Do you watch the Doomsday Preppers show? We watch it and honestly, most of them are just a bit weird for my thoughts. Killeen Bishop of Preparedness Pro was one of the first ones I saw. I’ve read her blog for a while and I find her to be informative and pretty normal (but, who am I to figure out who’s normal and who isn’t?).
I don’t stockpile so much for long term survival but I stockpile when I can get fresh veggies at a reasonable price, or home grown meat even when it means I have to buy half a cow. Mostly I buy things that are on sale for a great price and then I don’t buy them again til they’re on sale the next time.
Last week Kroger had V8 and Ravioli on sale.
Vince loves the low sodium V8 on a hot day. I like the regular but don’t drink it much because of the sodium and I don’t like the low sodium variety. I do not like canned ravioli nor do I like red sauce but Vince could eat it every day. I guess that’s part of his Sicilian heritage. When we’ve worked outside til late, a lot of evenings I’m happy with a glass of juice or a salad and Vince likes to heat up a can of ravioli. If I’m not home for lunch, he’s happy with a can of ravioli. He will drink 2 or 3 bottles of V8 a week and he might eat a couple of cans of ravioli per week. In this picture are 48 cans of ravioli and 36 bottles of V8. That’s about half of what I bought but when you figure how much I saved by stocking up on these things when they’re on sale, it’s definitely worth it.
Week before last, they had Ragu spaghetti sauce on sale for .99/jar. I haven’t seen it for that price in a long time. I stocked up . . not that we use it much when we have homemade canned spaghetti sauce but we’re flat out of that. This past week, it was on sale for $1.50/jar and the regular price is about $2/jar I think. It’s kinda like money in the bank so long as we use it and we definitely will use it all.
The Bluebell ice cream that was on sale . . probably not such a good idea! 🙂
Do you mostly just buy stuff as you need it or do you stock up when things are on sale?
Janina says
Pre made Spagetti sauce is ok in a pinch…the trick is to cook it for awhile.Dump a couple jars into your crockpot ,put it on low and go out to that super fabulous sewing room of yours and spend the day.Wow ,is that place great.I am so jealous .
Roberta says
We keep a good size pantry and a 23 cu ft freezer full all the time. yup stock up when on sale, it’s just smart for us. Oh that’s for two people.
Hugs!!!!
Erin says
Unfortunately I don’t stock up because I live in an apartment, there is just not enough room to buy things in bulk. Can’t wait until I have a house so I can have more room to buy in bulk!!
Patti Tappel says
You’re not really a hoe are you? LMAO
Janet says
I stock up when things are on sale and have coupons. I do not have the baskets full of things like the extreme coupon people, but when you can get toothpaste for 50 cents or less I can’t resist. I hate to run out of something. I also donate items to the food bank, so many people need help.
Karen says
I was going to stock up on the Ragu sauce last week and when I got to the store they had only 2 jars left! I took them but was disappointed – that is what I get for being late in the day I guess. I always look at the 10/10 sale and see if it will be things I will use and stock up.
Karen
Vicki W says
I am getting more and more into stocking up. I have to eat so many special foods that I often have to order them. I’ve taken to ordering very large quantities simply because of the shipping costs. It saves me a ton of money.
Sue in Scottsdale, AZ says
I have a very small pantry area so I usually buy what we need. My husband and I keep talking about buying more when there is a sale but we just don’t have the room to store it. We do have large garages (yes – that is plural) but you don’t want to store things in a very hot garage during an Arizona summer!
Peggy says
When we have the extra money and things are on sale I stock up for two reasons. Where we live in the wintertime we can get snowed or iced in. The other reason is I like to not have to worry about food or supplies if money is a little slim for the month.
We are running out of our home canned goods, because we didn’t have a garden last year. Many gardens didn’t do well last summer due to the heat and lack of rain. So today we planted a small garden and at least hope we have enough tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce.
Funny thing is we had to find a place to put the garden. We do not have a yard, because we live in a wooded hilly area that is rock. We are in the process of removing wall to wall bad carpet and took a piece of it and put it at the edge of the driveway. We had some sand that we put over the carpet and then added somedirt that was loaded with worms, so we knew it was good dirt. On top of that went a little good potting soil. All the seeds are in the potting soil. The tomatoes are in pots. Just glad the whole area is close to water.
Helen Koenigl says
Mostly I buy stuff that’s on sale – something I learned when I first married – um, a gazillion years ago and which I continued long after the marriage didn’t.
