How Stockpiling Can Save You Money

Stocking up, stockpiling, buying ahead, buying in bulk, creating a stock pile, etc. I prefer to say that I am creating "My Own Home Store!" However you want to say it, it can save you money. Here's how.

Items go on sale approximately every 12 weeks. This is called a "sale cycle." So, you can expect your favorite toiletries and foods to be on sale approximately every 3 months.

When your desired items go on sale, you should purchase enough to last your family 3 months (until the next sale cycle). This way, you are never paying full price for these items.

For example, last week organic coconut flour (2.2 lbs) was on sale through Tropical Traditions for $9.99. Regular price is $15. I only needed 1 bag, but I purchased 3 at the discounted price. This should last me until it goes on sale again. I saved $15 by purchasing more at the discounted price.

The extra bags of coconut flour are now part of my home store!

When you stockpile, you are purchasing enough products at a discounted price to last you until the next sale.

This was a big coupon shopping trip from a few years back. Obviously, before we started making a switch to whole foods.

whole food eating and coupons?

One thing that I heard a lot of people say, back when I was teaching coupon classes, was that they didn't want to learn about using coupons, because they didn't eat junk food. They believed that there were no coupons available for the healthy foods that they ate. Well, they were wrong! (and I told them that) There are many coupons out there for whole, real foods - you just need to know where to look. Even though we are starting on a whole food eating adventure, I still plan on using coupons.

It is true that there are many, many coupons available for unhealthy, processed foods that my family will not be eating. I plan on looking right past those and cutting/printing only those that my family will use. Most of the coupons I find for my family are for fruits/vegetables, basic ingredients, toiletries, household goods and school supplies.

Where do I find coupons?


The easiest place to find coupons is your Sunday newspaper. There are several different types of coupon inserts that can be found each week.

SS = Smart Source
RP = Red Plum
PG = Proctor & Gamble
K = Kelloggs
JJ = Johnson & Johnson
T = Target

This upcoming Sunday, January 6th is, typically, the best day of the year for coupons. The paper will be filled with more coupon inserts than at any other time of the year. (2013 Coupon Insert Schedule)

2 Red Plum, 3 Smart Source, 1 Target and 1 Johnson & Johnson

Wow! I will be purchasing several papers, in order to have lots of coupons. I prefer to purchase my Sunday paper at The Dollar Tree, as they are only $1. I also purchase them early Saturday morning (the early edition) instead of on Sunday. If they run out before I get there, which often happens, I will purchase double papers at my local neighborhood Walmart.

Be sure to also look through the Parade section of your Sunday paper. There are often coupons located there.

Printing coupons online is another easy way to get coupons.

I recommend that you first go to the websites for the products/items your family uses most and look for coupons there. Often times, these companies will have you sign up to receive periodic newsletters in order to get their coupons. Please be sure to set up a specific email address for this sort of thing before signing up! These companies want to market to you. If you give them your regular email address, your inbox will fill up with these newsletters. Having these go to a "deal" email will keep them all in one place where you can go and look through them once each week, rather than dealing with them every day. Many of these newsletters will have coupons for the products that you buy, but some of them won't.

Other online sources for coupons include coupons.com, smartsource.com, couponmom.com, and cellfire.com.

There is so much to share on eating whole foods on a budget! I will stop here for today, but will write more soon. Please let me know if you have any questions!