Stockpiling 101: How to Save Money with a Stockpile

For many, building a stockpile means buying lots of bottled water, batteries, and canned food in preparation for a snow storm or natural disaster. For couponers, it means never having to pay full price again.

stock·pile – A supply stored for future use, usually carefully accrued and maintained.

A stockpile is simply buying more than what you need for immediate use when prices are extremely low, so that you do not have to pay full price in the future. A stockpile can be a key part of saving money!

Here are my tips for stockpiling:

Use Multiple Coupons

To start a stockpile you will need multiple coupons for any given product that you plan to stockpile. In order to get multiple coupons, you will need to get your hands on multiple newspapers/circulars or sign up for coupon sources under multiple email addresses. You can also collect coupons from friends and family who don’t plan to use the coupons themselves. Four of each coupon is a good place to start, but you can do more in the beginning when building your stockpile.

Wait for Sales

When items go on sale at a deep discount, that is when you want to use all your coupons. Say, for instance, that pasta has gone on sale for $1, you have a $0.25 coupon and your store will triple coupons. That makes the pasta just $0.25 [$1 – ($0.25 x 3)], which is a great price. So, if you have four $0.25 coupons then you could buy four boxes and pay just $0.25 per box! Of course, you may not need all four boxes this week or even next week, but if you eat pasta regularly then you will use them eventually. This way, you get to pay a rock bottom price for pasta and you won’t have to pay full price for it the next time you need it. In most cases, you should have enough to last you until the next time it goes on sale!

Sales Cycles

Stores run sales in cycles. Everything typically goes on sale about every 8 – 12 weeks. If you buy 8 – 12 weeks worth of everything when it goes on sale, then you will have enough to last you until the next time it goes on sale. If your family eats one box of cereal per week, then go ahead and buy several boxes. If your family only eats one box a month, then maybe just buy a couple boxes.

Buy Only What You Like

It is very important that you only stockpile foods and products that you know your family will actually use. Don’t buy 10 boxes of cereal that your family has never tried before or it may never get eaten. If your husband does not like a certain brand of deodorant, don’t stockpile that brand, even if it’s FREE. Yes, I just told you not to get something if it’s free. If you won’t use it, what’s the point? By buying it you are just preventing someone who could actually use it from buying it and taking up valuable storage space in your own home.

Watch Expiration Dates

You have to keep an eye on expiration dates when you stockpile. It is very important to rotate your stockpile. That means you need to put the new items you purchase at the back and keep the oldest products at the front where you can get to them. Keep in mind that even toothpaste expires! It takes a long time, but if you look at the tube, there actually is an expiration date on there.

Don’t Go Overboard

It’s very tempting to buy tons and tons of products – especially when they’re free. Please remember the 8 – 12 week sales cycle. It WILL go on sale again! You don’t have to buy 50 tubes of toothpaste right now. Buy a few now, then buy a few again the next time it goes on sale. If you realize you’ve accumulated too many tubes, skip a few sales. Save your gas, energy, space, and time.

If you build a stockpile and carefully maintain it you can save a lot of money and always have your favorite products on hand! No more running to the store at 10 pm because you’ve run out of shampoo!

Do you stockpile? Let me know what your go-to stockpile products are!