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Jan 14 2010

Reader Email: How to know when to stock up

Posted in  //  Couponing Basics  //  Comments (21)

This just in from the KCL inbox:

I stumbled upon your blog a few weeks ago and decided to give using coupons a try. My first visit to Albertsons was a hit. I spent $88 and save $89! I was super pumped and now am clipping and organizing like mad to get the products i want at a dirt cheap price!

My suggestion is this: Is there a way you could *star* or highlight  products that are extremely good deals, or when they are at lowest we would probably get them?

I read someones blog saying she bought a years worth of toothpaste in the beginning and it turned out it wasn’t as good of a deal as she could have got. I worried I’m buying at decent deals, but in two weeks could be disappointed if i were to find out it usually drops another 50cents or a dollar.

Thank you so much for your website and the time and effort you put into it. It is fantastic, and you couldn’t have made couponing any easier if you tried!

First of all,  I think I am the one who bought way too much expensive toothpaste… Although it’s probably time I get over that- since then, I am sure I have saved $10,000.

It will be helpful to you, if you start being really pro-active about remembering prices.  I just try to remember the Walmart price of the items I buy.  You could definately take this to the next step and get a notebook and spend an hour at Walmart/Winco (or where ever you did your grocery shopping before your KCL days) writing down the price of most of the items you buy on a regular basis and the items you want to build a stockpile of.  Here is the rule of thumb Joanie and I try to follow when purchasing:

If you find a deal that is 75% less than retail,
that’s a great stockpile price.

If I am out of an item, let’s say Peanut Butter and I find it on sale for $1.00 or 50% less than Walmart’s Retail price, then I will buy 3 or 4 to get me by.  Then in the meantime I will look for a Krazy Stockup Price (Like $.50 or less) to get my stockpile of a year worth!

Here is a very basic list of prices we’re willing to pay:

Here is an Example of my List (these are my stock up prices):
Cheese $2.99/2lb
Ground Beef $1.75/lb
Chicken $1.67/lb
Milk $1.89/gallon (whole)- I freeze my milk if it’s lower than this and I want to really stock up
Cleaning Supplies (lysol wipes, bathroom and kitchen cleaners, ect) $.50 or less
Toothpaste/brushes FREE
Cereal $.75 per box or less
Brownie and Cookie Mixes Less than $.50
Dish Soap $.25
Cheap Toilet Paper FREE
Charmin Toilet Paper for my picky husband $6 for the Double Roll 9 packs
Kotex Pads FREE
Johnson Buddies FREE
Granola Bars $.50
Chinet Paper Plates $.50
Bisquick $.90
Fruit Snacks $.50 or less
Good Deodorant $.5o
Cheap Deodorant FREE
Men’s Body Wash $.50 or less

I have heard people say that the Sales and Coupons are on a 3-4 Month Cycle. I keep this in mind when stockpiling things that have an expiration date. But on things that won’t expire- I get more than a 4 month supply. For example I have a year (plus) supply of cleaning supplies, toiletries, paper plates.

If you accidently overstockpile, and you later find out the price your paid wasn’t that good- please don’t beat yourself up! We spend all this time saving loads of money that it’s okay if we mess up here and there.  It’s not like you stockpiled when the price was OVER retail. Be nice to yourself, okay?!

Anyone else have anything to share with us?  Do you carry a price book?

Thanks to Elizabeth for the email!

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  • Erin

    I use the price points from pinching your pennies (http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=30).

    I find this gives me an idea and then I have modified things as I have found better prices. It does not list everything but I have added to my own personal print out as I find new items that aren’t on it.

    • ila

      would you be willing to share your document I would love a copy!!!

    • Kari

      Hey Erin,

      I am trying to find the “price points” that you referred to on the Pinching Your Pennies Website. Where do I find that info?…I’m lost!

      Thanks!

  • Ginger

    I dont carry a price book but i am SOOO glad that you posted this!!! I will definetly be looking at it often! so please feel free to add more to it!!

    it is more of a challenge to me since i dont have a lot of the stores you have, but it is still nice to know that you can get cheese at that price, so why would i pay a few dollars more?

    THANK YOU AGAIN!

  • Tasha

    So glad I’m not the only one with a picky husband who will ONLY use Charmin :-)

  • Tiffany

    I’m still fairly new to all this, but I’ve noticed that Pauls and Fred Meyer (Boise area) will put their value packs of ground beef on sale for less than $1.75 lb – I cant remember the exact amount. The first time I saw Albertsons put their’s on sale for $1.88 lb, I stocked up. I now know to wait for Paul’s or Freddie’s sales for a better price (and they don’t limit the amount you can buy like Albertsons does) – Freddies is usually the 3 lb packaged rolls and Pauls amount varies in the big value pack.)

