>Extreme Couponing – Stockpiling

August 29, 2011 by

I haven’t been doing much shopping or couponing lately courtesy of my small stockpile. It is not that impressive compared to what you see onTLC Extreme Couponing TV show by any means.

My stockpile is never really big. I don’t have a lot of space and Hubby gets nervous when I stockpile. He has visions of Hoarding which is a totally different thing. Of course that fact that I’m a pack rat and sentimental over stuff doesn’t help things much.

I stockpile more for the summer months when our income is less. When Charlie is out of school for the summer I work less hours. He is 6 1/2 years old and can entertain himself pretty well but 9am – 3pm is a long time for a little boy to not bother his parents. We both work from home but are not supposed to be “involved in childcare” during work hours. I refuse to pay for daycare; that would just cancel out the extra money I made by working.

I start building up my stockpile around March. I start with health and beauty items such as vitamins, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. I also begin building up our non-perishables like Beefaroni (Hubby’s fave), pasta, spaghetti sauce, snacks for Charlie, cereal, etc. That way I’m not spending as much money in June, July and August when my paycheck is cut back by 20 hours.
Don’t get me wrong, I keep a stockpile all year round but it is usually just 2 or 3 extra items in those same catagories. That way I don’t run out at an inconvenient time. I can also skip buying something if our budget has been affected by something else, see the air conditioner post, and not go without.
That’s about it for my stockpiling. My best tip – don’t go overboard just because it’s on sale and a really great deal. Stockpiling should serve two purposes in my opinion;  to prevent you from running out of something you need and to get you to a point where you spend less money or none at all for a time period. I get that some extreme couponers can only spend $10 for $800 worth of stuff (for example) but think about it; with your enormous stockpile you wouldn’t have to spend any money for a week or a month or more. Isn’t that even better?
Elizabeth
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Comments

  1. Denise says
    August 29, 2011 at 7:55 am

    I’m so proud. 🙂 (Have you been able to get free or really cheap peanut butter? Wait, do y’all even eat peanut butter?)

  2. Elizabeth says
    August 29, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    We do eat peanut butter but I haven’t gotten it free yet.