Food Storage & Couponing

I wanted to share some pictures of my pantry/food storage closet. I wanted to share this for several reasons;

1. To show show myself when I'm feeling overwhelmed that I did get some projects done before the baby was born.


2. To share with my friends and family some of my thoughts on Food Storage and Couponing


3. To allow myself to be "cased" by hungry thieves. So if you are casing my blog because you are starving and need food....just knock on the front door, I'll be happy to share my food.

So, Food Storage. I'm not really going to get into the food storage from the perspective of having food on hand for a rainy day. I really have a strong "feeling" that it is very important, and I've written about that before. Just not today.

• I only store food we actually eat. I love to cook from scratch, so most of my food storage are just ingredients I can put in meals I make.


• My food storage mentor Alaura told me, only buy things in sizes that you'll actually eat. having a bucket of beans is great.....but will your family go through the bucket before it goes bad? If not, spend a little more money and buy in sizes you can easily manage. I like #10 cans. I buy my powdered sugar and brown sugar in 2lb sizes. You get the idea.


• I learned to save cans. The pasta sauce we like the best is Classico. It comes in Ball jars with a Regular Mouth opening. They hold just over a quart. I've been saving them all year, and now this year I just had to buy lids and rings, and I was able to can in them. Big savings and great way to re purpose. Plus there are a lot of other great uses for glass jars!

In March of this year I started couponing. I started because there was a phenomenal deal on diapers at Walgreens, diapers CHEAPER than Costco and nicer diapers too. I've broadened my horizons to more than diapers since then, and I really enjoy myself. I have to say, it was pretty easy because I have a wonderful mentor, neighbor, and friend Natricia who holds my hand through it all.....and she figures out all the deals, I just follow her lead!

Here are some reason I hesitated to start using coupons before and ways I've found to tailor Couponing to me and my family.

1. Clipping Coupons takes a lot of time. Yes it does. There is no way around it. But I decided that it was like making money. The time I put into it was like I was going to a job....when i looked at it that way, and saw all the money I was saving I felt better. Here are 2 ideas on how to cut the "time" down in clipping coupons:

* File your coupon inserts from the Sunday paper by week. Don't clip until you need an actual coupon. Most websites list coupons by the week they came out in the paper, so it is easy to pull the insert you need.

* Clip only the coupons you will absolutely use, put in a binder, I sort mine by food or product type. I take my binder to the grocery store, so if I find a deal I wasn't planning on, I have all my coupons. Of course this only works when I'm up to date with all my clipping....which in the last 6 months has not been the case.

2. I like to cook from scratch. All coupons seem to be for pre packaged and processed food.

* There are many many coupons for pre prepared food. But, I have found that I save the most money on non perishable and toiletry items, for which there are also many coupons. I get soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, hair gel, body wash, razors, chap stick, etc....all for FREE or under $1.00. This saves me enough money, that I save over all, even when I buy a lot of fresh produce and ingredients.

* I'm not a snob. Lets get real. If you zoom in on my pictures above you'll see that I have about 7 cases of Campbell's chunky soup, and tons of jello mixes. There are foods that we like to keep on hand that are pre prepared. If you wait around long enough, you will get a good deal. John's favorite canned soup is Campbell's Chunky Veg. Beef soup. I just got 6 cases for $.032/can that included taxes. Now I don't need any more for at least a year.

3. Coupons are only worth a savings of $0.55. How will that save me enough money to make it worth my time?

* So this is the biggest lesson I learned from Natricia. Do not use a coupon unless it is in conjunction with a sale & a promotion. Otherwise, you are not getting the best deal.

Here is an example. Not just a sale. But also a promotion. Example. This week General Mills is having a promotion and Albertson' s is having a sale at the same time. GM is offering $10 off your next purchase when you buy $25 worth of participating products. I'm interested in the Cheerios. A 14 oz box is on sale for $2.00, with the promotion it brings the cost per box down to $1.20. Plus there is coupon for $1/2, so the cost per box (when you buy $25 of products BEFORE coupons) is actually $0.70 each. Now here is the kicker....as if that wasn't great enough.....this weekend Albertson's may be sending out "double" coupons, or twice the value coupons. So my coupon will be worth $2/2 making each box $0.45 each.

I'll never pay more than $0.50 for a box of cereal again.

4. I don't' have time to run all over town grocery shopping each week.

* trying to get every deal will burn you out, and you still won't get every deal. I only "coupon" at 2 stores. Walgreens and Albertsons....they are each 1 mile away from my house. Some people prefer Walmart, Safeway, Winco, Target, etc. What ever is best for you....only choose 2 stores. Only buy what you'll eat. And if you don't get the deal....it will come around again....don't worry!

5. I've been able to share my couponing items that I get for free or really cheap with others. It is such a good feeling to get a good deal, but even better when I can freely share my food and sundries with shelters or family who need them.

So, After all this....I have to admit there is a learning curve. Did you understand the paragraph in #3? I hardly did, and I wrote it, and I've done scenarios like that many times. There is a learning curve, and it takes time and patience. But I have been able to build a food storage and save us a lot of money in the long run. These deals also work with toiletries!

I guess I'm not trying to convince anyone of food storage or couponing....but I do want to share something that has blessed our family so much this year! I've also made a great friend out of it all! In the upper left hand corner you'll see three couponing blogs that I love.

p.s. I just read through this post. I had 2 thoughts. When I write posts I always think of my Brother in-law Dan and wonder if he reads my blog, if he does he is the one I'm most worried will think I am a terrible writer. Weird huh!?! But second, it kind of looks like I've got it all together, with this pantry post and the post about mums from before where my lawn looks so manicured.

Here's to keeping it real....which you know I love: I'm in my pj's, it is 4:23pm, I haven't showered. My kitchen is a mess....actually my whole house is a mess. My lawn wasn't mowed or weeded in a month. Finally as a gift to my hardworking husband, I hired someone to mow, trim, and weed while John ran the marathon. The mums just happened to bloom right after that. There you have it! Reality Check!