6 things you can do right now to save money and avoid anxiety for Passover 2015

It's the day after Pesach.   All the preparation, cleaning, cooking, baking, shopping, and now it's Isru Chag.   One week and one day, and it's all behind us.  Except it's not.  Because preparing for Pesach takes place all year long. The more you do year-round, the easier it will be to deal with Pesach next April.  And the more thoughtfully and carefully you put Pesach 2014 to bed, the easier it will be to plan for Pesach 2015.

Believe it or not, I actually take about 3-4 days to switch from my Pesach kitchen to my chametz kitchen.  I clear out all of the Pesach stuff right away, but it doesn't get packed into boxes until I finish inventorying stuff, discarding what I don't want, and making copious notes.  Every year, taking time to put stuff away the year before pays off the following Pesach.

1. Get rid of those kitchen items you don't need or aren't working for you. As you're putting Passover stuff away, take your time and weed out all the items that you have no use for. Is there any reason to have 3 graters, none of which really grate all that well (been there, done that)?  Wouldn't it be nice to have a can opener that actually opened cans?  How much longer do you want to hold on to that broken mini-food processor?  Is that cheap, non-stick extra frying pan that you bought last year peeling and not really usable any more?  If you've got kitchen wares you'll never use, throw them out, donate them, freecycle them, bring them to Goodwill, but get rid of them.  You'll recover storage space (and a little sanity), and ultimately, disposing of stuff that's not working for you always saves you money in the long run.  
2. Pack up kitchenwares thoughtfully and keep copious notes on what to look for this year.  As you pack up this year's Pesach kitchenwares, go through and take notes on what you need for next year. Did you have enough wine glasses this year?  Is your crockpot usable but on its last legs?  Would it have been nice to have had a hot water urn for Pesach?  How about a new warming tray, or perhaps a second one?  Make a wishlist.  You now have 11 months to shop.  Instead of grabbing the first appliance you see the week before Pesach because you'll need it, you can wait until there's a fantastic sale, and then pounce, buy it, and put it away for next Pesach.  Keep that list in your laptop, or in your desk drawer, or coupon folder.  (I'd love it if you'd forward that list to me, so I can be on the lookout for things my readers actually need!)  Pack up your kitchenwares in a thoughtful way.  If you have new items, make sure you label them dairy/meat/pareve, because you won't remember from year to year.  If you have new things that you haven't gotten around to using, make sure you write down on the box whether you've toveled it or not.
3. Store non-perishable food properly and triage through the stuff that's old.  As you're packing away your Pesach pantry, store what you can, but do it properly, and triage through your Passover stockpiles.  Check out my reading list for what you can store and stockpile and what you can't, here.  If you have a basement or garage freezer, I urge you to store your flour-based or critter-attracting stuff in there (matzoh meal, cake meal, KLP couscous, etc.) and not in a box with your Pesach kitchenware.  These items will stay much fresher in a ziplock in the back of your freezer.  If you don't have a freezer to store those sorts of things in, make sure to bag them in ziplocks (keeps out air and moisture) and keep them in a cool, dry, clean environment.   Coffee that's still sealed can be also be stored in the freezer, but open coffee should be used up with your chametz.  Things like teas, spices and salt can be stored safely in boxes and don't need any refrigeration, but make sure to seal them very tightly when you put them away.   Don't store anything flour-based that is open (i.e. open boxes of cake meal); instead, incorporate them into your everyday chometz cooking; i.e. I've breaded chicken with Pesach cake meal or potato starch with great results.  Although many of you have claimed to have had success in storing cake mixes, I don't recommend it...the mixes get a stale odor that carries through the baking.  We have eaten at friends' homes where it's clear that they are serving cakes made with last years' (or older) mixes, and while it won't give you food poisoning, it's unpleasant.  Sealed jars and cans can certainly be put away for next year, but as you're packing them up, make sure there are no big dents, cracks, or holes anywhere, as those can make the food inside poisonous over the course of the year.  I usually write the year that I've purchased an item on top of any cans or jars that I store, so that I can rotate out the older stuff first, throughout the holiday.  My personal rule is anything that's older than three years will not be used and either needs to go into my chametz pantry, get donated to Tomchei Shabbos, be given to a friend or get thrown out.  Why, oh, why, did you buy a garlic flavored mashed potato mix?  Is this the fourth year you're storing that grape-flavored ko-jel?   Triage, triage, triage through your Pesach stockpiles.
4. Keep clear notes on your Pesach groceries so you'll know what to shop for over the course of the year and where you got your stuff last year.  Make clear and detailed notes on your Pesach master list and create a new list of things you can buy during the year. There's nothing wrong with buying a five-lb. bag of C&H sugar in July for Pesach if it's on sale and you've got a great coupon.  We keep an empty box in the basement that's labeled "PESACH" and I fill it up over the course of the year.  Extra-virgin olive oil, sugar, Perrier, Pellegrino, foil, plasticware, paper plates, etc. all go in there when I find them on sale with a coupon, etc.  Make a separate list of all the stuff that you'll need for next year, take 11 months to shop, and come April, your stress will be minimal.
5. Hit the post-Pesach grocery sales.  You'll find stuff like matzoh meal, KLP sauces and dressings, etc. on sale for ridiculously low prices.  Buy up whatever you are sure you will need, and skip the stuff that's super-cheap but you will have no use for.
6. Grab the clearance deals on Hagaddahs, Pesach cookbooks, and hostess gifts.  Hit the Jewish bookstores here and here and online vendors as they start to mark down their Passover items.  

