Comments on: Being prepared

By: Marci

Marci — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:55:13 +0000

Winters in NW Oregon are hard on employment… even if self-employed, the
hours are fewer and the money slow to trickle in. I learned about 30 years ago
to stock up in Aug/Sept/Oct so that I could make it thru the winter without having
to buy much.

Too this day, I still do it. I’m sure I could eat for a year on what’s in the house,
and I think the only other thing I might run out of is TP – but there’s about 4
month supply… and it takes a lot of room to store :)

Watch the sales and stock up – they seem to go on a 3 month rotation of what’s
on sale. Buy enough for at least 3 months, and you’ll soon get everything on it’s
sale rotation and there won’t be any more paying full price for stuff.

By: Brooke Allen

Brooke Allen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:57:45 +0000

Been doing this for about 5 years now. Almost always have extras and when I run out of something, I go “shopping” in my pantry or closet. Sometimes I end up with too much and I end up giving my extras to the homeless or something.

I actually ran out of dish soap the other day, and that was a strange feeling. I don’t know how I managed that, since I usually have 3 or 4 of them sitting underneath the sink.

I’m always surprised at how much people spend at the grocery store. About 5 years ago I used to spend about $40 a week on everything, including toiletries and diapers. It’s gone up to average between $60 and $80 a week now, but talking to my friends who are spending about twice that amount, I don’t feel so bad.

By: Nan Patience

Nan Patience — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:04:24 +0000

I’m pretty good at this, though I do get stuck paying full price once in a while…

By: Ted

Ted — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:24:28 +0000

It may not be cheaper to drive across town to the bigbox stores at current gas prices. Just for argument’s sake, $4 gas in a vehicle that gets 20mpg is $0.20 per mile (feel free to adjust for your location and vehicle). If it is 10 miles round trip, that’s an additional $2 you are paying, so you’ll want to combine trips as much as possible. Walking to CVS might be cheaper for the 1-2 item trips, just remember to stock up next time you drive to the bigbox.

By: ConnieB

ConnieB — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:19:08 +0000

I struggle with this too. It goes right along with having the emergency fund. I was not trained to do it growing up, and it has been a real challenge for me to master myself enough to pre-stock as an adult.

The best part of me realizes though, that it’s one of the smartest things I can do for my family. You never know when there will be some sort of emergency, and those who are prepared, and have some things set aside will do much better!

The few times I have actually done this I have been able to capitalize on sales as well, and you are right, you can save a lot of money.

By: fitwallet

fitwallet — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:13:36 +0000

This is always a struggle for me. We live in a city where prices are high and the big box stores like Target and wholesale clubs aren’t easily accessible (at least from our side of the city). It’s all too easy to walk into CVS and buy ridiculously overpriced items, rather than waiting until the weekend and driving across town. I think I need to come up with a stock list of common items and find a system that works better for our household. Thanks for giving me the kick in the pants to do it :)