At a coupon class a few years ago, I was asked “I live alone- is it worth it for me to coupon and stockpile?”
And my answer: YES!
I have a family of 6 (including 4 children that I just don’t know WHERE they put all the food they consume) so my stockpile and buying patterns are vastly different than that of a single person or a couple. For my family- 20 boxes of cereal is not “extreme” (oh how I detest that word!)
For the smaller family- 20 boxes would be far too many.
The first step is to determine your eating habits. How long does a box of cereal last once you open it? How many boxes of frozen vegetables do you use? Pasta? Canned veggies?
What items do you use routinely? What are the “staples” in your house?
Think of items with long shelf lives- toilet paper, laundry detergent, personal hygiene items, etc. Most people use all these items every day.
Once you have a list of the items you find yourself buying often- when these items go on sale and you have a coupon it’s time to stock up. Instead of just buying 1 deodorant at 20 cents- buy 3. Instead of buying 1 tube of toothpaste- buy 3.
The second part of the conversation was about bulk purchases. For example- whole chickens are often more economical than buying boneless chicken breasts. My suggestion was to purchase whole chickens and cook/roast the entire bird. Use one portion for dinner and then freeze the rest in single serving portions. “Freezer bags are your best friend,” I said.
While my family can devour an entire roasting chicken at one dinner- it may last a single person four, five or six meals!
Buying in bulk can still save you money but it may take a bit of work- for example buying a bag of onions may be cheaper than buying just one. In this case buying the onions and chopping and freezing them may take a bit of work, but will save time and money later on!
Same with buying ground beef- sometimes the larger package makes more sense and then portion it out and freeze “blocks’ of meat in the portion amount you usually use or cook it and freeze in single meal size portions.
A single (or small family)’s stockpile doesn’t need to be extreme- but buying on sale with a coupon can save everyone money!
That’s what I used to think when I first started couponing. Like its just me, why do I need to stockpile? I no longer think that! haha
I agree about the 20 cereal boxes! I just started my stockpile this year when the HT Super Doubles went on, and now my husband thinks I’m crazy which I kinda agree esp during that wk. But I’m starting to learn and I won’t pay more than 1.50 for a box of cereal. But cereal goes quick in my family so I see it reasonable in having lots of cereal. Got more this past wkd when I was in SC at bi-lo. Cookie crisps for $1 and less. I am defn good though now on cereal lol.
Even after the Couponing 101 was over last night one of the ladies told me I’m a widow so I but for just one so it really wouldn’t do me any good to stock…I told her the other two ladies including my mom is a widow and that would be the best thing you could do..Buy the things you always use at stockup prices..I told her if she would follow you on your facebook page she would know where all the deals are and save a bunch of money.. Why when you get older is it so hard to make changes especially when you could save so much money..I’m 56 and I’m so happy you’ve taught me how to save so when I get there age I have already changed and don’t have to worry about saving money on groceries.. Now that’s too Funny…
I have to agree with you on this one. There are only 2 of us in our house. I coupon and have a stockpile!
We’re a family of two but I still stockpile, especially things we use all the time. I’m down to only three boxes now, but 9 or 10 boxes of cereal is not extreme to us. I ALWAYS stock up on tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. We go through Steamfresh frozen veggies SO quickly it’s not even funny. Pasta is a must and easy side dishes (like pasta sides and rice-a-roni are always on hand. We have a chest freezer so I LOVE good meat deals! With three dogs a TON of carpet powder and air freshener is used, so the five or six boxes of carpet fresh I bought recently is certainly not extreme. I also try and act practical about it. We have a TON of certain things right now so if something on that list is free I pick it up but donate it!
This may sound crazy but I am just now starting to coupon and wanted to know how do I get my stockpile started?
Start with the items REALLY cheap that you use a lot of. Buy multiples of that item. Then gradually you will phase out the items you “need” and will only be buying the items that are at stock up prices.