What is a Stockpile?
A stockpile is a collection of household items purchased at the lowest possible price. The idea behind stockpiling is providing for your family at a very low cost.
What if I don’t have a Stockpile yet?
I would love for you to still read participate and click on any links. You can learn how to build a stockpile from this series and from my Savvy Shopper Course.
How are we going to Tame the Stockpile this week?
Ok, if you have a stockpile that is well-rounded, but a bit out of control, this week is for you (see picture above for details)! Do you remember the Eat from the Pantry Challenge from last year? Well, a whole bunch of bloggers dedicated themselves to eating meals from items in their pantry.
What are the benefits of eating from your stockpile for a month?
- You save money that can be used toward other things. I plan to use any money saved during the Taming the Stockpile challenge to pay off my personal loan.
- You can take a break from clipping coupons and hunting deals, which leaves you some spare time for cooking a little more often. (Of course, I don’t spend too much time doing that anyway.)
- Most importantly for this challenge, eating from the pantry can make sure your stock gets rotated and used before expiring.
- Finally, if by the middle of the month you have a smaller stockpile, it will be easier for you to get organized which is another part in our challenge.
I am challenging you to plan the majority of your meals from your stockpile in January. If your stockpile is still small, plan meals around the items you have the most of, along with items that are on sale for the week. I have several menu examples and recipes here for you too.
Come back on Monday to see my first menu from my Stockpile!
Does this mean you can’t shop? No! Most households will still need milk, bread, and fresh produce. Some households will need even more than that. But any meal cooked from your stockpile is a meal that you saved money to make!
Now it is your turn! Leave a comment or link up a blog post telling me how you plan to do this part of the Taming the Stockpile Challenge. There will be a linky each Friday to show off your progress!
I disclose : There may be affiliate links in this post.
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Ok…I’m glad to see that people take a break from the shopping and just eat from their stockpile. I was sort of under the impression that you just kept adding and adding to it and I was thinking…doesn’t this get out of control? I don’t have much of a stock pile but I did plan my menu from what I have on hand.
Oh no. I take breaks and I don’t really shop in big orders most of the time. I just pick up the things we use that are at rock bottom price. One month last year I spent less then $90 at the grocery and drug stores for the whole month.
When I plan our weekly meals (which I haven’t done for awhile), I always look at what I have on hand. Dh and I do this quite often. When he is gone for an extended period of time (like now) I’ll shop and stock up while he is gone, so when he comes home I don’t have to go shopping.
Ds and I have been eating Christmas Leftovers for the past week. I made my own turkey stock this week (so proud of myself, first time; crock pot made it so easy), we ate the breakfast casserole, finished some of the turkey (there are still 4 quart size in the freezer, I think soup is in order), and moved other dishes to smaller containers.
Sounds like you are on the right track Kara!
Our stockpile is mostly crackers, cereal, and chicken broth at this point. I love your challenge, but don’t think my stockpile will cut it for January. Following you back with RSS!
Next week we will be discussing organization and cooking with items you have. I hope you can join us!
I’m with ya girl – let’s do this! I’m looking forward to doing a big purge :) Come over and link up http://shopperstrategy.com/2011/01/03/clean-out-the-cupboards-challenge-goal-week/
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