[artsysaver]

I'm new to stockpiling and making my stuff grow. I realize that every family is different, likes different items, needs different items, has different space issues, etc.

When does your stockpile become profitable?

How many months does/did it take you to get to the point where you were buying perishables & fillers for your stockpile?

Do you let your stockpile grow so that you know you basically have enough supplies for 6 months? 1 year? more? How does that work?

[anewbern88]

That is a great question, I am interested and what others have to say about this aswell!

[exquisichi]

I've been hardcore couponing again for 2 years now and I am working with a very limited and challenged budget, there is only myself and an almost 16 yr old teenager in my home, but we have dogs + cats galore. I was set with HBA for easily 18-24 months after the first 4-5 months, that was when shopping CVS was still easier and less restricted as it is now. When I realized that I would never be able to use all that stuff that I got in a reasonable time, I slowed down and am now really only restocking when I make big dents into my HBA stockpile after helping out others, gift giving times or when I'm heavily bartering or getting ready to. I have plenty of toilet paper + cleaning supplies, but am out of paper towels and low on detergent and need to focus restocking on these. I may set foot into a CVS once a month if that often, but am getting ready to stock back up more, as I may have need for barter items again this late summer/fall.

Food is a bit harder to stock up and it took me longer to get a wellrounded stockpile going and also figure out how much you need of seasonal items to last until next years sales cycle, especially when you want to not live and cook out of a box or a can. We also do not do ready frzn meals - other than the occasional pizza or hot pocket type of items. I'd say 6-8 months for a good stockpile, subject to how much moola you have available to devote to it. You'll also find that some family members will eat "stuff" like there is not tomorrow, because it is available, LOL. So in actuality - probably 12 months until you got your rythm worked out, but it can be done faster if you have generous funds available, and if your eating habits won't change much.

I have a standing 5-6 months stockpile, depending heavily on my freezer, and I could probably push it out to 8-9 months going to plain fare, not including meat [meat is still one of the things I rarely get coupons for, so when there is a deal offering heavy overage, repeat OYNOs or some hard to find meat coupons, I will really focus on buying meats]. I'm currently well stocked with frzn meats, frozen veggies, frzn butter, margerine, yoghurts etc - currently all in one of my larger freezers [I have 4 alltogether], and with many of these things I have enough of to last until the end of the year.

In my pantry - rice, pasta, rice + pasta mixes, I buy very little canned veggies other than baking beans and canned fruit. Condiments galore, I usually take advantage of the summer grilling sales to stock up on enough BBQ, marinades, salad dressing, mayo + mustard to last all year; matter of fact I just threw out about 15-20 bottles of salad dressing that had expired from last years sales, when I restocked.

I'm low on flour on purpose [I live in the south and the humidity has ruined last years flour storage, so I only get what I actually use around this time of the year] and no longer or very rarely buy cake + cookie mixes, as I have a son with a sugar addiction; ditto for sweet cereals, poptarts, granola bars, chocolate and candy etc. I still have plenty sugar, yeast and other baking supplies from last winter baking season - should last well into fall and beyond.

We're not big soda drinkers [due to my son's problems, as he has a hard time resisting when there is some in the house], so I rarely have any in the home, unless I can get it so dirt cheap it would be a sin not to, LOL. My main expense is fresh fruit, produce is pretty much covered in my freezer [there are - I'm guessing - about 100-120 packs of various veggies still in there, plenty to last until this years fall sales roll around again], fresh milk and eggs.

I freeze milk when I can get some very inexpensively or with overage etc. and am giving some serious thought about getting some chickens again. I never seem to have time for a garden, but that would certainly help too... I often trade out/barter for seasonal fruit with gardeners and occasionally roadstand farmers, but mostly via established contacts and also craigs list.

There are often weeks at a time when I do not set foot in a store for a long time - either because I'm so well stocked that I don't need to, or because I'm burned out with juggling multiple pt jobs/my business/shopping etc, or because it is simply not in my budget at the time [I'm selfemployed and for the last 2-3 yrs summers really suck in the sales department due to the current economy]. The nice thing of having a well heeled stockpile is that it is easy to maintain - you do not have to go shopping all the time, and you can take advantage of good buys to fill in the gaps you ate out.

