Couponing 101...Part 2

Stocking piling...What? Why?


Stocking piling is where I have found to save the most money. I am rarely in need of anything from the store other than the normal eggs, milk, and bread. One of the hardest things for me to wrap my brain around when I started this was buying something I did not currently need, but would use. If you look at the pictures you will see like 8 jars of spaghetti sauce, which I use when making lasagna, or stuff shell. Do I currently need that many, NO. Will they go bad before I use them, NO. Will it go on sale again before I run out, MAYBE, but it might not.

When building your stock pile, make sure it is something you will use. That it has a long expiration date, and that you get it a bottom dollar. The example of the spaghetti sauce: well on average I spent 60 cents per jar.

See, by stock piling I am buying what I will use at the lowest price I can get it for when it is on sale and I have coupons. I will only buy something for my stock without a coupon if I need it. Example, we opened our last bottle of ketchup. Publix ran it buy one get one. I didn't have a coupon, but I knew we would run out before it went on sale again, so I bought it.

Don't be brand picky. I buy all brands of anything at least once. There is one brand of laundry soap and garbage bags I won't buy again. But because we have been willing to try anything, we have found somethings that we really like.

Now that I've said, "Don't be brand picky." I am going to contradict that statement. There are a LIMITED number of items that we are brand picky on. The hubby will only use one kind of deodorant. We tried others, but he feels only one particular brand works for him. I will not compromise that. I will only buy one brand of kitchen garbage bags. For us, they work the best. I will not compromise that. Or the example of ketchup, there is only one brand we like, so that's all I will buy. Those are the only three things we are brand specific too. If you have items like that, buy them. However, try to buy on sale and with coupons. If it is on sale, buy as many of them as you have coupons for. Example: the hubby's deodorant went on sale about a month ago. First time in about a year. I had enough coupons to buy fifteen sticks. Does he need 15 now, NO. Will it go bad, NO. Will he use it up before another sale, POSSIBLY. It hasn't been on sale in almost a year. I bought fifteen sticks for about $7 dollars. Something that would normally cost $3.24 per stick. I'll discuss numerous coupons in another post.

So, I hope you are getting the idea that stock piling is a necessary step for maximizing your total savings. So here comes the next question:

Where is all this food and household stuff going?

Answer: Anywhere it will fit.
Well, I have a good bit of cabinet space that I did not have in the old house, there is a cabinet above the stairs going down to the scrapbook room, there is a cabinet in the laundry room full of laundry soap (20+ bottles), a shelf in the scrapbook room with condiments, a book shelf under the stairs with staples and an upright deep freezer in the laundry room, a refrigerator in the kitchen and a refrigerator in the garage, as well as a cabinet in the kids bathroom and our bathroom and a large shelf in the garage for the paper towels, napkins and cat litter. Everything stays just about full. The hubby is looking to close in the area under the stairs in the scrapbook room for me to make into a pantry.

I will post more pictures of my current stock pile as I continue on with this little series for those of you that have been asking. I do hope you find this helpful.