Stocking Up at Rock Bottom Prices

I have taken the liberty of sharing a post on another blog that I read called thethriftymama.com. There Crystal shares how she decides when to buy as much of a product as she has coupons for and when to just buy what she will need for a few weeks.

Stock Up at Rock Bottom Prices to Save Money
by Crystal Collins on January 11, 2010


One of the ways to really cut your grocery spending, is to stock up on items when the price is either FREE or rock bottom. This can be hard to fathom when you are first starting out in the coupon game, because you feel very overwhelmed. The easiest way to get started is to make yourself a list of about five things that you use on a regular basis. This is besides your fresh fruit, vegetables and milk. After you start getting better at couponing, you can add more to your list. Here’s an example of what a beginning list would be for me:

Oatmeal

Cereal

Canned Veggies

Evaporated Milk

Pasta

So for the next few weeks, I would look at the sales that run on those items. I would also hunt down any coupons that are available for those items. One great resource I use to hunt down coupons is the Hot Coupon World Coupon Database. Just type in the name of the product you are looking for and it will give you a list of available coupons.

My stock up price is always lower than my buy price. There are times when the deal is good enough that I would buy a few of an item if I needed it. For example, I would buy oatmeal if it was under $1 for a bin of oats. However, if a bin of oatmeal is free or even .25 cents after coupons, then I would stock up. Stocking up would entail me getting several months worth or more of an item. Allow me to break this down for you all with some current examples:

Quaker Oats are .50 cents at Walgreens this week (1/10-1/16) after the in-ad coupon and this $1/1 printable HERE. .50 cents is a good price, and I would probably buy several bins if I was getting low in my stockpile. If I had Register Rewards from other deals, then I could lower my out of pocket even more buy paying for the oatmeal with my Register Rewards. However, Quaker Oats are free after the $1/1 printable at SuperFresh and Giant Eagle this week as well. I do not have either of those stores in my area, but I would be stocking up on oats at those stores if I had them. A .50 cent difference may not seem like much at the moment, but in the long run it is the key to maximizing your savings on grocery shopping.

Quick Facts for Stocking Up:

1. Go where the best deal is. Don’t be store loyal or brand loyal.

2. Watch your local sales, and start to become familiar with the sales (all sales are on a cycle).

3. Match coupons with those sales to maximize your savings.

4. Only stock up a lot when an item is FREE or a rock bottom price. There are many items that never end up free with coupons, so you need to figure out what rock bottom is for a particular item.

5. Once you get into a rhythm of only stocking up at rock bottom prices, then you are only buying sale items each week along with regular weekly purchases of dairy and produce.

So for my personal note (Jen) on all this: My stock up items are:

Cereal or Oatmeal

Peanut Butter

Popcorn

Almonds or Peanuts

Crackers

These are items that keep well, are eaten on a daily basis at my home, and can be found for great prices using sales and coupons. While I can't comparision shop, I can wait for the deals and then buy them up! It is not unheard of for me to buy 6-8 boxes of oatmeal or 10 boxes of cereal. Remember that this is a great way to save money. Have fun, ask questions, and keep practicing! It does get easier with time!