Why I Stockpile

This week was a great example of why I am so glad I learned about the stockpile grocery shopping method. Over the weekend, we ran out of shampoo & conditioner, body wash, toothpaste & deodorant, as well as soap for the girls! This time last year - you know - June, 2008 B.C. (Before Couponing) it would have totally busted my budget to have to buy all these items with our 75.00 grocery budget - (and quite frankly, sometimes, 75.00 was pushing it). I would've had to use at least 1/3 of that to get the health & beauty essentials and wow! if we had to buy dogfood that week, too? Oy! That would be a week where we would definitely try to eat at our parents' house for a few meals.

I used to hate going grocery shopping, because I'd have to walk around with a calculator and all our money would go towards necessities, and quite honestly I felt like our meals were very boring and we never got to do/eat/buy anything fun. If we did, we had to go into debt to do it. Then, last September I stumbled on to a blog that wasn't even about couponing and she randomly mentioned how she never pays full price for anything and bought coupons off ebay to get stuff for free. Coupons? Off ebay?? FREE stuff??? I was extremely intrigued! She linked up to a blog (I don't remember which), it introduced me to the world of Extreme Couponing and Stockpiling and completely changed the way I did my grocery shopping!

Now, it's a total hobby and a total rush to see my savings be double or triple what I paid! Our budget, for a family of four is 200.00/month (50.00/week) or 100.00/payday. We generally make budget or right around there and that include(d) diapers and formula (we're off formula now, PTL!)! And, we're eating better than we ever did before.

Stockpiling is truly the way to go.When I find a great deal (like the Meijer clearanced McCain Fries for .64!) I buy as many as I can, because that is a rock-bottom price. Or when FREE butter is available, like it is now at Meijers - I'll collect as many coupons as I can to stock up on butter. Then I don't have to buy it for a while! Before, I used to basically have the same grocery list every other week - boring! Now, I stock up on whatever is free or exceedingly cheap and use the remainder of my budget to buy fresh foods like produce & milk. So, when I need to buy dogfood - no worries - I know I've got tons of food in my pantry and the expense isn't going to drain my meal plan or our budget.

They say you should never pay for toothpaste, shaving cream, shampoo, conditioner, razors & deodorant. I've basically found this to be true. Thanks to Wags or CVS, there is always a way to get your money back on these items, making them essentially FREE. So what did I do this weekend when I ran out of all that stuff? I trucked on down to my stockpile and shopped from my basement. That's a GREAT feeling.

We also purchased 1/2 a pig & 1/4 of a side of beef last fall and had it processed into all different types of cuts - stockpiled that in the freezer - so for about 500$ we are set on meat for the year and I don't have to worry about it busting my budget every week. All I do is look for chicken deals and when I find one - use that week's budget on chicken and freeze. We have found this to be EXTREMELY beneficial! I love never having to buy meat and having it already cut, wrapped and in the freezer. (I just have to remember to thaw!)

MoneySavingMom has a great post on stockpiling here, calling it the Buy Ahead Principle, she explains it much better than I do, but I thought I'd share my experience so far. It's really revamped and taken a LOT of stress out of life for me, knowing that our kid's are well-fed and our needs are provided for, using even less of a budget than when it was just the two of us!

If anything, I'm grateful for learning the stockpiling method, simply because it opened my eyes to how I can save money, not only on grocery shopping, but on other things as well! There's a ton of offers out there that I never even knew about! This weekend I'm taking Hubs to dinner and a movie for his birthday. Before it would have cost us at least 75$ for the evening. Now, thanks to coupons and stockpiling deals- we'll be doing it for about $20 - same experience at a 1/3 of the price. That's why I stockpile!