I recently received the following question from one of the Families.com readers about building a stockpile.
“I know that buying things when they are on sale and building a stockpile saves money, but how can I do this when the normal groceries cost so much?” Sophia.
Sophia has a really good point (hi Sophia!). It can be tough to build up a good stockpile when there isn’t any extra money to do it, but it can be done.
You can start out small. Even an extra $5 a week toward a stockpile item will help. With $5, you can buy 6-7 boxes of pasta on sale in even the most expensive areas of the country. If there are no good deals that week at your grocery store, you can take that $5 and add it in to the next week’s stockpile fund, giving you $10.
To find that $5 or hopefully more, figure out some creative ways to save or earn it. Go through your DVD or book collection and find a couple of titles to sell online, babysit one evening, do a breakfast for dinner one night to save the cost of groceries, etc. There are many little ways to save a bit here and there that may give you the extra money to set aside for building a stockpile. If you get any unexpected money, such as a tax refund or a gift, put that money aside into a separate account (or envelope) designated for building your grocery stockpile.
Start stocking up on items that you can easily get free through coupons, rewards and sales. Toothpaste, soap, razors and other health and beauty products always seem to have promotions that can render them free with clever shopping. You won’t be out any money, you will still be stockpiling, and you may even be able to trade or sell some of your extra items with other families.