Food prices are going higher — time to stockpile, now!

I’ve been noticing this for a while now, but tonight it smacked me in the face.

Food prices have been creeping up, but as a couponer and a stockpiler, I haven’t really seen the brunt of the higher prices because I’ve been living off my stockpile for the most part.

I’m actively stockpiling now, though.

I normally buy my butter for the whole year around this time because this is the baking season and prices are lower. This is the time of year you will find deals on:

flour
sugar
spices
stuffing
chocolate chips and the like
non-stick spray
shortening and butter
cornmeal
buttermilk

So I went to Sam’s tonight to get the butter. I remember during the time when gas was $4/gallon, it was nearly $9 for four pounds, and it nearly killed me to pay that much. Ummm, tonight I almost went through the floor. Four pounds of butter quarters was over $11.

I bought 12 pounds, and I will go back later this week and buy about 50 more. I have lots of room to freeze it, and I do a lot of baking, so I need that much. We go through about a pound a week.

As I told you, I knew food prices had risen, not because I’d seen it in the store, but because I have noticed that the really good FOOD deals are becoming more and more hard to come by. I’ve been couponing for about 7 years, and I remember getting TONS of food for pennies without having to fool with Walgreens Register Rewards at Publix. I did it strictly with BOGO deals and good coupons. Lately the deals have mostly been health and beauty stuff. Without the Register Rewards, when was the last time you got a good sized box of cereal for less than $.50? How about chili beans for $.10? Sour cream for $.15? Or, back to the shocker that prompted me to write this post, BUTTER for less than $2/lb?

I have bad news. Food’s going higher, y’all. I cannot in good conscience run this frugal blog without forewarning all of you. Fuel is going up. I have friends in parts of the country where gas was over $3 last week - and going higher. Commodity prices closed this week at all time highs. We’re talking sugar, coffee, cotton. Stuff we NEED.

Couple that great news with the fact that like it or not, the Obama adminstration has purposefully devalued the dollar in an effort to make our products more attractive overseas, and you have a recipe for hyperinflation.

So what do we do? Gas is going higher. Food is going higher. Get your coupon binder out, get to reading the store ads as posted on here and other blogs, and STOCKPILE. We’re right in the middle of the baking season now, so stock up on flour, sugar (this one might be higher now than you’re used to paying, but stock up on it while it’s on sale anyhow - it’s going higher), coffee, and whatever else you normally use that I named at the top of this post.

Some stockpiling hints:

Most baking ingredients can be kept for over a year.

Freeze your grain products (flour, cornmeal, Bisquick, cornbread mixes and the like for 24 hours before you put them in the pantry. Freezing prevents a weevil infestation in your pantry.

You can freeze eggs. If you have an ice tray, crack the eggs into the tray, then freeze. You can keep them that way in the freezer, then just take out whatever you need. Thaw them on half power in the microwave, stirring them frequently, and they cook up just like fresh ones.

Baking powder and soda have shelf lives that are years long. If you find those at a really good price, feel free to stock what you can store.

Sugar will keep indefinitely as long as it’s kept cool and dry. Again, stock up freely.

Coffee does NOT need to be frozen or kept in the fridge to be fresh. In fact, if you do freeze it, you break down the oils which make coffee taste good. Coffee will NOT keep past its expiration, so stock up carefully on it. Just don’t buy more than you can use within the expiration date. Usually the dates are at least 3 months out.

Pretty soon you’ll start to see good deals on canned goods as we get further into fall and winter — this will be the time to stock up on your canned goods! Make a concerted, committed effort to building your stockpile. We’re going to get through this mess - it’s just going to take a while.