When you first start prepping, you become a little bit obsessed about obtaining your preps. You never know when you will need it, but you think you need to build up your stockpiles rather quickly.

I thought I needed to get my stockpile built as soon as possible and as much as the budget allowed! However, I couldn’t just throw money at my stockpile. I didn’t have a lot of extra money left over at the end of the paycheck to spend like a lottery winner. I needed to be smart with my money – down to the last penny.

I want to share with you how I built my stockpile quickly and frugally while still paying all my bills. These are still the same techniques I use to maintain and further build up my stockpile. This covers mostly my food stockpiles, but I did use some of these techniques for my non-perishable stockpiles too.

8 Ways To Quickly and Frugally Build Up Your Food Stockpiles and Pantry

1. The Grocery Store. This is the first and best way I have added to my stockpiles. I used to be a huge couponer and I would score a lot of things for 50% off or more. I also shop the loss leaders and huge sales. I shop the clearance and discontinued items also. If we normally ate that food, I usually got it. This helped to keep my grocery and prepping budget in line while getting the stockpile of food I wanted in my home.

2. Aldi’s. While I know this is a grocery store, I approach this store a little differently. First of all, the closest one to me is 40 miles so I don’t just go there on a whim. Their prices consistently beat my local grocery stores which makes stopping there worth the money. However, I do my bulk shopping at Aldi’s. I buy my canned goods by the flat. I buy my pasta in the case it is shipped in so that usually means twelve boxes to a case. I did some serious stockpiling with this store and still do when I get in the vicinity of one.

3. Scratch and Dent Stores or Salvage Stores. These are quite the bargain places and if you have one near you, you are lucky. I usually have to travel to these stores also, but again, when in the area I stop and shop. The food and goods at these stores are usually either damaged, out of date, short-dated, rejected by the seller, or discontinued. None of these things bother me so I like to shop at these stores.

4. Sam’s Club and Costco. These places are pretty good for stocking up too, but you need to practice caution. Be ready with a price book and a calculator to make sure you are saving money or, at the very least, not spending more than you would at your regular grocery store. This will mean breaking down the price into unit pricing to make sure you are getting the best deal. You also need a membership or know someone who does to shop at these places which can be a problem with the price of the memberships not always equalling the money saved.

5. Amazon. I watch the deals and the coupons pretty regularly on Amazon to get a good deal. It wasn’t my favorite place to stockpile, but I could score pretty good deals on bulk items and nonperishable goods.

6. Growing a Garden and Preserving Your Own Food. This is my second favorite and most sustainable way to stockpile and replenish my food supply. I can, dehydrate, and freeze a good deal of what comes out of my garden which gives me the reassurance of knowing where my food came from and how fresh it is. I highly encourage people to start growing their own food and putting away their own food. While this may take time to grow and doesn’t seem all that quick, you would be impressed by how good the food is and how easy it is for you to stockpile when it is ready!

7. Freeze-dried Food. I am also a fan of freeze-dried food. This is a lightweight and easy-to-procure solution to your stockpiles needs. You can get mixes, vegetables, fruits, meats, meals, and more freeze-dried goods. They are not usually expensive. I regularly subscribe to Emergency Essentials and Auguason Farms emails and watch the sales to purchase these items. They come in easy to store 10 pound and smaller cans.

8. Gleaning. A fair amount of gardeners and farmers have leftover produce at the end of the season. Most of the time they can’t sell the product or they just have too much for their needs. Ask if you can glean from their gardens and orchards. You can take home a lot of produce for free or little cost and preserve it yourself.

How do you get food for free or cheaply to build up your stockpiles?

Thanks for reading,
Erica

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