Once you have a stockpile going, it can actually cost you money if you are not careful. If a stockpile starts taking over your home, then it is costing you the enjoyment of your home. You do not live in a store. There is nothing wrong with getting shelves or other items to organize your stockpile, but be sure the savings in the long run outweigh the expense.
Here are some tips to keep track of what you have so you make sure you do not have to throw unopened products away:
- Inventory—I keep an inventory of what I have. I am not talking about an exact inventory, but the key to keeping a good stockpile is to know what is in it. It helps keep costs down since you are not running to the store to buy various items when they are already in your house.
- Expiration-—Keep an eye on your expiration dates on the items that are in your stockpile. You are not saving any money if you eat expired food that makes you sick. I know some items have a long shelf life, but many things eventually expire or go bad. Keep that in mind before you get large quantities of items.
- Do you love it? Before you stock up on an item and buy extra of them to stockpile, do you love that item? Sure you could get a bunch of item XYZ free but are you willing to eat that many product XYZ’s? Decide how many of each thing you would be willing to eat. This is important on items that have many flavors like salad dressing. If you are stockpiling these items, make sure you get a variety of flavors—or make sure you really want to eat just one flavor for a long period of time.
- Use it-—Yes, it is nice to have a stockpile of items and know you could go a couple months without having to do a major shopping trip. It is, however, important to use the items. I like to make sure I use all of the meats and frozen items in my freezers every summer. I can then stock up again for the winter and know that nothing will be freezer burnt or not taste good. I choose summer because we like to cook out and have company often, so I can cook more meat at a time. I like being able to reach into my freezer when unexpected company arrive and have a variety of meat to cook.
How do you organize your stockpile?
