Drowning in groceries, SOS!

When you become serious about using coupons, you learn that you can't buy something just because you need it; you buy it when it's cheapest, and you buy enough to last until it will be that cheap again. This is a simple theory, but it can be hard to change your habits and patterns. Once you get there, pat yourself on the back. And then be afraid, because what's coming next is something I think of as "grocery stockpile craziness". This is the point at which you have so much crap in your pantry, upright freezer, and cabinets, that your small house looks like it could sustain a family of 5 through 2 years of nuclear fallout. To a point, this is okay, really. I think there is a lot to be said for preparation, in any circumstances, and it can't hurt to get to that point. The problem is that you can't keep adding more food to the stockpile than what you are eating on a regular basis, because food doesn't keep forever. Plus, giving your husband ammunition to support his claim that you are a wacko is never the right move. You gotta keep a step ahead of the men folk...

Anyway, I have decided that I'm going to stop buying groceries for a month. Of course there are things that I will have to replenish, namely fruit, veg, milk, eggs. I will also continue to buy things that are free or better than free with coupons, because I think it's silly not to, and I can just donate those items (I keep a box in the garage, and they will not even be allowed in my house). I picked July for a few reasons; we're going on vacation in August, so we might as well pare down until then, I am sick to death of shopping (hey, it happens), and if I don't defrost that upright freezer soon, bad things will come down upon my head. Not sure what things, but bad ones for sure. So I'll keep pointing out what I think are good deals, but I'm also going to keep you posted on how I'm doing limiting myself.

Just to put it in perspective, here are a few things I hope to consume without replenishing;

• 17 boxes of cereal. I think I've mentioned we don't eat cereal.
• 7 jars of salsa. And I have coupons for 3 more jars for free! An even 10!
• 4 gargantuan bottles of ketchup.
• 8+ boxes of cake mix. Guess what, I almost never use cake mix. Are you surprised?
• I would tell you some of the contents of the freezer, but I don't have the energy to open it. I do know there are 10 pounds of butter in there, but I'm not apologizing for that! I have priorities.
  

If I succeed, whatever is left from my grocery budget will go to my vacation budget! Yeah!