Now that you’ve started building your stockpile and you’re well on your way to building a solid one for your family, you’ll want to watch out for one big issue that a lot of stockpilers have.

Waste.

Stockpiling 101: Maintaining It

There is no reason to stock something only to have it go to waste. Aside from the food waste, it’s also a waste of your hard earned money and I think I’m safe to say that wasting money is something none of us can afford. To avoid waste, you’ll need to maintain your stockpile in a way that cuts down on it. It may seem like a huge task, but I can assure you, it really isn’t.

To start, make sure that you’re not buying anything that won’t be used. If you aren’t sure? Skip it until you know for certain. Buying items that you won’t use is a HUGE way to introduce waste into your stockpile and wallet.

Next, every item that you bring into your stockpile needs to be dated. Just a simple sharpie with the date that you bought it will work. This will help you identify which items are older and which are newer and will help you make sure that things are used before they expire.

Finally, rotating your stockpile is the biggest way to prevent waste. This is one of the reasons you’ll want to date the items you buy. When you’re using up your stockpile and buying new stock, make sure that you rotate it under the “old out first” rule.

Next, you’ll want to make sure that you actually continue adding to your stockpile. If you don’t, you’ll end up with bare shelves soon. Each time that you shop, you need to add to it, even if it’s only a little bit.  Continue to stock the items that need it using the techniques I showed you in post #2 and your stockpile will stay full and ready to go when your family needs it.

(c) Can Stock Photo