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If couponing and stockpiling were a religion, the next eight weeks would be holy and the grocery store would be Mecca.

That's our way of saying, get those coupons out, don't just read but study your sales circulars, make a plan, get to the stores and start stockpiling because with holiday food sales, it's 'Go Time.'

OK, so many of you are thinking that you need to save money to buy gifts or that you only need a few items for Thanksgiving dinner or holiday parties.

Here's the deal: Holiday food sales are not just for holiday events and there is no better time to match coupons with sales and stock up for the next few months to a year.

If you don't have an extra freezer, get one. If you don't have shelves, buy bins. If you only want to coupon a few months out of the year, now is the time. Trust us, we'll help you buy cheap gifts in upcoming columns. Don't let the next eight weeks of food sales pass by without taking full advantage of it!

First, we may sound like a broken record, but remember the basics: stay organized, match coupons with sales, think ahead and use what you buy.

Holiday food sales typically include things like turkey, ham, canned vegetables, pie fillings and shells, baking ingredients, soups, cereals and frozen desserts.

How to make the sales work for you:

Stockpile and Freeze

Many of these items you will find on sale have an extended shelf or freezer life. Canned foods, especially vegetables and soups are discounted and typically have a year-long shelf life. This is one of the few times during the year that you will see coupons for soups, especially those handy cream soups that can be used in casseroles.

Meats are also great for freezing, even after being cooked.

If you refrigerate your turkey after baking, you can use an electric knife to slice it thin enough to use for sandwich meat. After slicing, put a week's worth at a time in a food-saver bag and freeze. If you don't have a vacuum storage system, wrap slices in plastic wrap and then place in a plastic zip-top bag or wrap in aluminum foil.

Begin loving turkey and ham. Baking a turkey is really not that hard and at the prices we will see for the next two months, a savvy shopper's family should learn to love them. With any luck, they will still love them enough to welcome a good turkey dinner in February too.

In Amy's opinion, ham is much more versatile. Her family prefers ham recipes to turkey, but it can be expensive and, like turkey, the best brands and cuts are rarely on sale outside of the holidays. Take this opportunity to buy at a great price, wrap it well, and freeze for months in the future. By the time you run out, Easter sales will begin.

We have tips on freezing basics available on our blog at www.cheapblondes.blountblogs.com.

Stock up on baking staples

This is prime time to buy baking supplies on sale. Clean out your spice rack and pantry, then make a list of what you need and watch for those coupons and sales.

Even if you do not bake, take advantage of the discounts. Every pantry needs salt and sugar. Don't forget about other items that are on sale for holiday cooks, like butter, sour cream and cream cheese.

Many of these items can be frozen, like butter, pre-made pie dough, and nuts.

Get to Cooking

Use Web sites like www.allrecipes.com where you can look up recipes based on what you have on hand. This is a great way to use what you have and even expand your culinary repertoire, which is a fancy way of saying make something new that your family will eat.

Also use your discounted frozen or canned vegetables and stock to make soups. Take a day this month to make a few large pots and freeze them for the winter.

Often by matching coupons with sales you can get many items for free. Like this week, evaporated milk is on sale and with the coupon is free. This was also the case last year so Sarah learned how to make a few different kinds of pies with evaporated milk because she had a stash of free cans.

Also collect a few recipes for leftovers after the holidays. Our families' favorites are turkey tetrazini and ham and potato casserole. (Okay, so Sarah uses cream soups while Amy and Martha Stewart make their own roux but they are both really good).

Stock up the medicine cabinet

This is also a great time to buy discounted over-the-counter medicines and other sick-related products, like Kleenex. There is a plethora of coupons in the newspaper and online that can be combined with sales.

Don't wait to get sick before buying these items. There is nothing worse than having to drag your sick self to the store in search of relief. Plus, if you are sick, we want you to stay home and not contaminate our shopping carts!

We can both attest, in the last few weeks in fact, that having a fully stocked medicine cabinet with a pantry full of soups is beyond valuable when you get sick.

Be sure to buy what you will use and not a bunch of vitamins and cough drops that you don't like. This is also true for foods. Be sure to buy only what you and your family will consume.

Saving money with coupons, sales and stockpiling requires planning, research and multiple shopping trips. If you want to save money on your groceries, it would be a sin not to take advantage of all the deals in the next two months.

Sarah Herron and Amy Habart are excessively cheap and relatively blonde moms who live in Maryville. Their column runs every week in Wednesday's Life Times section. They are available for teaching and speaking engagements. Contact them at cheapblondes@gmail.com and find them on Twitter and Facebook!