What groceries to stockpile

I've been talking about stocking up on groceries when things are in season.  A stockpile should also have non-food items as well. 

What items should you have in your stockpile?  How many of each item should you have?  Take a look through your cabinets, closets, and your freezer right now.  What's in there?  Do a complete inventory of all food and non-food items.  What's in your cabinets?  Do you use it all constantly?  That's what to stock up on.  Is there items in the cabinets you seldom use?  Those items you don't need to stock up as much because they won't get used but write those on the list too.  Do a complete inventory of everything... both food and non-food items.

What recipes do you find yourself fixing when you are in a rush?  Does this happen often?  Write down those ingredients on your list.  You will want to have a stock of those quick fix meal items too.  

How many times do you use your listed items a month?  Guesstimate how many you use a month.  Multiply that amount by 12 to get a guesstimate of what you would use in a year.

For now, it's important just to get a stockpile created through your normal purchases at the store. That's why a list is important.  It will be your guide to what to purchase when things go on sale.  Later things like gardening, canning, freezing, and drying can be added if you want to go that route.  Growing a garden and preserving the harvest will save money only if you want to do those things and will eat it.  For right now the idea is to have foods and non-foods already in your home for whatever reason, whether it be prices getting higher, or a natural disaster, or simply trying to save money.

For now concentrate only on creating a list of what you will want to have in your grocery stockpile.  You can work on buying the items after you have your list.  Be sure to include some items on your list that can be eaten if there is no power for several days as well as a few items you can carry should you have to evacuate your home.   Why would you have to evacuate?  Fires, floods, hurricane, that sort of thing.

My daughter is working on getting her stockpile list together.  I'm going to do the same.  It's not something that can be done in a single day for us.  We must go through the cabinets and closets a little at a time because we both work.  I work fewer hours than she does so mine can be done quicker.