Lost my stockpile in a fire - Looking for advice

[stacyloucks]

Two days before Thanksgiving, we had a small house fire. As a result, I lost all of my food and medicine/vitamin stockpile with the exception of some canned goods.

I've been couponing for over 3 years, but now that I have empty shelves, I feel like I've never clipped a coupon before. The most frustrating part is that I take for granted that I always have "X" in my stash.

I'm looking for direction on starting over. Here are a few points that might help understand our situation...

First of all, we are all safe. It was a miracle! It was 10:00 at night, in a room that we don't use AND the smoke detector didn't go off. For no reason at all (except that God rocks!), I opened the door to this room and it was full of smoke. It could have been very, very bad if we had been asleep.

Nothing of significance was damaged.
I'm only looking for advice, not donations or anything else.
The stockpile loss will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. We have renter's insurance, so I'll be reimbursed FULL PRICE :-) for everything I lost. I had also bought things that it turned out we didn't like or use. A lot of the medicine was close to expiration... It's just a big hassle.

When I built my stockpile, I lived in NV. I now live in CA. Prices are much higher here and crazy coupon restrictions make it very difficult to stock up. In NV I very regularly bought large quantities for pennies on the dollar. I've not been able to score even one deal like that here. I really like to buy a ton of one or 2 items and then not worry about those items for a year. I may not have that luxury since I'm starting over.

I work off a very tight budget, but if the deal were good enough, I have money put away for that. I'll also be receiving the insurance money.

Meat is not an issue for us. We don't eat very much, so when it's on sale, I buy enough for a few months. Fresh fruit is also not a big deal. I go to the farmer's market when I can.

I did not lose my paper products stash, but it's getting low because of the higher prices here.

It's me, my husband and our 18 year old dd.

Our house is the "hang-out" so we go through a lot of popcorn, chips, nuts, etc.

So that's the scoop. I just stare at the empty shelves and don't know where to start. I spent 3 years building that stockpile and I always knew that I had what I needed in there. Especially hard are the items that I only had 3 or 4 of and that was a year's supply for me, i.e. baking powder.

Advice?

[Coupon_Momma11]

So sorry to hear about this... Glad that you and your family are ok and that nobody got hurt. I really do not have any advice to starting your stockpile again since I am still new to this couponing and am still figuring out how to build my stockpile. Just wanted to let you know that I am glad that you and your family did not get hurt.

[CW&M Mom]

okay these are the good things to stock on right now.


IMO WAGS it's the best time of year for HBA, CVS and Right Aid might be the same too..because between Thanksgiving and Christmas they have so many more Freebie stuff.

So I would focus on that stuff.

After Christmas is when you want to focus on Ziploc Bags and if you purchase ready made cookie dough, as there will be ones in Christmas deco that they are trying to get rid off. Same with Saran wrap or Press and Seal.

Right now on coupons.com The good coupons are Brawny, minute maid OJ, Libby veggies and fruit, Reynolds wrap ($1.25/1), Muir Glen, Can't believe it's not butter,

Right now Charmin is on sale at DG.

What stores do you have? That might be helpful to know what to suggest as well.

[tylerkarenmay]

WOw. that is sad. but glad you all are ok. Since you say NV has tones of better deals. i have a few suggestions. 1. when you get your money from the fire. maybe visit NV and stock up. It should not take more then a weekend. 2. if you have family there maybe they can shop for you over a peroid of time to build up on the GREAT deals and then you go one weekend and visit them and bring back the stuff. Not sure if something like that would work for you. just a suggestion. And if you need some coupons let me know. I am also in CA so i know just how bad it is here.

[434Teresa]

Sorry I had a fire years ago and lost everything. We were at the movies and the stove shorted out and started the fire...

I would say to make you a coupon wishlist to start with for the items you wish to stock up on. As for medicine's most of those have a long date but I would not but more than 2 or 3 extra bottles at a time for they do go bad and dont work as well over time..

Good luck on your restock

[OneHotMomma]

I'm also glad to hear no one was hurt. As for your stockpile . . . take it one item at a time. Here are my suggestions.

