how "bad" is it to have a decent stockpile already?

[saversavory]

I started back into couponing around 5/1 maybe the week before. I have a decent sized stockpile that we currently are taking from, everyday. My spending hasnt really gone up from the usual. i just stopped wasting it and started spending the norm on cheaper(more) food. I think the fact that im given a TON of coupons each week( ive ordered a few multiples for stock up prices) has greatly helped the pile.


I will mention that i have shelving for non food items, and a shelving area for food items, a chest freezer( that was almost full of chicken before i started)and my regular fridge. Ive sort of been out buying a lot and im still sorta organising it. but i wanted to make it clear i do have a designated area for these things and i do have room for these things. I also have a pantry that i have my regularly used items in ( opened cereal, mashed potato flakes and rices that are opened, etc.) i could maybe use the bottom two shelves of that if i end up with some overflow-- and i do want to post some pictures of the stockpile once straightened. Im an organizing freak and the fact i cant make perfect lines all the time sucks, but im working on it! i have to bring some pegboard pegs in and hang some things too.


So tell me, is this a bad thing? to me its stellar, but i did get to where im at in less than 2 months!

[$Saving!]

As long as you're living within your budget, it's great!!!!

The stockpile approach is what allows you to 'sit back' and wait for a great sale and coupon match up to backfill that stockpile now. So your spending should slow even more

There are weeks where I don't grocery shop at all, and many I don't even hit the sales on the drug stores because of the stockpile I have and maintain.

You will find your stockpile "morphs" every month, items used, others added etc. But when a great sale hits on something you use, you add on more

For example - last spring, one of our local grocery store chains ran a very rare triple coupon event for 4 days only. Ok. Even though the Scott Bathroom Wipes were not on sale, the three coupons I had tripled making them free. Ahhhh, but just under the shrink wrap on top of the package was another coupon on EACH package. Yup, carefully sliced the shrink wrap enough to get those coupons out and bought 3 more and kept doing that over the 4 days at three of their stores I accumulated 27 packages of those.

That presented a problem as to where to stash those There was momentary talk of putting them in our master bath garden tub (never used) until I looked in a hall closet that we used for games and candles/scented household products and rearranged it enough to accommodate those. Whew! We're just now finishing up using those now but in the meantime I've been able to find a couple good deals on Cottonelle Wipes and the supply keeps going

You have done very well in a short time!

The whole concept behind the stockpile for me is to bridge between sales so that I never pay more than my 'set' price on items we use regularly. The best thing is seeing the savings percentage increase once the stockpile is built, giving you the grace period to wait for another great sale (higher savings) that match up with coupons.

[belinda2]

Saversavory, I'm the same. We didn't start at ground zero. The refrig in the garage, freezer in the laundry room and refrig/freezer in kitchen where almost stocked. My pantry was pretty well stocked. I started in April and am just about done. I moved some things around in closets and drawers to make more room and haven't gone over budget. But trips to the store are becoming shorter and for fewer items.

I had turned a hall closet into a small pantry for glassware but am now going to more everything in the top shelf into a top shelf in the guest bathroom. The top shelf in the hall pantry will be a good place for cereal. I don't like the idea of storing cereal in a bathroom even one which isn't used often.

I'd like more cereal, pasta and shampoo. Other than that, I'll need some meat and a steady supply of fruit.

[KmmCo]

I have always stockpiled because of the unpredictable weather here...getting snowed in occasionally. Once, even the grocery and target didn't open for 2 days. The snow literally buried our cars and it took us two days of digging to get them out anyway, so we weren't going anywhere! If a person didn't have a stockpile, they would be in big trouble in those circumstances.

I have a method to my madness in that I run my pile down a lot in the summer and fill it back up in the fall. This way I save money over the summer for vacation/fun stuff and start fresh with mostly empty shelves in October - just in time for the great holiday sales! I do have many weeks were I just buy dairy and produce because I don't find any bargains at the store. Other weeks, I might end up buying a huge amount because some things are on a great sale.

[JulieDB]

I have always had a stockpile not only because of the weather but because of daughter's food allergies. I have to mail order special bread and other things. The bread comes specially sealed so it keeps for like...a year after I buy it. I also like to keep a large stock of rice/corn/quinoa pasta. Athough I can get it pretty much anywhere, I might not necessarily find the shape I want.

I do wish I had some soup coupons now though. I just cleaned out my cupboard and there was some pretty old soup in there. This time around I won't buy very much though. No sense buying it to toss it out.

[~~Who,Me?~~]

I'd say as long as you're within your budget, and stockpiling stuff you need/use, great job! I find it comes in waves. Finding deals & having the time to do them, it can be tough. Right now I'm riding a nice wave of freebies, and my stores have been pretty good lately. But there are slow periods too.

[saversavory]

:) i started setting up my pegboard in the corner. i had some things up so they were out of the way but i had to take that down... Im... almost appalled at how many razors i now have.

Let me explain. I would go hairy.. on one pack of razors for 6 months because... there just wasnt that extra 8 bucks for me to shave my legs. GROSS, yes. but you know. when its dh shaving his face, using TP or washing laundry. you just go without shaving, or use the shavers DH has used and are dull.

Now that im back into couponing, im spending what we usually spend and i have razors! Now its just to change my habits for me, because i deserve not to be a wooly mammoth!!! Pictures coming soon in case anyone interested( not of said mammoth though)

[belinda2]

Kmmco, my stockpile originally started because of weather. We live on the coast and electronic highway signs are presently urging individuals to get ready. Most don't. Once we move into hurricane watch the shelves are cleared of batteries, water, plywood and tape. Once the hurricane hits land shelves are cleared of refrig/freezer foods, bread, canned meat and liquor. There is no gas or electricity.

There are some on this website who sound like they are close to a nervous breakdown when they see cleared shelves but on the coast it is every man for himself because everyone is protecting family and property. First come first serve. I'm not a self clearer and we prepare some but mostly our stratagy is to leave early and come home late.

[saversavory]

Here is the pile as of right now. i promised them, even though it needs tweaking and i dont have the things i took out of this nook put away! There is a burgandy curtain that i can pull across the rod and hide all of this, which is a plus.

[ari'smom]

That doesn't look crazy or excessive to me, Saver. In fact it kind of looks like my mom's stash, and she doesn't coupon lol. Keeping an emergency larder or pantry maybe is more one of the "old ways." I think I might have even read somewhere that there is something about it in the bible, i.e. to keep so many days worth of food on hand? So maybe that is where it came from.

Anyway, saving and keeping things on hand to me is a good thing. We just moved back to the coast from the mountains and we had lots of crazy weather. Every fall we would start to stock up the larder for winter; lots of canned goods and soups, rice, flour, even bottled water for when the pumps went out or lines froze. Now that we live close to stores we don't feel the need to have so much stored. But since now we're doing it to save money it just makes sense in a different way.

I do have so say though the every man for himself thing scares me a little. Because I can only imagine what would happen to us if we had any long term wide spread problem with little to no resources. I was in awe in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami when they showed store shelves not cleared at all, and people just taking what they needed so that there would be enough for everyone. They said in the program that it was part of their culture and also their Shinto religion. And I thought wow, we in this country could sure benefit from some of that.