpful post!! Thanks! :-)
We started with toiletries and cereal. We managed to start using coupons right around the time Walgreens had the free Old Spice deodorant and Body wash. I now have 30 Body wash’s that cost pennies each from the last couple of months and finally put a stop to purchasing them unless we needed to roll RR’s. The cereal we managed to catch right around a dollar and picked up a few boxes since we were worrying about the expiration dates. Over the months we’ve covered pretty much every toiletry and have months worth (years worth of body wash) so we are migrating to food items now.
I was wondering if you know what the duration of sale cycles are? For example, if Kellogg’s cereal is on sale this week, when is the next probable time it will be on sale (eg 6 weeks from now)? I’ve heard that stores generally follow a pattern, but I was curious to hear your thoughts.