Strategy One:  Bank Your Foods

A profitable business knows how to buy commodities at the lowest prices and properly store (sometimes in warehouses) and use as needed throughout the timeline of their process. If you’re running a household or raising a family, you’re producing a product, too. Human life.

We can all dream can’t we? Photo from Starcraft Custom Builders

No business would keep a week or two’s worth of supplies to produce a product that takes 18 years to grow. It defies all logic. Think ahead, think long-term, and “bank” enough food on hand in your pantry and freezer to hold out when pricing is higher so you’ll be able to “shop” sales as they come. It feels like freedom when you’re able to buy at the lowest prices.

A “bank” of foods keeps you from being at the mercy of the supplier. If you can do this, you will always eat better and for less than you did in the past. You’ll be eating sale-priced foods even when the same items cost more at the store. You’ll also have a hedge against rising prices.

• When butter jumped from $2.99 regular price in my city to $5.09, I had several months’ worth in my freezer bought at rock bottom, $1.99 a pound (pre-Christmas sales).
• When Chicken breast jumped from a 99-cent sales price to $1.99 sale price, I enjoyed my cheap chicken for a good year before I had to pay the higher price. Think about these types of savings multiplied across every food item that comes into your home.

There are several ways to “bank” your foods, but the two most important are a well-stocked pantry freezer. Canning is another that can have a great payoff, but admittedly isn’t for everyone.

Buy Well, Properly Manage, Store & Rotate:

• Buy Low, But Be Choosy: To be “profitable”, you must buy at the lowest prices, focusing on the amount of savings. It makes little sense to buy/store a product if it can be bought at the same price anytime.
• Know When the Lows are Likely: Most items at the grocery drop to a low at least once a quarter. Many items drop to a low before big Holidays, and some once or twice a year, often before the Winter Holidays and before Easter. Others are seasonal. Take advantage.
• Properly Store: Properly store and rotate, and never buy more than you’ll use in a reasonable time. Don’t allow food to spoil, which could contaminate other food. Give away or donate before that happens. Even if it hurts a little.
• Have Adequate Storage: Keep your pantry and cupboards well organized and refer to the information under “Know and Control Costs.” If you don’t have adequate storage in your kitchen consider converting another area with shelves, built or bought.
• Organize Storage: Lack of organization and inability to find what you need wastes your time, is frustrating, and may cause you to buy duplicates at non-sale prices. Anytime you pay a grocer the “regular price”, especially if it’s high, you’re voting with your dollar and giving full agreement that their price is A-OK with you.
• Have Easy Access: Think carefully about easy access and how that affects your time, energy, and frustration level. If you have to dig around and shuffle items, cooking becomes difficult. More expensive options (eating out, fast food, takeout) begin to look more appealing.
• Consider Inventories: There are some excellent free ones online, paid subscriptions, or lists can be kept on your computer or printed.
• Know What “Expiration Dates Mean: Know what the Food Dates are – they are not “expiration dates.” Know the difference between a possible deterioration in quality as opposed to food safety issues. In many items, a “best if used by” date is meaningless.
• Stock Reasonably: Always avoid stockpiling large quantities of things you bought because they were “cheap” or free. Time and energy devoted to extreme shopping, couponing, and hoarding are never free! Stock your pantry and freezer in reasonable amounts.

Buy (Or Properly Use) A Stand-Alone Freezer:

• A Freezer is an Investment: Invest in a home freezer and fill it with sale-priced proteins, vegetables, and homemade items or made-ahead meals. It will pay off in no time, maximizing your dollar and your time. Think about, too, the times you’ve resorted to higher and less healthy options because of time restrictions.
• Freezer Will Maximize Saving Money: : A home freezer can save thousands of dollars a year, each and every year, even if you have a small family, and yes, even if you’re single. The amounts depend on your eating habits.
• Extends Storage Life: A home freezer should be set at 0 degrees and will keep food fresh for far longer than a refrigerator/freezer combo, generally well beyond what is considered the average time for most foods.
• Compare Pricing: Shop around very well for a freezer; prices, sizes, and cost to run vary. It pays to buy an energy-efficient one.
• Buying Choices: You’ll need to choose between a standing and a chest freezer. A chest freezer is usually slightly more efficient, but a standing freezer is so much easier to use and keep up, and usually has a smaller footprint. For ease of use, you probably want automatic defrost.
• Averaging the Cost: A freezer is an investment that will pay for itself: factor out the cost over a year. I recently noticed a 14 cubic foot freezer for $399. Over a year, this is $33.25 a month. That’s a pizza and tip that might have been avoided if you could pull a meal from the freezer!
• Cost of Running: The average cost of running a home freezer is less than buying one Big Mac a month. Around 6 bucks.
• Factor in Savings: For example, a family of four eats 6 ounces each of chicken 2x a week, totalling 156 pounds a year. Chicken breast, at its low is $.99 a pound, regular sale price $1.99, and every day price $3.49. A freezer, set properly, keeps chicken at its peak for at least a year. At the lowest price, you’d pay $154.44, at regular sale price, $310.44, and at everyday price, $544.44 a year. A savings of $390.00 on one item only, the protein only for two meals a week.
• Factor in Inflation: Savings are greater if there is a jump in price on the item – when chicken rose across all the pricing points by a dollar in the area, I was still eating 99-cent chicken for nearly a year. What I saved over if I had to buy it was $546, just on chicken, one meal a week. If I were serving two meals a week as in the above scenario, savings would have been greater.
• Consider Bulk Buying: If you have a freezer, it’s not unreasonable to assume better pricing by buying in bulk, and those items may already be wrapped and portioned. Think about proteins from butchers and farmers. Even if the pricing is similar the quality may be better.
• If You Don’t Cook: Even if all you buy is frozen dinners, pizzas, and ice cream, if you buy at rock-bottom sales prices, you will still save money. The percentage of savings may be more than those who cook from scratch at home.
• Inventory: Know what’s in your freezer – do a freezer inventory now and then, better yet, check off items when used and add to the list to  watch for upcomig sales on items running low.
• Keep Inventories Handy: While it can be kept on the freezer, consider keeping it where you plan your shopping expeditions. Paper may be easiest, but there a great inventory apps online, some free, some not. Many will make suggestions for recipes using what you have.
• Inventories Save Money & Time: Knowing what you have and what you need saves money and time. You’ll know exactly what sales to look for on items running low, and won’t be picking up items you already have well stocked.
• Mental Load: It’s a real thing. An inventory can help with planning and decisions around what to make, plus eliminate looking for things while thinking, “I’m sure I have such and such in here.”
• Store Properly to Avoid Waste: Avoid loss by rotating, storing properly, and wrapping to protect. Keep more expensive foods on the bottom shelves.
• Keep the Freezer Stocked: For best operating efficiency, keep the freezer full. If low on inventory, add jugs of water. This provides more safety during power outages.
• Prevent Investment: Get a freezer alarm, one that plugs in with a  battery back up and a temperature probe is ideal. Even better if they notify you through your phone. They’re cheap. Clean the back (or bottom) areas of dust and debris on a regular basis.
• Power Outages: In areas prone to power outages, consider filling gallon jugs 3/4 full, freezing them, and placing them in the front area of the top shelves. Don’t open the freezer if power goes down, but do cover with multiple layers of blankets, making sure they don’t cover the fan area; it shouldn’t be blocked when the power comes back. If not opened and full, a freezer should last 48 hours without power; half-filled, the time is reduced to 24.

