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5.0 THE ART OF GROCERY STOCKPILING - SUPERMARKET DISCOUNTS

Save time and money by stocking up: time, because you'll buy less during your regular weekly shopping and won't have to rush to the convenience store when you're out of something or go back to the supermarket; money, because you'll buy goods at the best possible price. But there is an art to it.

We think keeping a stockpiling is a smart way for virtually everyone to save money anywhere in the country no matter where they shop. See our detailed report on just how to do this at:

5.0.1 EXAMPLE: TIME & MONEY SAVED

We were buying a special type of canned cat food every couple of weeks at the vet's. Sometimes we ran out and had to make a special trip. Now we buy a case at a time which lasts 6 months, only make two trips a year and save $14/yr. Our cat goes under the bed where we found room to store the case and rubs against the cans.

5.0.2 STOCK PILING ADVANTAGES - DID YOU FORGET SOMETHING?

It's 9 PM. You're tired but you've got one more load of laundry to do. The washer is full of clothes and the water is running, when you realize you're out of laundry soap!

So you get in your car, run down to the convenience store, buy whatever they've got, and run back to finish your chores.

How much did that extra trip really cost you? A lot more than you might think.

The IRS (conservatively) allows 30 cents per mile to drive your car. Therefore a six mile round trip costs $1.80. But wait there's more. A cold car on short trips gets about a third the mileage a warm car gets on longer trips so add another 70 cents to make the total driving cost $2.50.

And then there is the laundry detergent. At a convenience store near me the cheapest box of laundry soap costs $4.00 plus tax. The same amount would have cost $1.00 for a store brand at Kmart.

So the trip actually cost $3.00 extra for the soap and $2.50 extra for the car, a whopping $5.50 just because you forgot something. Do this once a week and it adds up to $286 per year. Plus you've spent about 24 extra hours (3 working days) during that year running down to the store.

Now as my savvy readers know, one dollar saved is the same as two dollars earned. And a dollar spent means you had to earn two dollars. That $286 spent equals $572 you'd have to earn at your job.

Lynne Bradley-Hiltz, a consumer reporter for WBTV Charlotte, pointed out that stocking-up on necessities (laundry and dish soap, toilet paper, light bulbs, feminine hygiene products, bath soap, toothpaste, etc.) not only saves money, it also saves lots of stressful, expensive, needless trips to the store.

Stockpiling essential non-perishable products is a very smart shopping strategy. If you've never done it, it will take a few months to get into the habit and find places to store the extra items, but the dividends are substantial.

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