Why Stock Up?

We stock pile whatever we can get on sale, "if we have the money at the time of the sale!"
When my wife and I first got married and our daughter came along, the diapers and formula came first, the rent and utility bill was a close second and our food was next in line!
We failed to use the brains God gave us at first and we'd eat steak three times in a week, things would go sour on my work and we'd eat beans the nest two weeks!
Thank God that mentality is over with!
A few years ago I bought a deep freeze and we began buying meat when it was on sale and things grew from there!
When we do get a garden to come in and produce good, we can everything we can, and there are several hunters that give us venison during the hunting season and we'll can that too, for stews, and we have a lot in the freezer also!
I also like to take deer meat and make sausage and we probably have, I don't know, maybe 50 lbs. of that in the freezer! We use that in Italian meals and especially on pizza!
I love my deer meat and I am an expert shot but the worlds worst hunter!
But we have all kinds of dried beans, rice, spaghetti, etc. in gallon glass jars and a few plastic ones too!
We could probably live for a couple years at two year old prices!
Ranger

I "stock up" because I like doing things in batches and don't particularly like shopping. Thus we only shop about once every one to three months. Firewood is "stocked up" all in big batches because it is simply efficient to do it that way. Most things are in batches of months to a year, a few things multi-year.

Milk is the thing we don't stock up. We don't have a cow so we buy milk weekly or so, four to six gallons at a time. I guess that is stocking up for a week.

__________________
SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Just so you know, you can skim off that mold & it will be fine.

I stock up because I have 6 kids at home to feed. We raise most of our food & I can 100's & sometimes over a 1,000 jars each year of stuff. I usually only buy things when it is on sale. I lost several does to mastitis this year so do not have any goats in milk right now. That is hurting me as we drink about 10 gallons per week. I rarely pay full price for anything. Shop the loss leaders & stock up when it's on sale.

__________________
I can't believe I deleted it!

Thanks Wendy but this looked really disgusting. I am sorry to hear about your does. Goats are such amazing, intelligent animals.

I, like you, buy on sale and also use coupons for items we use. I never used coupons 20 yrs. ago but it is foolish not to take advantage of the savings. I bought a currant plant (Perfection) today for $6.00 and a Cherokee Purple tomato that should provide fresh eating for my husband and myself. I ordered a pink currant for my daughter in law to go with her red currant. Our grandson is already going out and looking for ripe currants but it will be awhile. A lesson in gardening and patience.

I can't speak for Erin, but I wonder if the point being made in the book she was reading is that stocking up just to have 20+ of everything is detrimental to a person's emotional health? I know people who do this. My husband's ex once bought 26 cans of spray deodorant because there was a sale.

I stock up because I'm CHEAP! I'm sure not special either. I think there are a lot of people like me who hate spending money. If there is a good sale on meat, I will really stock up and portion it up and put it in the freezer. I would rather pay $1.89/lb for pork loin in bulk than $4.00/lb. I also grow a garden and can my own veggies, because I'm CHEAP! We only grocery shop for the two of us maybe once a month or so unless there is a big meat sale. Hubby stops on his was home from work at Kwik Trip to pick up eggs at $.99/doz and butter at $1.99/lb. I also buy eggs from my next-door neighbors when they have extras. Chickens are the next on my list!

Wow, butter is 3.98 lb here now

Kwik Trip is the place to go for butter, eggs, bread, onions and potatoes around here. Their prices are really cheap, way cheaper than Walmart or grocery stores. Sometimes butter goes up to $2.49/lb, so when it sells for $1.99, we get a few pounds and freeze it.

Well like I said, I was playing devil's advocate and presenting a reason to the question asked. Personally, I've always stocked up. lol

And, because it was given in a book as a solution for the overwhelmed, it's pretty obvious that "stocking up" really isn't something done by a select few people (which is an idea people seem to have around here).
It must be a fairly common practice...

__________________
~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Erin- I think you are right and I have noticed more and more people stocking up that never did before- to hedge off higher prices-
I have done the couponing thing and the not couponing thing- the processed food thing the non processed food thing-
I am kinda smack in the middle-
I will use coupons when they are available- and for things I use - or a new product that is trendy- that I think the kids will like- but as a treat- since I am not fond of processed foods for us- I only use them sparingly- but I keep cans of spam,cans of beans, cans of fruit on hand when they go on sale and use them once a month - since the kid love spam LOL- and every once in a while I like the convenience of canned beans and not soaking them-

back in the day- I would have purchased 26 spary deoderants too- if they were on sale-
now- no way- I switched us all to all regular deoderant - no antiperserant- I use the Tom's of Maine-I had a coupon got from the grocery store- and it was on sale- 2 for 5 bucks - and 2 dollars off two of them- so I got pretty stocked on them!
I plan on making some- I found a recipe involving coconut oil and some essential oils-
I will keep the store stuff on hand-
same with laundry soap- if it is a great price- I will get it- but I make it-
fabric softener- well- I make that there is no way unless they just give it to me at the store it is cheaper than me making it-

But I stock up mainly because- I remember going to bed at 8 yrs old hungry eating little snippets of paper - and that will NEVER happen to my kids or someday grandkids under my watch- not if I have anything to do with it!

__________________
"If you can find a nice pretty country girl that can cook and carries her bible, now there's a woman." - Phil Robertson

CEO and President of SWS (Skirt Wearing Society)

It is all about managing your resources. Does no good to have 12 IF you can't find 1. Or store things you don't use in normal every day use but think you will IF SHTF. Store what you use, use what you store and it becomes very easy to manage. I will admit I hoarded building materials for years but a lot was 1 of a kind items, once in my life it was free and available, so I took advantage. I used a lot of it but my time to use it up was shortened by health. I did sell most of what was left, brought good money, put into retirement assets for our future needs. Hoarding goes beyond usefulness, becomes a burden.
We have always laid things up for the future, not necessarily "stocked up" as we don't buy much. The few things we do buy we get enough for 6 months or a year IF on sale.
By extending the seasons, hunting, fishing, foraging, on the hoof, eating seasonally, living off grid and using what we store, we live very well. Yes, living off grid is easier when you store what you need and manage your resources....James

Leah, you forgot bananas at Kwik Trip. Also, I have to say they have one of the nicest group of counter clerks I have encountered. That means a lot to me.