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Want to figure out what the best food for stockpiling is? If so, check out this simple stockpiling food list to give you a good starting place when building a stockpile of food.
There are many excellent reasons to have a stockpile. Perhaps you are trying to save your family money or plan ahead for an emergency situation. Perhaps you don’t like grocery shopping and want a stockpile so you don’t have to grocery shop as often! Whatever your reason, remember that having a stockpile is like having a practical emergency fund for your family.
I know it can be overwhelming to figure out where to start. It’s the reason I came up with these baby steps of stockpiling.If you are looking for an easy way to start, start with those baby steps and this basic stockpiling food list. It will help you make a plan to build your stockpile.
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What is a stockpile?
A stockpile is simply shopping ahead for items you use when these items are at their rock bottom prices. A stockpile should be full of items you will use – before they expire.
A stockpile should be built with money inside your budget. A stockpile is built over time and customized to fit the needs of your family so it will save you money.
I have a stockpile. My stockpile is in my small kitchen pantry as well as on a couple shelves in the basem*nt. You can store a stockpile wherever you have space.Someday, I’d like to get some simple can rotation systems like these but for now, I just stack things in rows and rotate the items myself.
Want to hear me talk about stockpiles, instead of reading? Check out this video instead!
How do you build a stockpile of food?
Make a list of the things you use regularly and watch for good deals to add those items to your stockpile. That is how you build a stockpile your family will really use on a budget.
Let me give you an example of what is in my stockpile and how I build it.November is a great time to stock up on canned goods like cream of chicken soup. Normally, this product (which I use fordelicious poppy seed chicken) costs $1.09. During Thanksgiving, by combining sales and coupons, I was able to get cans for $0.40 or less. I bought a case to last me through the year. By doing so, on this product alone, I saved at least $16.80. That’s a great savings and all I had to do was plan ahead a bit. This isthe rock-bottom price listI use as my guide so I know when to stockpile the best deals.
How did I learn to do this? For me, it is second habit but if you want to know all my tips and secrets you need tocheck out Crystal Paine’s Grocery Ebook! It is the best grocery guide around (and a cheap one too!) that describes my process exactly. Seriously, I could have written this book! It is that similar to what I do. If you want to find the best deals to build your stockpile on a budget, read Crystal’s ebook and watch the savings stack up!
Having a stockpile allows me to purchase items at their lowest possible prices when I plan ahead. There are certain items that I try to always have on hand. If there are no expiration dates (like on paper products and powdered laundry detergent), I will stock up as much as I have space for and can afford in my budget.
When stockpiling food items, my goal is to buy enough to get me through 6 months, depending on the seasonal sale cycles. Here’s a free printable of seasonal sale cycles, if you want to know what to buy and when. I don’t buy more food than I can use before it expires. That is my policy for when I find products on sale for a really great price. This is possible to do by stacking sales and coupons. Anyone can build a stockpile.
To start building a stockpile, I encourage you to think about what you use in your family. Do you have $5 a week to spend on stockpiling those items? Want to set aside more? Great, but know that even a small amount will make a big difference. Start here.
An Easy Stockpiling Food List
These are ten items that anyone can stockpile.
- Flour, sugar and baking ingredients
- Applesauce
- Canned vegetables and fruit
- Canned soups – creamed soups as well as regular soups
- Canned tomato products – diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, spaghetti sauce
- Pasta
- Peanut butter
- Condiments – salad dressing, ketchup, mustard
- Meat (in the freezer, unless you buy cans of shelf stable meat)
- Cheese (Did you know you can freeze cheese?)
That’s a basic list of what I stockpile and what I believe could work for any family. Of course, you can and should adapt that to what is right for you. If you don’t eat a lot of pasta, don’t stockpile it. If you don’t cook with cream of chicken soups, pick something else to stockpile instead. As I explain in the rules of stockpiling, you should store what you eat and eat what you store.
Next, add these items to your stockpiling food list.
Stockpiles can be more than just food. The more things you buy now at lower prices, the more prepared you will be – and the more money you will save. Again, stockpile these as they apply to you and your family.
- Diapers (Here’s an in-depth post devoted to exactly how to stockpile diapers!)
- Soap – hand and for dishes
- Personal products – shampoo, conditioner, soap
- Chocolate chips
- Laundry detergent
- Paper products – toilet paper, paper towels
I have found my stockpile to be one of my greatest frugal savingsbecause mystockpile allows me to reap the benefits of my savings throughout the year.
What do you keep in your food stockpile?
What to learn more about stockpiling food?
- 3 Ways to Prepare for Inflation on Food
- 4 Important Reasons Everyone Needs a Stockpile
- 5 Baby Steps to Building a Stockpile
- 25 Things to Stockpile at Sam’s Club
