TEN BUCKS A WEEK!

[DnA2010]

So turkeys were 95 cents a pound at our superstore this week- got 2 and it made me think of you Ironically we aren't a big ham family

 

[North of Mouse]

I know not everyone lives in an area where extreme cold w/a power outage can occur-but if you're in an area where an outage in high heat could occur keep in mind w/storage if the canned items can be safely maintained. if you are also in an area w/high humidity, take into consideration what days of prolonged heat/humidity can do to dry goods.

This would be a very big concern of mine. The extreme cold is a disaster with some things, but heat/humidity on 'dry' staples can cause 'bugs' to invade and/or cause many things to go stale. (the tiny 'bug' issue happened to me once, and by the time I caught it, other dry things had been invaded and had to be thrown).

My view on the $10 is a little different than yours. I want to stock up on the items we like & need at the best price. Then use it whenever we need it, but continue to stock up with good sales. So I'd be fine with the Mac n cheese being eaten thinking I got a good deal, I totally get the sneaking it & 3 boxes over the weekend!!! Lol.

Agree!

I got 8 boxes of ritz crackers $8

Guess I didn't catch how many are in your family, but so many of one type cracker would definitely get stale before we could eat them!

Guess stockpiling, just for what it implies is not something that I actually do, but I do tend to stock up on basics when there is a terrific sale and I have coupons to sweeten the deal, especially canned, frozen items that we use frequently. I tend to cook more from scratch, so don't use many jarred/packaged sauces etc.

 

[stayhomemom77]

So turkeys were 95 cents a pound at our superstore this week- got 2 and it made me think of you Ironically we aren't a big ham family

Ahhh...shucks. Thanks for thinking of me. We are huge hams. Hyuck, hyuck, hyuck! DD and DH loooooooove ham. I prefer turkey but I do enjoy ham.

 

[stayhomemom77]

This would be a very big concern of mine. The extreme cold is a disaster with some things, but heat/humidity on 'dry' staples can cause 'bugs' to invade and/or cause many things to go stale. (the tiny 'bug' issue happened to me once, and by the time I caught it, other dry things had been invaded and had to be thrown).

I've been fortunate never to have had a bug issue, but I have done extensive research on how to properly store food...so that may be part of it. I also rotate fairly frequently on things, which also helps.

Guess I didn't catch how many are in your family, but so many of one type cracker would definitely get stale before we could eat them!


We have four in the family and 8 boxes of ritz crackers would last us 8-12 weeks, waaaaay sooner than what it would take for them to go stale.

Guess stockpiling, just for what it implies is not something that I actually do, but I do tend to stock up on basics when there is a terrific sale and I have coupons to sweeten the deal, especially canned, frozen items that we use frequently. I tend to cook more from scratch, so don't use many jarred/packaged sauces etc.

While I do have jarred sauces and gravies, I too cook mostly from scratch. The jarred stuff basically gets us through the busy nights when we need to take a few short cuts. My homemade alfredo sauce is also much more expensive than the jarred stuff, so part of it is keeping to my budget as well.

I love how people who stockpile don't really think of it as stockpiling. I was that way for years. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I came across a definition that made me realize that it is, in fact what I do. Basically, if I have more than enough of something in my pantry than we will eat in a week (or however often the shopping cycle is), then I do in fact stockpile! But I think I had negative associations with hoarders or extreme couponers that stocked a ton of stuff they would never use and that didn't apply to me. But, now I understand the difference and am proud to be a stockpiler!!

Thanks for all the comments!!

 

[North of Mouse]

OK, I 'get' that things will keep when you rotate frequently - I didn't catch that from your post - thought you were just trying to keep a years supply separately! Saw you were upset when you dh used some of your supply!

 

[DnA2010]

I have a large storage space in th basement- canned tomatoes, pork and beans, black beans, kidney beans, dried beans and lentils, pasta, caned veg like corn, beans, Annie's, chow main noodles, canned soup, crackers , los of cereal, extra salad dressing, soy and hot sauce, cake boxes for those last min cupcakes at school, etc etc. I always thought of stockpiling as those people that coupon, not people like me who keep most non perishables on hand

 

[stayhomemom77]

OK, I 'get' that things will keep when you rotate frequently - I didn't catch that from your post - thought you were just trying to keep a years supply separately! Saw you were upset when you dh used some of your supply!

Yes, my goal was just to keep the stuff separate for the first three months to let it build and then it was fair game. I finally caved and told DH about the Life cereal down there on the 12th (his birthday) and that booger ate the whole dang box before the weekend was over!!

Yes, he singlehandedly powered through a box of cereal in less than 24 hours. Even at $2 a box, that kind of thing smashes my budget to smithereens. I don't know why I can't keep that man fed!!

 

[stayhomemom77]

I have a large storage space in th basement- canned tomatoes, pork and beans, black beans, kidney beans, dried beans and lentils, pasta, caned veg like corn, beans, Annie's, chow main noodles, canned soup, crackers , los of cereal, extra salad dressing, soy and hot sauce, cake boxes for those last min cupcakes at school, etc etc. I always thought of stockpiling as those people that coupon, not people like me who keep most non perishables on hand

This.

I love going down there and gloating over what I've built up in the last 3 months. I can't wait for it to grow.

