JANUARY 2011 : Living Off Of Your Stockpile Challenge. Ugh!

[cody82414]

Is anyone up for a JANUARY challenge to live off of your stockpile and spend as little out of pocket as you can?

These are the guidelines:
*** We are going to do a one month challenge by living off your stockpile – only buying the bare necessities each week.
*** Post your results here.
*** I also will chime in with my family's "living off stockpile" issues/results/recipes/receipts.

Exceptions:
1. Rolling RR, Catalinas, ECBs, existing gift cards
2. Rebate funds or proceeds from selling your existing stockpile that come in during the month.
3. Finding Items for FREE!!!

Can you do it?

what is included:

• All food, alcohol and cigarettes. groceries, pops at the convenient stores cravings, fast food stops, Sam's club, one time a year co-op purchases, etc.
• HBA/toiletries/cleaning products. hopefully we can all get the coupons we need and match them to the sales and rewards that go along with toothpastes, shampoos, cleaning supplies, diapers/wipes/formula etc.
• pet food/care. For the most part, this is included in folks' budgets.
• entertainment. Unless you specifically set aside money for entertainment, I consider it out of pocket, and then should be included.
• couponing expenses. newspapers, magazines, stamps, coupons, envelopes, stickers, paper, printer ink, etc., all should be included in your oop.

what is not included: regular bills/loan payments such as mortgages, car payments, car repairs, gasoline, utilities: heating/cooling, gas, electric, water, cable/direct tv, phone/wireless, internet. Medical expenses.


Q&A's:
Q. What about fresh fruit, veggies, milk, eggs and bread?
A. Yes, these items would count in your out of pocket expenses. Buy all your necessities each week to go with what you already have in your pantry/freezer.

This is all about cleaning out your stockpile.

Q. Can we roll ECBs, RR, and Catalinas?
A. Of course! Only the out of pocket expenses count as what you have spent for the week.

Q. What about gift money? Or Rebate checks that come in during the month?
A. Simply speaking, my goal is to not spend money out of pocket, which IMO does not include Gift money or rebate money.

Of course we all have "standard" expenses, such as mortgage/rent, car payments, insurance, utilities, medications, etc. All 'other' money's: including groceries, fast food, hba, household items, entertainment, et al, that would make up your out of pocket expenses.


Q. My state taxes food. Does tax count into our oop?
A. Yes. Tax is part of our oop (unfortunately, for some of us )

Q. Do perscriptions count?
A. GOSH NO!!! PLEASE don't forego your medications or those for your loved one's. No. Perscriptions/meds do not count towards your oop balance.

So???? Are you in?

Members currently involved in the challenge:
name --- Totals through post 2736 --- Personal Goals

cody82414 $109.48 $252.46 for my family of 5
MAL's Momma total will be $450.00
farmergirl $292.11 $400.00
Tatka75 $620.xx my goal is $500 for this month
pkchicken $297.01 goal of $100.00
jenrose $285.25 still my usual $200.00
MoneySavinDiva $118.18 I am lowering to $125. for January
cjpsmom $114.08 count me in for January for $175 for three peeps
SouthernBelle $92.89 I'm in for $80
poopsinka $177.00 My goal is $175 for my family of four
cma2a17 $295.68 Count me in for my normal $250.00
couponfan $100.00 $100
to1drland $100.15 Count me in for for my usual $100
spongebear $113.67 should I keep my budget at $200 or lower it to $150
activmom $350.04 $400.
cmricha2 $634.38 I'm in for $600 for the month for 3 of us
Shelly527IN $500.+ Goal for January: $300
regbyandjulie $235.40 $300 please
wendybegley I would like my budget to be $30.00 a week = 120.00/month
xmas_tree $358.37 $300
brokenangel $355.59 I am going to raise my goal to $400.
saving-n-va $110.00 $250.00
bugweena $63.48 I'll shoot for $300.
frugalstafar $500.00 Signing up for January and aiming for $500
TinaKlein $675.00 Shooting for 500 this month for a family of 5
cdarrow26 $53.48 $65 for the month
XUfan $396.04 I'm going to start with $500 for the month
everprincess $400.xx I'm going into January with $150.00 of rolled change for the budget this month
faeryedark I'm hoping for $200
slp99 I'm in for $200
kris*g $419.85 $325
kimandkathess I am going to shoot for $500.
Annye $97.53 I'm in for $300
ELLE-TN $234.34 $120 per week for my family of 5
irishsaver $907.18 My goal for this Month will be $450
svlacy My goal for a family of 4 is $120.
~~Who, me?~~ $114.66 $100. per week
sweetsurrender $5.24 $500 for the month for my family of 4
justmama $515.86
Lucky1307 $36.30
Zwella Ingrid $215.62 I'm in for $200
angel428 $1181.97 My goal is $1200 for a family of 7 and 2 cats and 1 puppy and 1 rooster and 9 Laying Hens
CouponSAHM $249.15 $200.00 for a family of 4

****** PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I AM OFF ON YOUR TOTAL OOP ******

[cody82414]

I averaged out what the family spends.
Not what I end up paying out of pocket,
That total for food, dining, hba/personal, entertainment, misc is $252.46 each month.


