Stockpiling 101: Building Your Stockpile

[ekoury]

Originally Posted by ComeOnGetDown hi! :) i've been couponing and collecting a little stockpile for a while now (i live alone so it's a small stockpile) so, i'm familiar with the concepts discussed here. however, i have been considering starting a stockpile for baby items. the catch is, i'm not married or pregnant or plan to become pregnant in the next year. but, i'm 25 now, so *hopefully* it'll be in the next 3-5 years. i just keep seeing these great sales, and if i can get items for free, i don't see why i couldn't get prepared now. the only problem i'd have to overcome is storage, which should be pretty easy, i'm buying my first house soon so lots of extra bedrooms = lots of extra storage! w00t! i guess my question is, does baby shampoo, diapers, wipes, and other things like that ever expire? should i just wait until i'm actually expecting? i think part of this comes from my love of a good deal, and part of it is my biological clock is trying to tell me something :hectic1: anyway, i'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, advice, concerns, etc..

Diapers never go bad. Do not know about other baby stuff tough. you should check out In The Family Way thread. They have all kinds of info for baby stuff and how much you would need.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Originally Posted by ComeOnGetDown hi! :) i've been couponing and collecting a little stockpile for a while now (i live alone so it's a small stockpile) so, i'm familiar with the concepts discussed here. however, i have been considering starting a stockpile for baby items. the catch is, i'm not married or pregnant or plan to become pregnant in the next year. but, i'm 25 now, so *hopefully* it'll be in the next 3-5 years. i just keep seeing these great sales, and if i can get items for free, i don't see why i couldn't get prepared now. the only problem i'd have to overcome is storage, which should be pretty easy, i'm buying my first house soon so lots of extra bedrooms = lots of extra storage! w00t! i guess my question is, does baby shampoo, diapers, wipes, and other things like that ever expire? should i just wait until i'm actually expecting? i think part of this comes from my love of a good deal, and part of it is my biological clock is trying to tell me something :hectic1: anyway, i'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, advice, concerns, etc..

If it were me, I would wait to really begin stockpiling baby stuff till you were actually trying to conceive or pregnate. The deals will come around again...if you cannot resist the urge to buy because it is such a good deal a small stockpile on hand for gift giving would not be a good idea!

[ComeOnGetDown]

i think i'm just a little overly excited about stockpiling and having the stuff ready.. haha

but, i think having stuff on hand as gifts is a great idea too, i think i'll start with that. thanks! :)

[ctorao]

Hi! I live in Los Angeles and am wanting to stockpile on canned food (fruit,beans,pasta,soup,tuna, etc) in case of an emergency such as an earthquake. What would be a good price to get these items at so I know when I find a deal to take advantage of it?

thanks

[thickbluebug]

Wetwipes dry out....so that's something not to stockpile lots of.
Lotions, washes, creams do well.
I go to Jcpenney between the seasons and buy baby onsies and such when they puts out those 10/10 coupons.

Originally Posted by ComeOnGetDown i think i'm just a little overly excited about stockpiling and having the stuff ready.. haha but, i think having stuff on hand as gifts is a great idea too, i think i'll start with that. thanks! :)

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Originally Posted by ctorao Hi! I live in Los Angeles and am wanting to stockpile on canned food (fruit,beans,pasta,soup,tuna, etc) in case of an emergency such as an earthquake. What would be a good price to get these items at so I know when I find a deal to take advantage of it? thanks

Prices really will vary depending on your region, sales and coupons available but for me I aim for about $0.50 a can or less for most canned foods (fruit, beans, soup, tuna, etc) One way to think about it is to find out what the generic prices on things that you want to stockpile and see if you can beat that price with sales and coupons. Take into consideration that even generics go on sale from time to time. In my area (Wyoming) most generic canned stuff averages in price from $1.00 to $1.50 when it is not on sale (heck if I HAD to buy it without coupons and a sale I could get most of that stuff at the dollar store) however they often go on sale for $0.70 to $1.00 a can (remember generics) but with a good sale and some coupons to go with it I can usually get named brand canned foods for in the $0.50 a can range (sometimes less, sometimes more)

Each persons preferences for what their households will eat is different. For example, I am a bit of a tuna snob and prefer solid white albacore tuna, which is usually pretty pricey. If I can get it for $1.00 a can I stockpile it heavily. Brands for soup vary, Progresso brand seems to go hard on sale pretty often in my area and with coupons and doubles it can come close to free...however my family does not like that brand of soup so I usually just get Campbell's. We eat a lot of canned beans, but not so much canned other canned vegetables. We do canned fruit however because my kids are "fruitaholics" and eat me out of house and home on the fresh fruit so canned can do in a pinch. And while I don't stockpile just for emergency reasons it is always a back up just in-case. Build your stockpile a little at a time and you will soon get a feel for prices in your area and your own stock up price on the items that your family/household uses.

Don't forget that if you are stockpiling for emergency purposes to store your stockpile in an area that you can access in case of an emergency. I am originally from CA and know that most homes out there don't have basements, which would not be a good place to store emergency supplies in case of an earthquake. But your garage should do pretty good keeping in mind the heat if you are in southern CA

[ctorao]

thanks for all the info, i do have plenty hygiene stuff but have never stockpiled on food. We have a shed in the back and had planned to put the stuff out there because knowing this house in an earthquake (big one at least) it's sure to come down. But you mentioned the heat..... Will that affect the canned food?

[hbranc01]

I am new at this as well. I am with supermanning. How do you get the stores to use more than one coupon for one item?
Thanks :)

[uummm]

Originally Posted by hbranc01 I am new at this as well. I am with supermanning. How do you get the stores to use more than one coupon for one item? Thanks :)

You can not use more than one coupon per item, unless you are combining a store coupon with a manufacture's coupon. It is possible to combine deals where you use a coupon and get coupons back for money off your next order.
I see you are new, I suggest you take some time and hop around this site...read read read. Take small steps. It can get confusing quick.

[coupon4deals]

I still don't understand the multiple coupon stockpile idea. How do you get the store to accept duplicate coupons for 1 item??? I shop at KMart, Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger, CVS, and Rite-Aid.
Thanks.