Can you really stockpile food?

[5babies4me]

I have been couponing about 5 months now and my beauty and laundry and med and so on stockpile is getting bigger by the minute. But I cannot seem to find the right deals and coupons to be able to stock food. Can anyone help me TIA I shop Safeway,Albertsons and Fred Meyers SOMETIMES they are not very good with honoring there coupon policy..

[lmcconne]

Be patient. It takes time to accumulate a supply of all the staples. Be sure to watch for holiday clearances. For instance, I saw Ocean Spray cranberry sauce for 25 cents at Walgreens. Not free, but a decent price for those which consume it. Many of us stocked up on Libby's canned vegetables at Dollar General recently (or matched the price at a competitor). I wait for all the stars to align (sales and matching coupons) and decide whether to buy a little, buy enough to get by until the next sale, buy at least enough to last a couple of years, or buy even more because you will never see this price again.

[thompson589741]

One thing I ask myself when stocking up on edible goods is "what is my stock up price for this item?" for example the pouch of bumble bee tuna I won't pay more than .05 each if I can't get them for free; or ketchup I won't pay more than .15 if I can't get it for free; or cereal I won't pay more than .50 per box depending on my stock in my cabinet. depending on how often we eat the product or how much I already have will determine how much I am willing to actually spend for more.

It does seem that you will tend to pay more oop to get started on the food side of stockpiling. Funny how the HBA and laundry stuff is the cheapest most times. but like I said, if it's cheap for you, then get some.

I try to get at least enough of a good deal to last 6 to 8 weeks. that seems to be the cycle that the coupons and sales roll in, so I plan ahead. But when it comes to clearance be mindful of sell by/expiration dates. some items are good well past the date, but make sure you plan to use it in time. It's no fun to toss food that you lose track of.

Also there are certain times of the year that you stock up on certain things. like spring and summer is the time to stock up on Condiments and the like, because of grilling and picnic season in full swing there are coupons and sales every month for really good deals. around the holidays is more baking ingredients on sale. once you get familiar with the sale cycles it will be way easier to plan on stocking up for the year.

hope that helps!

[blossomed]

One thing I ask myself when stocking up on edible goods is "what is my stock up price for this item?" for example the pouch of bumble bee tuna I won't pay more than .05 each if I can't get them for free;

I WOULD do cartwheels in store if I could get Tuna for .05. I am LUCKY!! to get less than $1.00.

To the original poster - whenever I stock up on a food, I begin to hate it. Recently it was pretzals - I got 4 boxes for .99 (each - I'm just ok at this game) and now I can't even stand the look of the box. I am a girl that enjoys variety!

[5babies4me]

Thanks guys

[thompson589741]

I WOULD do cartwheels in store if I could get Tuna for .05. I am LUCKY!! to get less than $1.00.

To the original poster - whenever I stock up on a food, I begin to hate it. Recently it was pretzals - I got 4 boxes for .99 (each - I'm just ok at this game) and now I can't even stand the look of the box. I am a girl that enjoys variety!

try using crush pretzels as a pie crust. brush some of the salt off first before you pulverize it into crumbs then mix with melted butter. the hint of salt with a super sweet pie will make for a nice balance. I did this with ritz crackers for pumpkin cheesecake and it was exactly what it needed! I will always make it this way now. also you can use pretzel crumbs instead of bread crumbs just remember they already have salt.

that is kind of the fun of stock piling too, when you have a lot of one thing you find different ways to use them that aren't just eating it straight up. my DH gets sick up stuff quickly, so I have to figure out ways to change them and sometimes he doesn't even notice he is eating the same stuff lol.

[rachellepeters]

We go through phases of disliking our stockpiled items..but it all works out. Tuna...I don't buy unless it's a MM. Bumble bee got 40 last time it was a MM...we liked it for 3 months, then we hated it for 3 months, but guess what, it's gone just 1 week before the mega is to start. Got 100 q's and going to make .50 each this time around, so we'll be good for a while. Pasta...just got 50 boxes that were MMs...and using in different recipes.

Things I'm always able to get free or make money on.
Tuna, Pasta, Mentos gum, BBQ sauce, cereal, yakisoba noodles, reames noodles, canned veggies, pillsbury biscuits/sweet rolls and many others. The nice thing is you don't have to eat those things in just a few days...they last MONTHS. So the key is...when you find a freebie, gooo crazy, then concentrate on the next one....before you know it you'll have alot of several items stockpiled for free. The NICE thing is you'll have options of things to eat, and if you can work in your stockpiled items (like pasta for ex: by making in different meals, you won't get tired of it) allrecipes.com is a great site and even have an ingredient search. Type in 1 ingredient you have, and it will list all recipes that include it!

This week...Krusteaz cookie mix is on the mega (if you have a Kroger branch) most have .55/1 peelies making them free..so if you have access..there's a food freebie you can start on!

[thompson589741]

to OP:
if your stores don't want to honor their own coupon policy you should consider making a call to their corporate office to complain. Most businesses don't want to lose customers and will figure something out. It never hurts to make a call. good luck on your stockpiling endeavors

[5babies4me]

I do not have a krogers unfourtuanetly and none of my stores have anything like a mega sale.Atleast I dont think so.I know how to get gum and stuff like that its others I cant figure out.

[jenrose]

I do not have a krogers unfourtuanetly and none of my stores have anything like a mega sale.Atleast I dont think so.I know how to get gum and stuff like that its others I cant figure out.

Looks like your in my neck of the woods. Lately the best place to find food freebies has been Albertsons. Especially if you can find the Thanskgiving booklet at Safeway. I also had a hard time starting the food stockpile but now it come easier.

The biggest thing in our area is that the rules have been changing. Safeway used to have good deals with the combinations of EQ's and Paper Q's but that has now gone away. So now when Albies puts out their TVQ's I do as many runs as I can.

What part of Washington are you in?