One less body at home this year,
so I am hopeful that total can be wittled a bit.

In addition my goal this year is to be more of a minimalist - getting rid of what we don't need, and not adding more stuff we don't need.

[cody82414]

Originally Posted by saving-n-va
So I'm sitting here thinking about 2011 and the grocery budget, the stockpile, canning, rebates...etc. (as I'm watching the Grinch, wonder if there is a connection?).

Should we put several months worth of grocery $$ into the account again? (worked well this year)
Should I increase/decrease the monthly budget?
How much will prices go up this year?
Rebates - back into the grocery account, into a "slush" fund, into dd's future wedding account, a Christmas club? Hmmmmm......
What to increase in the stockpile, what to not stock up on?

I know I want to can more next year, so I need to find sources for jars. Thrift stores? Yard sales? Any other ideas?

Why all this came to mind tonight, I don't know...so thought I'd ask y'all...

Are you planning on anything different in your couponing/stockpiling etc. habits? (obsession...whatever..)

[MAL's Momma]

Uh Cody, dear? I think you meant JANUARY.

I'm in again!

Let's see... I am planning on a trip to the farm for meat in January and want to allow for $250 for that. Should stock us up for a while. Beyond that, I'm going to say $200 for other items, but hoping to spend less. Depends if I buy inserts/find them/etc. Plus with Qs for our dog's food, I'm going to want to buy 4 bags when I find the right deal.

So, total will be $450.

I also want to work my coupons to the best I can - roll the free money as much as I can - and see how low I can keep the total OOP spending.

[farmergirl]

Definitely sign me up please!! Don't know for how much though, Unless DH wins the lottery, I am SOOOOOOOO not gonna be using all that I have alotted for December. Stupid Car!! Stupid Deer!!

Canning jars- Craigslist or start buying 1-2 cases per month and buy the start of canning season (Augustish around here) you should have a nice headstart. Unless you have a REALLY large family- you are gonna want to can most into pints- veggies, BLSL chicken breasts, meats, etc. Spaghetti sauces are best in quarts (unless you live alone- then pints). My suggestion is to have twice as many pints as you do quarts (unless you have a large family). Salsa is the exception- pints are pointless, go straight to quarts. 1/2 pints are pointless except for jellies/etc if you live alone. I have a TON of these that I don't typically use for much except herb/bulk seasoning storage.

My plan for next year is to try to save as much money as possible while building the stockpile-
1-get a couple more LARGE pressure canners (I have enough of the other sizes now) for cheap/free, get more jars (You can NEVER have enough)
2- get a couple years worth of lids (cuz I am down to about 6 dozen reg lids and have NO widemouths and I prefer canning in widemouths for meat).
3-Plant a HUGE garden next year; grow as much animal feed as possible- sunflowers, pumpkins, amaranth, etc.
4- Get my 2 goats that I REALLLLLLY want but haven't had the extra cash to build the enclosure. Then learn how to milk a goat.....
5- COUPON like crazy and stock up on EVERYTHING I can't grow myself. If I can get it for free- I can find a use for it or give it away.

I am thinking of upping my grocery budget to $100/wk for people and putting the extra $25/wk into a savings account for big expenses- extra freezer/ gardening supplies/ HUGE meat sales/ etc. I am NOT going to spend more on the animals!!!! I HOPE to lower their costs but their budget is staying the same.

[Tatka75]

I think I'm in for January
We spend a lot on fresh produce, so my goal is $500 for this month...
It's first time for me, so I have to came up with good way to track those expenses...
Is separete cc is a good idea? (full balance paid of course)

[pkchicken]

Count me in please.
Goal: $100.00

pk

[jenrose]

Hopefully I won't be quite so purple in January. Still my usual $200

[everprincess]

I'm in but not sure what my goal is going to be. Have to get through the holidays first.

[farmergirl]

OK, did the math, will stay at $750 for people and "kids" (chickens, rabbits, dogs, cats, ferret, pheasants). Thought about separating people and kids, but with the way I budget it just makes the most sense (in my head) as alot is interchangeable.
$400 people/stockpile
$300 kids
$50 garden- I'm really into edibles and will be REALLY upping the garden this year for both people and kids.



Why is it the SECOND the snow flies all I can think about is gardening?