Brilliant little idea for organizing spice mixes, Kool-aid packets, oatmeal packets, and more in the pantry. Simply hang up a clear plastic front shoe bag and stash away all those little things that never seem to have a proper home in the pantry!
Tip via MoneySavingQueen found via Pinterest
I just love a easy cake recipe that uses common ingredients that I can get for free or cheap using coupons. I stumbled upon this great recipe from TheCountryCook.net and knew it was a recipe I was going to have to share with our readers here at HCW!
This cake uses all ingredients straight from the pantry, items many of us have in our stockpiles.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Spray 9×13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Prepare cake as directed on back of box. Pour into baking dish and bake according to cooking times on back of box.
When it comes out of oven, allow to cool for just a few minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk with caramel topping.
Now, start poking holes in the cake with a fork. Lots of holes! You want plenty of crevices for the caramel mixture to go into.
Drizzle caramel mixture over cake.
Put cake in the fridge to let it finish cooling. Once it is cooled, spread whipped topping over entire cake. Then sprinkle with crushed Butterfinger candy.
Keep cake in the fridge until ready to serve (because of the whipped topping).
If you like, sprinkle some extra crushed Butterfinger bars on top before serving or drizzle with a little chocolate syrup, then dig in!
Cook’s Notes: This cake is also very good if you use a Devil’s Food Cake mix.
Be sure to check out TheCountryCook for more fabulous recipes like this one, she has a lot of great recipes for what I would call stockpile recipes!
Yesterday I was reading my children the classic story of the grasshopper and the ant. For those that may be unfamiliar with the story it is about a hard working ant who is busy all summer long stockpiling food for the hard winter ahead while the other character in the story, the grasshopper, spends his days playing his fiddle and dancing. Then the cold harsh reality of winter arrives and the grasshopper finds himself cold and hungry while the smart little ant is warm and snug in her nest with her stockpile of food set aside to feed her (and here fellow ants) the winter through.
It is amazing to me that there is actually a children’s story centered around stockpiling. With all of the negative connotations that have been floating around there in the media about stockpiling and couponing it was refreshing to pull this story out from the bookcase and use it as a teaching moment to my children on being a hard worker and being prepared. Having a reasonable stockpile is not hoarding, not if you are going to use it. It is not foolish. It is not greedy or selfish. It is not glutinous. No indeed it it is smart!
In the wake of Hurricane Irene I am reminded just how important and convenient it is to have a stockpile. After speaking with some of my couponing friends one of the common threads has been “I am so glad I have a stockpile!” Unlike other natural disasters like tornadoes and earthquakes, hurricanes usually come with a few days notice. People then rush to the store to stock-up on water, bread and canned goods because they are not already prepared. While the stockpiler is pretty much set and may only need to run to the store for a few items to get them through. But what about those of us that live in an area where a natural disaster can strike without warning, we are left at the mercy of nature and many find themselves unprepared! When a tornado touches down, like we saw recently in Joplin Missouri, grocery stores were destroyed, so there was no running to the market to pick up supplies after it happens.
We recently received a great question from HotCouponWorld reader Gretchen W. from Spokane Washington asking us how many coupon inserts she should get each week.
Dear Coupon Girls,
I have recently taken up couponing and would like to build a modest stockpile of grocery items. However I was wondering if you could suggest to me how many coupon inserts I should get each week so that I have enough coupons to build a stockpile. We are a family of 5 (myself, my husband and our three children ages 3, 5 and 10).
Thanks for your help,
Gretchen W. Spokane WA
P.S. Love your site, keep up the good work!
Hi Gretchen,
Thanks for the compliment on the site, it is always nice to hear that we are helping folks save money! Your question is such a good one and one I think other new couponers may be asking too. As you have learned in order to save money with coupons one of the fundamental keys is to build a stockpile. The size of your ones stockpile is going to vary greatly from the size of another persons stockpile based on many deciding factors. We recommend that you take into consideration the following before deciding on how many coupon inserts you will need.
The fact of the matter is, there really is no “rule” set in stone on how many coupon inserts you should try to obtain each week. However, I personally find that 2-4 coupon inserts per member of your household is about right. So for your family of 5 you may want to aim for 10 to 20 coupon inserts per week.
Couponing is more than just “get the coupons, find the deals and buy a bunch of stuff and stockpile it”. In order to be a SMART couponer it is important to think and evaluate your own person situation in order to stockpile smartly.
The size of your household: For obvious reasons the larger your household the larger your stockpile will probably be. We are a family of 6 people plus 3 cats, 3 dogs and a guinea pig. My stockpile needs are probably going to be greater than a single person as we consume more food and household goods.
