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View Full Version : Do you stock up on things as a hedge against inflation?



Tiam
7-10-13, 12:10am
I've been hearing this more often as a piece of advice. I don't eat tons of tinned foods or frozen foods, so that leaves me with buying non foods like TP, shampoo, dish soap, cat food and condiments. Mayo, salt, vinegar, mustard, pickles,and such which are my main preserved foods consumption. I have a pantry full of canned foods for an "emergency" not too much, maybe enough for a few days, but I don't even use them enough to rotate them, so they are not a hedge. I know it's important to have a few items stashed for a power outage or other emergency, but I just can't do the stockpiling thing, because I just don't use it. How about other folks?

razz
7-10-13, 7:10am
I find that for my peace of mind, I need to stock up for at least a couple of months but I rotate through things. I mark everything with the year of purchase so that I know when it is time.

catherine
7-10-13, 7:14am
No. I'm not a stockpiler.. If I were a canner, I'd can/store garden overages, but that's all I feel comfortable doing. I don't need more stuff in my house or garage.

cindycindy
7-10-13, 7:29am
During Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, our power was out for a week. So, we don't stock up on fridge/freezer items, we do stock up on canned goods as an emergency precaution. However, it does serve as a hedge against inflation as we stock up during annual sales. (also stock up on toothpaste, shampoo, etc.) If needed, we could "live off the pantry" for awhile.

flowerseverywhere
7-10-13, 8:40am
Yes I stock up. I have at least a two week supply of things that are easily heated up on a camp stove or eaten as is. Pancake mix that only needs water, oatmeal, canned soup etc. Cans of fruit and beans, nuts, crackers, peanut butter, granola bars, dried fruit don't make up my regular diet but they will be very welcome when the power is out or the stores cannot be restocked. I put the things in a cabinet with a piece of tape with the date on it. As things go on sale I stock those items and donate the oldest things to a food pantry. Once a year I clean the whole thing out and donate the oldest items. I am not relying on any government agency to assist after an emergency when I am able to make sure I have what I need to make it through the worst of it. We also have a gallon of water a day per person for two weeks, as well as DH likes to have some canned juices, soda etc so that will make the water last longer. also, we have a simple drip coffeemaker and a solar oven. Only a few hundred dollars (except for the solar oven) gives me a lot of peace of mind and it is welcome at the local food pantry when I show up every few months. It gives me great satisfaction to be independent as possible.

SteveinMN
7-10-13, 10:37am
We'll do some short-term stocking up.

If I see a sale on a grocery item which I know we like and which will keep, I'll stock up. But not so much of it that we won't use it before an expiration date or before a year rolls around. I'll buy extra produce to freeze or pickle for winter. I'll fill the car before, not during, a major holiday weekend. I don't have a problem buying seasonal closeout items at a good price and holding them when I know we'll use them next year (citronella candles, for example). But, beyond that, no, we don't do any serious stockpiling.

bae
7-10-13, 1:24pm
I stock up on things as a hedge against not having them when I need them, or to make logistics simpler.

Stocking up to avoid inflation seems a bit silly to me. If I had spare money, I'd rather have it invested earning more than inflation than sitting around in piles of canned goods waiting for Zombie Carter to strike.

ljevtich
7-10-13, 1:33pm
I've been hearing this more often as a piece of advice. I don't eat tons of tinned foods or frozen foods, so that leaves me with buying non foods like TP, shampoo, dish soap, cat food and condiments. Mayo, salt, vinegar, mustard, pickles,and such which are my main preserved foods consumption. I have a pantry full of canned foods for an "emergency" not too much, maybe enough for a few days, but I don't even use them enough to rotate them, so they are not a hedge. I know it's important to have a few items stashed for a power outage or other emergency, but I just can't do the stockpiling thing, because I just don't use it. How about other folks?
I stock up. Spent ~ $1000 this past March because I was not sure where we were going to be for the summer. Since we live in an RV and travel (now in Washington state as a Ranger at Mount St. Helens), I was not sure what the grocery stores were going to be like and how far away they would be to where we are living.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20 - now we live close to an area that is a grocery haven, with WinCo stores all over, I did not need to stock up as much. But I have in the past, and it has helped out in regards to:
Olive Oil - went through the roof a couple of years ago, and stocked up right before, so we had it for almost a year.
Chocolate - we eat dark chocolate, and when the milk prices went through the roof, we had our stash.
Dried fruit/berries - we eat those every day, and tend to buy at the end of the season, so we get good prices.
Dried milk - goes along with the chocolate.
Oatmeal/granola - we also go through this pretty hard and the last time there was a grain shortage we were not buying the high priced oatmeal and granola.
Salsa - not canned but in jars - when there was the tomato scare, we stopped eating tomatoes and had salsa instead.
Lemon juice - good for so many reasons even if all you do is put it in the tea.
Tea - got large quantities of it just in case shipping costs go up.
Different herbs, spices, dried hummus, tortilla soups, dried fried beans: Got them all from WinCo, where you can get good stuff for cheap prices.
Beans and Rice - major staple for us. When the WinCo in NV - Las Vegas one first opened up, we got huge amounts of beans because the price was fabulous. Have not seen those prices again, but still, good deals when you can get them always help with inflation.
This is just a partial list of stuff that we got this year: Stocking Up This Year (http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/BoondockingDays.html)
We also still had stuff from the year before, like mayo. mustard, relishes, etc.
And we do not use as much paper products but have traveled a bit to hotels and got their TP and tissues. I may be bad that way - taking all of their paper products, but if I am spending the money to go to these hotels/motels, all paper products are coming with me :cool:

