My friend Heather expressed a bit of alarm about the pictures of my stockpile.  She was concerned that the  items wouldn’t get used in a timely fashion and need to be thrown out before using, thereby killing any savings.  I thought I would post a little more about the organizational methods of stockpiling here.  I am somewhat new at this myself, so my system is ever-changing. Actually, I may have to update that post because I’m making significant changes to my storage closet right now, with the addition of new shelves and sorting through some things.

  1. A normal day-to-day stockpile  won’t look much like mine, I don’t think.  Mine is tiny compared to some other folks I’ve seen online, but I think it’s pretty serious compared to the average person. I am fully intending to sell most of this stuff this summer at a yard sale.  (I’ve already sold about $30 worth of merchandise without really trying, so I’m hopeful that it will go well.)  So, keep in mind that some of these things, I have no intention of using by the sell-by dates.  If I can’t sell my 44,382 tubes of toothpaste, I’ll start giving them away.  They were paying me to take them home half the time–no loss.  So, the time spent organizing and rotating the stock of a normal person is going to be much less than what I need to spend.
  2. Make a plan.  Figure out what kind of space you’re alotting to a particular item and then figure out how to stack it to maximize the space and the convenience.  If at all possible, I must have everything stacked exactly the same way.  In most cases, the direction they’re stacked will show the expiration dates.  Every so often, if I add a bunch of new items to a stock of items that I use, I’ll spend a few minutes rearranging things, if necessary, to put the newest items on top, in front or on the correct side (depending on how it’s stacked.)  A few extra minutes now and then is a valuable expenditure because if I run in to grab something while I’m in a hurry, I probably won’t take the time to scan dates before I grab one.  For example, the Pepsi is stacked so that the soonest date is on the left.  We always grab the next case from the far left of the stacks.  If I bring more Pepsi in, I will tug the stacks over to the left and insert the new cases on the right.  Then I never have to think about it again.
  3. Match your stock-up price to your stock-up needs.  I was originally going to say to only stock up on what you will use in a specified period of time, but it’s a little more complicated than that.  When you see something on sale, buy enough to last you through until the next cycle.  If it’s an item that will last for a longer period of time (canned goods, boxed items, toiletries, etc) then you have a little more leeway. If something is free, or cheaper than you generally ever see the item, then stock up past what you would normally purchase for one sales cycle.  If it’s free, by all means, get as much as you can!  Things you don’t pay for today are like money in your pocket tomorrow.  If it’s free and you begin running out of time to use it… give it away. Foster goodwill with friends and family.  If it’s just cheaper than regular price, you don’t want to get so many that you would
  4. Incorporate your food stockpile into your meal planning.  When you make your list every week, check out what’s in your stockpile that is nearly expired.  Last month, I noticed a box of Stovetop stuffing in the pantry that expired in the next week or two, so I pulled it out and looked at the back of the box. Before I knew it, I had made dinner using that box of stuffing and random items in my pantry.  It was a bruschetta knock-off with chicken and basil and tomatoes… pretty tasty.

Once you begin thinking about it, you begin developing a better sense for when items are about to go bad.  I admit that I make mistakes now and then, and end up throwing something away. However, I make fewer mistakes now than I did before I started my stockpile, and the cost of those mistakes are still far less than if I were paying full price all the time.  Some organization, or imperfect organization, is better than no organization, which is the “system” that I used before.