I know I've been around forever, but I was just saving a few dollars here and there... now that I have figured out how to really coupon, I'm saving a bundle! Thanks to Publix Mostly... but have to love CVS too! But I need some stockpiling tips! I have a laundry room with an industrial size shelving unit in it and small shelving unit next to it. I have a Chest Freezer, my fridge/freezer and about 2 cabinets to put food in. My kitchen is very small. I live in FL and my laundry room is not under air, so it gets warm in there.
I need help with how much is too much... what keeps well and what doesn't keep well... what should I watch out for... do you have any tips on how to store stuff better? Also recipes for pasta would be great!
The items I have stockpiled right now are mostly:
Smart Taste Pasta (20 boxes)
Hamburger Helper (10 boxes)
Cereal (12 boxes)
Hot Sauce (tabasco and franks red hot)
Mac & Cheese (15 boxes)
Betty Crocker Potatoes (10 boxes various varities)
Rice-a-roni (8-10)
Knorr side dishes (probably 30)
Old El Paso/Taco Bell Dinner Kits (10)
Bush's Grilling beans (30 cans)
Crystal Light (10-15 boxes/canisters)
Pillsbury Toaster Strudel (15 boxes)
Stouffers Pizza (14 boxes)
Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs (15 packages)
Green Giant Steamers Veggies (10 bags)
Powerade
Mahatama Rice (brown and yellow)-6 bags
Salad Dressing (10 bottles)
Eight O'Clock coffee (6 bags)
Ragu (regular size jars-10)
Campbells Select Soup 18 Microwavable Bowls
I also have stockpiles like:
Shampoo
Conditioner
Hair Spray
Hair Gel
Deodorant
Meds
Huggies Flushable wipes
Pads/tampons
Johnson Buddies Bars
Scott TP
Paper Plates
Chinet Cups
Shaving Gel
Electrasol Dish Tabs
Laundry Detergent
Fabric Softener
Glade Air Freshners/candles
Vitamins
there are a bunch of little things I also have that there are only a couple of.. like A1, ketchup, pickles, relish, etc. I'm beginning to feel like I'm good on alot of stuff right now... and only need to buy a few things here and there or items I haven't stockpiled yet. I even skipped Kmarts super doubles (I couldn't bear the trip to another store today).
I would love tips from the pros! Thanks!
1|1|Wow! Looks like you're doing great!|Mackiesmudder|Mackiesmudder@aol.com|00:02:21|10/06/2008|
Cathie : ) 2|2|I have'nt used coupons or stockpiled free's or cheap in 2 years...but here is how I use to do it.|HONEY11|HONEY1@AMERITECH.NET|00:16:37|10/06/2008|
I kept a list in my kitchen cupboard, a printout with just the names of items, spaghetti sauce, soups etc..then I covered printout with a plastic sleeve, I used a grease marker or erasable marker to keep tabs of totals of each item.
** when I came home with all food pkgs they were marked with date I bought and then stored away...that way when I got new stock I would rotate and move new stock to the back and because I had everything marked with dates nothing got mixed up.
**Another member here gave me ideas and I stored in rubbermaid containers that fit under bed things like pads, tampons etc in there.
** also bought those rubbermaid stand up units with drawers for my bedroom closet to store more stuff & used big vintage hatboxes as storage.
**I added 2 shelf units in my kitchen to hold canned goods etc..
** I used my storage shed in the basement to store things like detergent, shampoo, conditioner, cleaning products etc..
** anything I noticed that was 3 months close to expiration it got eaten or given away to family or a food pantry to keep stock rotated and up to date.
** how much is too much... this depends on how big your family is and how much they eat.
what keeps well and what doesn't keep well, i never kept in stock more than 10 pastas or mac & cheese as I did'nt want moths in my kitchen.
"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results." -Willie Nelson
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Linda
3|1|My new rule of thumb...|sunriver|lithiasalt@cheerful.com|15:06:26|10/06/2008|
I go back and forth on this one because we literally trip of some of my stockpiles sometimes when I am getting "nutty", so I really try to limit myself to what my family can use up within 3 months. I have a few things that I will go overboard on because the deals are fewer in between for me (like TP and laundry soap) and we go though so much of it, but pretty much I try to limit myself to what we would normally use up within a few months and that works a lot better for my family. We have very limited storage space. If I had the room, my goal would be a years worth of most items and probably more that that on things that do not go bad. HTH... 4|1|You are doing great! I used to stockpile|jilda|vze4gj4m@verizon.net|15:26:35|10/06/2008|
alot of food items and then realized we don't eat THAT much and things would go past the expiration date. If you feel that you can and will eat the food within the exp dates buy it. or donate it to a food bank if you are getting close to the exp dates and you still have a lot.
I have a separate freezer for my frozen food. but even that I don't go overboard on b/c of freezer burn. The best things I freeze that usually don't go bad are OJ and Butter and Cheese. Other stuff tends to get icky after awhile if not eaten.
I do stockpile on a lot of non food items.I have about 40 bottles of ALL detergent, LOADS of TP, toothpaste, papertowels, soap, etc things that we will alwasy need but that doesn't go bad. 5|2|Good Job!|fiestafun2|fiestafun@gmail.com|15:47:17|10/06/2008|
You're doing really well. We went through a real dry run and we used all of our stockpile up. I'm starting over from scratch but boy was it nice to have the stockpiled items to fall back on.
Joie
Good things come to those who wait.