I am sure nearly everyone out there reading this blog knows: a) we are in the process of getting our house ready for sale; and b) I am an avid couponer! I have always used coupons, but a little over a year ago I discovered coupon blogs and I have not shopped the same way since! About a month ago I got all of the items in the above picture for FREE! (Plus, several more items not in the photo.) As a stay-at-home-mom I believe part of my job is to stretch our dollars as far as possible. Some (husbands) may consider my methods a bit extreme, but the numbers don't lie! It is well known that the way to save the most money on groceries is to stock up when you can get things cheap to even free when you can combine sales + coupons. I have always stockpiled. I like to blame it on genetics. My mom did it...her mom did it.... But again, I think I have taken it to another level. I spent several hours on Saturday cleaning out my pantry and packing up most of my stockpile to help make our house appear spacious. This was a very difficult task for me. Below is a picture I took of some of what I packed up. This doesn't show everything nor do I think it conveys the full scope of what was there. I had already boxed approximately 75 canned and jarred goods. I think Scott counted about 76 boxes of cereal! (Nine of which were open, and most of those nearly gone.) I try not to pay more than $1.50 per box...with the exception of Scott's absolute favorite, Honey Bunches of Oats, which is difficult to find for less than $2.50 a box. Now, we eat a TON of cereal for a family of 4. We probably go through at least 4 boxes a week!
This is the "after" picture of my pantry. A huge improvement from when things would fall out at you if you were not careful. As you can see, I still have quite a bit left after I packed everything above.
I am very proud of my stockpile. I spend many hours trying to get the most for our money. And you can't deny, no one can ever say that there is nothing to eat in our house! Although, I am going to have to be careful of the effect this has on our children. I was working on cleaning out last night while Ethan was eating his bedtime snack. As he watched me take things out of the pantry he kept saying, "Don't take my food! Don't take my food!"
P.S. There are times when I definetly can get more than our family needs of an item for pennies or less. For example, the 16 boxes of pasta I got for free last week! In those cases, I donate!
