One of my favorite spring flowers!

One of the things that matters to me is understanding the way store sales cycles work. Why? Because if you can pay a bit of attention to what goes on sale and when, you can nab low prices for the things your family needs and uses. In fact, I spend a good time on this topic in my coupon classes because I’m a realist and know that not everyone is going to adopt a full-out couponing lifestyle. So understanding how store sales work will help you save money – whether or not you use a single coupon!

I’ve been tracking store sales cycles for three years now and the result is my Store Sales Cycle download – which is free for you to use! My goal is to expand on this every year. Stuff does change.

What I anticipate will go on sale

• Ham. We’re already seeing ham sales in anticipation for Easter. I wouldn’t wait around on this one! It seems that anything under $2 is a best bet, but I’d love to hear from those of you that regularly buy ham if you have any tips or ideas for finding a better deal.
• Pineapple. Got to have pineapple with ham, right? Both canned pineapple and whole pineapple goes on sale this time of year. We’re seeing the cans of Dole for around $1 right now, which I consider to be a stock up price. There was a recent coupon that sweetens that even more. I just picked up a whole pineapple at Fred Meyer yesterday for $1.99, too.
• Eggs. This one too, in preparation for Easter. $1 for a dozen is definitely a strong price.
• Baking and Cooking Items. Right now we’re seeing some similar items on sale as we saw around the holidays. Why? Because lots of people cook a big Easter dinner. I’ve noticed stuffing, canned soup, broth, marshmallows, yams, and the like all get promoted a bit more in store ads around this time of year. Stock up!
• Eco-friendly items. It’s Earth Day this month which means we should watch for freebies, promotions, and coupons for brands and products along that theme. Think Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyers, free CFL light bulbs, free reusable bags, etc.
• Healthy items. This seems to go with the Earth Day theme, but I’ve noted strong sales for healthy and organic foods in the past for April. For instance, Safeway has run an “Eating Well” promotion in the past.
• Gardening. We should expect an uptick in gardening promotions and sales.
• Easter Clearance. Watch for Easter clearance sales to hit as soon as Easter is over! Stores like Rite Aid, Target, Walgreens, and Fred Meyer will start to drop the prices on the bagged candy, in particular. Note that many of the Easter candy coupons expire 4/8 – on Easter.

Remember these are my best guesses based on past years’ notes. I have watched promotions shift and change altogether, so take everything with a grain of salt. Nab the Sales Cycles sheet if you would like more information on what I think we’ll see in April.

What’s Happening at the Blog?

I do have a few exciting things happening in April!

• Adventures in Homesteading. Yesterday I made the announcement that I’d be running a homesteading series this month. Watch for posts Monday-Wednesday-Friday in April.
• FREE Live Webcast. I will be hosting a FREE live webcast on Monday, April 23rd. Topic TBD. Let me know if you have any ideas! Stay tuned for updates.
• Coupon Class Announcement. I will soon be announcing at least one coupon class opportunity for you to attend in May. I very rarely have opportunities like these, so if you’re interested, you’ll want to stay tuned. I’ll be headed to the general vicinity of Graham/South Hill. Get ready!

If you have additional thoughts for either stuff you think we’ll see on sale this month OR ideas for the blog for the month in April (or hey, beyond!) give me a hollar in the comments section!

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Do you like to shop online for household items?

(Photo credit)

My good pal Keri had a great question on Facebook I hijacked for today’s post asked her if I could share:

I’m looking for ways to simplify my week by reducing trips to the store. I was thinking of buying some staples online, like soap, lightbulbs, paper products, household products, OTC medications. Has anyone done this with success?

It’s not at all unusual to get a similar question at one of my coupon classes. I sometimes have readers who don’t have access to a car or who are not able to get out of the house as readily due to a disability or illness. And then there are others of us that are just interested in minimizing the time we spend in the stores in general!

Do you have any advice for Keri? Specifically:

• What online stores/sites have you found the best deals at? Tips for shopping them?
• How can you buy online and build a stockpile without breaking the bank?
• What other tips would you have for reducing trips to the store?

Thanks, Keri!

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Earlier this month, I shared how I took inventory of my first aid and medications items. Through this helpful exercise I found duplicate items, expired items, and gaps in my stockpile. I’ve decided to carry that same process to encompass my entire stockpile, tackling one new section at a time. And of course, I thought I’d bring you along for the ride.