Additionally – I do stock up for emergencies – as I can – and if stuff is on sale. I’ve been through 2 week long trucker strikes, several no electric sieges lasting up to several weeks, several blizzards, and more recently being laid off while the bills weren’t (and guess where the money came from to pay the bills! :~ )
And then too, there are a few things (powdered non-instant milk is one) that I just plain prefer the taste when compared to the local supermarket item (as in the plastic-y gallon of milk) (although I REALLY prefer the fresh home-grown variety to any of that – however my neighbours would be all up in arms with me were I to have livestock – and I REALLY want chickens!)
Vivian oaks says
I stock up when things are on sale, but not nearly as much as you do!! I’ll buy two or three of an item, but certainly not 32 or 48! We used to buy our beef half-a-beef at a time, but that’s when the kids were growing up. Now that we’re down to 3 of us (one that won’t be here in another two weeks after the wedding!!!) we just don’t need nearly as much at a time.
Peggy says
It does bother me to have those bottles of juice above your fabric. It would worry me so much of a possible leak. I cleaned up a leak just last week and was glad it was in the refigerator.
Megan says
I also buy stuff when it’s on sale. For many products, my husband and I have clear brand preferences, so when those brands are on sale, we’ll stock up. What I don’t understand is how the producers and retailers make money. What you’ve described in your post suggests that the special prices haven’t influenced which products or brands you buy – just the timing of your purchase: you’re buying now, when the price is low instead of in three weeks time when you might you actually want to use the product. I’m the same. I don’t buy a brand that I don’t like just because it’s on sale. So, with customers like you and me, the producers and retailers are losing out: they would have made the sale at the regular price, but instead, have made the sale at a significantly reduced price.
CindyM says
I stock up but in a much lower fashion. I don’t can anymore, so in the winter I do go through lots and lots of canned tomatoes. I’m a soup maker and canned tomatoes go in lots of my soups. so I’ll buy 8 to 12 cans if they are on sale. But I have thought about not doing this. I went through a period a couple of summers ago where I literally bought food only for a day or 2, and it was nice… I sort of felt European… going to the market each day to see what looked good to cook just for that night. Of course we’re in a city (Denver) and I work, so I drive past the market on my way home each day.
The funniest thing about this post is Vince eating that nasty canned ravioli. I swear some men don’t have tastebuds. My husband is perfectly happy eating cereal or eggs night after night…. and when I make something spectacular, I know he doesn’t REALLY appreciate it like he should… he just doesn’t have a palate that can taste the difference!
Alma says
If you all saw the tiny cubby hole they call a pantry in my house – you would know it is impossible to stock up too much when I see a sale.
Oh well…. Doomsday will get us all anyway!!!! LOL
Roberta says
I took a small bedroom near the kitchen, put in a freezer and lined the walls with shelves for my pantry. We have a very old house.
Hugs!!!!
Debbie says
Over the last year I have stopped stocking up on food items. I find we just don’t eat as much anymore unless its fresh veggies/some meat/some fish. I still do buy bulk paper towels and those kinds of things because I can put them in my basement.
I think the only thing I miss about stocking up is the thrill of the hunt! 🙂
SarahB says
We usually stockpile when things are on sale but ever since we listed the house for sale we have been using our “reserves” instead of buying more. Our plan is to start again after we move… whenever that may be!
Patti Tappel says
Home, Oh that’s what you meant! LOL
I stock up some. Today I bought 18 rolls of paper towels at Target just to get free napkins. I even worked a deal there, it was a 200 ct pkg but all they had was a promotional pkt of 2/200, and the manager gave me those!
As far as grocery store items I don’t stock up on them as much as home canned goods.
Helen B. Ellen says
Oh, yes…I’m a bargain hunter and a stocker upper!
Love looking in my pantry and seeing that I’m prepared.
Sharon Spingler says
I usually by as needed from my list but I do scan Food4Less and Stater Bros weekly ads. I buy lots if it’s a really good sale……mostly canned stuff, pasta and stuff for the freezer.
Liz says
I do get items when they are on sale or when I go to sam’s with a friend who has a card. I have bought some freid dried foods to have available in case of storms since I don’t want to stock up a freezer only to lose everything if the electricity is out.
I do need to improve my storage of everything so I find it… that’s happening slowly but surely as I am rearranging my house.
Liz says
Hmm – I just saw my typo – I meant to say “freeze dried”. Sometimes the keyboard just doesn’t behave or was it those internet gremlins?
Elizabeth says
Judy I put V-8 juice (the hot and spicy if you like it hot) in my etouffee sauce with a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes. It taste great.