I suggest watching the ads for loss leader items - those are the items that get people into a store. Just be sure to try and stick to your list so that you don't go off budget.

Meal plan - this way you can use what you do have along with a few new items each week (preferrably loss leaders) to have good meals. It really does help keep you on a budget.

Multipurpose meals: Cook 1 chicken and split it up to use in soups, casseroles, fried rice or something all week. I can usually make a chicken stretch through 3-5 meals. Use the bones to make broth for soup.
Make a big pot of chili and freeze the leftovers for the end of the month in case you run out of food money.

Shop the drugstore - CVS is the place to shop - for vitamins, HBA, and over the counter meds. Work the system. Watch the preview ads and order q's in advance for upcoming sales.

Stockpile one item at a time just like you did before. Buy 1 if you have to have it but hold out for the sale+coupon combo. Rebates are good too if you can find them for things you don't get coupons for.

Does your farmers market sell veggies too? If you buy in season produce in bulk and then can or freeze for later in the year, it's cheaper than buying out of season produce.

Lastly, go to the store alone. When my husband and children go with me, I feel bad saying, "No, we don't have a coupon for that." or "No, it's not on the list." I save money by leaving them home.

[stacyloucks]

Thanks and reps for the advice so far. In answer to the questions:

I have Wags, CVS, Rite Aid (Never shopped there before), Vons, Stater Brothers (cheapest), Ralphs (Kroger), Albertsons, Target, Food for Less, Winco, Fresh & Easy, Sprouts, Smart and Final Extra (cool store, good prices, limited inventory), Wal-Mart (Only in major desperation), and a few other grocery stores that I have not been to but remind me of Food for Less.

Ralphs doubles but has very high prices and a lot of restrictions.
I think Vons doubles too but same story as Ralphs.

OneHotMama - Farmer's market does sell veggies too. I've never frozen fresh veggies. Should I blanch them first?

"Go to the store alone." lol. My family would prefer a root canal over going to the store with me. lol

CW&M - Thanks for the timetable tips. I'll need those after Christmas items for sure.

Tyler - I have thought about making a trip to Vegas to shop. Smiths was always my major stock up store. If they have a good enough mega sale, I'll probably make the trip. You live in CA - where do you do most of your shopping?

Teresa - I can't imagine losing everything! So sorry that happened to you. Glad everyone was safe! I like the idea of a coupon list. I will start working on that. I used to have a spreadsheet from this site, but I can't find it.

I gotta tell you this must be helping. I'm starting to a feel a bond with my binder again. lol

[OneHotMomma]

I usually just get peel/slice/chop whatever it is and then freeze it on a single layer on a cookie sheet. When it's frozen I scoop it into a container and that way if you only need say a handful of green peppers, carrots or onions to throw in with your casserole or whatever you can get exactly what I need. No big chunks.

I have read that you need to blanch things like asparagus and I've tried that but haven't cooked with it yet to see how it turns out so I'm not sure.

I do know that I do not like celery that has been chopped and frozen. It comes out kinda stringy.

Oh and another tip. When you have leftover veggies, even just a little, throw them all in a freezer bag you keep in the door of your freezer. When it gets full you can make soup from your leftovers.

[CW&M Mom]

Snuggle and Electrasol typically have there really good coupons in January..so hold of on major stockpiling until then. Usually it's the first Sunday in January with the 5 inserts when they come out with the really good coupon!!!

You might want to wait on the nevada trip after that 5 insert comes out.


I would consider doing the ziploc bags at any store including walmart after christmas. Target is a good one too. they both have good after christmas clearance on ziploc, press and seal.

[SFShopper]

ARghh... where u were u on BF? I would've directed you towards my heaven.on.earth - Walgreens

What I've been doing @ Wags now, especially if I need filler - I look @ what paper products are on sale and, get it that way... Yeah, like a few girls have mentioned, focus on a couple of things @ a time - I think that's how we all started with our stockpiles... Otherwise, you're just going to overwhelm yourself.