What I Have Learned. (The Stockpile)

Normally this post goes out on a Sunday, but I'm running a bit behind. It's been a couple weeks and as promised in the cautionary tale that is my struggle to save money with all the rest of you out there, I have some more things to share that I have learned along the way.

This collection doesn't really have a topic that ties them together, if it did I suppose it would be "The Perils of Stocking up too well" So we'll go with that one. We'll start with the inns and outs that I have found.

1. Stocking up on milk is not as easy as it sounds. With the rising milk prices it's no wonder that people want to stock up on milk. Freezing milk is one of the first things I heard of on a frugal tips website for how to save money on groceries. For my family I have 2 (now 3) big cereal eaters. We're talking 3 or more bowls. Even with significant rationing measures put in place I go through a gallon of regular milk (1% or 2%) and one of whole milk (just for my daughter).

The stores that have the "buy 2 gallons and get them both for so much cheaper than a single gallon alone" ads don't allow for a household that buys 2 gallons of milk but only buys 1 gallon of each, so when a deal comes along (for instance 2 1/2 gallons for 3 dollars with no limit) I stock up like crazy and even pick up rain checks if they don't have enough to accommodate my purchasing desires.

When you freeze milk it will expand so pour out about 4 oz (I used a baby bottle) before you put it in the freezer. Make sure you have no less than 3 days worth of milk defrosted when you get your next bottle out of the freezer or you will end up with either no milk or icicles within your milk. Just like everything else, partially defrosted liquid is very strong and if you use what isn't frozen what you will end up with when you finally defrost the rest is something we like to call at my house "milk water" not tasty. Also you want to watch your defrosted milk carefully. I have run into one of my bottles of whole milk curdling before even a week was up. Believe me if you can get a really good deal freezing your milk is a great idea, but it does require some forethought.

2. Printer ink is expensive and coupons use a lot of it. I mentioned before here that it's very important to think through your coupon printing needs, but as I have now gone through 2 color cartridges in the 3 months since I have started using them, it bears repeating. Only print out the coupons you know you will actually use. Save all PDFs until you plan to use them if you are unsure. Try to make a note of 'bricks" or other straight to your printer IPs (internet printable coupons) and check them against sales you plan to take advantage of. If you know u will use the coupon sale or no sale by all means print it, but if you are unsure don't waste the ink. Make a note (maybe notepad or word doc) of the link and save it until you are going to use it. I guess there is a possibility it could run out if there is a limit but the chances of that are less likely than those of you printing a "maybe" coupon and never using it or having it expire before you get the chance. IPs are very colorful and they don't have to be. Modify your printer settings so that it only prints in black and white or grayscale. This way your color lasts longer, of course your black will run out faster than normal but at least this way your ink should remain balanced. Set aside a portion of your coupon savings to accommodate your ink and paper cost, and be sure to compare prices. I found two cartridges of both color and black ink for less than the price of 1 combo pack at the manufacture website here They recycle cartridges and you earn points for each empty one you turn into them, which can then be turned into credits to buy more. Not a bad deal.

If you, like me tend to use IPs a lot then check out this post about how to handle uninformed or difficult cashiers here thanks MKTK.

On the flip side my last piece of learned advice...

3. Gas and Milk, never go below a 1/4 of a tank/bottle. On that note, never allow any required staple to run down to empty. My kids are huge cereal eaters (as mentioned above) and due to a number of circumstances I allowed the last of our milk to be used up after breakfast this morning. Not a huge deal, but one that needed to be fixed before the next morning. I checked the deals at all the grocery stores and the only one that looked to be worth it was 2 gallons at 6.19 (a full .50 up from the usual buy 2 get them for so much less deals from every other week). I bit the bullet and paid the 6.19 for the milk and a few other things, got home, found the weekly flyers and discovered that if I had just waited a single day, there is a 2 gallons of milk for 3.19 starting tomorrow! Yet another lesson learned. Don't get stuck paying any price for something you need, always leave yourself a buffer to seek out the best deal.

Stay tuned, the more I do this the more I learn what not to do and I pass that information along to you dear readers!