Finally, while this won't save you money on next year's Pesach shopping, it will help you ease back into your chametz routine:  use up your perishables or give them away.  Go through the fridge, audit your produce and perishables and make sure nothing goes to waste.   As we do every year (will I never learn?), we overbought butter and eggs this year, so I'm going to bring those over to a friend's house this week.  My extra potatoes will also get used; before those things start growing eyes and turning yucky, I'm processing all but 6 potatoes and making potato kugels, which will go right into the freezer. If you baked too much don't like to keep fattening sweets around the house, send them to work with you or your spouse.  You can freeze extra bricks of cream cheese and margarine.   Don't wait until the end of next week to discover wilted produce and spoiled perishables in your fridge.

Ok, readers, balubustas, Pesach Movers and Shakers, any other tips and ideas on saving money and trouble NOW for Pesach next year?

More on stockpiling

It's been a while since I posted about stockpiling.  The main principle behind stockpiling is this:  you buy the things you need, not when you need them, but when the opportunity arises to buy them inexpensively, and then you store them and use them as you need them.

• You aren't forced to buy things when you absolutely need them, so you aren't at the mercy of paying whatever the store is charging.
• The difference between stockpiling and hoarding is that you only buy stuff that you need and will definitely use.  You just buy it before that need arises.  
• You don't buy insane amounts of the stuff and you store it properly, without turning most of your home into a warehouse.

Stockpiling can save you thousands of dollars a year, literally.

One of the challenges of stockpiling is the storage aspect of it.  What can be stored?  What expires and when?  What temperatures do I need to store things at?  How do I keep my stockpile clean and critter-free?

There is nothing like buying a ton of crackers on a great sale with a coupon, only to have them go horribly stale on you because you stored them in a warm place (guilty).  Or to buy perishables in bulk and to have to throw them out because they were frozen too long and became freezer-burnt and inedible (guilty).   Etc.

I've posted several articles in the past about stockpiling, how long you can keep things, etc.  There are some great resources out there on the web, and I'm going to re-share that list here.  These are some of the stockpiling-related resources that I've found to be VERY helpful in the past.  If you've got any to add to the list, please contact me so I can expand this.

• 77 Surprising Expiration Dates (Real Simple)
• Drug Expiration Dates---Do They Mean Anything? (Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide)
• 8 Surprising Foods You Can Freeze (All You)
• Still Tasty.com
• Food Safety.gov
• Ziploc's article on refrigerated and frozen shelf life

Frugal Illusions: how we fool ourselves into thinking we're saving more than we actually are.

Drugstore rewards, cash back programs, stockpiling, gift card deals, BOGO and BOGOHO sales, etc. are all great ways to save money and I don't want to discourage you from continuing in your frugal ways!  My purpose in writing this post is to dispel some of the mind games that we sometimes might play to trick ourselves into thinking that we are saving more than we actually are.  I know I am guilty of this; I catch myself doing this all too much.  I'm hoping a little awareness and discussion will put a stop to it.  Feel free to post your $0.02 in the comments below.