Last week, I decided to go for the gizzard and tackle my pantry.

Scary, I know.

Before I got to work, I put a little thought into this. I’ve been wanting to inventory my items for years, but why? Was there a real reason for doing this beyond a making a pretty list? There was. Here’s what I came up with.

1. Saving money. This year one goal I’ve set for myself is to become more of a conscious spender. I’m not just talking about reducing impulse buys (though that’s always a great goal). I’m talking about working to ensure the things that I’m picking up at the store are things that will serve a purpose in my stockpile.
2. Saving time. One discovery I made when I took inventory of my first aid stockpile is that I really had more than I thought I did! A couple weeks ago, I was happy to find Visine on sale at Rite Aid. This was something I had just identified on my list as needing! As I hone my inventory list I can quickly determine which deals are worth chasing and which I can sit out.
3. Better management of expiration dates. Wasted food is no good. I never want a stockpile so big that stuff goes bad! So I wanted a way I could easily manage when things are coming up on expired dates for rotation and/or meal planning.
4. Better household management. The purpose of stockpiling is having the things on hand my family needs before they need them, right? So what good does it do me if I don’t entirely even know what I have? One thing I’ve come to consider is how beneficial it would be to have a regular checklist and method of monitoring my stockpile.

With these goals in mind, I started by thoroughly cleaning out my pantry and freezer. (The fridge wasn’t terrible, but it might need my Martha Stewart’s touch soon.)

AH! Much better!

I’ve also spent some time in cleaning up the bulk foods section of my pantry. If you’re new to my site, you should know I have a big heart love for bulk food shopping. The pretty bins I was able to snag at One King’s Lane when they had a sale awhile ago. I’ve improvised for some of the other items with canning and used (and rinsed!) food jars.

The completed pantry:

I was able to find some stuff to take to the food donation, which was awesome. Plus, I can actually see what I have to work with now. So much better.

With things in place, I was then able to work on my inventory list. Of course, I built it on Excel. I’ll show you why in a minute:

I started by making broad categories such as canned, breakfast, and freezer. Then, I put in descriptions of items. Here are a few decisions I made before doing this that made the process much simpler:

1. I only counted UNOPENED boxes. If something was halfway gone (i.e., partially eaten box of cereal), I did not count it. I see a stockpile as items you have at the ready, and I didn’t want to have to wonder about how to count items that we’re in the process of using.
2. I only included items I want to have at all times. Sure, the deal on the Nutri-Grain bars we got was a great one last year. But if we don’t have Nutri-Grain bars (or any cereal bars, for that matter), my family doesn’t care. It’s not an essential item around here. Cereal, oatmeal, pasta sauce, and soup on the other hand? Yes, we use those items regularly!
3. I included items I want to have, but don’t have currently. For instance I like having canned tomato sauce on hand. We’re out. I just added it to my inventory list with a quantity of “0.”

To ensure that this is a functioning list of something I will actually use, I decided to include a frequency column. For each item, I noted if it’s something I should check on the status on every week or month. Since my list is in Excel, I can easily sort the list to help do my weekly or monthly grocery shopping!

Remember that one of my initial goals with this exercise was to help encourage me to be a conscious spender. So I decided to build into my inventory list two sets of prices – one for what I feel would be a stock-up price for each, and the other as a top-end price.

This list is still very much a work in progress, but I’m happy to share it with you today as an Excel Download so you can get started with your own list: Food Inventory List (Excel Only)  For those of you without access to Excel, or who would prefer just a worksheet version, here’s the pdf: Inventory List Worksheet (pdf)

I have two more areas in my house I plan on continuing this process for: household (laundry & cleaning supplies, paper products, lightbulbs, batteries, toys, gift supplies, etc) and health & beauty (personal care items, cosmetics, body wash, toothcare, etc). While this has definitely taken some time to put together, I’m feeling like my stockpile will serve a better purpose and that I’ll save some time and money in the long run!

Have any of you done something similar? Any other thoughts or ideas for how to best inventory your stockpile?

Want to chat stockpiling some more? Here are some posts for ya!

How Sassy is Your Stockpile?
Reader Stockpile Photos (and more, more, more, and more reader stockpiles!)
10 Stockpile Items I always Keep on Hand
Common Sense Stockpiling (recorded webcast)

And a short video of me sharing ideas for how to build a stockpile:

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