Available room for stockpiling: You need to plan before you stockpile where you are going to store these items. Each persons home is different. If you live in a small apartment or trailer with little extra storage you will need to either dedicate a closet, cupboard or shelving unit for your stockpile or get creative with your space. I won’t presume to tell anyone where they should not stockpile items, but I personally think having stuff stored in plain sight or in valuable living area creates mental clutter, and for me, no deal is worth the anxiety caused by having an extra mess in my home (I have 4 kids at home…they make enough of a mess already!) On the other hand if you are lucky enough to have extra storage space in your garage, attic, basement, spare room then you are only limited by as much space as you have. I am blessed to have a 2 car garage where I store most of my food items, a unused linen closet (we store linens in the bathroom or in the bedroom instead) which I use for health & beauty products, and a ample laundry room where I store cleaning and laundry supplies. Before stockpiling assess what sort of space you have and get creative if you need to!
Consumption rate for each item you buy: For each item you plan on purchasing with your coupons you need to think not just “how many coupons do I have” but also “how much of this product will my household use”. There are some items that you will find that you all the time, every day, every week or only a few times a year. For example, most households use toilet paper everyday (we hope), so that is something you may want to stockpile more of versus something you may only use a few times a year like oven cleaner. If you are a from scratch baker you may want to stockpile more baking supplies like flour and sugar than boxed cake mixes. Think about how often you will use each item before you buy it. Just because you have 10 coupons for something does not necessarily mean that you need to buy 10 if you will not use 10 before that item expires.
Financial stability: Ones financial situation does come into play I think when one is considering how much of something they should stockpile as well. Right now the economy in the US is rough for so many people, with 13.9 million people unemployed (according the the US Department of Labor), many people are struggling or are worried about possible job lay offs. This is a real situation for many who are turning to couponing as a way to help economize their households. So I think that it is important to take into consideration where you are at financially when planning how much to stockpile. If your job, for example is pretty secure and you have ample savings to get you though a few months if you were laid off then you may only want to stockpile enough to last you 3 to 6 months. However if you are worried about your job stability you may, if you have the room to do so, want to stockpile a little bit more to last you a longer period of time should you loose your job, say 6 to 12 months or more. And if you are already unemployed and are living paycheck to paycheck or find yourself on a very small budget no matter what the circumstances then you are going to want to stockpile enough based on what space you have and what you can afford. I have been in that situation myself, living on a very tight budget when my husband was injured at work and couponing and our subsequent stockpile literally saved us. So I think it is something worth considering.
I wish there was a cut and dry answer to your question Gretchen, but I hope that I have given you some sound advice for you to begin to think about and start planning a coupon and stockpile strategy that works for you and your household.
Happy Shopping!
Heidi
Do you have a coupon question you would like to see The Coupon Girls answer for you? If so submit your question here: Ask The Coupon Girls and be sure to check out past Ask The Coupon Girls posts.
Organizing a stockpile all depends on the amount of room you can designate to the cause. Some people contribute a spare bedroom, some give up their entire garages. And some even build spare rooms onto their homes for stockpiles (talk about dedication). Regardless of the amount of space you have anyone can stockpile.
I have seen people with extra rooms build shelves along the walls and then others have bought cabinets to use. Either way you prefer is fine. A good way to store smaller items is to buy plastic tubs. You can get these tub in all sizes, so you can buy the smaller ones to put toothbrushes, chap sticks, and make-up. It is a great way to keep the smaller items together and to keep them from getting lost. You can even stack these boxes on top of each other to compact it down. These could be stacked on a shelf or on the floor.
As for myself, I have several areas I use to stockpile. I have 2 small hall closets in my house. I have a wooden cabinet that was given to me that has 3 drawers, 2 doors that open to reveal 2 shelves and then the top of it has a small storage there. I also have a large wire basket shelf unit that contains 4 large size baskets. I also have a shelf that was built for me behind my back door that has 4 shelves and a large open area at the bottom which is perfect for stacking sodas.
Yesterday, I was asked a question by a new member here at HotCouponWorld that I thought was interesting. She sent me a message stating that she was new to using coupons and had done her first shopping trip and had spent $300 at the grocery store and had only saved $80. She was wondering how she can flip those numbers and save $300 and only spend $80. This is a great question because it is part of the misconception that right out of the gate you should be able to save big bucks.
The truth is as a new couponer saving $80 is great! So many folk have now seen the TV show Extreme Couponing on TLC and so many folks are eager to try it out, and they can save, however the expectation that when you are first out of the gate with your first fist full of coupons that you are going to start saving 70-80 or 90% off your groceries is probably not going to happen.
So I wanted to take a moment to talk about how to coupon and stay within your budget and how not to end up spending more money than you normally would.
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