1. Counting savings twice: Walgreen's Register Rewards. CVS Extra Cash Bucks.  Rite Aid Up and Up Rewards. There is a reason that these retail drugstore giants have these programs and an even better reason that the stores are making a ton of money off of them.  Why and how? Because we keep "rolling" these rewards back into future purchases.  It keeps us coming back to the same stores.  It is also a brilliant marketing plan in that we tend to "double-count" the rewards.  Here's what I mean by that:  if I buy something at Walgreen's for $20 and get $5 back in Register Rewards, in my mind I've spent only $15.  But then when I take those same $5 in Register Rewards and spend them on a $20 future purchase, in my mind, I've still only spent $15.  While I feel like I've saved $10, in reality, I've only saved $5.  That's counting savings twice.
   And my second point about this is that I haven't really saved $5; I've saved $5 worth of Walgreen's merchandise.  It's an important distinction, especially when you're trying to stick to a budget in order to pump up your savings account or pay off debts.  Remember, CVS ECBs are fantastic, but you can't pay a mortgage with them.
   Drug store programs aren't the ones that manipulate you into counting savings twice.  Cash back programs can also get you into this mindset.  If I buy something for $10 and get $4 in cash back, in my mind, I've only spent $6.  And then, when the check for that $4 actually arrives in the mail, I don't consider it as money already saved.  Instead, more often than not, I treat it as "free money."  I think the reason it happens is because of the time lag between saving the money on a purchase and receiving the check.
   Same thing happens with Target's $5 gift card promotions. Remember this great Scrubbing Bubbles deal I put together, where I stacked a fantastic Walmart price match with a Target gift card promo. In the end, I paid out $15, but I took home $25 in Target gift cards, so I considered it a $10 moneymaker. But was it really? Those $25 in gift cards can only be spent in one place, and that's Target. And I still had to take $15 out of my wallet. So, yes, this was a great deal, but was it really a "moneymaker?"
2. Buying things we don't need or want because they're cheap.  I'm not talking about breaking brand-loyalty here.  It's perfectly ok to buy Cheerios instead of Chex if Cheerios costs $1 and Chex costs $4, as long as you and your family like Cheerios and will eat it.  I'm talking about buying stuff you don't like or don't need because it costs less than a dollar or it is BOGO or you put together a great deal to get it. If you don't need it, don't want it, won't use it, then don't get it.  Period. Even if it's free (unless you will donate it or give it away immediately).   Because even if it costs nothing, it will take up precious room in your basement or garage, and there is a cost to clutter. And even if it is a steal, if you won't use it, whatever money you spent is wasted money.
   Back to my great Scrubbing Bubbles deal. In the end, I had purchased five Scrubbing Bubbles One-Step No-Hands toilet cleaning systems.  There's only one problem. We have two bathrooms in our house.  So why do I need five systems?  Fortunately, the systems all come with refills, so I will definitely put those to use.  But what about the cleaning mechanisms?  I had fooled myself into thinking that since I netted a profit of $2 in Target gift cards for each system I bought, they were worthwhile purchases.  And eventually, in a few years, each cleaning mechanism will wear out and need to be replaced.  All great justifications for buying five, but the bottom line is, I've got three of these taking up room on a shelf in my garage right now. See what I mean?
3. Stockpiling out of control. There are two ways to waste money with stockpiling.  The first is stockpiling more stuff than you will use in the next two years.  That takes up valuable space, and there is no reason to keep that much of anything around.  Lots of stuff, while not spoiling, may not be as good after two years. I once stockpiled way too much Pantene shampoo, and after a year and a half, the shampoo separated.  The oily stuff rose to the top and watery stuff went to the bottom. It all went back to normal when I shook the bottles, but still, it taught me a lesson in over-stockpiling. The second way to waste money is to store things improperly.  The best place to store foods that have the potential to become stale is in a closed, airtight container in the coldest part of your freezer.  I don't store any food at all in my garage, even cans, because it gets very warm in the summer and goes below freezing in the winter and those are extremes that can affect even sealed food.  I store all non-perishable food items in my pantry and my consistently cool basement.
4. The savings sound way better than they are.  Marketing, marketing, marketing.  If Payless Shoes had a 25% off sale instead of a BOGOHO (buy-one-get-one-half-off) sale, would they do as well?  We know from doing our Shoppers Math that a 25% off sale is basically the exact same thing as BOGOHO, at least when both items are the same price. When they differ in price, your savings drop below 25%.  But a BOGOHO sale sounds much more enticing than a 25% off sale, doesn't it? After all, we're getting half off!  But actually, we're not.  

