Building a stock pile of goods - storage question?

jackyann

I would do both - save and stockpile when things are on offer. I agree that things like soap powder might be a problem.
Tins should be fine (as long as they are DRY) and they are what I would mostly choose to stockpile. Have a look at this site: http://www.cannedfood.co.uk/recipes.php

I would open a savings account that pays interest as well. Check your local credit union - they are variable, but some pay reasonable interest, and if you have a record with them, you will be well placed for a low interest loan in that crucial year.

indsty

I think you should buy now, whenever you see a bargain, or a 2 for 1 etc. Be careful not to overestimate how much stuff you need - I did this before I retired and have enough washing up liquid to last 10 years. Soap powder - you could buy liquid, then no problem. Nearer the cut off date start buying the rice/pasta/tins/sauces etc. Concentrate on the higher price stuff too - e,g. coffee, sweetener, wine(?). Good luck with your studies.

Rummer

I would do a bit of both, stockpiling and putting some of the money away for emergencies or treats. If I were planning on stockpiling I would be putting away the more expensive things as there is no point in having a huge amount of cheap things squirrelled away.

In our case I would have general medicines, cleaning supplies, toiletries, pet food, luxury loo roll and maybe a sack or two of rice. Apart from that there is very little we use that is so expensive that I couldn't add it to the weekly shop. The thing to keep in mind though is that a lot of these things can be bought cheaply in a variety of places now.

It would also be good to start living within the budget you will have when studying and to put the extra income you have away in savings. That way you will have time to adapt your shopping, cooking and living habits to suit your new income while having the comfort of cash to dip into if you need it.

[Deleted User]

When I want to put cash where I cannot access it too easily I have a small building society account which is about three miles away.The hassle of trailing there and queuing up puts me off ,so once its in there it stays there .Never a great deal, just spare cash that has accrued in various ways that I want to stash say for holiday spending money for next August when we go on a family holiday.Road kill cash spare odds and ends of change I go there about once a month and deposit it.

I do keep a good store of stuff at home for during the winter when I maybe cannot get out or just want to save myself the bother of shopping more than a couple of times a month I have enough in store at the moment and have only shopped once this month and don't need anything for at least another week to ten days .then it will only be fresh fruit and veg. I can see your reasoning about stocking up for your year of very little cash,but I too would like to think there was still an emergency fund behind me if things got too tough on a no-income year.

Mistral001

clickerty-click wrote: »

How about saving the money by putting it on a gift card?

Safer in the bank I should say as there have been examples where stores have gone into liquidation creating problems getting the cards redeemed.

Primrose

I would experiment with using detergent liquid rather than soap powder and see how you get on with it. We buy such things in bulk and store in our dry garage for up to a year and its fine. You may find it goes rather hard and more solid if you store it much longer and have to jab the contents wth a stout cane to break it down again, .

Powder stuff I would forget. Even if you store it in strong plastic boxes with lids I suspect it will deteriorate beyond the point where you can practically use it.

I can see your point in wanting to buy early to take advantage of special offers and promotions, and also to beat cost inflation but i suspect some things may end up being wasted money if they don't store well. Suggest you buy very discriminatorily and set up a dedicated "hardship living savings account" as well to put some money aside. If you do want to buy ahead, I leave it until nearer the time to prevent deterioration.

Incidentally, get a cheap Maximum/minimum temperature thermometer for your loft and record the max and minimum temperstures over several months if this is where you are going to store stuff. Lofts can get incredibly hot in summers and very cold in winters and may not really be suitable for storing some of the products you have in mind as even in a plastic box, their packaging may start to deteriorate.

Congratulations on your forward planning though::T