How to Stockpile Groceries and Everyday Items
Are you sick of the weekly grocery store trips? Have you noticed prices lately?! Start stockpiling the items you use, get free stuff and start saving money. My real-life tips. Every winter my husband's business drops off and things get lean. Mighty lean. Here are my top tips for keeping groceries & common items on-hand.
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Instructions
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The first step in stockpiling is coupons. At least, it is for me. If you are steadfastly adversed, you can do it without - but the likelihood of free items are much slimmer. ;)
I subscribe to the weekend edition of two local newspapers for my coupons. When there are great coupons I use my saved change to pick up more Sunday papers. Subscribing to weekend editions can be much cheaper than buying Sunday newspapers at full price.
You can also buy coupons online on Ebay and coupon clipping services. Coupon services sell out fast on hot items.
See the Resources section below this article for handy links!
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Figure out what you really need.
Save your grocery lists to see what items you need on a regular basis. I write up my grocery lists in notepad. I also use a spreadsheet to pre-plan my grocery trip. I can see how it could be overwhelming to a newbie - but doing a spreadsheet opened my eyes in a big way. See the Resources section below this article for a sample downloadable spreadsheet and a link to free spreadsheet software available on CNET (certified bug-free).
When I had a budget of $40 a week for groceries, planning my shopping trip down to the very penny was absolutely life & budget saving.
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Every Wednesday CouponMom.com publishes local grocery savings. It is a free service and you can sort the results by the percentage of savings. I try to concentrate on items 80% off and more. Getting free stuff is a huge rush!
CouponMom also publishes savings at chain stores such as Target & Walmart - drugstores such as CVS, Long's, Rite-Aid and Walgreen's also.
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Tips & Warnings
Save all of your coupons - you never know when you'll need something
Donate free items if you won't use them, I like to drop off all of my extras at our local Senior Citizen center
Also consider helping Veteran soldiers by contacting your local VA Hospital. In-patient Vets are not provided with deodorant, denture cream or razors by the government. Call your local VA Hospital and ask for a list of their most-needed items.
Couponing is addictive, proceed with caution!
