As you can see, I am quite found of stockpiling shelf-stable items that my family will use, like paper products and canned goods.
If you are interested in building a stockpile for your family, I have a whole section of the blog dedicated to learning how to stockpile!
I will say a frequently overlooked step in maintaining a stockpile is keeping track of expiration dates. Even though we are pretty good about maintaining FIFO shelving, I still managed to find several cans of diced tomato that had expired back in 2012!
Also, sometimes you grab things at a great price and then decide that you don't need or like the product -- so it's important to routinely go through your stockpile and purge items still in date for donation.
Here's the big pile of goodies we took to the San Antonio Food Bank after our reorganization.
Most of these items were either free after coupons, or super-cheap pantry staples that I had bought specifically to donate!
The volunteers at the San Antonio Food Bank were super-pleased to see us pull up yesterday. :D
Finally, I just wanted to point out that all the toiletries in the photo are actually freebies I've set aside for my next coupon class for NEISD Adult Education -- so if you are already registered or are considering registering, you can get an advance peek at what you'll be scoring along with your workbooks!
Those polka-dot items on the right are two free purses, by the way -- and those will definitely be part of the handouts!
Learn more about building and maintaining a stockpile here.
Hello Jen,
ReplyDeleteI was at a CVS today and noticed that all Revlon is buy 1 get 1 50% off, they also have a spend $30 get $10 back for all Revlon this week. My question is if i decided to spend $30 to get $10 back, do I have to spend $30 after the 50% off the 2nd item deal?
Thank you,
Jane
It usually says "excludes clearance" in the ad, so be careful!
DeleteIt usually says "excludes clearance" so be careful!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Jennifer. I started couponing a little over a year ago; but slowed down after many items I purchased were getting thrown away because my family didn't like them. Its has been an adjustment period trying to make sure I only purchase what we will use. By the time I determined it wasn't going to get eaten; they items were expired. So... my primary stockpile consists of paper products, laundry and cleaning supplies, and hair care.
ReplyDelete