I'm not suggesting for a minute that we stop attempting to follow all of these frugal methods. What I am proposing is that we catch ourselves at all the little mind tricks we might play to make ourselves think we're saving more than we actually are, which ultimately, will cost us more.

Building a family first aid kit (frugally)

Having a first-aid kit is a good idea under any circumstances, but with all of the disasters, natural and otherwise, going on lately, it's an especially good idea. I've been meaning to put one together for a long time, and last week, I finally started working on it.

Nobody like to think about these things.  Even if your neighborhood is fortunate enough to not be subject to terror attacks, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and hurricanes, there are always blackouts, brownouts, thunderstorms, snow blizzards, drought conditions etc.  What would you do if your spouse cut him/herself deeply and you couldn't get out to an emergency room?  What would you do if you didn't have power or potable water for a week?  What would you do if your child had a fever and you didn't have access to medical or emergency services?

Every household should keep at least a few gallon jugs of drinkable water on hand for starters, and at least a week's worth of non-perishable food in storage.  A basic first-aid kit is an absolute must.  The Red Cross has a list of recommended items for a family first-aid kit, which I used as a guideline for creating ours.  Here were the items on my first-aid kit list:

• gauze pads (large and small)
• Band-aids
• first aid tape
• sterile alcohol preps
• aspirin, regular and low-dose (and baby aspirin if you have kids)
• heartburn/stomach meds
• disposable instant heating pads
• acetaminophen
• ibuprofen
• Benadryl
• Neosporin
• digital thermometer
• antibiotic ointment
• hydrocortisone cream
• tweezers
• disposable gloves
• alcohol or Purelle
• OTC allergy meds

(If your family members have any special medical conditions, like bee-sting or peanut allergies, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, etc., you should definitely keep a small stash of extra emergency prescription meds in the kit as well.)

So how do we put all this together frugally?

First of all, unless you've been seriously stockpiling these sorts of things, you're probably not going to be able to assemble a first-aid kit in one day.  My approach was to make the list first, then see what I had in my medicine cabinet and what I needed to buy.  I didn't want to clean out my medicine cabinet, only take extras of what we already had.

For the items that I needed to buy, I checked my coupon stash, and compared it to what was on sale.

Coincidentally, Target had a special last week where if you buy 3 first-aid items, you get a first aid bag or box for free, along with a $5 Target gift card.  I jumped on that.  That's my nifty-looking free bag in the picture above.  Regarding the bag or box that you use for your first-aid kit, here are my suggestions:

• While it doesn't have to be red with a giant white cross on it, it should be marked very clearly as a first-aid kit.  No one should mistake it for a make-up or travel bag. I do recommend using a red, clear or white bag or box, and then marking it in bold capital letters with a permanent market, or if it's clear, slipping a sheet of paper with a large Red Cross symbol on the inside, so that it's immediately apparent what it is.
• It should be compact enough to grab-and-run, in case of a real emergency.
• It should have a handle.  Test the zippers to make sure they open easily and don't snag.  It should be made of sturdy material, like nylon, but something that can be cut or ripped open easily if need be.
• It should have multiple pockets on the inside so that you can organize it in a way that makes sense.

Now let's fill that bag up.

Over the last week or so, armed with my list, I made the rounds of Target, Walgreen's and Walmart (sadly, Denver has no CVS) and together with stacked coupons and sales, I've slowly filled in most of the items on the list and kept track of what I spent.  Not counting the actual bag itself, the items that I've already bought had purchase prices of about $73, and so  far, using the coupons and sales, I've been able to get them for $18.  I need about two more items to complete the kit, first-aid tape and large gauze pads.  I haven't seen any sales for these, and don't have any coupons (yet), so I'm going to wait and watch a bit.

I know many of you have concerns about items in the kit expiring, but before you throw out your year-old Advil, please read this Harvard Medical School article on Drug Expiration Dates - Do They Mean Anything?