Couponing actually allows me to buy things that otherwise would not be justifyable for my budget, and we get to try new things too. It's nice to being able to help others who struggle in tough times, without sacrifising or depriving your family or yourself. When I first got started it seemed to be a part time job all by itself, now when I'm in a shopping mood, I can dedicate a few hrs to replenishing and done... It does get easier the second year and after - there is a learning curve to it, but once you get it down - it's simply rinse and repeat.

To sum it up - how well and how fast you can establish a stockpile depends on several factors - the size of your family, the budget you have to work with, availability of good coupons and the access to them, and the stores you shop at or have access to. Time is definitely an issue too. A single person with sufficient income can probably establish a workable stockpile in 2-3 months. A huge family on a tight budget, may need as long as 8-12 months - it really depends on the individual situation and also your location.

[artsysaver]

Wow! What an informative post, exquisichi! Thank you so much.

On another note: you said you have 4 freezers.

1. Can you recommend a good one? (i'm thinking stand up instead of the other kind)

2. How much extra $ does that cost you to run?

3. You really can freeze yogurt?

[sadiesky]

It really does depend on the stores you have to shop at & your budget. I shop at Walgreens & since the rebate program has changed it IS getting harder for me to really get great deals. My Kmart though has participated in the last couple of double coupon sales so that has enabled me to get a lot of stuff free or almost free for my stockpile. I order the coupons I need either from ebay or try to trade for the coupons I need versus buying tons of papers. For me it was way easier to stock up on the HBA items versus the grocery items. I know I have more than a years worth of HBA items & probably 6 months worth of food for the 2 of us plus I give quite a bit to my son & his GF. I only sold HBA items that I had gotten for free & we would not use at my garage sale - I marked them really cheap so didn't make a great profit.

[exquisichi]

I have one upright, a large chest and a midsize chest, the top of my fridge freezer [actually technically I have 5, as I have 2 fridges too, LOL]. I am really not brandspecific and 2 of them are currently in storage [I had for a long time 2 individual places - one my house and the other a rented location home/business combination - that is why we have so many of each plus I had been rawfeeding my dogs so more freezer space was required, LOL]. 3 I bought new at full price, 2 I got used in very good condition at less than 1/3 of full price. My oldest one is about 12 yrs old [the upright], the youngest is 3 and I honestly do not see a difference in quality.

Because of my tight budget, I run only as few freezers as I can get away with, currently the large chest and the top of the fridge only, but I'm thinking of getting the upright out of storage as it is simply easier to find stuff in it [it's wonderful to have multiples when it comes to untawing freezers or doing inventory, LOL]. Personally - I like the upright - simply because it is easier to find things in it and see what you got left. They also take up less space. The chests are great for bulky things and mass storage. For a while we got deers during hunting season and it's great to be able to drop large odd packages in the freezer, without blocking everything else. If I were to buy another one new - I'dprobably go with an upright again.

I can't say about the individual electric costs to run one, but I'd say overall speaking, it more than makes up the cost, being able to stock up and save on the grocery factor. That first year when I started up couponing again, there was this huge Sara Lee pie deal going on - free and almost free pies [fruit + berry pies, cobblers, individual little pies etc -you name it] and I must have had at least 70 or 80 of them [they are great contributions for potluck dinners, BBQs and friendly coffee chats with friends - no work involved, LOL]. If all I had was the little thingy above the fridge - I might have gotten 2 or 3 - with the big freezer available, I had pies coming out of the ears and plenty to share.

That year was also the first year that I started buying frozen veggies in mass - I had about 120 GreenGiant boxes and about 60-70 Birdseye pouches - we went into last year fall veggie season with plenty left. The GG veggies were coupled with a catalina deal at BiLo - buy so many and get $3-4 catalina, if I remember they were on a BOGO sale, with coupons doubled - they came to only a few cents each and spit out a OYNO which I used to pay for the next batch and also to buy meat with. Free veggies and free meat - I could have never taken advantage of that deal without the freezer.

I definitely would get one if I were you - if you are looking to buy used - buy a fairly new one [not older than 3-4 yrs] as the energy ratings are better than on the old cows, I never paid more than $150 for a used one. Your savings and opportunities for great deals will more than pay for the freezer and the electric it uses, well in the first year. Hope that helped some...

