What do You Stockpile?

[gizzymo1960]

I have been researching stockpiling. Anyone here stockpile? if so what do you stockpile and how do you store it. I haven't started stockpiling yet being that I have just started on my journey to a frugal life.
I would really like to have any input and ideas on the subject.

Thanks,
Gizzymo

[brchbell]

Boy do I stockpile! Everything we need for one year! We started with dry pack canned goods: wheat, corn, flour, pasta, oats, ect then went with personnel supplies. then we added the good stuff: fruits, vegetables, soups, ect. I recommend Provident Living Home and clicking on Family food Storage for basic information on getting a food supply in. there is also a lot on YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Whenever I have time I go in and punch in all kinds of search phrases and am always amazed at what all I find! I learned the best way to save seeds and how to store them. I learned some very creative ways to use our food storage and how to organize it. Some are excellent and some leave much to be desired!

[naturalmommy]

brchbell- thanks for the links. I have bookmarked them, and Im looking forward to reading them and gaining more knowledge.

gizzymo, you will find a ton of info on the site.

[atta76]

Thanks for the links. I am slowly stockpiling some things but only short term so far. Like Pop-Tarts, spaghetti sauce and noodles were BOGO so I got enough for a month until they go on sale again.

I really want to stockpile shampoo, deodorant and health & beauty stuff like that - I'm just not quite sure the best way to start. I have five deos for hubby right now and three for me so that will last a little while but when I see people's huge piles stacked ceiling to floor in the garage it makes me feel like I'm missing out!

[brchbell]

My DH was put up in a hotel while he was on medical orders with the Air force. he came home on weekends and during the week, each day he'd throw all the little soaps, shampoos and lotions into his bag. Each day the hotel replaced them. He just came off those medical orders so our supply has dried up but during this time he filled several large boxes of these supplies to put into our emergency storage! We probably have will over a years supply of free soaps & shampoos and hand lotion too! I had a major bonus last month when one of our little country stores went out of business. I got sunscreen for 50 cents a bottle and Fels soap, a lot of us use to make our own laundry soaps,ect for 55 cents a bar! I felt a little guilty cleaning them out but well, not much! I drove up there hoping they still had canning jars but more than made up for my disappointment! Seek and ye shall find! I never know where the next great treasure will be but I sure keep my eyes pealed for things we can use!

[mcnerd]

I've been stockpiling foods and supplies for several years now and I'm good for a year or better. A lot of my food is also home canned which comes from the garden or other sources where the food was either free or at a big discount. I store what I eat and I eat what I store. Same for the supplies. It helps keep the stockpile fresh and i'm not collecting things that I would not eat/use in an emergency. Freezer and dry goods are sealed in FoodSaver bags for longer storage life and bug free.

[FreebieQueen]

Originally Posted by gizzymo1960

I have been researching stockpiling. Anyone here stockpile?

I do, I do!

if so what do you stockpile and how do you store it.

Dental care products (toothbrushes, toothpaste, listerine, etc), Deodorants, Cereals, Crackers (Various Flavors), Cleaning Supplies (including dish detergents), Personal Care Products (Shampoos, conditioners, lotions, body care products, shaving products), feminine products and anything else that I can get dirt cheap.

For example, last week I purchased 18 rolls of Reynolds aluminum foil for less than $5 total for all 18. It'll never go bad. I saw it yesterday on sale at Krogers for $4.49 per roll! At that price I saved $75.82

We have a Pantry & an additional Closet that dh built into a wall. The key for me is to keep an excel document of the items I have on hand within my coupon binder. Then, when I'm shopping and come across a deal (for example coffee was recently on sale for $5 a tub, less my .55 Q- which is cheap considering it's normally $8.97 per tub- I looked on my spreadsheet to see I only had 2 at home. So I grabbed a few.)

I keep track of cereal this way too. The kids could easily eat a box in a single day, so I don't consider cereal a deal unless I can find it for less than .75 a box.