So Cheapskate readers, it's your turn.  Do you have a family first-aid kit or have you been thinking of assembling one?  Have you been re-stocking it in light of all the natural disasters going on recently?  Do you keep a cache of emergency food and water?  Are there any items that you think should go into a kit that I've left off my list?

My new, experimental Costco purchasing strategy

Over the last few years, I've become a pretty organized shopper.  I routinely follow the frugal principle of avoiding shopping for things when I need them; instead, I buy those same things when they are on sale, and I have a coupon or promo code.  Besides saving money, it also gives me the piece of mind that stuff that we routinely need is usually already at home, and it's eliminated most panic buying.

So how did I become a completely disorganized Costco shopper?

I buy certain items at Costco all the time. These are things that we use constantly and go through steadily, like extra virgin olive oil, tissues, toilet paper, bar soap, frozen salmon and trout, canned tuna, aluminum foil, etc.  I used to have other items on this list, like shampoo, dog food and cereal, but I've found that because those items have so many coupons and freebies available, I do much better buying them in regular stores then I do at Costco.  And then there are items that are on my regular Costco list that I supplement occasionally with sales and coupons, but still buy regularly at Costco, like paper towels and plasticware, because our need for these items outpaces the regularity of the deals that I can find.

Costco does not accept manufacturer's coupons but they do accept store coupons, which they mail on a monthly bases to each of their members.  Here's what I've been doing:  I get the coupons, I clip the ones I think I'll need, I go to Costco and say to myself, "I already have a huge 16 roll package of paper towels in the garage (that I bought without a coupon) and I don't need to buy another one just because I have a $4.50 coupon.  We don't need two 16 roll paper towel packages sitting in the garage."

And then, two weeks later, we run out of paper towels and I run over to Costco and buy them.  Without a coupon.

I'm trying to work through the psychological aspects of why I have fallen into this routine when I'm so careful about my other shopping. I think that because Costco bulk prices are so heavily discounted to begin with, I have justified in my mind that using coupons for Costco products that we need is unnecessary. But since when is that true?  Costco coupons are not insubstantial; most are in the $2-$6 range.  So why would I not be conscientious about using them?

The second issue that I have is the bulk/space problem.  We do have space in our garage, kitchen and basement for stockpiling, but it's limited. Our house is on the small side and our stuff is on the large side.  So honestly, I would rather not have 32 rolls of paper towels sitting in our garage. 

I think the trick to getting organized about your Costco bulk shopping is timing it so that you get close to running out of paper towels close to the time that Costco sends you the coupon for it.  After all, the coupons that arrive monthly are mostly different from the previous months...Costco cycles them.  So I might start out this organizational experiment with a few extra rolls on the garage shelf, but eventually, our needs will be in close sync with the coupon cycles.  At least in theory.

So here's my new strategy.  I'm going to make a list of all our Costco regular and semi-regular purchases in a Google spreadsheet.  Then I'm going to buy the items that are on that list tomorrow with the coupons that arrived today in the mail, regardless of whether or not we need them now. I'm going to try to hold off on the items we need for which I don't have coupons until next month.  I'll track my purchases in the spreadsheet, date, price and coupon.  And I'll see how long it takes me to sync up our supply needs with the coupon cycle.

What this will mean is that we will have to make do without hot cups for a while (totally do-able in the summer...and for my morning coffeee, I can use regular dishes) and that we will have 32 boxes of tissues sitting on the shelf for a while.  But that's ok.  It's an experiment in organization and timing, and I know it won't be perfect.  There are also items for which Costco never prints coupons (like frozen trout) and I will keep buying those as needed.  Truth is, frozen fish is an item that you probably don't want to stockpile anyway.

How do you organize your Costco purchases?  Or do you?

Seasonal shopping off-season: a key principle of frugality

Shopping for new Pesach appliances in August?  Buying (and freezing) a turkey in September?  Picking out Chanukah presents in March?  Purchasing school supplies in July?  Buying different types of honey for Rosh Hashana in June?

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.  The other day, I was in Bed Bath & Beyond and scored a large blue cotton tablecloth with dreidels all over it on clearance for $3 (after my coupon).  I put it away in my linen closet, and come December, when that same tablecloth will sell for $48 again, I'll be one happy camper. I've also got my $4 blue fright wig that I bought from Party City the week after Halloween, which will be fun to wear on Purim. I already bought and stowed away some hostess gifts for when we get invited out for meals next year on Passover (pewter and glass matzoh platters on clearance in May at Eichlers), my Reflections plasticware for Succot is piled up on the shelves in my garage, and today I bought American flag napkins for $0.25 for a pack of 100, perfect for next year's Independence Day barbecue.

