Friday, October 14, 2011

How to start a stockpile


Someone asked me on my blog recently, "how do you start a stockpile"?   So here is how I build mine.

Some people think a stockpile is very difficult to attain, but it's not.  Every stockpile has to start somewhere - even my stockpile just started out in my kitchen cabinets until I realized I had no more room :)

Look at the upcoming ads, and review the upcoming coupons that will be out in your Sunday paper.  Look for things your family can use.  I start with food products, since they are the most important, and then I look at toiletries, household cleaning supplies, etc.  If you see a lot of coupons you would use, then it might be worth it to buy a few extra papers.  I buy 4-6 on average every Sunday when there are coupons.  Sometimes I'll buy more if the coupons are REALLY good.   But even if you buy just one paper, it's a good start.  Don't feel like you HAVE to buy lots of papers.

I post the store deals and coupon matchups for Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS and Tops on my page.  I try to update them on Sundays.  This way you can see which coupons will go with which ads and how you can get the best deals.  I keep a list of which items I'll be getting at each store.  I keep my coupons with my lists, so I can get what I need quickly, without buying impulse items.   Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS are great places to use to build your stockpiles - they offer lots of free items, almost every week.

Say you buy one paper and there's a great coupon where you can get bodywash for free.  If you bought one paper, you will have one for your stockpile (unless you use it right away).  If you bought 3 papers, you would have 3 for your stockpile.  But again - don't buy several papers for just one coupon, the cost of the newspaper would offset your savings.  Make sure there are lots of coupons you can use before you spend the money on extra papers.  There are also sites that sell clipped coupons, and you can purchase just the coupons you want, so that's another option.   If you're looking for free coupons, check out coupon swap sites, or giveaways for free coupons - there are lots of them out there!  (I have 2 giveaways for free coupons running right now!)

The ultimate key to building a stockpile is to do this WEEKLY.  There are new sales running every week, new coupons coming out every week, and to stock up on what you can get for FREE or CHEAP every week.  If you just do this once in a while, you'll go through your "stockpile" before you have a chance to build it up. 

If you have any questions or comments please post them below!







6 comments:

  1. what a great stockpile ! i just organized some of mine this week and realized i am doing pretty good on my stock pile i have been a couponer since about may 2011 but i need more places to put things i only have a one bedroom apt so it is hard. but i really need to get better deals on paper towels and toliet paper.. is there a good trick to it?

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  2. Jennifer - usually the P&G insert that comes out the beginning of every month has coupons in it for Bounty paper towels, and I'm always finding deals throughout the month to use my coupons on! The Marcal paper towels & toilet paper I have in my stockpile I bought back in 2009 - I was getting them for VERY cheap when my local store had deals and I'd match them up with coupons. Haven't seen too many deals for Marcal lately though.

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  3. A couple of weeks ago Albertsons had bounty single rolls on sale for $.88 and I bought a bunch of coupons on ebay for $1.00 off I then price matched at Walmart added a box of cereal and Walmart paid me $.13.

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  4. how can you look at the upcoming ads, and review the upcoming coupons that will be out in your Sunday paper? i cant figure this out for nothing lol .. but thanks for all the info that you gave its great!

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  5. Hi - if you look above, where it says "Look at the upcoming ads, and review the upcoming coupons" - those are both links that take you to the upcoming ads, and upcoming coupons preview :)

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  6. Thank you for a great blog!

    I wish I could stock up on body wash and detergents!

    Our problem we are paycheck to paycheck and each week we dont have the money to go get the stuff.

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