Buying in bulk / stockpiling ....is it really worth it?

tiff

Right, well I'm going to make a start today, this week I'm allocating £10 to spend on stockpiling. Pay day is the 27th, so might allocate more than £10 next week.

Going to make a start on things like kidney beans, tinned toms where I can get a lot for my money, value kidney beans are 14p and tinned toms 33p. I want to get a 3 month supply so have worked out how many I use a week x 12 weeks which makes 12 tins kidney beans and 24 tins toms. Comes to £9.60, so might get a bag of flour to make the £10.

There is a stockpiling forum on Frugal Village (American site) which has given me ideas, take a look at some of the pics http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=302

tiff

Please can the thread title be changed to stockpiling, as its not a buying in bulk thread as such. Its also more relevant to the situation in 2009 than the start of this thread in 2005!

megasaver

tiff wrote: »

Please can the thread title be changed to stockpiling, as its not a buying in bulk thread as such. Its also more relevant to the situation in 2009 than the start of this thread in 2005!

I am truly honored that you have revived this thread had completely forgotten about it..... totally agree that the name should be changed (have tried but don't know if it has worked!) So pleased that it can be useful to the situation in 2009! Still can't get over the shock that I have been a member here for four years :rotfl: Can't believe It!

tiff

Thanks megasaver but I dont think it worked. Lets hope a board guide can do it.

Well, I started my 3 month stockpile today, added a few extra things like Signal toothpaste 2 in a box for 99p (99p store). Found chickpeas in the word foods isle in Tesco at 23p a tin, brand is Sea Isle so got 4 of those as not many left.

Going to make a list of what I have so that I dont repeat anything over the weeks.

Couldnt help but notice lots of empty spaces on the shelves in Tesco this morning or am I being paranoid lol

leiela

Neither mine or my husbands jobs are looking that secure right now, i'd like to think we'll get abit of warning and that we'd both be able to find new jobs but who knows with the economy the way it is right now??

So im thinking stockpiling might be the way to go after all should the worst happen the longer with can survive the better right?? we don't have enough freezer space for freezer stockpiling but i figure we could find room for tins, jars and packets.

I've bought 2 of those underbed storage tubs which are air tight for the time being and i have 2 shelves i don't use in my wardrobe.

whats the best way to start? just double up on things we already buy? or look out for special offers? How much do you guys stockpile??

I suggested this to my husband last night and he looked at me as if i'd just suggested we both join the circus, but i think it's a good idea... you never know whats gonna happen right??

rosieben

Tiff, thanks for the link to the frugalvillage site, now I definitely have store room envy - their storerooms are bigger than my kitchen

leiela, good idea to look for specials but also look at what you use a lot of and make a start with that; I've always kept a good stock of tins - they'd be fine in your under-bed crates - and packets, and then bought extra flour, pasta, rice, lentils, pulses, dried milk, sugar etc. I'm still working on getting spares of sauces and baking extras. It takes a while to build up a good store cupboard, but even spending £5 or £10 a week you'd make good progress.

If you're planning a storecupboard, its useful to think about why you want one because that can affect the kind of things you want to store. I keep a couple of gallons of water and water purifying tablets in stock since huge parts of Glos lost water supply in the floods last year. I keep plenty of candles, matches and batteries because we're liable to have power cuts (autumn, winter and spring). I dont keep much frozen meat (I dont eat that much meat anyway) but I have a selection of frozen veg. I've plenty of cheese and eggs, bacon, sausages, frozen white fish as well as assorted tinned fish and meat. I buy potatoes by the sack from a local farm and I never let myself get short of onions.

Mellika

I agree with Tiff, perhaps the threads should not have been merged...?

nesssie1702

Living on an island means that I have a good store cupboard already, as there can be times when the ferry doesn't sail and food supplies aren't replenished.

I've always got tins of beans, tomato and tomato puree and jars of pasta sauce in the cupboard along with lots of pasta. Have lots of jars of jam, coffee and peanut butter in as well. There's bits and pieces in the freezer, including frozen veg if we need it too.

When I get away to the mainland, I normally do a scout round all the supermarkets we don't have here (only got a Tesco and Co-op) to see what offers they have on and what I can buy that's a treat or out of the ordinary, so my supplies build up that way too. Some of the biscuits that Lidl and Aldi do are lovely and have decent long dates on them.

Like Rosieben, I always have onions, carrots and potatoes in as well as cheese, eggs and bacon (in the freezer.

katholicos

I'm loving this thread, and the frugal village forum about stockpiling. I have only a small pantry, but i think i am going to convert a small outhouse for stockpiling.

tiff

Leiela, I took a tip from the American site. One way to do it is to take an item, say tinned tomatoes and work out how many you use a week then times that by the number of weeks stockpile you want to create. So I use 2 a week and bought 24 tins for a 3 month stockpile. Only buy what you would usually eat. You could wait till things go on offer but things I buy like value flour dont go on offer and will only increase in price so makes sense to buy now. It also makes sense to buy a variety of things, so that if you have to use your stockpile sooner rather than later you will have a good number of different items to use rather than 50 packets of cereal!

This way, rather than buying randomly you will always know how many months food/toiletries etc you have in hand.