While experts can try their best, inflation can be hard to predict — and prepare for.
Was anybody really ready when inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022? And now, we’re in a period where major companies have raised costs for consumers, or threatened to do so, because of ongoing tariffs.
Protecting your wallet is becoming increasingly important.
We previously surveyed Money Talks Newsletter subscribers on their expectations and methods for navigating potential tariff-spurred price hikes.
That’s when Daniela Constable told us about her stockpile.
“I am a stockpiler. I have about three years’ worth of coffee, paper products, rice, butter, noodles, soup, etc.,” she shared in her survey response. “I buy on sale — the limit — and store it properly, so I can shop in my own pantry and buy when things reach my price point.”
We had to know more. So, we gave Daniela a call. Now in her 60s, Daniela has spent her adult life couponing and stockpiling, after watching her mother do similarly. It’s nearly second nature.
She told Money Talks News that this money-saving habit doesn’t cost her much time, either.
Read our Q&A with Daniela before your next trip to the grocery store. Note that the conversation, first published in mid-2025, has been edited for length and clarity. MTN is republishing it because Daniela’s wisdom is just as relevant today if not more so.
‘I don’t think I bought butter for, like, 18 months’
MTN: When did you start stockpiling and why? What inspired you?
Daniela: We’re gonna go back to probably the mid-’80s, back in the day when coupons were aplenty and there were rebates on a lot of stuff. So I could get food for dirt cheap, especially when you combined store sales with coupons. And I think maybe twice in my life I got free groceries, where they paid me when I left the register.
But maybe it even started with my mother. When she came over to America, she was like, Oh my gosh, you can get 12 cans of vegetables for $1. So we always had canned food in the cupboard.
But I’ve always tried to save money, especially when you’re young and you’re in an apartment and all that. And I just got to a point where it was like, Well, mayonnaise is $1.99. Just buy one extra one. Now I can afford to buy the limit [the maximum number a store allows you to buy when something is on sale].
And I have price points in my mind. A couple of years ago, I don’t think I bought butter for, like, 18 months because it was not at my price point of $1.99 a pound, but I had, like, 18 pounds in my freezer. So I rode that out until now it’s back at a decent price, and I’ve restocked my freezer.
‘I was able to rescue somebody with toilet paper’
MTN: How has your stockpile helped you during tough times?
Daniela: I’m going to tell you a fun story here. About 10-ish years ago, I was an executive admin for a vice president, and he was buying gold for when the world goes upside down. Blah, blah, blah. I look at him and go, “I’m buying toilet paper.” He looks at me strange. And I go, “You’ll be giving me that gold for my toilet paper someday.”
We had COVID, and a friend in another town posted on Facebook that she couldn’t find a store within a 20-mile radius of her home that had toilet paper. I said, “I’m on my way over. I’ll bring you toilet paper.” And I rescued her with nine rolls of toilet paper.
Every time they were $4.99 at the drugstore, I grabbed two and just threw them under a bed or something, and I was able to rescue somebody with toilet paper.
MTN: Are there items that you tend to gravitate toward when curating your stockpile?
Daniela: A lot of times it’s more toward that laundry soap. That stuff doesn’t really go bad, like canned food. I’ll still use it if it’s up to two years past the date on the bottom of the can. I get a little leery about year three, but just make sure you rotate.
Right now, cereal has been really cheap, between $1.75 and $1.90 a box. So I usually grab a couple of those, make sure I have some.
It’s all cyclical. Around Cinco de Mayo, I make sure I get the refried beans and the salsa because it’s cheap. Around late October, because the holidays are coming, that’s when I get my flour for cheap, and my sugar and chocolate chips and all that stuff. So if you pay attention to holidays, you can stockpile some of that stuff inexpensively.
‘It’s really helped during unemployment and job losses’
MTN: You’ve amassed about three years of products, which is very impressive. What’s your method for achieving that?
Daniela: Like I said, I’ve been doing this for so long.
I do put dates on some of my stuff when I open it, even the coffee. So now I know one can of coffee lasts a month.
So I’m counting it up, and I’m like, Oh, God, I’ve got 40 bags of coffee, and so that could last us three years. I can ride this out. And then a lot of times it’s on sale and I go, No, you really have a lot. Let’s just save the money this time. That way, you don’t really have to pick it up. But if I use stuff up, it’s like, Oh, I’m getting a little low. I better keep an eye open for a good deal.
But my husband and I have been together more than 30 years. So there have been times that he’s been laid off or I’ve been laid off, and it’s like, Oooh, almost a shelf out there is empty. And then one of us gets back to work, and so I get that shelf stocked back up.
But take it slow. And not everyone has a lot of money. But again, if you can just pick up one extra when something’s on sale and start off that way, maybe two the next time, you’ll find that you’ll feel much better when you grab something that you got for cheap, rather than going, Oh, my God, I have to come up with $4 for mayonnaise.
And again, it’s really helped during unemployment and job losses.
‘The moral of my stockpiling life’
MTN: Do you have an idea of how much money you’ve saved?
Daniela: That’s a good question. I’ve been doing this so long I don’t even really stop and think about it anymore. But I know it’s saved, obviously. If you’re getting cereal for $2 a box instead of $4 or $5, you’re saving down the road. Like I said, it’s the price point.
And if I’ve got 20 boxes of cereal, I’m like, Do we want to add some more to it? Let’s pass on that and maybe get something else because I do have enough. So I could maybe splurge on some fresh vegetables, or maybe hamburger meat’s cheap right now. Bacon’s actually been at a good price point over here. Not that it’s at my $1.99 price point again, but I’m like, $3.99 for bacon? $2.97? Yeah, let’s get some.
MTN: That’s my favorite. I love bacon.
Daniela: Me, too. Now I need to go check if it’s at my price point.
MTN: There you go. And is there a mental method for how you adjust these price points — the amounts you’re willing to pay for products?
Daniela: There is. Again, I’ve been around. Like I said, it used to be $1.99 for bacon, and then I just watched. Obviously, with inflation, everything goes up. After a while, it’s like, OK, so it’s not going back to $1.99, so now my price point is $2.99. We just kind of adjust.
So the thought is just try to have one or two extra so you don’t have to run to the store and pay full price. That’s kind of the moral of my stockpiling life. I once had to go pay full price for mayonnaise. That’s why I keep going to mayonnaise.
‘I don’t find it time-consuming at all’
MTN: How do you ensure nothing goes bad?
Daniela: I always try to remember to put the new stuff toward the back. But it doesn’t always happen. So I usually pull a few cans, flip them over, see the dates, and use the oldest one first. It’s just getting in the habit of looking at the dates. And, like I said, I will eat canned food that’s only up to about two years old. Little nervous past that.
MTN: So how much time would you say you spend managing your stockpile?
Daniela: I just put out some bookshelves. When I shop, it goes on the bookshelf. Doesn’t really take that long, as long as you’re watching sales and you can get a couple bookshelves or boxes. Back when I was in an apartment, they were in boxes or under the bed or wherever you can tuck a few things.
But I don’t find it time-consuming at all. You’re shopping anyway. All it is is figuring out where you are going to put it.
Don’t stockpile if you don’t have room, but try to find some room, like I said, a bookcase. It got to where I started digging for a box, and I’m like, I’m just gonna buy a small bookcase for all the vitamins we take. So now I have a small bookcase in my bedroom with all my vitamins. It can only can stay organized that way.
MTN: If somebody is reading this and they want to hop on this train, how would they get started stockpiling?
Daniela: Just watch for sales. And if you have a small budget, like I was saying, just buy one extra. If you can do two extra, that’s fabulous. But start off small.
And just keep rotating.
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