Stockpiling

(Today is Works For Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer. Head over there to check out some great tips and ideas.)

My mother lived through the Great Depression. She knew how to use and then resuse things. In the age of disposible everything, this kind of frugality hasn't been valued very much.

Many years ago, when my parents were alive, they both liked to shop at places like Hudson's and Big Lots, looking for deals. They would pick up food items dirt cheap and when they would find a great deal, they would stock up. Eventually there was so much food in their house, my dad had to build several large wooden shelves to stock it. Whenever we would go to their house we laughed and rolled our eyes at their own private "grocery store."

Times, they are a changin'.

It seems like many of the blogs and website geared toward frugality that I like to read are recommending that folks begin to stockpile groceries and other items around our homes that we use frequently, like soap, shampoo and paper products.

The reasons that they give are varied. Some are doing it from a survivalist mentality. It is abundantly evident that our country is having economic trouble. These people believe that we are heading for even more trouble, including food shortages, and that we need to be prepared now so that we can continue to feed our families if that were to happen.

Others are doing it from a purely frugal motive. It just makes sense to stock up on items that you know your family uses often when they are one sale, then you don't have to pay the regular (and sometimes outrageous) prices when you need them. I have come to the realization that this is an excellent way to stretch my food budget, so I have begun to buy extras when shopping for sale items. I am slowly building up a stockpile of items that I know we will use.

The trick is to find storage for all this extra food. I had to get creative about that. One thing I've done is to utilize an unused cabinet in my spare bathroom.

I found a good article on stockpiling. Check it out if you are interested:

How to Create a Stockpile of Food - for Little Money