 

[Angeejoe]

My Deals from Kroger last week, they had a deal if you bought 4 of anything, you got $4 off. So for my stock I got:
4- 4lbs of a Domino Sugar for $1.99= $7.96, then $4 off, plus .65c off coupon= $3.31 for 16lbs of sugar!!!!
4- 64oz Oceanspray Cranberry Juices for $2.49=$9.96, then $4 off= $5.96
Grand total: $9.27

 

[North of Mouse]

My Deals from Kroger last week, they had a deal if you bought 4 of anything, you got $4 off. So for my stock I got:
4- 4lbs of a Domino Sugar for $1.99= $7.96, then $4 off, plus .65c off coupon= $3.31 for 16lbs of sugar!!!!
4- 64oz Oceanspray Cranberry Juices for $2.49=$9.96, then $4 off= $5.96
Grand total: $9.27

I did the same thing - can't beat good deals like that!!

 

[stayhomemom77]

My Deals from Kroger last week, they had a deal if you bought 4 of anything, you got $4 off. So for my stock I got:
4- 4lbs of a Domino Sugar for $1.99= $7.96, then $4 off, plus .65c off coupon= $3.31 for 16lbs of sugar!!!!
4- 64oz Oceanspray Cranberry Juices for $2.49=$9.96, then $4 off= $5.96
Grand total: $9.27

I did the same thing - can't beat good deals like that!!

Woo hoo! The sugar is an especially nice one!

 

[Angeejoe]

I did the same thing - can't beat good deals like that!!

You bought sugar & cranberry juice too?? Too funny. I wish I bought more juice, my DH loves it

 

[Angeejoe]

Woo hoo! The sugar is an especially nice one!

Yes, the sugar price really surprised me as the store brand is around $1.70-$2 depending on the store & this was the name brand

 

[North of Mouse]

You bought sugar & cranberry juice too?? Too funny. I wish I bought more juice, my DH loves it

Yes, I did, and had a couple of Q's for the sugar, making it 'sweeter'!! My dh loves the raspberry and cherry blends - I don't drink them - too many empty calories for my 5'2" frame, LOL. Krogers has been having some pretty super deals the last while even though they are not my main gro. to shop. We have lots of competition which is great!!! Hated when they stopped doubling Q's

 

[momof2gr8kids]

I'm going to start this in the new year - but stockpiling for our camping food/toiletries, etc. We always spend extra when we camp on special treats, packaged stuff to make my life easier, and we always need extra cleaning stuff, shampoo, etc. So I'm going to stock pile some stuff so come May I'm not using up two week's worth of grocery $$ on one weekend of camping!

 

[Angeejoe]

Yes, I did, and had a couple of Q's for the sugar, making it 'sweeter'!! My dh loves the raspberry and cherry blends - I don't drink them - too many empty calories for my 5'2" frame, LOL. Krogers has been having some pretty super deals the last while even though they are not my main gro. to shop. We have lots of competition which is great!!! Hated when they stopped doubling Q's

Too funny! I don't drink the juice either, DH finds it "so refreshing," lol.

 

[stayhomemom77]

I'm going to start this in the new year - but stockpiling for our camping food/toiletries, etc. We always spend extra when we camp on special treats, packaged stuff to make my life easier, and we always need extra cleaning stuff, shampoo, etc. So I'm going to stock pile some stuff so come May I'm not using up two week's worth of grocery $$ on one weekend of camping!

That sounds like a great idea! I generally start shopping for vacation snacks about a month before we leave, so a similar kind of situation. It means I can watch for sales on the stuff I want/need, perhaps get more and better payouts from my shopping rewards sites and it takes much less of a bite out of the budget when it's parcelled out like that.

Good stuff!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Exciting news! I finally replaced my breadmaker! This one has a GF setting so I can make my own homemade bread and save some money (I currently pay $4.89 for a small loaf of GF bread--ouch!) and I'm going to get to make buns, bagels, PASTA dough, bread, doughnuts etc, etc, etc for the rest of my family who can eat gluten no problem! Hooray for future savings!!

 

[KKB]

Interesting thread. I guess I have stockpiled my whole adult life. I have always scoured the ads & matched coupons to them--was really great when we had places that offered double coupons (no one in town does anymore). Anytime I can snag a great deal on non-perishables or things I can freeze, I buy several. I have a large pantry in the kitchen plus a large shelving unit in the storage room. We have an extra fridge in the garage--and DM has a HUGE deep freeze if need be .

Just a regular part of the grocery budget here! (although with Aldi, there is less need to stock up on a lot of non-perishable items as they are cheaper every day)

If you have the opportunity to buy quarters/halves/whole cows I HIGHLY recommend it. Mom & Dad bought half a cow & our Xmas gift last year was half of that. We had it processed locally into burger, roasts & steaks--and the average per pound for ALL cuts with processing was $3/lb.!!!! (this included rib eye, sirloin & TBone steaks!) And it is the most luscious beef I have ever tasted--made us realize how tasteless the stuff from the market is! We got it in the spring & are still eating on it. (I probably use it 2x/wk)

 

[dayvewc]

If you have the opportunity to buy quarters/halves/whole cows I HIGHLY recommend it. Mom & Dad bought half a cow & our Xmas gift last year was half of that. We had it processed locally into burger, roasts & steaks--and the average per pound for ALL cuts with processing was $3/lb.!!!! (this included rib eye, sirloin & TBone steaks!) And it is the most luscious beef I have ever tasted--made us realize how tasteless the stuff from the market is! We got it in the spring & are still eating on it. (I probably use it 2x/wk)

I did this once several years ago. And it was great. I got about a quarter of a cow, shared it with 2 or 3 other people - not real sure how many, one of them asked if I wanted in for a quarter and I jumped on the chance. But just that quarter completely filled my chest freezer and my side-by-side freezer (I managed to pack it in with the other stuff I had, so technically it didn't fill it solo). But I do know that there is no way I could get a whole cow in my freezer space - even completely empty - and I've moved since then and don't know anyone here that would be willing to go in and split one out like that again. Wish I could find someone. Or that I could afford a larger freezer so I could do it solo.