I tend to stock up on food in the winter  . we been snowed in before for 3 weeks and it's been below 0 for several days .. Ice stroms ..  I use loss leaders , really great sales ect.

I was going to do our regular budget shopping until I got to thinking about the flu.  So for the past 2 months, I've used our savings to stock up on some necessities so we wouldn't have as much to shop for thru the cold weather months.  We're now stocked for at least 2 months with toilet paper, maybe 2 months with paper towels, and some food items for 2 to 3 months already: spaghetti sauce, tomato soup, chicken noodle soup, diet rite, diet coke--some of the more bulky and heavier items so we wouldn't have to bother with them in cold weather and possibly flu outbreak conditions. 

I'm not worried about having to replace some of the savings money over the next few months because I'll just take what we'd normally spend per month on those items and put it right back into our savings.  

We had to recently change the cats' litter because it was really setting off my asthma, and I'd like to get 6 to 8 14-lb. boxes of SWheat Scoop to last thru the winter.  Seems like they're using about 2 boxes per month.  It's almost double what our old litter was, but it can't be helped.  My mild asthma attacks slowed down quickly and are almost gone now.

It sure will take a lot of space to store all this stuff, but would be nice not having to worry about some of it thru the winter months (and the flu).

brenl:

I was wondering is your buying habits different in the winter then they are during Spring

Mine are opposite of those that have winter storms. We don't get stuck at home for storms typically. Snow happens every fifteen years or so.

Hurricanes are the things that change my habits. I stock foods that don't need a lot or any cooking and are shelf stable. Over the winter, I will use these on sick days so I don't have to cook then begin restocking come spring.

Other purchases are the same year around.

I was just talking to DH about this the other day.  I told him that we are well-stocked except for needing a few more cans of meat (chicken mostly, but maybe a spam and a couple more tuna).  I've never had to do this before b/c where I lived prior we had hurricanes, but not too often and most were cat 1s or 2s so minimal damage.  Plus where I worked we went in no matter the weather.  But here it can snow quite a bit and I'm completely inexperienced in dealing with snow.  I figure I need to keep the food around for the deep winter months and use it if we're stuck or whatever.  After winter is over I'll start using it up in a pantry challenge and then replenish in the spring/summer for the next snow season.