Need shopping vs stockpiling ( not sure if this is a spin off or not??) - Page 2

[Brisen]

We stockpile what we can, and buy perishables at the store. It was very helpful when we were living on student loans during the school year and then dh didn't find work until half way through the summer. It's also nice now that I can skip a week of groceries -- whether because money or time is tight -- and we still eat well.

I'm not so great at finding sales or shopping at places other than the grocery store. I have bought wheat at a mill, but that's about it. This summer I hope to can/freeze/ferment a lot of local produce and not have to buy much through the winter. I wish I could build a root cellar!

[heldt123]

Don't have much space for stockpiling grocheries. I'm lucky to have space for a week's worth, but I do try to buy extra of something if it is on a good sale. I do stockpile clothes for my son, though. I usually buy about a year ahead of time at yard sales and even at retailers. The high end store I shop at has end-of-season sales that rival any price that Wal-mart can throw out and the quality is much better.

[Treasuremapper]

AT the beginning, you do a mix of stockpiling and need shopping, with most of the shopping geared towards need and a little towards stockpiling. Then it seems to shift over time. I've only been doing it a few months, but it seems that now that the balance is shifting towards more stockpiling. Some things are easy to stockpile, some things are more challenging.

And, btw, this is my five hundredth post.

[captain crunchy]

I think stocking up can be a great thing or a bad thing depending on how disciplined you are... for instance, I love stocking up-- but you have to be very careful to stock up on things you KNOW you always need, because otherwise you are stuck with like, 50 of one thing you will never use because the price was SO wonderful!

For instance, I will stock up if say, coffee is *buy one get one free* --because I know my hubby drinks coffee every day...he always has, always will probably, until the end of time :LOL

Clothing would be good to stock up on for children when the things from one season are on DEEP discount... buying them for next season is smart, if you ca accurately judge their size...

I stock up on health and beauty things too if they are on deep discount or buy one get one free or something-- because we are ALWAYS going to use them and they don't go bad etc...

So you have to be good about it, know what you need, know what you will ALWAYS use....know what is a deal and what is a sham (like 10 gallons of mayonaise for $1 is STILL 10 friggin gallons of mayonaise..who needs that?? :LOL )

Yeah, I like stocking up though... it makes it easier on me and it's cheaper in the long run because I buy the things we will ALWAYS use when they are really discounted/on sale etc...

Good luck!

[Messac888]

I stockpile food items. My dh thinks I'm nuts at times, but he at least can see what kind of deal it is, so at least he doesn't give me flack. Example, the other day I was at our natural foods coop and they had organic milk, half gallons, two for a dollar!!! I was stunned- and then I bought nine gallons worth of milk. We use milk a lot and, even the non-organic milk is waaay more expensive than a buck a gallon, on good days!

It helps when you want to make things last-minute and you usually have 90% of your necessary ingredients. Last night I wanted soup. I had leftover portabello mushrooms so I made a homemade cream of mushroom soup, tweaking some ingredients to fit what we had. It was delicious!

[captain crunchy]

Example, the other day I was at our natural foods coop and they had organic milk, half gallons, two for a dollar!!!

I hear ya!

They had the SAME thing at my food coop--except it was organic soy milk.. I bought I think 6 of them I think?

The same thing with um, they had organic blue corn chips (usually $3 a bag in the store) and organic salsa (about $4) and they were $.50 for the chips each and $.75 for the salsa...

Well, we now have about 8 bags of organic blue corn chips and 5 things of salsa :LOL

It is worth it though because we can always whip it out as a quick snack or when anyone comes over or whatever...

Weird things like that I stock up on...hubby shakes his head but we always use them...

[dinade]

I am a stockpiler...

but this also helps me keep my grocery budget low and keeps me out of the store. Nothing much gets wasted either. I do remember when I first started out how I thought I can't afford to stockpile on the loss leaders that are on sale. But after doing one item a month for a few months you don't notice it anymore and it's built into your groceries then. I have quite a bit more storage now then when I first started. When I first started I had no storage. I got some cheap wire shelves and put them up and down the wall beside the washer where there was like 3 inches of space. I stored a ton of stuff there after that. That was just wasted space until I got ahold of those 3 inches!!! I got a free freezer from my mom and we're still using it. It's almost 30 years old so it's not an energy effecient one but I bet it's not costing us the price of a new one in a years worth of using...oh and it's one that you have to defrost so it's not costing us that much to run it. Most of the expense of a freezer is the defrosting capability. Anyway stockpiling is a wonderful way to make your meals and my dh pay used to really go way down Nov-Feb and we basically lived out of our stockpile and bought only milk at the store. Those months i could go to the store and spend like 20.00/wk only. So it was such a huge lifesaver then. Anyway. HTH.

I also stockpile clothes. I don't have a baby girl but I have baby girl clothes because we're hoping to adopt and my friends keep giving me there clothes.

[Benji'sMom]

Well, I meal plan and shop for a week's worth of food, but since I know what ingredients are in all my menus, I'll stock up on rice, beans, canned goods, and other such things if they're on sale. I know for a fact that I will definitely use them in the near future anyway, since all meals are planned in advance. Oh, and I love to buy lots of coffee when it's on sale, too! But if I happen to see some random item on sale, no I won't buy it. It has to be a non-perishable staple. Except DH & I did one time buy a huge quantity of meat from a door to door salesman once - that really did come in handy! It's like we didn't have to go to the store for 6 months almost!

[marsmom]

We stockpile and it definitely saves time and money. I love that I can always walk into my kitchen and find something to make for b/l/d.

A question though: I have always been a bit wary about stocking up on dry goods that might get buggy? Like beans, rice, flour, oatmeal, etc? I had some flour in a big ziploc that grew flour moths of some variety once and since then, if I can't keep it in the frig/freezer I only buy the quantity I'll use in a month or two.

Any thoughts?? Anyone does or doesn't have this problem? I just don't want to stock up on good, but still somewhat expensive, organic food and then not be able to use it.

[Belleweather]

I have old giant canning jars and old food-service sized mayo jars that I keep dry things in and have never had problems with rodents or bugs. We're thinking of going to 5 gallon plastic food buckets for things we use a LOT of like Rice and Flour - DH buys them for homebrewing for $5 a pop and the Mayo jars only hold 2 packgaes of flour. But they're the perfect size for beans, lentils, couscous, etc. I got them from a local resturant who would have otherwise thrown them out, so they're recycling as well!

[Jenivere]

I've never heard the term stockpile used this way, it's always been called food storage. And I think when done correctly it's a frugal and wise thing to do. It's great for emergencies wether you have an unexpected bill, a job loss, truckers on strike... And of course the less I go to the store, the less impulse buying there is.

There are certain things I always buy in bulk and I know they will be used.
Wheat (50 Lb bags)
Rolled Oats (60 Lb bags)
Sugar, white and brown (looking for a good deal on raw)
Canned vegi's and fruit
Some canned meats
Canned beans
Pasta
Canned sauces and soups


When I find a good sale on something and it is something we use then I stock up on it. I even buy my meat in bulk when I can. Then I break into smaller portions and vacume pack it, it gets stored in our deep freeze. I bought food quality 5 gallon buckets and bucket liners from a local woman who sales food storage supplies and many of my dry goods are stored that way. My wheat is an exception as it's from waltons and it's double packaged in plastic bags, I leave it that way until I need it. Screw top lids are wonderful and easier to opend then reguler bucket lids.

Does anyone know a good source for bulk organic foods? I'm trying one thing at a time to move us to healthier food choices. There is a local buying co-op I am going to check out. I hope they have what I need.