I”m going to start off by saying that neither my Wife nor I are experts at couponing and I don’t consider ourselves even old Salts at it even though we’ve been doing it since we were married. We’ve used coupons to save money on our normal grocery shopping trips so it was only natural when we decided to start putting food back, we’d use coupons for the food and supplies we were putting back for a rainy day.

But as I see it, there was a silver lining to the extreme couponing show even if it meant that now many stores are cutting back on how many coupons they allow and ending their double and triple coupon programs. The one good thing I’ve seen is how many otherwise sane people look at those of us who stockpile for a rainy day. We’re considered “hoarders” or “kooks” because we believe in being prepared. I’ve been skimming some of my Wife’s coupon forums and I can’t believe how many people are complaining about those who are stockpiling all that product. Instead of “Hey, they’re smart, they’re stocking up”, you’re hearing “Why do they need 15 bottles of detergent” or “No one needs 50 boxes of toothpaste”. It’s these types of people who will be moaning the most if a day ever comes when they have none of that!

Anyway, on to the tips. I’ve ranted long enough. My Wife and I just got back from a somewhat normal shopping trip. We visited a Homeland that doubles coupons everyday. It’s about 15 miles away and we pass by several of our favorite stores because this one will double coupons and has some pretty good sales. Sadly, it’s a little store in a little town and it doesn’t have near the selection that some of the larger stores near us have. But we can’t hit homeruns all the time!

Anyway, our total before anything was $204. After our loyalty card, it was $165. After our coupons had been rung up, we owed $90.36. About 2/3rds of that product went to our food stockpile. Some of the things we bought were laundry detergent, condiments (many of which were free when the coupon was doubled), canned food and cleaning supplies. The price would have been lower, but I was weak and bought some stuff that we did not have a coupon for such as some Tony Chachere’s Fish Batter (never tried it and it was on sale for 4 boxes for $5, call me weak!) We do this once a month or so as well as pick up canned goods during our regular trips to the grocery store.

Tip #1 – Don’t buy something just because you have a coupon for it, unless… Many times people get suckered into buying something they normally wouldn’t because they have a coupon for it. They never stop to think if they can get it cheaper somewhere else. If we buy something just because we have a coupon, it’s because it’s a good deal and we can donate that item and take a write off on our taxes. Cat food is a good example. We get a lot of coupons for cat food and a lot of it winds up being free or low cost. I don’t have cats so I donate this to a rescue or our local dog (cat?) pound (well…what I don’t sneak out of the stockpile behind my Wife’s back to use on the trapline or fish bait).

Tip#2 – Not everything is a good deal, even if you have a coupon for it! My Wife and I pretty much know what are good deals and what isn’t. We know which stores in our area carry certain products for leass plus we look over all the sales flyers. The particular store mentioned above has some things that are higher than some of the stores like Wal-Mart and Target. Even though we won’t get out coupon doubled there, the prices the larger stores have on these products are still lower even with the coupon. Plus, Wal-Mart and Target may have smaller sizes that we can use our coupon on and end up getting it for much less, possibly even for free! And for the record, I like free food!

Make sure you’re not overpaying and that you’re actually getting a good deal before going out. We can never get the utmost best deals on food and supplies from one store. It usually takes a trip to several stores over the period of a month to max out savings.

Tip #3 – Couponing is hard work! When many people find out how much time and effort goes into obtaining coupons, they back way off. We spend many hours a week searching online for coupons as well as our sales papers and Sunday newspapers. We buy anywhere from 3 to 5 Sunday newspapers from several towns to get a good variety of coupons. We also have all our neighbors save their newspapers and sales papers that they don’t use. Then, we carefully go over the sales paper and try to match up coupons for the items on sale. This is just one way how you can leverage your savings! Yeah, it takes time and effort. More than some folks are willing to put into it. But when we’re saving over $100 per week on food and supplies, you better believe I’ll take an hour or two to save that kind of money!

Tip #4 – Join a coupon club to max out your coupons and learn little secrets that can really save you lots of money. My Wife belongs to a local coupon club and is a member of several online coupon websites such as theKrazyCouponLady.com, MoneySavingQueen.com and Coupons.com. There’ll probably others, but those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head that she talks about the most. Many of these sites will have people on them that will do the match up for each store and tell you which coupons to use to save the most. There’s some amazing deals going on those sites!

Tip#5 – Know exactly what the Coupon policy is of the store you’re shopping at and know what you’re buying. As I said above, with the swarm of people thinking they’re going to buy $1000 worth of groceries for $1 using coupons, many of the stores are changing their coupon policy to limit consumers. I’ve seen some change them from week to week. So either download it only or ask the Manager to email you their coupon policy before going. Also, you have to be really careful to read the coupon and match it up perfectly to what you’re buying. I hear of people “thinking” they got the right product only to find out that they don’t get to use the coupon because of some fine print on the coupon. Never go by what the picture is on the coupon, always read it and know exactly what you need to make the coupon ring up.

These are the major things we do to save a lot of money on our food and supplies. There are many ways to save a lot of money and you’ll find those coupon sites listed above as a great source of information about the different ways you can use coupons to build your food stockpile. If you haven’t started yet, what are you waiting on?

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For starters, decide where you’re going to store you food. Even if there are only two of you, 6 months of food is a lot of food and it takes up a lot of space. 1 years worth of food could take up a whole room! So you need to decide where you’re going to start.