So yes, we stock up.

Tiam
7-10-13, 1:42pm
I too feel I'd rather not "Invest" in this, but some other way, even if its just a plain old savings account.

Blackdog Lin
7-10-13, 4:49pm
I also stock up, just not necessarily as a hedge against inflation. Stocking up keeps me out of the stores, and every trip I don't make to a store automatically saves me money. That I've saved money on the items is an added benefit. (it does pay a MUCH higher return than my savings accounts.)

rosarugosa
7-10-13, 7:46pm
Only in a very minimalist way, and not particularly related to inflation. We stock up on olives, canned tomatoes and tuna when they are on sale. That's pretty much it.

happystuff
7-10-13, 7:46pm
I try to take advantage of sales when they occur on things I use - in that sense, then yes, I guess that may be seen as stocking up as a hedge against inflation. Otherwise, I don't really stock up. When fruits and/or veggies are in season and cheap, I will try to dry them... for example, cabbage is usually always on sale around St. Patrick's Day, so I stock up and dehydrate a bunch of it.

chrissieq
7-10-13, 9:50pm
I don't work in the summer so try to stock up on the stuff that if you go to Target to pick up, you end up buying way other too much stuff - I get shampoo, OTC meds, toilet paper - really helps me rein in the spending. However I have to say as I think about it, that was my approach a few years ago. Now I can go to Target, buy what's on the list and leave thinking "I don't need any of that!".

Do like to have a stash on hand of canned tomatoes and black beans.

That said, I have a hankering for a mid-year 2013 through 2014 planner but won't buy it unless it's totally cute and usable.

Gardenarian
7-11-13, 6:46pm
No, I don't like stocking up on stuff.

jp1
7-11-13, 9:38pm
We always have enough non-perishable food on hand to last for a couple of weeks if a big earthquake or zombie apocalypse happens, but that's just because we tend to buy stuff we know we'll use if we see it on sale when we're at the store. It's not really an organized process and we're not doing it as an inflation hedge. The only thing I've stocked up on as an inflation hedge is razors. I don't need to upgrade from my 3 blade razor to a 5 or 10 blade or whatever they make now, so when I saw my razor blades for a good price at Costco a couple of years ago I bought enough to probably last me 10 years. (I only shave once a week.) We'll also buy the jumbo packs of tp and laundry detergent and stuff at costco since we have room to store them, it's cheaper, and buying a lot at once means we only have to go to Costco infrequently. The frequency of trips to Costco (or more accurately the infrequency) is probably more important to us for saving than the cost of the stuff we buy, since we don't own a car and have to rent a zipcar for ~$10/hour every time we want to shop there.

Otherwise we actually don't stock up at all. We live across the street from Safeway so we tend to do a lot of very quick/small shopping trips on the way home from work or whatever, just to get exactly what we're having for dinner that night if we don't already have it at home.

danna
7-11-13, 9:47pm
I do stock up but, as others have said when on sale so I guess it is a hedge against buying at a higher price when
you run out and need something.

In the past I feel I bought too much and some not much but some went to waste. I am now following advice
I got on here. Buy what you use and use what you buy.....this works. Also, know what you have on hand so you don't over buy.

try2bfrugal
7-11-13, 10:00pm
I stock up on food and other products when I can get a good ROI on products we like to eat or use. The local store had DH's favorite canned chili on sale, $1 for chili that is normally $2.50 a can. That is a like making $1.50 in interest on $1.00 investment, or a 150% rate of return over the month or so it will take us to eat it all.

