stockpiling

[bebelle]

DON'T FLAME ME, PLEASE! Does anyone stockpile food? I am not asking why---emergency---doomsday---hoarding---just asking if you do.

 

[geishagirl81]

Money magazine had an article where a financial expert said to stockpile food at rockbottom prices. I ALWAYS do this. If a nonperishable goes on sale, I will get EVERY coupon I can for it and buy as much as possible. I typically get all of our namebrand cereal for 50 cents to a dollar per box. I have a huge cabinet and a deep freezer to store my stockpile in the basement. I also stockpile shampoos ect and diapers. My shampoo is normally $4, but it was on sale for $1 last month, so I bought a ton. I do this not for "doomsday" (but it is nice to know we'd be set for a little while if we couldn't leave the house) but for financial reasons.

 

[scrapquitler]

I don't know if I would call it hoarding or stockpiling, but I do tend to keep a very well stocked pantry and freezer. I buy multiples of things that are on sale, I buy extra packages of different sorts of meats that we like when they are at a good price, and we could probably eat without needing to hit the grocery store (other than things like bread, veggies, and milk) for at least 3 or 4 weeks.

My grocery store tends to run a lot of loss leader sales of things $10/10 items like spaghetti sauces or boxes of pasta and I usually buy 5 or 10 of them if it is something I regularly use. Then at least I always have a fallback of something simple to make when I'm feeling lazy, stressed out or pressed for time. Add that to the fact that my husband gets paid monthly rather than weekly, and having a well stocked pantry/freezer can be vital at certain times of the month.

 

[NMAmy]

Just curious--why all the threads on this subject today?

 

[Scot-n-Michelle]

i stockpile food, health beauty items, cleaning supplies and dog food. when it is a good deal - which usually means with my coupons - free - i get a bunch of things. just came from the grocery store - $12.10 out of pocket and i saved a little over $60.00 - not to shabby. only problem, i lost one of my coupon holders - I am so sad right now

 

[kristinw3girls]

I sure do. You really need to with prices these days. I get the buy one, get one often and freeze it. I pull out meats 2X a week to defrost, and am always rotating my stock!! We are a family of 5, so this really helps.

 

[kacaju]

I do. I buy what is on sale and what I have coupons for. I ahve always done this as a way to save money.

 

[RadioFanatic]

I stockpile as well - b/c of the deals -for example, I have a one year old and have 18 containers of wipes I got for free with coupons and 28 6-packs of applesauce which I paid 14 cents each for - and that's just two things out of many. But it is nice to know that if something happens, we probably have enough food for a few months anyway.

 

[mjmoon]

I see a lot of good advantages to stocking up on non-perishables when they are on sale and stuff you use pretty regularly.. it certainly can't hurt!

For us, it doesn't make sense to stock up on frozen and perishable foods. We used to have a freezer that got left open one night ruining everything in it (right after a big Sam's Club visit) and then, as Murphy's law would dictate, the freezer blew a fuse and destroyed another full trip of frozen food about a year later. We ditched the freezer!

Having just been through a major hurricane where much of the city was out of power for quite some time.. I can attest that freezers filled with food do you no good at all in the long run, if you don't have power to keep the freezer running. People were having block parties and cooking all their freezers full of meats for days so the stuff wouldn't go to waste. While this is great for getting to know your neighbors, it's not the most economical use of your grocery dollar.

 

[Kallista]

I keep an emergency supply of water and dry food in the house. I keep enough for 3 adult servings per person per day for seven days. This is in addition to the regular food that I keep in my house.

After Katrina, I don't think you can count on someone else coming to help you in an emergency.

 

[disneynuts777]

Yes....I keep a very stocked pantry, I also have a good stock of toiletries and cleaning supplies. The freezer is usually very stocked in the winter but not as much in the summer.
I could easily go 4-6 weeks for our family of four if something were to happen.
It was a blessing last summer when DH lost his job. I was able to cut all of the above things out of our budget. When he found another job in October I began to replenish the stock slowly. I am now back up to the stock I was before.

 

[koolaidmoms]

I too keep a well stocked pantry in our basement. I buy canned vegetables when they are $.35 a can or less, ready to eat soups when they are $1.00 or less and beans $.50 or less per can. I also make sure I have extra tp, paper towels, hair care and soap on hand bought at rock bottom prices. I only buy things when they are on sale as much as I can.

I always pick the items with the longest shelf life and make sure to stock just as they do in the grocery stores - first in first out, always putting newest items to the back.

We could probably go 4-6 weeks for a family of 4 without buying groceries except for fresh items.

 

[Katy Belle]

I stockpile food. Mostly shelf stuff as I don't have an extra freezer, just what is above the refridgerator. Our food is trucked in to the stores primarily from Saudi Arabia. If something would happen to stop the deliveries I think our stores would run out of food in a few days. That is why I keep lots of food.

Also....here if you see it and you may want it...you better get it because it may NEVER show up in the store again!

 

[Colleen27]

I keep a well stocked pantry and freezer, mainly because I can/freeze the excess produce from my garden, buy in season produce from local farms to preserve, and buy meat in bulk directly from a local farm. DH's work is mostly seasonal, so it is easier for us to stock the extra freezer and the pantry when we've got more income and produce is in season and then reap the benefits of lower grocery bills through the winter when our income is lower.

Fortunately we also have a generator that DH bought for job sites, so on the rare occasions that we lose power for an extended time we can keep the spare freezer running.

 

[arielmomma]

We stock up. I have a full chest freezer and plenty of paper products. My husband works in the automotive industry and we aren't taking any chances!

 

[geishagirl81]

Stockpilers- don't forget to check the dates of your goods and rotate often. I had to pitch some stuff cuz it was over 6 months past the date, I was so sad about it, cuz I would've used it!