From time to time, we have to discard some items past the date of consumption, but this is less than 5% of all perishable items.

In addition to saving money we have the luxury of never have to think about having enough to serve a dinner for guests. We know we always have a choice of options.

Finally it saves a lot of time as well, and time=money! Regained time might just be the biggest saving of all!

We shop at Costco, so we do buy things like toilet paper and laundry detergent in ‘bulk’, but if I can’t use it up in three months, I’d rather buy less. Mayonnaise is a good example. We don’t use much, so even though the cost per ounce is higher, I’d rather buy a smaller jar than having a huge one sitting open in my fridge for 6 months.

I used to stock up when there were good prices on personal care products or “triple coupons” on cleaning products. But it turned into less of a deal when I ended up with too much stuff in our small space or decided I wanted to switch to different products and gave away a lot of the stuff I got at a “great deal”. How much did I really save then?

NOT stocking up is actually kind of freeing for me as I can choose something new when my shampoo runs out. With the internet, it’s pretty easy to find coupons so not stocking up doesn’t mean always paying full price.

I stock up on things I know I will use and while they may not be scarce a good sale is hard to find. A prime example is motor oil. A few years back Kragen was selling a case for $17.88 with a $12 rebate. For $5.88 I got 12 quarts each just 49 cents. I bought a case, one for my dad, and each of my grandparents. I go about 25,000 miles a year and do 5 oil changes so I can use 20 quarts in a year. Same promotion netted me two oil filters for $7 making the total cost of an oil change $5.46 for a filter and 4 quarts. I saved $97.70 a year purchasing in bulk and get the added benefit of working on the car myself. I’m 24 yo and female and most of my friends think it’s a great deal to pay $20 to have someone change their oil.
The only risk is that I wouldn’t keep my car. Well, it’s almost at 50,000 miles, no problems, and paid off. I’m keeping it.

Shoes, buy them. Good shoes that fit are, IMO, one of the great pleasures in life and if you can find something that feels that good, get them.

We usually stock up on the basics for food, particularly canned goods. When they are on sale we will get a couple of cases of canned tomatoes or tuna or whatever it is we use a lot of.

Also, I keep them separately and boxed up in storage, to encourage me not to pull them out on a whim. It reminds me to take the dying shoes to a cobbler to see if they can be cheaply reheeled or buffed up so I still have a pair of pristine perfect shoes to look forward to once they really bite the dust!

My attitude to shopping goes like this. I go to a store, find a bra or a pair of trousers that fits and buy 2 or 3 more about a week later via the store’s own internet shopping facility. Loathe shopping for bras and trousers and this saves me time. Oh, and it saves money as I don’t go and buy books or music when I haven’t found clothes as the shopping demon will have its sacrifice.

In the same vein, we will buy ‘Gifts’ from specialty stores when they are on a deep sale for some ‘future use’. This has given us the freedom to just go ‘shop in our basement storage’ where things are extremely well organized to pick/pull what we need for the party we are going to, and whalla > We paid deep sale price for it.

This principle has gotten us to being wealthy, and if you read the Millionaire Minds or other books, it will tell you that it is ‘exactly what wealthy does’, and NOW I AM A 100% BELIEVER of it, since I have gotten there too (not bragging at all, since this was all by design, and is still so).

Black Friday is our MOST FAVORITE SHOPPING day and we arm ourselves at 4AM in the morning to go and grab these deals. It allows us to get deals that we will NEVER find all year (almost), even in electronics.

TAKE ADVANTAGE of “GIMME” SALEs where stores are trying to attract customers thinking they will shop for much more than the sale items. Figure out what is a ‘Sale Tag’, vs. “On Sale” vs. “Lets Sell this product” vs. “Its Outta Here”. We wait fro the last 2 attitudes by the store manager (online and in brick and mortar stores).

I take a lot of pride in my organization skills in the basement with shelves and such.

In conclusion, hoarding and buying in bundles is a GREAT idea and it beats ALL other methods of buying/shopping/hunting for deals.

Good luck Y’all……

Kenny

I am a big Apple fan. I too however dislike the new Shuffle. I wouldn’t stock up on that though because Apple learns from it’s mistakes. If the past is any indicator Apple will have a new Shuffle similar to the old one, but better, in a year. If not, you can always find a used one. Further, besides the battery the Shuffle you like will probably last ten years. Unlike the original iPod, there are no movable parts on it.