Stockpiles aren't an overnight thing, they're accumulations that you find over time using deals. Another good example, Bandaids/First aid products... I have 10 boxes of bandaids (all free) from recent insert q's. Yesterday I added 4 more deodorants (all free), 8 tubes of toothpaste (all free), 3 bags of catfood (all free) to the stockpile.

[shellybean40]

cereal, rice, beans, pasta, anything that keeps for a while. I also have canned goods, dry milk, and cleaning supplies.

[Katie31]

Wow that's tons of good information. I would love to stockpile somethings. I'll have to start doing that more often when I find good deals at the stores. Thanks for all the information. And the spreadsheet is an awesome idea!

[Virginia]

My food pantry has all the dry food goods that we use in it - Flours, rice, baking supplies, cereal grains, salt, and dry beans. Basic stuff. I make my own noodles, breads and cereals and other mixes, chips etc. We raise or trade for 98% of all the food we consume. My spice cabinet is full of herbs and spices (most of which we raise ourselves) and my bakers cabinet is full of extracts and flavorings (most of which we process ourselves). One kitchen cabinet has dehydrated fruits for snacking, along with homegrown popcorn ready to pop, and homegrown peanuts and peanut butter and other nuts and nut butters. Another has coffees and teas. And the third has dehydrated onions and peppers and dry soup mixes.

Our basement shelves are full of home canned (jars) of homegrown fruits and vegetables. Sliced, diced, juiced, sauced, souped, jellied etc.
Another section of our basement stores potatoes, onions, garlic and root crops and cabbage family crops, for fresh eating. (Right now there are still a lot of potatoes and sweet potatoes in there. We just today brought the last of the fresh onions up into the kitchen bin. (The top section of the bin holds about 5 pounds of onions and the bottom section holds about 10 pounds of potatoes. The top is a table top and I usually have a jar of garlic sitting on it.)
Another section of the basement stores apples and other fruit for a few weeks or months after harvest until we get time to process them. We actually had apples stay usable in there this year until about two weeks ago.
Yet another section stores the melons for a few weeks after harvest and pumpkins and winter squash all winter. We have two butternut squash and a big green striped long neck cushaw squash, yet.
The fifth (back corner) section of our basement (used to be a coal bin) is now the home of our two mushroom kits.

We have two refrigerators and one holds the fresh stuff that requires refrigeration. Like milk, butter, cheese, tofu, fresh juice, left overs etc. Normal stuff. The other holds fresh from the chicken eggs, we try to give the eggs away to anyone who will take them, but we usually have a refrigerator full anyway. (We can't afford to deliver them to people and most don't want to come all the way out here to get them.) We do take some to some people but they have to take about 24 dozen at a time and we have to be going out in their direction (which does not happen very often) we told these people to use what they wanted and give the rest away to their neighbors.

The freezer part of one refrigerator stores a big mixed bag of frozen vegetable and stock cubes. Also, Fruit ice. And is mostly used in the summer as a flash freeze unit. (Put whatever you want to freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze--once frozen put the frozen pieces in a freezer bag and seal. The bags are then put in one of the big freezers for storage.) The other one right now is full of the roosters we harvested last fall.
We have a small chest freezer that is full of frozen fruits; a large chest freezer filled with frozen vegetables and another large freezer filled with meat (beef, pork, chicken and turkey).

We eat from our garden year round--first fresh then home processed. We rotate foods that are in storage yearly. We have met our goal of having 8 years worth of food in storage (in case we have crop failures or we get sick and can't garden for a while or anymore.)

In the supply closet is enough toilet paper, tissues and paper towels; personal and dental care items; cleaning supplies, matches, batteries, light bulbs, lamp oil and wicks; foil and plastic wrap, wax paper, food storage bags and canning jar lids to last several years. My medicine cabinet (In the hall leading to the basement--cool and dark there) is full. Next to it a First Aid Kit is hanging on the wall along side the fire extinguisher.

I think that about covers it. Hope this helps. Thanks; Virginia