Today I’m concluding the reader stockpile series by featuring families of 6 or more! In case you missed them, you can check out the other posts in my stockpiling category.
Without further ado, let’s jump in!
Amber’s Stockpile
Amber’s email absolutely blew me away for two reasons. First, she’s a SAHM of two sets of twins (boys 5 1/2 and girls 2) AND she feeds her entire family for just $75 a month! She says her stockpile is currently running low because some of the snacks and other items were used on a recent camping trip. She keeps her stockpile in the basement so it’s out of reach of little hands. She’s been couponing and stockpiling for only 3 months too! One of the ways Amber keeps her grocery budget down is food sharing. For instance, she may swap some free pasta (that she got with coupons) for fresh produce from her inlaws. Savvy!
Sheila’s Stockpile
Sheila has her stockpile throughout her house, in various places. (This sounds a lot like what I do, too.) Sheila has a family of eight and lives in a 1,100 square foot home, so she’s had to be clever with how she stores things! Sheila has been at this for 16 months and couponing has been able to allow her family to set aside money for other things. Her stockpile has really come in handy as two of her kids are at college, and they’ve been able to take advantage of the toiletry items she’s been able to stock. Sheila has smartly organized the contents of her stockpile onto lists and index cards, so she is always aware of what her family has on hand, and in what quantities.
The photo below is actually a collage of the various parts of her stockpile. Click it to see a larger image, along with text Sheila’s added.
Carol’s Stockpile
Carol stockpiles for her family of 7 and she blogs at Gabby Gilchrist. Her children go through cereal and juice, so that is what she’s worked to stock. Given they celebrate so many birthdays per year, she says they also keep a good stock of cake mix! She also stockpiles toys when they go on sale and hides them in her closet. (Her kids are all pretty small, so I’m guessing they won’t be reading this.)
Lacey’s Stockpile
Lacey stockpiles for her family of 7, which includes herself, her husband, her three children, her mother-in-law, and her brother-in-law. They all share a 4-bedroom house, so she too has to be pretty creative with storing her items. She writes that some things are stacked next to her fridge, other items still are stored on the top part of a her kids closet.
Lacey’s husband recently experienced a season of unemployment, and she writes it was wonderful to have toiletries and items stockpiled so they didn’t have to spend money on them! I also love how she says she lets missionaries from her church stop by and “shop” from her stockpile!
Mandy’s Stockpile
Mandy has a family of 6, and she’s worked to stock up on 3-4 months of the items her family uses. She says she buys items like sugar, flour, and rice in bulk as that is generally where she has found the best price. She writes that she likes to stockpile so her family is prepared for other expenses that just come as a part of life. She also shares that she likes the comfort of knowing her family has practical items on hand so she doesn’t always have to head to the store each week.
Debbie’s Stockpile
Debbie stockpiles for her family of 6 which includes herself, her husband, three girls, and her mother. Couponing and stockpiling have enabled her to remain a stay-at-home mom. In her words: “Aside from our kitchen areas, (not shown) I have a pantry near the laundry room, our laundry room shelf for laundry/cleaning supplies, A half pantry in the garage as well as a spare freezer that is starting to get sparce!”
A huge thank you to all the readers who participated! I enjoyed reading your emails and sharing your pictures.
In the next couple days, I will select one of you randomly to win the $10 Amazon Gift Card I promised. I will simply email the winner (as opposed to announcing here).
I also plan on doing a recap post because I felt that there were some themes in your stories and photos, and I would love to tie it all together.
If you followed this series: what thoughts do you have? Did this change your view on what stockpiling could look like, or what it’s for? Did you get any ideas for organization?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for this blog entry. My biggest (and I mean BIGGEST) complaint with the Coupon program on TLC is they go to stores back east that double coupons. Many of those sales we see on that program are not normal for the every day person like us. I’ve threatened several times to write them and complain! I would like to see them visit folks like US living in rural areas who only have Rite Aide and Fred Meyer to shop at. Let’s see them walk out the door with only spending .12. Impossible I say. Anyway….our stockpile is stored in a 4 X 10 room built into the corner of our garage. We started it as an emergency stockpile in case the BIG ONE hits (Casadia earthquake). It has expanded to include every day stuff. Love your site….thanks for all the time and effort you put into this.
