[$saver]

Just wanted to add - on the question "Where do they get all these coupons?" - try your local library. Ours has a box for coupon exchange - I leave coupons for things like diapers that I don't use, but instead pick up multiple coupons for things I do use.

One thing that worried me about stockpiling food in the beginning was thinking we would forget to use things before the expiration dates, and food would be wasted. Two things made me feel better about that - one is, I did some research about the expiration dates that they stamp on canned and dried foods like pastas. Apparently things are good way, way longer than those dates - those are just dates that indicate when it will taste the best and have the most nutritional value. The other thing that made me feel better is I have decided to go through my pantry once every six months and look at all the dates and rearrange it to make sure I know what I have - anything that is within the next six months to expire I will move to my kitchen cabinets to make sure it gets used. Does anyone out there have any other suggestions to help with this?

I used to be one of those people who said I couldn't possibly buy extra of items...I could barely afford what I needed on a weekly basis, let alone buying extra. But I started stockpiling about 5 months ago, mostly on items I got from CVS sales - shampoo, toothpaste, razors, laundry detergent, dish detergent, etc. The best part is, after you get into it a few months and start to build your stockpile, you will notice you don't need nearly as much at the grocery store each week. And you can buy more and more items that are on sale with that extra money. It's a great feeling, when everyone is complaining about the cost of everything, to know you are actually paying less for things than you did a year ago and if you had to, you could go for awhile without buying anything! Stockpiling is the best!!