Tips?

[KansasMama]

Hey all

I was hoping ya'll could help me out with some tips.
We are moving into our own place this weekend (finally) thus, I have to stock my pantry from scratch!
Any ideas on how to do this? Cheaply? haha. I have been slacking in the couponing, but I have been stockpiling my coupons.
So far my plan is.... get most everything at hy-vee, that I know is a good deal. and since i get my employee discount will get a little extra off. Then buy meat at sams club and freeze it. and some other things there too.
We will have about $200 available. I hope. lol
Going shopping on Sunday or monday. =)
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

[twinsplus14me]

I would plan to buy only for this week using the sale ads and your q's that match up. Then, shop again next week. It won't take long to fill up your pantry with goodies! Don't buy something you're not going to use right away just because you think you need to have it. Odds are, it will be on sale within the next couple of weeks and you can save yourself some cash!

[shoppingsnyder]

Congratulations, first of all.

I'm not sure what basics for the pantry you are looking for, but I'm just going to pretend it is me.

I would make a trip to Aldi's and get the basics covered (salt, spices, flour, sugar, etc.). They are as cheap as I have ever seen without a coupon.

As far as meats, I agree to buy a little at a time. There are some good sales at Hy-Vee this week (hot dogs, fish, etc.) and with your discount it would be more.

For laundry detergent, Hen House has Arm & Hammer for $1.99 and there is a $1/1 coupon available from their website. Just take it slow - the worst is to spend it all and then have next week be an amazing sale on something you've already bought.

[FrugalEngineer]

We moved in Nov. and I was back to stocked up in about a month. We had very basic necessities until we could build it up, but I did it slowly to save money. If you have truly nothing Aldis would also get my vote for covering the basics until you can do a better coupon/sale match-up. Good luck!

[livingfree]

I totally agree with what everyone else is saying. Try to get by on as little as possible. Buy only what you know you have to have for this week (and probably get it at ALDI). The shop this week's sales. Just eat on that as you build up your pantry again. $200 can go a long way if you let it!

A bunch of us just posted what we're buying this week on another HyVee thread.That should give you some ideas too.