  • Abby

    i am actually in a money management class at college. We are doing a project in a group of three people. We each have our specified store. We are to write down the retail price and the sale price (if there is one). We are doing it every month we have the class to see what goes down in price and when. I think this is great because I’ve wanted to do this for a couple months, but I didn’t have the time or patience. So, I would recommend doing this with some buddies!!! You don’t ever have to buy the item, just mark down what the price is and compare! Of course, we can use coupons after to make the deal better. Those are my two cents! :)

    • http://smilingmamaof2.blogspot.com/ Daleene

      Thanks Abby. What a great idea!!

  • Sally

    One of your best posts yet! I had the same question and I will be referring to this list often!

    Thank you for all your deal saving advice. Last week, I spent $14.49 at Albertsons and got 20 boxes of cereal,13 fruit snacks and $15 in Box Tops for my son’s school. (I couldn’t get everything for almost free because the Nature Valley’s were $3.49/box here in WA). Our grocery bill is much less thanks to you!

  • Sally

    One of your best posts yet! I had the same question and I will be referring to this list often!

    Thank you for all your deal saving advice. Last week, I spent $14.49 at Albertsons and got 20 boxes of cereal,13 fruit snacks and $15 in Box Tops for my son’s school. (I couldn’t get everything for almost free because the Nature Valley’s were $3.49/box here in WA). Our grocery bill is much less thanks to you!

    Abby (from the comment above),

    I would be interested in your class’ findings,if you are allowed to share them. What a great idea! Sounds like a fun and useful project.

  • Carisa

    Today I was terrified to align my wallet bulging with receipts to our grocery budget. But AGAIN I was pleasantly suprised to realize that most of my receipts were between $2-$4!! lol It was not NEARLY as bad as I feared it would be, and I had a great time remembering all the free stuff I got!! I cant imagine going back to my old ways!! Too expensive!

  • Carissa

    I’ve been couponing for about 9 mos and the thing that really helped me was to keep track of my receipts after I shop. My brain just simply is not equipped to keep track of all those numbers mentally! I made a simple Excel file and after every shopping trip I take my receipt to the computer and put in what I paid for each item I bought that day. I have columns for price paid, retail price,item size, etc. It’s takes a little more time, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve referred back to that list as I plan my shopping trips. It also helps me keep track of good prices on those items we MUST have but can never find a great deal on. Plus, it’s personal to ME. It’s what we buy regularly and the prices are always good in my area! :)

    • Jeff

      Frozen milk creates a degree of graininess and really diminises the quality of the milk … Soy Milk on the other hand does not separate … for the sake of keeping your family healthy and not to get them to dislike milk DO NOT FREEZE REAL MILK.

  • dawn

    I never thought of freezing milk, is there any special way of doing that??? Love your website. Dawn

  • Marla

    I have a price book, I used it religiously at first and now I refer to it every now and again if I can’t remember a good price on some obscure item.
    The advantage is that my husband, who doesn’t do much of the shopping, can reference it when he does shop.

  • Abby

    I will most definately ask and let you know. I’m pretty sure my teacher would be ok with it, but we’ll see. :) We have Wal-Mart, Broulim’s, and I’m thinking of doing Win-Co, but Albertsons looks tempting, too!

  • Angie

    Great post! I’ve never even thought of keeping a price list. I just try to remember it all in my head. It was good to know what you think is a good deal on some things I haven’t figured out yet.
    Also, I find it interesting that milk in Utah is cheaper than Idaho. I mean, we’re close enough aren’t we?

  • farhaat

    Hi, I am new to couponing but love this website. I live on the eastern shore and have only one store which doubles coupons, so how can i get .25 c dish soap (that would be awesome) and other good prices.

  • http://www.avesselforthepotter.blogspot.com Allison

    I also use the PYP list for reference. But I also have started to jot down the items particular to my family that aren’t listed on their list.

    Another thing I do, which may border on obsessed…not sure, is to take a sharpie and write down the cost of each item on the packaging. Or my favorite is when I get to write, “FREE”! It helps cement the price in my mind by writing it and seeing it every time I pull that item out and my husband has been very supportive of the time I spend shopping since seeing the prices on the items (as he doesn’t often get to see the receipts).

    I guess a quick and easy way you could develop your list is to tear box tops or wrappers with the price written on it and collect them for awhile until you see a pattern in the prices?

  • Elizabeth

    Thanks for the help KCL’s!
    I’ve started my excel spreadsheets for both pricing/shopping and to keep track of my coupons!

    Lets hope for big coupons and little money spent shopping tomorrow!

  • Stephanie

    Didn’t think I’d ever be asking this question on line but here goes. I live 45 minutes from Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS. Needless to say shopping with them really isn’t cost effective unless I’m in the area (about once every 2 weeks). This week the grocery store I shop at has 18 count boxes of tampons on sale for $2.00 (w/ my coupons) and I’m trying to figure out if I should stock up on them now or wait for a deal downtown (which has the stores above as well as Target, Wal-Mart, etc). If I should stock up how many should I get (use all of my coupons, I think I have 10)?

    I’m still working on my couponing skills but so far this month I’ve saved a great deal (40% off my total purchases) in part due to your blog.

    Thanks!

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