Get the idea?  Here are some great reasons and tips for buying seasonal items off-season:

1. If you buy when the demand is lower, you'll save money. Simple economics.  Although some stores do have great buys specifically around holidays, most good seasonal clearance sales take place immediately after holidays, or just at sporadic dates around the year when stores are unloading merchandise.  Sometimes seasonal items are inadvertently included in a great sale.  It's basically the same principle as stockpiling; you don't buy stuff when you need it, you buy it when it's on sale, and you've got stacked coupons and cash back, and put it away until you do need it.
2. If you buy things you will need in advance of needing them, it will be a major load off your mind, and alleviate the pressure of the holiday or occasion.  I ended Passover this year knowing that our hot water urn was on its last legs, and we could use another set of silverware and wineglasses for extra guests.  There is no way that I will wait until next April to purchase these things.  I will watch the sales and strike when great bargains come my way, so that by the time Passover hits, I won't be panicked and I certainly won't be rushed into buying more expensive items because of the stress of the impending holiday.
3. Remember where you store things.  This is probably my own personal, weakest link in my advance-buying strategy, because I need to work on my home organization.  Last year, early on, I bought three stainless steel 6-quart Rival crockpots for $15 each.  Two weeks before Passover, I tore my garage and basement apart looking for them, and calling myself all sorts of self-effacing, nasty names. The same day that I caved and bought another 6-quart crockpot for Passover (an ugly color, off-brand and $40, because that was all I could find), I found the missing stainless steel ones. They were way in the back of the trunk of my car.  I returned the $40 crockpot and when I got home, I reorganized the section of my basement where those crockpots should have been stored to begin with. Remember, storage disorganization costs money.  Your storage system doesn't need to be perfect, but it should be workable and you should be able to find things when you need them.
4. Make lists and keep them on your computer. Because I'm a web designer by profession, I naturally gravitate toward storing important lists on my computer rather than on paper.  I also store them in my Google Docs account, or what is now referred to as a "cloud drive," so that I can share them with my husband if need be.  These are lists for Passover, Sukkot, and numerous other seasonal occasions, i.e.  I keep a list of the graggers and chatchkes we donate to our synagogue for Purim each year, how much I spend on them, where I buy them, which coupons I use, etc. so that re-purchase is a breeze.  Living in Denver, my husband and I go to Aspen and Vail for at least a few weekends each year, and I keep a basic list of all the items we need each time we go to the mountains, one for summer, one for winter.  Lists take much of the hassle out of seasonal re-purchasing. 
5. Don't overbuy or overstore.  There is no need to store enough paper goods for the next twenty-five Sukkots, no matter how great a bargain they are.  Don't go overboard, or you will start to hate your stockpile, get tired of using the same things year after year, and resent all the room it takes up.  As with anything else, be reasonable and use your judgment.

What did I leave out?  How do you take advantage of buying seasonal items off season?

7 cubic foot GE chest freezer for $156 shipped from Home Depot

Get this 7 cubic foot GE freezer chest from Home Depot for only $155.70 shipped.  Here's how:

1. Click through the Shop at Home link to Home Depot on this secret page to make sure you get your 10% cash back.  Make sure to click specifically through the Home Depot link on this page (available through 7/10/11).  If you make this purchase after 7/10/11 or click through the regular SAH Home Depot link, you can still get the usual Home Depot 3% back from Shop at Home. You must be a member of Shop at Home and signed into your account to get your cash back. Not a member of Shop at Home yet?   It's free.  Click here to join and get $5 cash just for signing up and using their site to make a purchase within 30 days.
2. Once you're on the Home Depot site, add this GE freezer chest to your shopping cart.  The freezer is on sale for $178, marked down from $219.
3. At checkout, use promo code SAVING4TH to drop your price by $5.  This promo code expires today, 7/5/11.
4. Shipping is free. 
5. With your 10% cash back, free shipping, and $5 promo code, your grand total on this freezer chest is $155.70.