As long as the food doesn't go to waste, that is a much better return than we are going to get in CDs, stocks or bonds. I have been trying to do this a lot more to cut the grocery bill down further.

I stockpile my make up about a year in advance with Almay and Physician's Formula products from Grocery Outlet. Sometimes they will have lipstick, other times nothing, sometimes eye shadow and mascara. Whenever they have a good deal, usually about 25% of Kmart prices, I buy enough to last a year.

I buy bar soap by the case from the factory at wholesale prices.

Tiam
7-12-13, 12:15am
I try and buy one thing each minor trip to 'Stock up', but staying with my lifestyle, it usually ends up being a condiment. Today it was a box of kosher salt.

ctg492
7-12-13, 12:50pm
No stocking up here. We will on a good day have enough for for maybe 5 days. I think about it every so often, when posts come up to remind me. I never do it though.

Spartana
7-12-13, 12:56pm
No I don't stock up on anything as a hedge against inflation or even for the upcoming zombie apocalypse (unless Brad Pitt will plans to battle zombies near my house then I'll stock up on make up and sexy clothes :-) ). I have basic supplies for an emergency - short or long - but not for inflation.

HappyHiker
7-14-13, 7:41pm
No, I don't much stock up...with just two of us, I'd be concerned that items would go out of date before we'd use them...and with limited storage space, it's not much of an option anyhow. I like shopping frequently and buying produce seasonally--more like a European than an American. I have limited freezer space and like fresh produce. We use little meat, but I try to buy from local fisherman according to which fish are being caught.

Tiam
7-14-13, 9:36pm
I'm doing a Costco trip this week and on my list are things like dish soap, toothpaste, facial tissue, toilet paper, hand and body soap, light bulbs and Aleve. Not food. It's great to have those things and they do get expensive.

pony mom
7-15-13, 8:35pm
My income fluctuates week to week, so if I see something on sale that I use, if I have the money at that time, I'll buy a few. This is just in case I run out and don't have the money to buy it when money is short. Since I started my teeth remineralization program, I stock up on Act fluoride rinse when it's on sale, which isn't very often.

I like that secure feeling of knowing that I have "enough".

ToomuchStuff
7-16-13, 1:04am
Yes AND no. I buy stuff for work, and they tell me to buy stuff when I need something, because I so rarely do. My work shopping can typically be done, on the way in, so I MAY be going five miles out of my way, at most. Some things, like TP, will be bought at one of the clubs, and will last at least most of the year. Other times, I may buy a package of meat, and split it with my parents (two different households, one person and one pair), and we still use her $10 garage sale find, vacuum sealer. I don't really cook at home right now, so when I do, it is fresh (frig died, and I am in the middle of designing a new kitchen, so I don't want to get a new one covered in construction).

Other stuff, Toothpaste, deodorant, toothbrushes, etc. my mom buys at a damaged freight store constantly, and gives to the kids (me included) at Christmas. (even when she is told no, nothing for Christmas)
Find a good deal on something I KNOW I will use, and yes (ICEMELT, before the winter season hits, as an example).

rodeosweetheart
7-16-13, 6:11pm
I don't really, but I think I am going to start after we move to a bigger place. But just on things like toothepaste, dog chews, catsup, canning from the summer fruitstands.

One thing my mom used to do and I think I will start--it's a little bit hoarder-ish, but she would buy irons, coffeemakers, and toasters when she saw them at Goodwill or garage sale--not a lot, just always had one more so that when the nice iron broke, there was another one to replace it. She had about 4 Sunbeam toasters at one point and we all took one. They are so expensive, but if you have them ready to replace the old, you are all set. But they have an enormous farmhouse with a basement, and they have actually pared down alot.

SteveinMN
7-16-13, 10:55pm
she would buy irons, coffeemakers, and toasters when she saw them at Goodwill or garage sale--not a lot, just always had one more so that when the nice iron broke, there was another one to replace it. She had about 4 Sunbeam toasters at one point and we all took one. They are so expensive, but if you have them ready to replace the old, you are all set.
I have to admit -- I've done this. But only for items I'd want to buy (for example, not a $9 Proctor-Silex coffeemaker). I was going to spend a chunk of money replacing the worn work bowl on my 30-year-old food processor when I saw an entire processor (same model), virtually unused, at a thrift store, for less than I would have spent on the work bowl as a part. Ditto for coffeemaker carafes, slow-cooker lids, and so on. But it's got to look pretty much unused, I have the space, and I stop at storing one.