For more budgeting articles in this series, click HERE.
Budgeting Step Nine: Stockpiling and Finding Good Deals
Once you create a household budget, you have to stick to it. How? One of the absolute best ways I have found to be able to stick to my budget is through stockpiling. The concept of stockpiling is simple: You purchase multiples of an item when it is on sale–and you purchase enough of that item to get you through to the next sale. This way, you are buying it at its lowest possible price, and you keep enough of it on hand so that you never have to pay full price. So whether it’s toothpaste, gift bags, laundry detergent, or your favorite brand of coffee, you are consistently making your purchases when items are at their lowest price. And that’s a great way to save money!
Deals and coupon matchups are just one part of learning how to save money at the grocery store. Get your copy of my book, Saving Savvy, and learn even more ways to cut your spending in half. .
:: Learn more tips and strategies for budgeting and saving money HERE.
Of course, this doesn’t just apply to small purchases. It goes for big ticket items too, like appliances, jewelry, and household goods. There is a time of year when everything eventually goes on sale, and we call it the seasonal sales cycle. For every month of the year, you can learn What to Buy When HERE.
Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. (Proverbs 6:6-8)
Stockpiling Tips
1. Create an In-Out Inventory Sheet: Clean out your freezer, fridge, and pantry and know what you have on hand by listing on an inventory sheet. Update it each time something comes in or out. **Use my FREE printable Pantry Inventory Sheet and Freezer Inventory Sheet.
2. Make Space: Be creative if you don’t have a lot of extra storage space for your stockpiled items. For example, you can store long, skinny plastic bins under beds for toiletries like deodorant, shampoo, razors, and styling aids.
You can get the details on ways to incorporate stockpiling into your current grocery budget when you learn how to start stockpiling HERE.
3. Invest in a Full-Size Freezer: One of my best investments has been having a full -size freezer. It enables me to stock up on meats, produce, and other “rock bottom” priced items.
4. Know your family’s favorite staple items: Stockpile only things you know you will use. Make a list of common food staples as well as personal grooming items to be watching for.
ACTION STEP: Decide on an amount/percentage of your grocery budget that you will allocate toward stockpiling each week. Fill out the Pantry Inventory Sheet and Freezer Inventory Sheet so you’ll know what you have on hand. Then, check our store deals to see our coupon matchups and find out what is on sale. Print out or clip any available coupons, and start stockpiling!
Once you begin stockpiling, you’re ready to move on to Step Ten: A Lifestyle of Discipline and Self-Control, the last step in this Budgeting 101 Series.
What tips do you have about stockpiling or finding good deals? How do you shop? Do you incorporate some form of “stockpiling” into your routine?
For a tight budget, shop with a friend (of in my case my mom). We purchase items in bulk, or on sale we get the maximum allowed by the store per household, we use coupons when we can and then we check out separately and divide up everything and repackage meat into smaller sizes. Also, if you BBQ your food – cook more than you need to and freeze it for another day.
If you cook your food on a grill, make more than you need and save the extra in the freezer for another time.