Linda in NE says
I have my grocery/paper goods/pet supply stash too. Usually, I buy what we need plus whatever is on sale that week that I know we will use….but not quite as much as you buy. 🙂 Maybe just a half dozen of any one item. It counts up. When I make a trip to a larger town with the discount stores I’ll stock up on paper goods, detergent, cat food/litter. When we get a snow storm or ice storm I’m not one of the ones who need to run to the store. My freezers and grocery shelves hold everything we need for a while. I’ve probably got enough detergent to last most of a year. 🙂 🙂 I don’t consider myself a prepper, just prepared. Some of those folks do seem a little….out there.
Judy D in WA says
I stock up on sale things and boy does it pay off. I still have 14 jars of peanut butter that I paid less than $1 each for! I hope it will last a 3-4 more months or longer. I’m too cheap not to wait for a sale. 😉
I also buy only what we will use in the life of the food.
You got me hooked on that show. There’s some good info there but there is lots of “interesting” stuff there too.
Shari says
We;re stockers. Between the sales & the home preserved foods we eat very well. Like Sue we can’t .leave much in the garages over the summer, but the local food bank is very hapy to get things. I also use our “senior discount” to stock up on things for the food bank like peanut butter & the cans of spaghetti sauce.
sheila sanderson says
Sock up on cans of Baxter’s soup when on sale, good to have, but you cannot beat homemade soup. Also stock up when things are reduced. Hate having to run out and buy something I need to cook
Happy Room Diana says
I am fairly new to buying in bulk and filling my small under the stairs cupboard with cans of food / flour / pasta etc. I use an Excel sheet to keep tabs on what I have and write the expiry date on the top of each can.. I love the maths of it all!
Freda Henderson says
No stockpiling here either. Lynn’s Mother and step dad stockpiled when they were alive and you should have seen the places we pulled out cans of food after they passed. Of course most of it had expired years ago.
Judy Laquidara says
There’s definitely a difference in stocking up and hoarding! One thing for sure is I don’t want to invest in a stock of groceries only to have it go back so I keep a spreadsheet and keep close tabs on expiration dates.
Pat says
I have a few jars of home canned peaches and pears. Also tomatoes, and of course salsa. I have some basement shelves and sometimes I add to my stores from Costco items such as spaghetti sauce.
I try not to have too much as I’ve seen my mother hoard for years and I’ve ended up throwing it out when she’s asleep–6 a.m. in the morning! Who wants to eat 10 year old jam for goodness sake???? No sense in spending so much time preparing it to only have too much!!!
I go by the motto that fear SELLS! In the event of a disaster, most food stores would be ruined anyhow–jmho!
pdudgeon says
i stock up in a different way. like some of your other readers i live in an apartment and so have very little storage space. i do stock up on the basic things, like fabric, or a few extra quilt bats. one thing i am doing now is looking for things made of cotton that are basics. I just ordered 3 cotton blankets and got a good deal at Target for them.
the average price i found online was about twice what i had paid just three years ago. and with cotton becomming scarce lately, i’m looking at those blankets as an investment that i can use now and still be using later.
barbara says
i make my own red sauce, but when francesco rinaldi is 99 cents i really stock up. i saute onions and garlic and fresh herbs, maybe mushrooms if i have them, and then add the jarred sauce and simmer. tastes like someone’s home made. not mine, of course, ( 🙂 ) but pretty darn good for half the effort and time. i have loads of space and a big tall freezer so i an definitely a sticker-upper. my parents always bought half a cow and a few dozen chickens for their freezer, plus my dad was a salt water fisherman.
barbara says
meant to say ‘stocker-upper. not sticker-upper. although if money stays tight, that may be my next career.
Deb says
I sometimes like to stock up. I make a lot of my own dog food, so they get things that are close to expiring, or things that have been in the freezer too long. (not things that have gone bad, of course…) My husband, now THAT is a different story! He stocks up whether it is on sale or not. He has some kind of unknown FEAR of not having enough food, (not disaster related…) although he has never gone hungry. If we have a party, he cooks LOADS of food, thinking everyone will go home hungry if he doesnt! Like he has to feed a nation…We have 2 pantries, since we have our house and a rental, fridges and freezers. All well stocked. And mostly we buy stuff fresh all the time from the grocery, and THAT we end up throwing away more than anything. Sad, we are trying to fix that…I would love to get mor into canning, but have to be in one spot long enough to care for a garden…
Sandy says
I stock up on non-food items and keep them in the garage. I have to be careful buying food items because I’m a one-person household and I may not be able to eat things up before the expiration dates. Also, my pantry is small! Even so, I watch for sales and buy as many bargains as I can.
Michelle says
I stock up when things are on sale, but with six of us, we go through it all so fast it hardly counts as a stockpile.