As the snow is falling this morning, I’m watching it gracefully float down from the sky feeling thankful about my decision to build a stockpile. No, I’m not worried about being able to leave my home today. We’ve barely had an inch of snow so far, but I am happy that I can stay home and be comfortable today. I don’t need to leave my home because I’m out of milk, bread, or any of the other essentials that my family needs whether the weather gets dangerous or not.
Why stockpile?
Being intentional, purposeful human beings, we realize that emergencies will happen. It’s not if emergencies will happen, it’s when emergencies will happen. Emergencies come in different forms- a natural disaster due to weather, an epidemic, or even financial emergencies, and we need to be prepared in some way that fits your individual needs.
The advantage of having a stockpile is that by being prepared, you have freedom. Freedom decreases panic, lessens financial worries, and let’s you cope with the other disasters going on around you without having to worry about survival.
In a natural disaster it is never a smart assumption to make that the power company, government, or Red Cross will take care of us. Everyone in my area remembers the ice storm that occurred a few years ago. Some families were without power for a week or longer because it took that long to repair the power lines. What would you do without power for 10 days?
Sometimes the disaster is so bad it can take days to reach people. When a hurricane strikes, there might be a place to get food and supplies, but they can be far and few between. This can lead to not enough supplies for everyone, bad tempers, increased prices and long lines. It’s best to be prepared so not only will you have what you need, and survive but you can do so without going through that extra stress.
Stockpiles are an important tool to help prevent financial difficulties due to a job loss or unexpected expense such as a root canal, an injury that keeps you from being able to work or major car repair. By having a stockpile supplied with what you need, you have freedom to live your life, instead of live in fear when emergencies occur.
By having a stockpile you will not need to shop nearly as often because you will already have the items you need in your own stockpile. This saves you time (and money if you bought them on sale!)
Learning to stockpile frugally also allows you to donate items to worthy causes because you were able to get the items cheaply and can afford to help others.
Before you all think I’m worried about the apocalypse occurring tomorrow, I’m not.
To be clear on where I’m going with this series I’m not saying you should:
- become an extreme couponer.
- be a hoarder. I do not want you to fill your home so full of stuff that it is not longer comfortable or becomes dangerous.
- have a years supply of stuff. I want you to do what is best for your family and situation. If that is a week’s worth of supplies, that’s fine with me.
- buy 500 bottles of shampoo to sit in your basement or 100 tubes of toothpaste!
- go broke trying to “stock the stockpile”. If you budget $5 a week for stockpiling- stick to the $5 a week!
- never spend money on fun things so you can build your stockpile. This is a process that will take time just like it does to build your savings.
- follow a standard list you find here or elsewhere on the internet and follow it exactly.
- live like Little House On The Prairie. If you want to grind your own flour, great! If not, that’s fine, too. I don’t, never have, and probably never will! No judgment from me on what works for your family. We all have our own needs, budgets, and time we can allot to this project.
Are you ready? Here is a glimpse of what I will be writing about in this series:
- Know your goals and purpose.
- How much money you can budget each week (or month) to build a stockpile?
- Identify which items are right for your family to build a stockpile.
- Tips and tricks to build a stockpile
- How to store your stockpile
- Organize your new stockpile.
What questions do you have about building a stockpile?
Have you enjoyed what you read here today? Do you have friends or other women you know that could benefit from this resource? If so, please do me a favor! I have included the links below to share with other intentional women! They’ll be glad you did!
Leave a Reply