A spare freezer is indispensable for stockpiling frozen  food that you've acquired inexpensively through coupons and sales.  My personal preference for a spare freezer is an upright (your back will thank you, believe me), but if you've been thinking about a spare, this freezer chest is still a great buy.

Another great resource about stockpiling and food storage

Stockpiling, that is, buying quantities of items that you can get for a very low price or for free, is a tricky business. It's hard to determine what items you can store, how to properly store them, and for how long. If you buy six bottles of a favorite name-brand barbecue sauce, normally $2.50 each, for $0.25 (they are on sale and you have stacked coupons), you have saved $13.50. If those six bottles of barbecue sauce go rancid because you've stored them in a hot, un-air-conditioned garage, or because they expired last year, you have wasted $1.50, plus the effort to clip the coupons, shop for the item, etc.

I've posted before, here and here, about stockpiling and storage. Just to recap, here are three great resources that talk about how long you can store food and drug items, and how to properly store them:

• This "Real Simple" article on 77 Surprising Expiration Dates
• This Harvard Medical School article on Drug Expiration Dates - Do They Mean Anything?
• StillTasty.com, a website with an extensive "Keep It or Toss It?" database

Here's another good resource, this time on freezing and refrigerating foods. It's from Ziploc, and it's a handy two-page printout that summarizes some conclusions about the shelf-life of various foods from the Food and Drug Administration as well as the Federal Government's Food Safety site.  I've printed it out and hung it up on the side of my fridge.

More on Stockpiling: StillTasty.com and my Ick Factor

I've posted in the past about stockpiling and expiration dates, but just to catch you up, check out these two great articles that will help you figure out which items are okay to store, and for how long:

• This "Real Simple" article on 77 Surprising Expiration Dates
• This Harvard Medical School article on Drug Expiration Dates - Do They Mean Anything?

Thanks to reader Jana B. for another great resource on stockpiling:  check out StillTasty.com.  They've got thousands of foods in their extensive "Keep It or Toss It?" database and they also quote the sources for their data, which is helpful in determining the veracity of their information.  This is definitely a great resource for planning both my year-round and Passover storage. 

I got a few surprises in plugging in some foods that I've avoided stockpiling, because I was sure they weren't safe to store.  Who knew that you could keep a can of tunafish around for 3-5 years?

I guess that one thing I need to own up to is my own personal "Ick Factor."  Sometimes it's a challenge for me to buy multiples of things on sale or with coupons and store them for a while, because I hate the idea of consuming "old food," (Ick), but the fact is, many of the items that I might be averse to storing would be perfectly safe and fine to eat.  Authoritative websites like StillTasty.com will go a long way towards getting me past the Ick.

Do you have a personal "Ick Factor" aversion to stockpiling certain foods?  How have you been determining which foods are safe and which are not?

Eight surprising foods you can freeze

One of the challenges to frugal living is stockpiling:  in order to take advantage of buying things you need when they are cheap or almost free (because they are on sale and you have coupons), you need to figure out how to store them properly.  Unorganized clutter, whether its in your basement or your fridge, actually costs more money because you don't know what you have so you will probably buy more, and you are probably not storing it properly so it won't last.   No matter how much money you are saving on grocery purchases, you are biting yourself in the back if you end up throwing out food.

That's why stockpiling perishables, in particular, is such a tricky and challenging business.  For storing perishables, we usually turn to our freezers.  But not everything can be frozen, of course.  Here's an interesting AllYou.com article on eight surprising foods that you actually can freeze, if you do it properly. I'll give you the list here, but do read the article, because it explains how to freeze things the right way, and how long you can get away with doing it.  There's nothing worse than eating freezer-burnt food that is way past its prime.  Yich.

Eight surprising foods you can freeze:
Cheese Milk Citrus Eggs	Tomato paste Ginger Nuts Fresh herbs

Stockpiling and expiration dates

Stockpiling is certainly an important factor in frugal living.  Buying something that you need when it is 1) available 2) on sale 3) has a coupon 4) has a space for storage, is a great way to save money.  But it's important to know how long you can keep things in storage and when they expire.  Real Simple just came out with an informative article on expiration dates.   Click here and print off their list to keep on hand.

Here's another great article about medicine and expiration dates from Harvard Medical School.  I've posted it before, but it's a great article and I don't mind bringing it to your attention again.