I’ve been meaning to write about this for some time and because my stockpiling came in handy this evening, it’s on my mind.
I decided to start creating a small stockpile about a year ago. I was reading a parenting message board and saw a thread with pictures of other people’s stockpiles and it motivated me. Some of the women on the thread amass a large amount of food and toiletries because of religious beliefs, but religion or not, it’s really a pretty good idea. Most of these women also had large basements and husbands who built them shelves, but there were a few like me with limited space. I live in a small apartment, but I have a large pantry and linen closet.
I spend a good bit of time clipping coupons and looking at sales. Because we share coupons at work, I can often get multiples of the same coupon. Often times I come across a really good sale, made even better with the coupon. So, I’ll buy a lot of the item and store it away. This takes some level of organization because you have to make sure to use the items before they go bad, and rotate expiration dates if you buy more of the item later. But, a lot of canned goods and dry goods have a long shelf life so it’s not something you have to do too often.
This practice is especially good for large families. But, there are benefits to doing it even if you live alone. In my case, we never get through all of the things I have before they go bad. So what’s the point? Well for me, it gives me a sense of security. If I were to lose my job tomorrow I have a lot of food and could go a while before having to worry about spending much money on food. Same holds true if there were some reason I couldn’t get out of the house to go to the store (although if there were no electricity I’d still be in trouble).
But on top of that, it provides a very low cost way for me to help others. This evening one of my friends alerted me to a local woman with only $25 to buy groceries for her family with and it needed to last her a long time. She was given lots of really good meal ideas, but my friend wanted to help her out. So, this evening I went through my pantry and got out a lot of things I had multiples of. Everything still has a good date, so she can save these items for a while herself.
My church also provides food bags to two local housing communities every month and the food comes from the congregation.
So whether you have a lot of space, or just a little, consider the pros and cons of keeping some extras on hand.
