How to Stockpile: Starting Out

 

I have decided to start a weekly series about Stockpiling.
I will be posting new articles, written by me :) every weekend.

I am also going to start tutorials and/or videos on couponing, as well. I have received SO many questions about using coupons and even my own brother had questions for me, about how to use coupons!

I have been using coupons and learning about how to save money for over 2 years now and I feel it necessary to share that wealth of information with all of you :)
What I think is so darn easy to understand about coupons, may not be easy for someone else.
But just relax! I am here to help you!

I hope you will stick with me and hopefully learn a thing or two to help you save lots of Green! :)


Stocking up on items when they are at their rock-bottom prices AND when you have coupons, is such a GREAT idea.

That is why I have 8+ bottles of Heinz/Hunt's Ketchup, 10+ packages of Oscar Mayer/Ball Park Hot Dogs, 10+ jars of Prego Spaghetti Sauce and many more "Stock Up" items. AND they are all "name brand" food items. What I paid for the 8+ bottles of ketchup all together, was less than just 1 bottle of ketchup at Aldi's or Walmart's price! That goes for the Hot Dogs and Sauce too!

My husband doesn't get why we need SO much of everything because we don't NEED 20 boxes of cereal RIGHT NOW.
And he IS right.
We don't NEED that much cereal RIGHT NOW.
BUT when it goes on sale AND I have coupons AND I can get name brand cereals for wayyy less than $1 a box...I AM going to stock up.
The regular price of the cereal my family enjoys is over $3 per box!

Always, Always ALWAYS match up sales with coupons.
This is THE first step in building a nice stock-pile for you and your family.
You don't have to go hog wild and buy 60+ bottles of mustard and hot sauce, but you can buy maybe 6 bottles to last you through the year, or maybe less.
Once you begin to coupon on a regular basis, you will notice that sales and coupons for those sale items come out at certain times of year.

January/February is best known for healthy foods, sports drinks
March-June are the months that you will see lots of coupons for summer, for example; ketchup, mustard, hot dogs, salad mixes, soda (very rare) and even sunscreen.
July-September are back to school months. You will find lots of coupons for school supplies, foods that go well in school lunches, lunchmeat, snacks, etc...
October-December bring LOTS of toy coupons for Christmas. I also see LOTS of party foods coupon books out and about all over the grocery stores.


My friend, Rachel (who got me into couponing) "coupons" by these words of wisdom:
"Buy a lot...a little at a time"
And this is so true with stockpiling effectively.

Let's take a look at Walgreens and CVS in regards to "Buy a lot...a little at a time"...

Walgreens and CVS are AWESOME places to stock-up on personal care needs.
Walgreens has the Register Rewards (RR) program and CVS has the Extra Buck (EB) Program.
(click on the links above to read more about the programs)

For example, this week CVS has the Bic Soleil Shimmer Razor on sale for $6.99.
After your purchase, you will receive a $3 EB to use on anything else in the store.
PLUS there is a $3/1 Bic Soleil Razor Coupon from the 5/1 SS insert.
After the coupon, you will pay $3.99 BUT you will receive a $3 EB.
After coupon and EB, you are paying only $0.99 for a NICE razor!
AND even though the limit is 1, they (Walgreens and CVS) have razors on sale pretty much every week!
Now, we all know we don't go through 1 razor a week, well, unless they are disposable...maybe... But if you buy 1 razor a week at $0.99 or even LESS after coupon(s) and RRs or EBs, then you will have a nice, cheap stock-pile started!
See where I am going with this??
"Buy a lot...a little at a time!"

The razors were just a little example.
CVS and Walgreens also has TONS of Shampoo, Feminine Product and Baby Care Sales that will net you some super cheap stuff.

If you ever have any questions, please know that you can contact me at SavingGreen "at" New.rr.com :)