I used to think the idea of a stockpile was wasteful, and kind of extreme. But I’m now a convert to some stockpiling – with caveats to keep it from getting out of hand.
So I tried my hand at couponing for a while, and I still do it from time to time. But my MIL became the couponing QUEEN. Seriously. When we went hoem for Christmas, she gifted us with a great deal of her stockpile- things she got super-cheap or free.
And let me tell you – I thought it was a little crazy, but it’s so nice. When we run out of laundry soap? I just hop into the garage and grab the next bottle. I caught a great sale on both paper towels and our preferred brand of toilet paper at the first of the year, and we’re still working through that stuff. We also have stockpiles of shampoo, body wash, deodorant, dishwasher soap, and toothpaste, among other things.
So here are my guideliens for how i keep stockpiles in my house:
- It has to have a home. I have a big pantry, a couple shelves in the garage, and a closet in my bathroom where this stuff lives.
- If it overflows its home, I have too much. (We currently have too much shampoo, but that should resolve itself soon)
- Only keep as much as we can use before it goes bad. Toothpaste has an expiration date, and I don’t stockpile a ton of food. Things like laundry soap and paper products don’t generally go bad, though.
- Rotate to use the oldest stuff first.
- Keep track of what we are running low on – because nothing is worse than going out to the stockpile for toilet paper and discovering you are completely out. Start looking for the next good deal before you run completely out.
So – as long as I generally stick to these guidelines, having stockpiles of certain products works for me.
You can find more Works For Me Wednesday post over at We Are THAT Family.