Building Your Stockpile: Stockpiling 101

[jcrmom]

I have been stockpiling items for years. It started when I was pregnant with my son. My husband and I spent $20 per week to buy any extras we were going to need while I was on Maternity Leave. This worked very well for us.

A while back, I found out that one of our "friends" was helping herself to some of my stockpiled items. She and her husband were not working and when she would bring their son over to play, I would have things come up missing after she left. It got really bad when she took the bodywash I buy for my son. He has eczema and I buy one certain brand for him. I knew she took it when we went to their house and she had his bodywash in her bathroom. Needless to say, they don't come over anymore.

[MamaBird06]

Originally Posted by jcrmom I have been stockpiling items for years. It started when I was pregnant with my son. My husband and I spent $20 per week to buy any extras we were going to need while I was on Maternity Leave. This worked very well for us. A while back, I found out that one of our "friends" was helping herself to some of my stockpiled items. She and her husband were not working and when she would bring their son over to play, I would have things come up missing after she left. It got really bad when she took the bodywash I buy for my son. He has eczema and I buy one certain brand for him. I knew she took it when we went to their house and she had his bodywash in her bathroom. Needless to say, they don't come over anymore.

that's awful. I have been couponing just since february, and have a small stockpile, but i don't think anyone i know would just take stuff. I normally ask people if they need anything or pick a few things out for people that i know they use, i couldn't imagine a friend just taking stuff.

[MamaBird06]

Originally Posted by Mikki 316 One of the best things I've done is to make a wishlist for things I'd like to stockpile. It keeps me more focused and I'm not as tempted by all the freebies if they're not on my list. I just keep my eyes open for good Qs on those items and watch for a good sale- then decide whether or not the sale is 'stockpile worthy' or not. I'm moving down my list pretty quickly, so it really helps to have a game plan- especially when you're new at all this. Otherwise you end up with 300 shampoo/conditioner, 200 toothpaste.........etc. and no toilet paper or laundry detergent, etc. I also tend to shop in "themes." For the past couple of months, I've found excellent deals on laundry supplies, so that's been my focus. Lots of freebies that I had never noticed before - just took a little planning and staying focused. I did much better this year than last when I was basically a newbie at all this. So, just make a plan/list and stick to it. Believe me, the deals will cycle through again. It's very, very rarely a once in a lifetime deal.

This is a great idea! Toilet paper, dish detergent and laundry soap and food products are things I need to stockpile, but i keep bringing home more free shampoo, bandaids and toothpaste. At the moment i only have 1 container of dish detergent and it's only half full! for the shampoos, etc., I am getting a box together to donate so these extras won't sit around, but i do need to concentrate on the things i need to get more of first.

[Melnel213]

I wish I could get some of my friends to stockpile. I'm a poor college student who gets less hours of work during the school year. My focus this summer was the stockpile things that I use during the school year. (school supplies, bathroom items, etc). Hopefully, when I start back up school in August, i'll have something to live off of for a bit, and won't have to waste tons of money...

[auntmangee]

Years ago (here in Alabama), we had a Delchamps that used to triple coupons. My sister and I would spend hours in there on coupon day and we both had a great stockpile. Alas, Delchamps went out of business and we both used up our stockpile. I got out of the couponing game but I'm back again. I really miss it and the savings!!! I've noticed lately that I use a lot of Q-tips, Kleenex and kitty litter. ha!

[kellykare1989]

Hi Supermanning, know it has bee awhile since you posted this but thought I would answer anyway...by multi coupons, they don't mean use multiple coupons on one purchase, they mean if you have ten coupons for an item then buy ten of those items and use all ten coupons then you have the begining of a stockpile.

What I don't undrstand is where they get all those coupons???

[Linda Duggan]

Thank you guys for the info. I'm a retread to couponing and stopped about 5 years ago. I started again a little over a month ago and already did a little bit of stockpiling, not evening knowing this has developed into a great "artform". I really appreciate the oportunity to read about this and learn from you guys! My first stock pile item is about 6 months of my husbands favorite shampo that was on sale and I had $3 coupons for. He thought it was odd, but when I told him how much I paid, he was impressed.

[$saver]

Just wanted to add - on the question "Where do they get all these coupons?" - try your local library. Ours has a box for coupon exchange - I leave coupons for things like diapers that I don't use, but instead pick up multiple coupons for things I do use.

One thing that worried me about stockpiling food in the beginning was thinking we would forget to use things before the expiration dates, and food would be wasted. Two things made me feel better about that - one is, I did some research about the expiration dates that they stamp on canned and dried foods like pastas. Apparently things are good way, way longer than those dates - those are just dates that indicate when it will taste the best and have the most nutritional value. The other thing that made me feel better is I have decided to go through my pantry once every six months and look at all the dates and rearrange it to make sure I know what I have - anything that is within the next six months to expire I will move to my kitchen cabinets to make sure it gets used. Does anyone out there have any other suggestions to help with this?

I used to be one of those people who said I couldn't possibly buy extra of items...I could barely afford what I needed on a weekly basis, let alone buying extra. But I started stockpiling about 5 months ago, mostly on items I got from CVS sales - shampoo, toothpaste, razors, laundry detergent, dish detergent, etc. The best part is, after you get into it a few months and start to build your stockpile, you will notice you don't need nearly as much at the grocery store each week. And you can buy more and more items that are on sale with that extra money. It's a great feeling, when everyone is complaining about the cost of everything, to know you are actually paying less for things than you did a year ago and if you had to, you could go for awhile without buying anything! Stockpiling is the best!!

[thickbluebug]

bump for the newbies

[sbourland]

Originally Posted by lisa89 ok, here's a question. How do you get yourself to STOP adding to the stockpile?!?!? I can't stop!!! Our freezer is full and I'm officially out of my *food* budget for the month of May with a week to go. We are fine & I don't *need* to buy anything......BUT the new ads come out on Sun & Mon (grocery store) & I KNOW I will see something that will be a good deal for us! So if your stockpile is set, how do you get yourself to STOP buying ....if only for just ONE week!!! (one example is pop. We have plenty right now.......BUT the store has a 24 pack on sale for 4.88 & get 3 free 2 liters if you buy 2 cases. I have 2.50/1 & have 2 of them. So I can get 2 cases of pop & 3 2 liters for less than 5 bucks. I will do it, but gah, how can I stop? Another is the Dr Pepper, again on sale for $4.99, have MIR for $6 that I have to use by the 31st...so I'll pay $4 for 2 cases on that deal). I just want to take a week or 2 off but can't stand the thought of *missing* something!

If you think you just have to buy something then pass on the savings.. I have neighbors who have no time or want to coupon but like coming to my house to see what I got on sale and most of the time they leave with 30 dollars worth of stuff, I make a small profit and they save some as well without the work. I do the same for my family, most of them buy shamppo and things like that from me because they don't want to coupon. So they come to me and since I can sell it to them so cheap they stock pile off my items win/win situation.