Although I’ve not seen the episodes, WinCo and Fred Meyer WERE included. Anyhow…I’m not a fan of that show for a myriad of reasons, one of them being it’s created a perception that you can only get deals with doubles. I routinely get items for free and better than at Rite Aid!!
Did you see my webcast last night?
Thanks for dropping a line!
Will we get to see your stockpile pictures?
I honestly did this series because I feel like I’m always sharing my own stockpile!
If you head to the stockpiling category of my site and work backwards, you can find some posts with pics.
Oh nice! I don’t know how I missed it! Very impressive!
I only shop at Walmart and they dont double coupons and I went just last week and saved over 300 dollars spending less than 50.00 its all about planning and organizing. There was also the twins on there who went to the store that did not double coupons.
I have been couponing for about little over a month. I have found it harder to cut my food grocerys down. Its much easier with the personal items. I do the albertsons doublers each weeek and get free stuff but I am hoping to learn how to get better with the food part as this is where I need it most. Any suggestions?
Pamela,
Lowering your groceries does take time. By stockpiling, you will lower your grocery bill a little at a time. I would say about 3 months to really see the savings. Just pick 1 or 2 grocery items to stockpile (I stockpile items 5 at a time) each payday. When you have a stockpile of an item, that item is off your shopping list (unless another sale comes your way). For example, I know summer is coming up and we BBQ alot. So I stockpiles BBQ sauce. i have about 15 bottles (different brands). That should last us through the summer unless another sale comes up. I hope that helps you. Keep up the good work. You can do it!
Thanks so much for doing this series, Angela…absolutely loved being a part of it with my stockpile pictures and loved seeing what everybody else is doing. It was very reassuring to see that there are a lot of people not going to the extreme and really doing things sensibly! Way to go fellow-couponers!
I’m a newbie to couponing as well, about 6 weeks now, and I am so impressed with the advice and common sense you share. I loved seeing everyone’s stockpiles especially those with small families. Our household is only two – me and my husband – but couponing and learning how to make good, solid choices through planning and organizing has had a major impact on our stockpile. We are currently assisting our nephew in college, allowing him to ‘shop’ our stockpile for necessities.
Thank you for all you do to help us!
I am trying to learn how to get the good coupons and great finds. There is just my husband and I to shop for at this time. The problem I have is that I have absolutely no extra space to store items as we live in a very tiny place. My only other place would be our self-store place in which we keep items that we don’t have room for but use seasonally such as camping, fishing gear. Can you suggest the best strategy for me? I want to know if it is safe to store food items in a storage unit? I know I could do the paper and plastic items. Any ideas to help me would be greatly appreciated. We could really use an extra few dollars a month at our age. Thank you!
@Susan,
My family owns a self storage business and I would strongly encourage you not to store food in your unit. Even using sealed containers, animals and bugs will figure out a way to get in! I know that there is differences depending on what part of the country you live in, etc. but why take the risk?! Keeping your paper products could work, but I would consider putting them in plastic containers. (I have seen mice make nests in the middle of t.p rolls) I get that living in a small place makes stockpiling difficult. I’m not sure if any of my tips will work for your situation…Do you have seasonal clothing or bedding that you could put in your storage unit (winter coats and blankets take up a lot of room!) If you have any furniture that has space underneath it (like dressers, beds, t.v stands) you could stash some stuff there. I would just try and brainstorm all sorts of ideas (the crazier, the better!) you’re bound to come up with a couple that would work for you. My favorite secret spot right now is in the middle of my living room! I had a rubbermaid tote filled to the brim with oatmeal, granola bars, and fruit snacks and no home for it. I got sick of looking at it so I pushed it over to the side by my couch, put a tablecloth and lamp on it and it’s a side table now. The best part, my kids don’t know about the stash and I’m ready for September already!
There is no size minimum on a stockpile. Even if you just bought 1 extra item everytime you shopped you would be saving some money.
I’m curious how Amber is feeding her family on $75 a month? My family of 4 has a budget of $100 a week and that’s with couponing and me stockpiling for about a year.
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