People who have followed me for a while, know that I have a stock of food that really helps me to keep ahead of inflation, but is also there for the months that we have little money to buy food due to large financial outgoings (February to May). It has helped during times when we have been snowed in, or times when I have been ill and have not been able to go to the shops. Other times a food stock comes in handy is when unexpected guests have arrived, or if I have had to bake for an unexpected occasion like a birthday party. This stock of food helps me feel food secure and so I never worry about feeding my family.
I have been asked how I built this stock of food up when my budget for food is very small. The answer is that each time I shop I will buy something for the cupboard as well. It might just be a 28p tin of beans, or a bag of sugar, but all these things if left untouched, soon add up. I know people that spend £3 a week of their food budget on buying things for their food stash. This £3 is rarely missed, but has provided a good back up stock of food for when times have been hard. I also live some months from food mainly from my garden, or foraged, and during these summer months most of the food bought is for the store cupboard to help us through the winter. It is things that I can not grow or produce like flour, oats, sugar, olive oil, canned fish, powdered milk, rice, pulses, yeast, tuna and honey.
I regularly go through my stock cupboard to rotate items and put them into my normal food cupboard so that things do not go out of date, and any new items bought I place back into the stock cupboard. I probably do this every couple of months. My stock cupboard also has items that I have preserved from my harvests and from foraging. Examples are pasta sauce, apple sauce, herbs, tomato powder from dried tomato skins, pickles, jams, chutney, piccalilli, sweet chilli sauce, passata, cordials and bottled fruit.
Often I will buy items when they are on offer, or I see a good deal. This time of year is an excellent time to think about building food stocks for next year, as many things are reduced for Christmas. November saw lots of joints of meat being reduced to half price (these can be cut up and frozen into meal sized bags), some times we find whole salmon at half price that we can fillet and cut into portions. The cheap Christmas vegetables are due in the shops soon and these also save us a lot of money. Various shops have different vegetables and so I shop around and buy lots of different vegetables and then store them so that they last us until at least the end of February. I always make jars of pickled cabbage with the 19p red cabbage as this provides nutrition and colour to our meals throughout the winter and the summer.
In the days after Christmas and New Year we look for reduced bargains with short sell by dates. Cream will be made into butter, and cheese will be grated and frozen. Last year we got some smoked gammon joints at silly prices which we sliced and froze for ham sandwiches, and to put into meals like macaroni cheese, or a dish with slices of potato in a cheese sauce. Reduced mince meat and Christmas puddings also get bought, and are stored away for the following Christmas. All these things reduce the money that we have to spend on food the following year, and add joy, nutrition and flavour to our food. It is about thinking about the future rather than thinking about what we need now, and thinking outside of the box on how we can use and store the items.
There are often nuts on sale after Christmas. Last year I got two large bags of mixed nuts greatly reduced in January. I separated all the nuts and had cashew nuts for future stir fry, almonds for baking, peanuts to make peanut butter, and hazel nuts to bake with and to make some chocolate hazelnut spread. The salted peanuts I save and then rinse and use them instead of pine nuts when making wild garlic pesto in March.
Do you have a food stash that helps you? What kinds of things do you store? How about thinking about starting one this year if you don’t?
Excellent. I really must find out and learn about preserving, as my apples are going rotten in store despite my good care, and my freezers are full to bursting.
Have you wrapped them all separately in newspaper so that they do not touch each other? I find I always get an odd one that goes off.
Thank you for this. I shall be taking some inspiration from it.
Brilliant. I have noticed a few things that are hard to find on the shelves where we live, and I see prices rising with all the orange growing areas in USA being destroyed and the greenhouses in Spain. It is amazing how much you can stock up by just buying a few little things a week. Thanks for commenting
I have a surplus store cupboard I tend to buy breakfast cereals, teabags, coffee,beans etc when they are on offer or reduced and it’s always been a one being used & one spare in the cupboard for us.
Did get our fav gravy granules in Tesco this week at £1.50 instead of £3.10 a pot I know this is a luxury but it’s our treat for Sunday dinner
Brilliant planning
Hi toni,
I have a fairly good stash thanks to your sweet self, all meats in freezer ( mostly donated ) for the big day, veg frozen and ready to go for the soup, just the Brussels to get, also thanks to your tip I have loads of nuts in the freezer, got some double cream to make into butter too, yes I still add to my stash weekly too , thanks for all you do and your great tips and amazing ideas xxx
No worries. x
I hold a storecupboard and typically fill it based on offer combinations at various supermarkets. My bench mark for coffee was always £2 per 100g and this has been impossible for a couple of years but when I see it on offer at £5 a jar I then do an online shop where they are offering 20% off and bulk buy making it £4 a jar. I’m not as savvy with freezer stockpiling so that is my challenge for 2024 but I know with your tips and hints I will get there. Love your site and the facebook group, thank you for all you share and the energy you put into helping us live our best lives..x
No worries. It sounds like you have got a good plan and are thinking outside of the box x
Hello ToniG,
I just found your blog. It’s very interesting to me because I do my housekeeping pretty much the same way they do.
We in Germany are also struggling with inflation, but as you already wrote, with a little foresight and planning we can still deal with the increased costs.
Maybe you’ll visit me on my blog? You can switch on the translator on the bottom left of the page.
Greetings, Sibylle
Nice to meet you Sibylle. I will definitely head over to your blog. Thanks for sharing
The blog is fantastic! A lot of great information can be helpful about the benefits of developing a website. Keep updating the blogs.
Thanks. I do it for fun and to help people and am hopeless at IT, but yes I should go back and improve them. Thanks for your kind comments
I’m going to try storing some of the cheap veg this year as we have a shed in our new garden. I do have emergency food that can be used if we have power outages and have vacuum packed flour dried milk etc, butI haven’t thought about the idea of adding each week o the store cupboard, so will definitely think about doing that
Yes storing the cheap vegetables has always worked really well for us. I store the potatoes in boxes, the carrots and parsnips in sand, sprouts in the freezer, and pickle the red cabbage. Fingers crossed that there will still be the cheap veg this year. I noticed that they only did it for 4 days last year, rather than a week. Harvests have been worse this year as well.
We have a wardrobe with shelves in it. The food we buy and store includes tomato puree tubes, pasta,rice, lentils, flour, tinned fruit, vegetables and soup. If there should be any power cuts or shortages we will more than likely have food in to use on our camping stove or barbecue.
That sounds like a great stash.
Great blog . I make pickled red cabbage & onions when they are in season & plentiful. What we don’t store for personal use we make Christmas pot covers & gift . I was given 2 large Caulis so have prepped in cheese sauce & frozen for Christmas Day . I’m currently prepping minced pies freezing them ahead of baking so I can bake for own use or gift using mincemeat I was gifted or made last year . I rotate my larder stock my grown up kids can’t believe how much is in our cupboards that’s without the garage stock shelves.
This group has been my inspiration . Thank you .
lol, yes the stock pile soon mounts up. It sounds like you have prepped really well, and the Christmas covers on the pots is a good idea. I might pinch that, thank you.
wonderful tips and advice as always …. you are an inspiration!
Aww thanks for your lovely feedback