Stocking Up

The pantry is bulging, and Mr. E is complaining. It's fall, and I'm stocking up.

Pasta seems to be at its least expensive in the fall, and as we go through quite a bit, I buy a lot (ergo Mr. E's complaint "Do we own stock in a pasta company or something?"). Fall is also a great time to buy baking ingredients and spices, as the stores have their holiday sales on. My store had spices 50% off recently, which is the only time I even THINK about buying saffron. If there's going to be a shortage of rice or flour, these recently have happened early in the year, so it's good to stock up on those now as well.

I'm not just stocking up on food, but cleaning supplies, medicine, and paper products. Cold and flu season is here (obviously) and so tissues and cold medicine are in high demand. My local shops have buy-one-get-one-free sales on cold medicine in the fall, or I buy in bulk at Costco. I hate having to make a special run to the store for medicine when I'm not feeling well. I also always keep a backup jug of laundry soap and dishwasher detergent so I never run out.

As I'm buying things, I'm looking at what I still have a lot of or never used. I'll be taking a trip to the local food pantry with a whole lot of canned corn. I haven't used it, and don't foresee using it, so it's better to donate it before its expiration date. This will free up some space, as well, and get things off the floor of the garage and onto shelving (which will make for a happier hubby, and reduce my buying duplicates because I can't find what I'm looking for.)

I also (finally) got our firewood. I'll never wait this late again. The wood, although not green, had definitely been heavily rained on, and is a pain to try and get started. Next year, I'll get it in early September at the latest. For now, I'll have to bring in a load to dry indoors for a day or two so it's start-able.

I'm still looking for kindling. The previous owners left a ton, and it took us eight years to go through it all. Now we're out, and I'm really curious where they got it from. It looks like mill ends or bits of cedar shakes. I'm keeping my eyes open for opportunities to stock up on that as well.