PS.: Of course you can freeze yoghurt - I've gotten to the point where I like it better frozen than normal, LOL. Ditto for cheese [I just got another 30 packs of Kraft last week, but still had some from the previous deal left over]. I rarely pay more than .50-70 for a pack of cheese now, and preferably less. Same for milk, butter and margerine. You can also freeze eggs [out of the shell], refrigerated biscuits and cookie mixes, fruit and veggies if you happen to get a great buy. Water melons too big to eat for your family? Chop them up and put in freezer baggies, pull them as needed [also great for slushies]. Bananas getting a bit too much color - do the same and use for baking banana cakes or bread or milkshakes. This is the time for strawberries - I save the prettiest ones in a batch and freeze them on a cookie sheet and then drop in a baggie... Endless possibilities...

Leftovers? Cooking big batches of food? Got a great deal on something - in the freezer it goes...

[artsysaver]

Thanks again!

[M_M_S]

It took me six months to get my stockpile to the point where we really want for nothing other then fresh milk, bread and salad for any given week. I still dutifully shop on double coupon day only and continue to replenish.

[Atlcouponmama]

I took me about 4 months of Serious Hardcore Stockpiling and I purchased about $220. worth of q's on Ebay and I loaded up my car every weekend with the kids and we went to town in the stores and would have to make double trips back home just to unload all the stuff we would get.

I did this til this month and I have slowed down alot because my house is to small to hold all of this stuff so I have to make more room or get a storage unit. I suggest if its not alot of ppl in your family then you dont have to stockpile heavy just the basic needs.
I resell ( Co-workers & yardsale) what I dont use and will not have a need for in the future. Its really what you are comfortable with stockpiling..I cant and will not pass a deal especially if its FREE!

[jeanettebr]

I have only been couponing since March....and I have a years worth of HBA for the 6 of us....laundry soap, paper towels and toilet paper ...of course toothpaste, tooth brushes, tampons, pads and liners, bandaids and meds and soap and tons of smelly stuff for the house and some cleaners, dish soap, foil, wax paper, freezer bags, sandwich bags and some trash bags, cat food and cat treats etc...
It's the food I am having a hard time getting. With no store here doubling Q's it's hard to get a good deal. I have managed to get enough condiments...bbq sauce, dressing, mayo, mustard, ketchup for a year or more and just added 2 years worth of spaghetti sauce to my stockpile. I can see though that it's going to take me awhile to get enough food set back to make a dent in my monthly grocery budget.
I was lucky to be able to have a good amount of $ to shop with to get started and still spend about what I would have normally spent each month except now I am getting tons of stuff instead of just enough for one month. I think the amount I spend will steadily decrease each month as I get more set back.
good luck and great question!

[shelleyw]

I have coupons for dresssin, mayo, bar-b-que sauce, ect.... but don't the dates go out on them within 6 months? How can you stockpile for a year? Sorry, I'm extremely new to this.

[jeanettebr]

check your exp. dates when you buy to get the longer dates...mine all are good until June/July 2010...but watch the mayo...it does expire sooner. Just buy what you can use up in that time frame. HTH

[mamapatt75]

great tips all. thank you I'm new to this..just started a week ago. still trying to get my husband to understand this whole thing as he's telling me just tonight that he doesnt need that much deoderant..LOL..he just doesnt get the fact that it was pretty much FREE ... why wouldnt I get it? hehe

[dmyersquin]

The beauty of stockpiling is that you don't run out of stuff and have to buy it full price. The deodorant remark is funny as that is what my husband and I laugh about. He asks, "why do I need 2 yrs worth of deodorant?" His deodorant costs more than $3. Lately I have been getting it free at Walgreens with sale/coupons. Not only do I stockpile for us, but I give to lots of different people in need. I would not be able to afford to give so much if I wasn't getting it free or really cheap. My husband turned an unused space into an extra closet in our house. Then out in the garage we bought shelves just for my stockpile. Love having a place to organize it.

[sleepyshopper]

I started stockpiling in April and I already really don't have to get hardly anything at the grocery store each week except....Bread, fresh veggies, and Milk. And HBA stuff....well I think I have enough for the neighborhood for the rest of the year

[angiengary]

I've been stockpiling for years now but my stockpile is at its lowest right now. I stopped stockpiling when we had a water leak in our home and had to move out of the house and into a hotel, then into an apartment. Right now we could probably eat for 4 months on what I have excluding dairy and produce. As for as paper products, health and beauty items go we are probably good for a couple of years. Now that we are back in our house and settled I plan to build my food stockpile back up so that we have approx a years worth of non perishables.