Following a post on stockpiling, one reader commented that she would like to stockpile but doesn’t have the space. Many people, including us, have a problem with storage space. My kitchen is just a small area where we managed to squeeze a refrigerator, a countertop gas stove and a toaster oven. I barely have room for the bare essentials in my kitchen, let alone keeping a stockpile. I don’t have a pantry either.
Read here about creative solutions for stockpile storage. Personally, we keep our stockpile in a cabinet in the guest bedroom. An unorthodox solution, but it will have to do until we have a nice big kitchen with lots of cabinets.
Our stockpile was not created deliberately, it just grew; most often, my husband would see something on sale, and buy several items instead of just one for immediate use. There’s often something at a good price that can be stored for a long time – canned vegetables, pasta, rice, non-perishables such as shampoo and toilet paper. I must admit that back then, I felt a little pang in my heart whenever I saw the grocery bill, thinking to myself that here are things we could do without, taking up storage space. Time proved that I was wrong.
I was always of the philosophy that buying something you didn’t plan to buy was still spending money, even if the price is very good. It is indeed a fine line between stockpiling wisely and becoming a pack rat. Unhealthy foods, snacks loaded with salt and sugar, are never a good deal even if they happen to be very cheap. And luxury items won’t help you stretch your budget, no matter how you look at it.
Yes, it’s true that we bought more than we needed at the moment, but back then, we could spare the extra cash. I was very glad we did when time came to cutting back costs as much as we could (even though we always did our best to live frugally).
All over the world, people are struggling with the results of a major recession. People who didn’t imagine it would ever come to that, now have to think twice before buying food. I know it’s unpleasant to think about such possibilities, but it may happen. Being well stocked up on the essentials makes the tough times pass more easily.
Domestic Felicity 
Goodness! Your kitchen sounds – well, awful, not to put too fine a point on it. When my dad was in seminary he and my mum lived for several months in a converted two car garage. Her “kitchen” was an electric coffee pot (first things first!), an electric skillet, and a toaster oven, My sister and I helped her invent quite a few dishes to fix with such limited resources.
A friend of ours lived in a tiny apartment which had two doors in a corner of the hallway. He cut a triangle of heavy plywood, put it on top of the door frames to store lighter groceries, such as pasta and cereal. One of those “grabbers” that you used to see in old-timey grocery stores would be really handy.
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Yes, the kitchen is one of the things I don’t like about this house! Did I mention it has no window, either? But we’ll be moving soon, and I’ll be sure to post photos of the new kitchen!
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