Crap, I’m falling apart and I”m not even 30 yet.

Of course, it’s hard to stay focused in a place like Big Lots, where there are so many “good deals,” but I did save a lot by finding the things I wanted and sticking to them. They sometimes have discontinued electronics for cheap, although I doubt they would have Apple items. I did buy a set of Apple-compatible speakers there, though, so you never know.

Incidentally, they also sell discontinued Avon products, so Kris might check around and see if any Big Lots or other discount stores have the cleanser she likes.

Don’t buy the ipod. We have no idea what technology we’ll use for music by the time your shuffle wears out – what if someone makes a portable Pandora player that also does MP3’s? (Heaven!)

Love the site!

As I look through my home, I can see items which have been performing well for many years well beyond their initial cost while some more expensive items flopped and failed to meet expectations.

This would be an interesting list to compare with folks.

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/003584.php

Its only about $20 a pop so it is cheap enough to buy 2 or 3.

I really use mine hard, so I like to replace it every 6 months or so.

As to electronics, the only good reason to stockup is in the event of downtime which involves losing money in the event of failure.

I’d not recommend buying a second pair because hiking boots are meant to last.

Just make sure you buy a really decent pair, something like the leather Brashers ones and take really good care of them.

Also don’t use them for day to day use – only for when you are actually hiking.

I’d certainly stock up on things like consumables – but you need to be really careful of those supermarket 2 for 1 offers! My mother is terrible for that – no matter how much I tell her not to do it and she always ends up with stuff in the cupboard or freezer that they never get through.

The one thing that I do stock up on is T-shirts. I found that a particular brand that I really liked and bought a one or two whenever they were in a sale – which is pretty regular at the moment!

As for shoes, well trainers for me. I stick to Nike, although not the uber expensive ones. I’ll buy a pair if I see ones in a sale or if I have a particular need. E.g. recently I needed a slightly bigger pair in navy or black that I could wear with a jacket and trousers.

So I’ve always got probably a couple of extra pairs that I can alternate between.

They are all pretty similar, the tennis type Nikes but different styles, colors etc.

But would that count as stocking up? I think it does – you don’t need to buy everything at once. It’s just buying a bit more than what you need regularly.

If the item goes on sale regularly, only a tiny stockpile is needed. There will always be a sale on TP somewhere.

There’s also a difference between buying a spare, hoarding, and stashing. I buy my favorite bottled tea when I see it (that will fit in the designated space so currently 8 bottles) because it is an imported item I rarely see. This is hoarding and I only open one for a rare occasion. Hey, some people hoard their good wine. I also stash crafting supplies by getting them while I’m at the right place to do so, if I know I’ll use it and have a place to keep it. But I’ll “shop my stash” first to see if I have a suitable item for crafting.

Kris should chill the lotion or place it in a cool non-humid place. Some cling wrap over the top, beneath the cap to ensure it is sealed should also help.

That’s been our failing at buying groceries only every 2 weeks (and stockpiling). We manage to do 1 week, but can’t go much beyond that… I guess we could slowly work up to it

Personally, I`m not a fan of ipods. I have a Creative Zen mp3 player and love it for a number of reasons (SD slot, big screen, radio, cheaper than an ipod, to name a few). I strongly recommend it to everyone I know. I`m told that they have fewer problems than ipods but I haven`t confirmed that. I`ve had mine for around 18 months without problems. My only complaint is that it`s hard to find non-Ipod mp3 player accessories.

On the other hand, when we helped clear out my fatherinlaw’s garage, we found cases of toothpaste decades old. We threw that away.

http://www.tunecycle.com/

Plus they guarantee they work. I have ordered one, but it has not come yet.

I live in Maine, but last year I got married in California. I had decided to go to a tanning salon a week before the wedding, which is something I had never done. For a couple weeks after I had very dry skin, which really isn’t all that unusual for me anyhow. Well, the day before our flight to California I decided to use an eye cream that I had received as a free sample with my favorite facial cleanser about a year before. I went to bed, and woke up the next morning unable to open my eyes! I had a horrible reaction to an expired cosmetic, and have puffy faced wedding photos to remember it forever…

Cosmetics and skin care stuff have expiration dates, just like medications. I would never ever suggest stocking up on years worth of this stuff.