Stocking up on staple items is a good practice for building a 3 month supply of food and saving money at the same time. Win-win.
1. Using your shopping list, create an inventory for the items you plan on storing. (For more information, read the articles I’ve posted about making a 3 month supply.)
2. If you shop every 2 weeks, multiply the amount you buy by 6 (for once a week, multiply by 12). Add this amount to the inventory for reference.
3. Buy those things when they’re on sale or whenever you can. Record when you have them.
4. Periodically refer to your inventory to see if you need to restock something. Rotate everything, using the oldest first. The idea is to buy all the stuff for storage at once but to continually rotate through it so you always have 3 months’ worth. It sounds hard, but it really isn’t. I hardly ever run out of any staples. When I do, it’s because I’ve been lazy at looking at my inventory.
My cupboards can be full at times, but it’s wonderful never to run out of anything! That means no last-minute trips to the store to buy something that I forgot for dinner. Fewer trips to the grocery store means more money saved. Stocking up really is worth it.
