# November Stock-Ups!



## Urinal Cake (Oct 19, 2013)

If you know the annual sales cycles that retailers use, you can save a fortune on the things that you'd normally buy.

Here's a list of items that are traditionally on sale in November:

Post-Halloween sales:
Candy
String lights
Decorations (paper plates, cups, napkins and disposable goods are useful during power outages)
Costumes (fun for dress-up or save them for next Halloween)
Other sales:
Baking items: Baking powder, baking soda, cornmeal, flour, white sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, Bisquick, cake/brownie/cookie mixes, canned frostings, 
Peanut butter
Holiday foods: gravy, gravy mixes, seasoning packets, broth, Stove Top Stuffing, cornbread mixes, canned dried onions, canned pumpkin
Turkey (The best deals are the week before and the week after Thanksgiving


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## Urinal Cake (Oct 19, 2013)

Add these too:
Deck the halls with boughs of holly...

Yep.

It's that time of year again -- the holidays. How we love them and look forward to them, but have you ever thought that right now is the ideal time to boost your food storage preps?

Grocers around the country are gearing up for some of their biggest sales of the year, and one way they will lure you into their stores is with some truly excellent bargains. As a prepper, you need to spot the foods that can become part of your food storage pantry, use coupons if possible, and give your food storage pantry a huge boost!

Just a couple of bargains that you'll find: 
* hot chocolate mix 
* dry soup mixes 
* canned soup and canned vegetables 
* baking staples, like sugar and flour

look at this week's grocery ads, and here's a master list of items you may want to grab before the holiday season ends.

Ham and Turkey
Both of these can be frozen and/or canned to provide meals well into the New Year. A frozen turkey can remain frozen and still be safe to eat for up to a year.
Stuck with a lot of leftover ham or turkey? Here's a list of great recipes for turkey and more for ham that will give you something fresh and delicious to make with those leftovers.
Fresh oranges
Once the orange has been eaten, dry the peels and create your own orange zest for recipes throughout the year. If you end up with more zest than you think you'll use within 6 months or so, use a Food Saver to vacuum seal the remaining zest in a pouch for longer term storage.
Speaking of a vacuum sealer, I highly recommend that you use it for vacuum sealing canning jars filled with foods of all kinds. It really is a must-have for a prepper's kitchen.
Coffee
Grocery stores know that coffee is part of holiday entertaining, so you're going to find lots of coffee brands on sale. Coffee beans, and especially green, unroasted coffee beans, will have the longest shelf life, but you can still repackage both beans and ground coffee in canning jars using the Food Saver jar attachment to suck out all the air/oxygen or seal the coffee in plastic pouches using your vacuum sealer.
Coffee is definitely worth stocking up on, but be sure to keep it stored in a cool, dark, and dry location. Even so, it will have its freshest flavor if used within just a couple of months.
Nuts
Again, this is the season for baking all types of treats and many of my favorite recipes include nuts. You'll find nuts on sale but keep an eye on prices because they are still generally a higher priced grocery item.
If you do find a bargain, store those nuts in a cool, dry, dark location, and, if possible, vacuum pack them using a Food Saver. This will help the nuts stay fresh and stave off their tendency to go rancid.
Fresh fruit
Depending on where you live, you may find low prices on blueberries, blackberries, pomegranates, pineapple, oranges, and a lot more.
Dehydrating fruit is very simple and food dehydrators don't have to cost a lot of money. I found mine on Craigslist several years ago for $30 and it still works fine. The Excalibur dehydrator is considered top of the line, and maybe if you have Christmas gift money, this might be a good time to buy!
You can also freeze fruit and even can it, so stocking up now on fruits that are in season is a very smart thing to do. Just make sure you budget your time so all that yummy stuff won't rot during an especially busy time of year.
Butter
Right now my favorite grocery store has a pound of butter for $2.50. That's the lowest price I've seen in a while. Butter can easily be frozen, at one time I had 40 pounds of it in our big freezer!
I've heard of canning butter but am not convinced it's the safest thing to do.
Alcohol
Call me crazy, but it never hurts to have a few bottles of whisky or vodka around. Even if you're not much of a drinker, vodka can be useful in making tinctures and from what I've heard, whiskey has medicinal uses as well. This article explains why preppers should stock up on alcohol.
If you're thinking of stocking up on bottles of alcohol as a product for barter, stick with hard liquor: vodka, gin, tequila, rum, whiskey and brandy, as they can all have indefinite shelf lives.
Learn how to make your own wine with instructions from a book like this one.
Potatoes, both fresh and instant
Potatoes can be peeled, sliced, and dehydrated by following these steps.
When stored in a very cool location, around 45 to 50 degrees, they can stay fresh for up to 3 months.
Instant mashed potatoes come in handy for quick meals. However, they will need to be repackaged for a longer shelf life. Read these instructions. Once repackaged, I highly recommend placing them in the freezer for at least a week in order to kill any microscopic insect eggs that might be present.
Here's a terrific collection of awesome potato recipes.
Canned vegetables
Store these in a cool location and they can last for more than a year. Do circle the "Best By" date and then open a can every so often to check for color and flavor.
You can always drain the veggies and dry them on your dehydrator trays for even longer shelf life.
Over-the-Counter meds for coughs and cold symptoms
These generally have a shelf life of more than a year.

Top 18 Holiday Bargains for Stocking Up - Survival Mom
During the winter months, you'll also find coupons for these for added savings.
Batteries
Retailers aren't stupid. They know that for every battery-operated gift purchased, someone is going to need batteries! Keep an eye out for coupons and combine them with store sales.
Batteries are among the most useful items you can stock up on, so go crazy when you find a really good deal!
Not-just-for-Christmas wrapping paper
Who said that white wrapping paper with red polka dots is just for Christmas? When you find wrapping paper that will be perfectly fine throughout the year, buy it!
Gravy and gravy mixes
There's nothing like homemade gravy, but there's also nothing handier than opening a jar of gravy and pouring it over mashed potatoes! A few jars of gravy in the pantry just might save dinner one day soon!
Gravy packets are great as a stock-up item. They have very long shelf lives, can be prepared quickly, and can make items as plain as white rice pretty tasty. I recommend a stash of these for a bare-bones food storage plan like this one.
Frozen pies
Now, you wouldn't ordinarily think of a pie when it comes to stocking up, but one or two in the freezer can come in handy.
Think about any special occasions coming up, potlucks, parties - any even where you might have to make dessert. Now think about how busy you're going to be this year. A frozen pie looks like a better and better idea, doesn't it?
Baking staples
Sugar, flour, baking powder, chocolate chips - you'll find all these and a lot more on sale. And, all of them can be stored long-term.
Flour, in particular, must be repackaged. Read this to learn how.
Watch this video to learn how to store things like chocolate chips, shortening, and candy.
Snack foods
Grocery stores know that serving appetizers and snacks are a part of the holidays. You'll find things like Triscuits and other crackers on sale, along with pretzels and chips. If you find these at a great price, stock up and plan on portioning them into snack bags for your kids' lunches.
Chex cereals
Everybody and their dog is going to be making one variation of Chex mix or another, so why not stock up on several boxes for breakfasts or other recipes?
If you want to store Chex or any other cereal for long term, follow the instructions in the video I mentioned above or package the cereal in mylar bags with an oxygen absorber. This package includes both the bags and the absorbers.
Canned soups
Like most other canned foods, soups can have a long shelf life if stored in a cool location.
Buy soup flavors that your family members enjoy and soups that you normally use in recipes.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

Please! Paragraphs, lines, bullet points ... or something!


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

This is the time of year when I stock up on Venison.


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