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Filling In The Gaps

I have spent a great deal of time this past couple of days working on filling in the gaps in my stockpile for the fall and winter. I looked at my inventory list and saw what needed to be purchased. I still will be picking items up here and there every week and especially around Thanksgiving.

Aldi was my first stop because the Wednesday specials go fast at my market and I wanted 1 large package of the chicken breasts on sale for $ 1.69 a lb. I had not seen that price in about 4 months. These get cut in half from end to end and we eat one of them for a meal. The chicken breasts are so big today that sometimes I cut them into thirds. I am using two of the breasts cut in half to make dinner tonight which is Keto Enchilada Chicken Casserole. That will give us two dinners. I do not like shredded chicken so I cut mine into chunks.

The rest were cut and put in food saver bags in the freezer for future meals.

The Cup of Noodles Hubby loves. I much prefer to buy these rather than those wrapped packages of ramen because these keep much longer. But I had not found them in stock until this week. I am always picking up whole potatoes especially when we used some up while West was visiting. 


The brown gravy mixes were only $ .30 each which is a great price for here. I use them in many recipes so it is nice to add to my stash. The rices are easy to fix for Hubby and much cheaper than the regular market price.


I replaced the mushrooms that I had used over the past 2 months. The pork rinds are a Keto snack for me. The avocado oils, applesauce,and salt are for the stockpile.


One of my readers mentioned to me that she was going to get some things for her holiday meals so I took her advice. I like to have packets of turkey gravy on hand to bolster the flavor of my homemade turkey gravy. So I picked a few packets up at Walmart. I also like to make homemade fudge at Christmas. I had every thing I needed but the sweetened condensed milk. So I picked up two cans at Aldi.

This is my receipt from Aldi’s.  

Then at Walmart, besides getting the turkey gravy, I got  Skinny Pop, mounds and apple juice for Hubby, a whole bunch of muffins mixes for our stockpile storage. I have the instant milk and water to make these if need be.


I also got some spare lighters for candles and our outdoor fireplace which we can cook in.


The crispy onions and bread crumbs all went into my basement stockpile. All of the medicines went into our medicine storage for the winter. There are still a couple of medicines that I need to buy but Walmart’s prices were outrageous. I paid $ 16.97 for 1 bottle of Pepcid Complete. I am going to wait to see if the rest of the medicines I need go on sale in the next few weeks at the drugstores. 


I always pick up hand soap when they have it. They have always limited it here to 1. The rest of the items will go in my long term stockpile.


I got some fajita mixes, tortilla wraps that we were out of, 60 eggs because they were much cheaper than buying them by the dozen or 18 count. Dried cranberries go in chicken salad. The frosting is for Hubby’s birthday cake this month. The cornstarch was needed. I am almost out. Lastly the M&M peanuts are Hubby’s favorite and the peanut butter M&M’s are West’s favorite treat when he comes on Sundays.

Here is my Walmart receipt. 


Are any of you filling in your gaps in your stockpiles?

10 replies on “Filling In The Gaps”

Some stockpiling but I did a price book today between Costco, Walmart and the Kroger Affiliate. interesting 50/50 split between Costco and Walmart. I have a lot to add to it but its a start

Just today, I picked up things I need for the future and a bit for now. I use shampoo I don't like or given to me by people who don't like it in my soft soap pumps. It saves money and keeps things from being thrown out or accumulated. It seemed I got a lot of snacks. And, so did you. Now, I don't feel so bad…lol. I need to check on the Aldi prices here.

I halve my chicken breasts the same way you do. We like the thickness better. Every year in August I start my winter preps, filling in the gaps in my stockpile. This year I am making sure to have some things for the holidays too. We have certain food traditions and must haves for the holidays and I want to make sure we have them in stock. New Years Eve wouldn't be the same without my husband's family's potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream. I stocked up last week on some applesauce.

Hi Mary,

It was you that mentioned the holidays before. Thanks for that tip. Usually this time of year I am looking for Halloween candy. If they do allow the kids to go out in our state which I doubt, we will not participate so no candy here this year. When you have a high risk for Covid, you are very careful. We will just turn our lights off on the porch. Yeah on getting the stuff for potato pancakes.

I am also trying to fill in holes. Last week I filled in the laundry items – lucky to find a sale and use coupons. This week I'll work on hand soap and medicines. And snacks also! I do alot of Walmart pickups. But I also shop at Kroger for their sale items. Hoping to get to the point where I only have to shop for dairy and produce, and fill in the other items as they are on sale. Totally blew the budget this year. But that's OK because at least we are well stocked for the most part.

Hi Kathy,

I like your ideas of working on certain items each week. I am stocked on laundry detergent and stain removers but I am having trouble finding more laundry sanitizer. I think I now have enough hand soap with a backup of bar soap. I think we all blew budgets this year from March on. I just had a good month last month because I was so well stocked. Just think how much money you are saving by shopping now. I believe that prices will keep going up. They have to with all the money the Feds have printed.

Hi AD, this is Chris. I had written before about some of the kitty things I got at Target and the antacids at Discount Drug Mart. This month I am trying a lower spend month like you did last month. The only thing I stocked up at Kroger this week was some cans of soda since we were getting low. It is always on sale for a good price the weeks of the holidays, and won't be on as good a sale again until Thanksgiving. I got 8 various 12 packs and that should last us good until then. Sometimes our kids drink them when they come over also, and I try to keep Sprite or 7 up for upset tummies. The rest of my groceries were the usual fresh things. I did get a bag of flour on clearance for $1 to replace one I had opened to make banana bread last week.

Hi Chris,

I am so excited for you doing a low spend month. You will have to give me and update at the end of the month. $1.00 for a bag of flour is a definite score!

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