4 Steps to Building a Realistic Stockpile

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The first step in building a stockpile is to know what prices you usually pay and should be able to pay when shopping sales for the products and foods that your family consumes. The last thing you want to do is buy 10 cans of soup on “sale” at a grocery store that are actually priced higher than the generic version at Walmart.

The 2nd step in building a stockpile is to build it gradually as you have the extra money in your budget to spend on stockpiling.  Even finding an item you use at 50% off and buying twice what you need at that moment will help get your stockpile built. If you can devote $10-$20 extra to a stockpile budget- even better!

The 3rd step in building a stockpile is to buy non perishable foods and other products that your family consumes before they are needed, and when they are at rock bottom prices.  Most personal care products can be purchased for free after coupons and/or drugstore promotions.  It simply doesn’t make sense to wait until they are needed and buy them at retail prices.

The 4th step in building a stockpile is to keep realistic amounts stockpiled and to keep most items in or near the room where they are used.  A year’s supply of toilet paper is unrealistic because it would take up so much space.  2 or 3 months is more appropriate for TP :-)  A 1 or 2 year supply of a once daily vitamin is realistic because it is a small item. It may take some time to figure out how much of a product you use, but it will come with time.

Once you have a stockpile built, the most important part is being sure that products don’t expire before they can be used.  The easiest way to keep up with your dates is to store each item all in one place and put newest ones at the back.  Again, having a 2 year supply of a large item will make this more difficult than you want it to be. If you notice that you have too much of a product, bless someone else with your gift of your excess!

Your stockpile can be as big or as little as you want.  Whether you keep one extra of the items you use most often on hand, or keep a year’s supply on hand- it doesn’t matter.  If a big one is too big, scale it back.  If a small one is too small, make it bigger.  Just keep going until you find what works for your family.

This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family.

Comments

  1. We have some things with a good stockpile & others that do not. It’s good to be reminded to keep on top of this, especially as some items are longer between sale cycles than others – thanks!

  2. Great tips! Thank you!

  3. Great tips! Thank you!

  4. Great tips! Thank you!

  5. Great tips! Thank you!

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