Have you heard the word stockpiling and wondered what it meant? Do you have to use coupons to stockpile? Is it hard to do? These were my questions when I decided I needed to spend less on groceries each month. In this blog post I will answer those questions as well as lay out the basic steps to stockpiling, which will help you save money on your grocery bill! Before I jump right in to the meat and potatoes of this post I need to give you a little background information about how sales work!
Sales Cycles
- Stores will run an awesome deal to get you in the store even if they have to take a hit on that item. (Look for about 3 in each ad!)
- Manufacturers (companies that make products) allow stores to price their items on sale to a low point on cycles. It is up to the store the price they advertise. (This is why you will see a cereal sale at one store for $1.88 and another store at $2.50 on the same week.
- Usually every 12 weeks it will hit “rock bottom”
- Our goal is to buy at the lowest rock bottom price then stock up to last us until the next sale cycle
Make a List
Stockpiling means to accumulate a large stock of goods or materials. A GOOD stockpile is made up of things your family uses every day….this is where you need to SHOP SMART. To shop smart you need to know what items your family uses regularly. Do not buy items that your family hates, will not eat, or won’t use…..that will not save you ANY money. That will waste money. I recommend making a list of frequently used items. In fact, let’s do it right now! If you have spaghetti once a week. You know each week you need a can/jar of pasta sauce and noodles. (Maybe meat and a can of veggies too!) If you eat tacos, you can add tortillas, shells, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, etc.! I do laundry every week (sigh…more like every day) so I know I will need laundry soap. This is what the start of my list looks like:
Keep adding to your list. Do you have: Cream of chicken soup? Toilet paper? Salt? Canned veggies/fruit? Oatmeal? Light bulbs? Salad dressing? Canned chili or tomatoes? Sugar? Flour? Any item that you use on a regular basis. Now we are going to add add regular prices, sale prices, and stock up prices (stock up prices are the cheapest price you can get it for). This is what my list looks like. Your prices may vary as I live in the middle of no where and our prices are crazy sometimes (and I don’t have a Target or a Walmart nearby)! You may need to go to the store to complete this part. You can even add a “shelf life” column like I added.
Use your list and start stockpiling!
Stockpiling is the easiest, fastest, least time consuming way to save money! (I think). Set aside a certain $$ each week/month for stockpiling, like $20. Check the weekly ad/circular/sales flier and look for items on your “list” that are at stock pile price.
Here is an example:
- Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauce is on sale this week at my store for 77 cents wyb (when you buy) 10 cans at one time.
- I check my list, regular price is $2.69 each, a sale price$1.00.
- Stock up price is 88 cents
- Shelf life is 2+ years (but double check date on can at store)
- I haven’t seen it under 88 cents a can in over 3 yrs (in my area)!
- I use 1 can a week, I need 12 cans to get me through 3 months until the next sale. This price is so super and I have the storage space, so I will buy 20 at this great price! I will spend $15.40 for a 5 month supply.
- If I were to buy one can each week (for the next 20 weeks) at regular price when they weren’t on sale I’d spend $53.80!
- WHOA! I just saved $38.40 or 71% without a single coupon!
- IF you can find a coupon then this deal gets even sweeter….but it is already AWESOME without a coupon!
So now you just bought your 20 cans of pasta sauce. Now what? All I have is pasta sauce….I need pasta too, right, but it isn’t on sale this week. What should I do? Don’t worry, just buy your 1 box/bag of pasta for the week at the regular price each week until you hit a sale!
Hang on-it WILL be worth it!
Stockpiling WILL take a couple weeks to pay off, but it WILL pay off. Don’t give up. You will stock up on sale items each week. Next week you may stock up on corn flakes & cream of soups. The next week you may stock up on taco seasoning and pasta. The next week there may be an awesome cheese sale. The key is to stock up on the items at their lowest prices but still purchase the items you need at the regular prices until a sale comes on those too! Before you know it your meals will be coming from your stockpile.
Take advantage of case lot sales
Many grocery stores do case lot sales 2 times a year. Case Lot Sale is a great way to jump start a stockpile! Most stores you don’t have to buy the whole case to get the great price and you can even make special orders if they are out of stock. They usually run 2 weeks long. Let’s do another stockpiling example this time using a case lot sale:
At this upcoming case lot I am going to buy inexpensive items for 3 of our families favorite meals-enough ingredients to last us 12 weeks. All of these items are included in the case lot sale and they are great stock up prices. The first meal is Crockpot Chicken Bacon Ranch over noodles/rice (Delicious!)
- I need 12 dry ranch packets @.39 each =$4.68
- 12 bags of pasta @.79 each= $9.48
- 12 cans cream of chicken soup @.67 each=$8.04
- Total= $22.20 (That is $1.85 per dinner + perishables!)
- Each week, I will need to make sure I have my “perishables” on hand for this recipe: some crumbled bacon, sour cream, and chicken on hand as well (or do without bacon/sr cream if tight week)
- I even stockpile my chicken by shopping with Zaycon!
So how much money did I save by stockpiling this recipe’s ingredients for the next 12 weeks?
- If I were to buy each item each week, when not on sale I would spend:
- $23.88 on cream of ck soup, $19.08 on pasta, and $10.68 on ranch packets
- A total of $53.64! (That is $4.47 per dinner + perishables)
- I just saved $31.44 or 58% Just by being a SMART Shopper and stockpiling!
- photo credit to: http://thehawkinsfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/crockpot-chicken-bacon-ranch.html I can’t find a picture of mine, but it looks just like this one! 🙂
This all sounds fun but……
I don’t want to eat the same thing EVERY week! Me Either! With the items I bought at the case lot sale this week I can make over 40 different recipes. Minus the perishables. I can make enchiladas, tortilla soup, Crockpot lasagna, black bean tacos, garlic cheese spaghetti, pizza pasta, goolosh (yuck-but my hubs loves it), zesty basil pasta, broccoli cheese soup, super nachos, Italian chicken, etc.If half of your weekly dinners come out of your stockpile then you will be doing 50% better than you were before, Right? WHERE do I put it all? Under beds, in closest, in your basement.
Stockpiling has cut our grocery bill down significantly and it isn’t hard to do, just a tiny bit of looking through the ads can save you a whole lot!
I want to know what is your concern? Are you confused on anything I covered today? Is there another question I can answer for you? If so leave me a comment here and you will be able to see my reply!
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One word: Wow!
I do stockpile, but I keep the lists of items and relative prices in my head. I admire your organization skills and the way you’ve pulled it all together on a spreadsheet. One tip I might add is that Amazon is a good source for some items, especially if they’re available through the subscribe-and-save program; this might work for you especially since you don’t have a local Target or WalMart.