March Stockpile Challenge

Now that March is finally winding down, I can report the end results of the stockpile challenge I joined. I am quite pleased with the results! Here is a breakdown of this month's spending...

Stamps & purchased coupons
Total spent: $17.71

Extra papers purchased through N&O delivery
Total spent: $27.00

CVS & Miscellaneous Store Spending (EarthFare, Kohl's)
Total spent: $25.36
Total saved: $141.03

Rite Aid Spending
Total spent: $10.44
Total saved: $22.00

Walgreen's Spending
Total spent: $20.86
Total saved: $35.94

Harris Teeter Spending
Total spent: $72.14
Total saved: $658.33 (thank you triples!)

Food Lion Spending
Total spent: $42.66
Total saved: $91.26

Kroger Spending
Total spent: $75.20
Total saved: $485.92 (thanks to mega event!)

Lowe's Foods Spending
Total spent: $63.39
Total saved: $151.57

Target Spending
Total spent: $70.35
Total saved: $51.33

All totaled, our grocery & household expenses were $380.40 for over $2000 worth of groceries and household items. We spent an additional $44.71 in newspapers, stamps and coupon clipping services fees bringing total month expenses to $425.11.

We received $135 in rebates throughout the month and another $40 in a cash gift. Deducting these amounts from total spend, our actual out-of-pocket expenses turned out to be $250.11!

$250.11 is nearly $100 less than what I originally planned on spending this month so I am one happy camper.

The Art of the Stockpile

The key to maximizing your savings is to STOCKPILE. What does this mean exactly? It means when you spot an item on sale at its rock bottom price, you buy enough to last your family 6 weeks or more if it's a non-perishable item with an expiration date way out there. Why 6 weeks? Because this is typically the sales cycle at most stores for most items.

Here is a video tour of our garage stockpiling system for snacks, drinks, sauces and canned fruits. My husband bought several shelving units on sale at various hardware stores over the past year to allow us more space to store- and to do so in a somewhat organized fashion.

If you have the money to invest or can find a good cheap used freezer, I highly recommend this as well. We have a large freezer in our garage in which we store frozen veggies, pizzas, meals and meats. I try to buy about 20 lbs of our most used meats (boneless/skinless chicken, very lean ground beef) when they're at their rock-bottom prices, remove them from their store containers and use a Ziploc pump & seal to remove air from Ziploc bags and then freeze so they'll keep well.

We have other items stored in our limited kitchen cupboard space and my handy husband also installed two rows of shelves above our washer/dryer upstairs to store laundry & household cleaning items, as well as separate bins filled with shampoos, shaving creams, toothpastes and the like.

I periodically take a walk around our garage storage and remove items which my family hasn't used/liked. If they're approaching expiration, I throw them out. If they have expiration dates more than a few months away, I separate these and put them in boxes to take to a food bank.

Stockpiling will help you save lots of money! I'm making it a personal goal to live off our stockpile as much as we can in March and spend as little out of pocket as possible. I'm shooting for $200 or less to spend next month- a lofty goal, but one I think within reach. We'll just have to stretch our dollars as much as possible.