Food storage using sales and coupons

Do you want to stock a pantry, but don't have a lot of money to spend all at once. Do not worry. Stocking a pantry, even a small closet sized one, can be done over time, and does not have to break the bank.

Baby steps is what this project is all about.

Here are some tips to get you started:

  1. Purchase what you know your family will eat.

  2. Search the weekend papers for coupons and cut out what you know your family would use. Get your family and friends to give you their coupon inserts when they have removed what they want, and ask stores if you can have the inserts of the papers they do not sell. If you work at a hotel, be sure to keep the inserts that guests leave in the rooms you clean.

  3. Organize your coupons, and keep them with you at all times.

  4. Check sales papers each week for sales to use the coupons with. Kmart, for instance, has coupons in their fliers. More than once recently, the have offered X-tra laundry detergent at $1.88. They allow 5 purchases per coupon, 1 coupon per visit. A good deal on laundry detergent.

  5. Couple coupons with regular sales, or with clearance seals that are often unadvertised, only when the savings gives you a better price than you would get purchasing a cheaper brand.

  6. Often, store/generic brands will be cheaper than sale brands, sometimes even when you plan to use a coupon.

  7. Not all stores double coupons, but take advantage if yours does.

  8. Check your stores' coupon policy before bombarding them with a large number of coupons. Some stores have limits.

  9. Find out if your local dollar stores allow the use of coupons.

  10. Wait for Dollar Days sales to stock up on items that are regularly sold at these times, and save coupons for these events.

  11. Each week or month, decide on a budget solely for pantry stock up. Even of it is only $5.00 – 10.00.

Be sure to subscribe to Bangor Frugal Living to receive all new updates to the column. Please share articles you enjoy on Facebook, Twitter and other social and bookmarking venues. You may contact Shannon any time at shannonlbuck@gmail.com, or by leaving a comment here.

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, Bangor Frugal Living Examiner

Shannon L. Buck, author of the Living the Low-Income Life blog on Wordpress.com, is a single mother of two. As a freelance writer, Shannon has written on many aspects of living the frugal life over the years. Her tips and articles have been published on eHow.com and Yahoo! Contributor Network. ...

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