Thursday, March 17, 2011

Frugal Tip of the Week - One way to Stock the Pantry and Stop the Waste

One way to stock the pantry is to concentrate on one item at a time. Make the decision that each week or each shopping trip, you will buy one or two extras of an item you use all the time. If you aren't too brand loyal, you can buy which ever one is on sale or the least expensive. Finding a coupon for the item makes the process even sweeter.

We did this with coffee recently. I committed to buying one bag of coffee every week for a few weeks. We drink "half caffeine" or "lite" coffee. Food Lion brand is usually the least expensive, but Maxwell House was on sale at Food Lion last week and there was a coupon available. After checking the number of ounces in the containers, I was a little bummed to find that the Food Lion brand coffee only contained 11.5 ounces. So remember to check the size of your products when comparing prices! As you probably already know the manufacturers are reducing sizes of packages without our even realizing it!



This is our lowly coffee maker. It doesn't make the coffee as hot as we like. Especially after adding cold creamer to the cup, we need to heat it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.



One way to make the now stocked up coffee supply last is not to waste it! I noticed that every day I was pouring out old coffee, so now I have reduced the amount of coffee I make each morning. I have been guilty of always making a full pot even on mornings when I am the only one drinking coffee. Its ridiculous to make 10 cups of coffee when only 2 are needed.

After we have stocked up on as much coffee as we think is needed, we will then start stocking up on another item. Not sure which one yet, but will keep you updated on our progress.

9 comments:

Granny said...

I like this method of stocking up on items. We use a lot of peanut butter and I recently stocked up on it. Now I'm stocking up on spices.

Little Penpen said...

We drink the same coffee... and I was pleased to find that the FL brand of lite coffee tasted so good. I buy FL when the other isn't on sale.

Unknown said...

I go big grocery shopping every two weeks, thinking of my normal meals I make. I don't overstockpile, we don't have that luxury financially, just try to make it a week without a big store trip. We buy at Walmart grocery for the big trips and local for the inbetweens, more broccoli, salad items, milk and bread.

ancient one said...

We drink the instant Maxwell House and we make it one cup at the time. We watch when it goes on sale at CVS or Walgreen and buy the limit they allow us to buy. We make a trip each month to Aldi's for most of our canned stuff and the things we like the most we buy a case at the time. Our Grandson in law looked in our pantry/closet once, right after a trip to Aldi's, and said.. " wow..you need to give some food to the Boy Scouts.." When we need bread, milk, and meats, we go to Piggly Wiggly. I only go to FoodLion for their specials on things we like.

Rhonda said...

I like this idea. :) I'm the only one who drinks coffee at our house, usually decaf, and I just have a little 4-cup coffee maker. How much I make depends on how much I want, and if I'll be around the house all morning to drink it all. LOL I like creamer too, I know it does cool it down a bit.

Alexandra said...

Dollar General Coffee is a good deal if you don't mind off-brand. It sells in the big steel tins, and is usually under $6.00. I've gotten it on sale for $4.00 in the past. It tastes just fine to me.

We've got a newish grocery store in the area, Bottom Dollar. Their prices are more than our Save-A-Lot, but when they have deals they are really good! Tuna was 2 for 88 cents today, so I stocked up.

Food prices are crazy now, aren't they!

L said...

I stock up just like this too, Debbie. Like A Servant of the King mentioned - if you do it little by little, it adds up and you don't have to spend a lot to have a full pantry. I recently did this with mayo ($1.99/jar which is a great price these days), spaghetti sauce, and tomato products.

Debbie J said...

Thanks ladies, these are some great comments and hints.

I should have mentioned that the expiration dates on the coffee I have is about a year away, so I need to make sure that I don't stock more than we can drink in that time frame and that we drink the oldes first. But, I don't thinkcoffee that is vacuum sealed is going to be bad in only a year... do you?

L said...

I would think that coffee unopened would last a long time since it's vacuum-sealed. You could always call the company directly to ask about their particular product.

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