Couponing 101 - Why I stockpile

To make my budget of $400 a month on groceries a month for the 8 of us I have to "stockpile" my groceries. I find a super deal and then buy not one or two, but as many as I can at the super deal price. This requires me to be organized and use my many coupons from the internet, mailers, and Sunday papers. I create my own warehouse in my house or the 'Ivanovsky mini mart', and I no longer depend on the store to give me a great price. I can wait it out, until another super deal comes along. I personally base my stash on a 6 month to 1 year supply. If anything is free or at least 80% off I purchase as many as I can or have coupons for. Then I rotate through all the items through the year and never purchase them anywhere close to full price. I don't think I have paid for a condiment in 12 mo! This also applies to all my meat, and some dairy that I can freeze. I have two refrigerators that I use, but I lost my big deep freeze in the hurricane. Darn.

Now, it isn't always pretty. The above picture is shelving that I had to set up in my bedroom to handle the 'overflow' from all the closets! I live in a small house with no basement and in the south where it is too hot to store anything in the garage. My room has always been my sanctuary, and this ugly monster has taken some getting used to. BUT, it is worth it to ME to stay within my $400 budget, and NEVER pay full price for ANYTHING.
This is my coat closet.... if you actually wear a coat and come to my house it will get laid on my bed. The vacuum is also stored in the office. Every little space counts!
These are some of the items that I can store in the garage. I rarely ever have an emergency trip to the grocery store. I always have every item on hand that I will need. This helps me tremendously with last minute dinners and spontaneously trying a new recipe. It also keeps my costs down by not having to call the husband to pick stuff up on his way home :)

Another key to stockpiling is keeping track -- in your head, in a notepad, on your iPhone, wherever -- of the cheapest prices ever available for things you use regularly. That's how you know WHEN to stock up.

Keeping a price book, either physical or mental, also saves you time at the store. How? Before I started tracking prices, I had to compare every single product in a category to figure out which was the best deal. I'd be squatting down and stretching high, calculating the cost per ounce of every brand of cereal to figure out which one was the best price. Nowadays, I know that anytime I can get cereal for under $1 a box, if it's a cereal we like and don't have too much of already, I just buy as many as I can. 

Do you stockpile? Do you have any tips?

P.S. I will answer Hilori's question... $400 is just food, I budget another $100 for any toiletries, diaper, wipes, cleaning, paper products, batteries... etc. But, since these items are easier to get free than food, I usually have money left over and I add it to either my food budget or into my tin can for the bosch mixer I want! :)