Building an emergency food stock in a frugal manner

[Kaleva]

Dollar General has on their receipts a $5.00 coupon, good for the following Saturday only, valid if one makes a purchase of at least $25.00. Last week I stopped in the local DG store on three different occasions to buy some minor items and thus ended up with 3 $5.00 coupons.

Wanting to double "My frugal 7 day emergency food & water stock for 2 people" supply out to a 14 day supply along with purchasing other needed items, I inventoried what I had on hand, made a list of what I needed and priced the items at the DG Store website. Knowing that I had to spend at least $25 in three separate purchases in order to redeem all three coupons, I adjusted my items so I could do that.

Last Saturday, I went to town to run some errands, do yard work at the other house and finish up by shopping at DG. Below are the totals of the three receipts:

$25.60 - $5.00 coupon = $20.60
$25.20 - $5.00 coupon = $20.20
$25.57 - $5.00 coupon = $20.57

Everything I bought are items that my wife and I consume on a regular basis so there will be nothing just sitting on the shelves only to be thrown out. Plus I got three more $5.00 coupons good for this coming Saturday!

[Kali]

1. if you are already spending $60/week there that is good

but watch how the coupon game can hook you.

[Kaleva]

2. I'm using my babysitting money on this. Nothing from the regular budget.

And my emergency food supply consists of items I use on a regular basis. Soups, rice, canned beans, canned vegetables, tuna, pasta, condiments, grains and such.

[Kaleva]

3. Went shopping yesterday with 3 more $5 coupons

$25.93 - $5.00 coupon = $20.93
$26.37 - $5.00 coupon = $21.37
$26.28 - $5.00 coupon = $21.28

As I mentioned in the OP, everything I buy is consumed on a regular basis so there's nothing sitting on the shelves for months or years only to be tossed out. That wouldn't be frugal! Plus, I got 3 more $5.00 coupons good for this coming Saturday.

The lady at the checkout said i could save even more by signing up for digital coupons which I did last night. At home, I sign in and select the coupons I want. When I go to the store and at the checkout, I put in my phone number at the card reader and the sale items will be automatically discounted as they are scanned. as long as the balance is above $25, I then can apply the $5 coupon.

At the DG Coupon site is an option to select a $5 coupon. This would give me a total of 4 such coupons allowing me to purchase a $100 worth of items for just $80.

[Kaleva]

4. Went shopping last Saturday with 4 store coupons and some others

$28.27 - $5.00 coupon = $23.27
$25.50 - $5.00 coupon = $20.50
$26.44 - $5.00 coupon = $21.44
$31.20 - $7.20 coupons = $26.20


The use of the coupons reduced the cost of what I bought by 19%. From a total of $266.36 down to a total of $216.36.

My emergency stock and pantry is now complete as far as i want to go with it and I just have to buy what I use from the pantry and stock.