Next, the easiest way to get started preparing your family for an emergency is to just buy a little extra every time you go to the store. That’s all there is too it! Don’t buy exotic junk you have never tried. Buy stuff that you and your family eat all the time! But on this shopping trip, instead of just buying your usual grocery items, you’re going to buy some extra food. I always try to buy anywhere from $10 to $20 worth of food.

This food can be canned food, which is probably best for beginners. Corn, peas, beans, meat, tuna, salmon, etc all come in cans. Be sure to check the date on them and get the ones that have dates as far away as possible. I like to look for food that will last at least a year, preferably two or more years. E

Evaporated milk, spices, salt, sugar, dried rice and dried beans are also stuff you should ad. Below is a video I made to show you just how simple it is to get started.

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Have a Food Storage Plan. Work Your Plan

Yeah, I know the word ‘Plan’ is just about as bad as the word ‘Budget’ but having a food storage plan may save you from going hungry in a crisis. And it’s not that hard.

This is the way I work my food storage plan.

First up, I make sure I have 3 months of food on hand for short term emergencies. This is the normal food my family and I eat every day. I just make sure I have enough of it to last 3 months. You don’t need fancy or expensive freeze dried food for your 3 month plan. Most food on your Supermarket shelf has a life span of a few months. Just make sure you check the date before buying. Also keep in mind that once you open the container, the clock starts clicking on the shelf life of the food inside.

I rotate this food out, fist in, first out. Here’s just a sample of the things I put in my 3 month storage.

• Normal canned goods we eat on a regular basis, ie; Corn, Peas, Tomatoes, Soups, Stews, etc.
• Frozen foods such as Meat (bought on sale), vegetables, Jerky, Prepared Dinners (we fix up large meals of food like Gumbo, Stew, Pasta, etc and freeze the rest in meal size containers or bags).
• Flour, Sugar, Box of Salt, Spices
• Pasta, Pancake/Flour mixes
• Drink mixes, ie; Kool-Aid, Gatoraide, Coffee, Tea
• Cooking oil, Crisco
• Desert/Cake mixes

You get the idea. Stuff you normally eat, just buy more of. Don’t scrimp. Even if you think you’ve done well on your 3 month storage plans, put some more back. You never know when you’ll have unexpected company. Plus in stress situations, you’re likely to burn more calories and require more food.

Longer than 3 Months

If a crisis last longer than 3 months, you’ll soon find the weak spots in your plan. A crisis lasting longer than three months is a real crisis! This is where my long term storage plan comes into play.

For long term storage, we’re going to need food that stores well for long periods of time. This should go without saying, but you’d be surprised at how many people never look at the dates on their food.

Here’s a partial list of my long term food storage.

• Buckets of dried grain stored in sealed mylar bags, ie; Wheat, Beans, Rice, Corn, etc. Don’t forget to use oxygen absorbers and remember to have a grain mill on hand that will ground up Wheat as well as Beans and Corn. This has a shelf life of 10 years or more.
• Freeze dried food. I have a good supply of freeze dried food such as the Mountain House food that comes in #10 cans. This food varies from dinner entrees to powdered eggs and deserts. Shelf life on most is at least 15 to 20 years, sometimes longer.
• Canned goods. This is canned food like you’d buy at a Supermarket. Most canned goods will last at least a year and half, most last 2 years or more. This includes staples like vegetables, stews and fish.
• Home canned goods. This is stuff I’ve canned from our Garden. This has a shelf life of 2 years or more most of the time, depending on what it is that has been canned. We put up things like Corn, tomatoes, meats, stews, sauces, etc.
• MRE’s. Yeah, I have several cases of MRE’s. Most of these have a shelf life of 5 + years, most around 7 years or longer.

These items keep for a long time so I’m don’t have to worry about rotating them out for a while.

Variety Is The Spice of Life

This is really hammered home in a survival situation. I laugh every time I read some easy chair survivalist state that he/she has buckets and buckets of beans and rice stored up and that’s all they need. Hey, I love beans and rice also but after about a week, it’s going to get old real quick!

Instead, try to plan on storing a variety of foods to keep your meals interesting. As stated above, I put up a lot of ready to eat meals. Sometimes my Wife and I just don’t feel like cooking. It’s really nice to be able to take a bag of precooked food from the freezer and whip up a quick meal of Homemade Gumbo or Beef Stew.

Recently I found a site that has freeze dried food that contains deserts and mixes of all types. I bought some powdered pudding mix, brownie mix as well as cans of other sweet stuff. This goes in the long term pile because I already have the everyday mixes in my short term pile. These came in #2.5 and #10 cans and will keep years until opened!

The best thing you can do is write down everything on your short term storage and your long term storage. Then each week when you go to the store, but extra and mark it off your list. Read the dates and get the one furthest out. Many times if you’ll reach back in your stores shelves and get the cans or boxes at the very back, you’ll get the fresher food.

You should work on your short term storage about 75% of the time and buy stuff for your long term storage the remaining time (this is the plan I follow, your mileage may vary). This way you’re putting back for both. However, if you run out of your short term food inside of 3 months, you won’t hesitate to dive into your long term provisions. This should be avoided by making sure you have enough on hand. You can do this by writing down your food storage plans!

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