 Banking Food with the Fridge’s Freezer:

• Rethink the Space: If you don’t have a home freezer and can’t buy one (don’t use credit unless you’re very responsible with it), think of your refrigerator’s freezer in a new way, as more than just a place to get ice cubes and store ice cream.
• Maximize Space: break down large items into compact packages. Debone chicken, make concentrated broth, and put the meat into zip bags for storage in quantities you use for recipes.
• The Space is Premium: Double up when making items that can be easily frozen, but be very conscious of the bulk, and the length of time an item can be stored. Freezing is never the place to skimp on storage wrappers and containers.
• Shorter Time: It’s crucial to use good quality storage in the refrigerator/freezer. It’s not as cold as a deep freeze and the door is opening/closing more often. Think shorter term storage to preserve quality.

Stocking Your Pantry:

• Never Pay Full Retail. There is no reason to pay regular prices for items that store well. Buy at a low.
• Pricebook: Keep a price book so you know the rock bottom prices for your stores and stock up when these items hit their lows, not just when they’re needed.
• Plan: When you keep a price book, you can readily identify these trends in your area and take advantage of the drops when they happen.
• Think Quarterly: You should be thinking in terms of quarters (every three months) because most pantry items go on sale at a rock-bottom price every quarter, and generally, those sales are incentivized by discounts or coupons from the manufacturers or producers.
• Watch Cyclic Changes: There are certainly many items you’ll want to think about stocking up on in enough quantity to last you for longer than a quarter. There are Cyclic Changes in the market you’ll want to pay attention to. Seasonality and holiday pricing mean some items are at their lowest once a year.
• Avoid Loss: A serious issue in the storage of foods in the pantry is loss, and one easily preventable loss is what’s referred to as flour bugs.” Freeze grains, pasta, etc. that come into the home for three days or refrigerate for 30.
• Organize and Rotate: Seal items, organize, and rotate your pantry. First in, first out.

Consider Canning:

• There seems to be a resurgence of interest in some of these “lost arts”.
• Speaking of value and quality, some light canning as a family project can be a fun, cost-effective way to store fruits and vegetables that are inexpensive in the summer.
• A focus on specialty” products may make for many, since so many basics can be cheaply bought. Think of your ‘special’ barbecue sauce, homemade jellies and jams, hot pickled beans, etc.
• Homemade specialty items are always welcome for holidays, housewarming, and hostess gifts.
• Hot water bath canning (for items with a higher acidic content) is easy, and even pressure canning isn’t difficult – it just needs more equipment. Small batches of items are quick and take very little time.
• A full-out canning effort to preserve a harvest is a whole ‘nuther animal in terms of time and effort and is beyond the scope of my site.

Strategy Two:  Pay Attention to the Bottom Line

Links:

• The Twelve Strategies
• Strategy One:  Bank Your Foods
• Strategy Two:  Pay Attention to the Bottom Line
• Strategy Three:  Control Costs:  Maximize “Profits” and Minimize Losses
• Strategy Four:  Take Advantage of Cyclic Changes in the Market
• Strategy Five:  Be an Investor, not a Gambler
• Strategy Six:  Give Back to the Community
• Strategy Seven:  Have a Business Plan
• Strategy Eight:  Invest in Training
• Strategy Nine:  Know the Products You Buy
• Strategy Ten:  Know your Suppliers
• Strategy Eleven:  Take Advantage of Special Offers & Incentives
• Strategy Twelve:  Use Sound Investment Principles