I haven't purchased toilet paper in two years

[OSUBearCub]

Did that get your attention? Ha ha - I'll explain.

Thanks to couponing and smart stockpiling, I haven't had to purchase the following list for two years:

Laundry detergent
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Deodorant
Shampoo
Hand lotion
Toothbrushes
Floss
Disposable Razors
Hydrogen peroxide
All purpose spray cleaner
Ajax/Comet
Air freshener
Pasta (but I still do whenever it's 25-35 cents a box)

And I pretty much have at least a year left in the stockpile for all of the above.  When I stopped stockpiling for fun and started analyzing my consumption rates to get more scientific with the "hoard", I realized that I needed to take a break from even the redhottest of deals for a while.  That "for a while" has stretched into two years. :-)  When I'm done, I've decided to trade off deal hunting for bulk purchasing these necessities at the warehouse club.  It will be easier to budget, less time-consuming, and allow me to further downsize my apartment for a move in about 18 months.

[Bracken_Joy]

I was interested at the conclusion- so you find the trade-off of purchasing at a low but normal price reasonable for the saved time? For me, it's always partially been a question of temptation- to coupon, you have to be exposed to so many ads and visit stores more often than I would otherwise.

[OSUBearCub]

I've become a very disciplined couponer.  I only use certain brands of most of the above list.  The temptation to try a product just because of the coupon or ad was low.  Traveling to multiple stores didn't bother me - I had a tight, well-planned circuit that allowed me to hit them all up without wasting too much gas and time. 

Lately, I've been looking at the opportunity cost of my stockpile.  I've also been slowly transitioning to a more minimalist lifestyle.  So, for me, getting a single $8-10 pump-style shampoo, once every 6-9 months is a decent trade-off for storing/organizing 10-12 $.75 bottles of coupon deal shampoo.  I also don't need to waste time storing and organizing coupon inserts and clipping/planning shopping trips to multiple stores. 

In preparing to move in 18 months, I'm also concerned with the added costs of boxing up a stockpile and transporting it 1000 miles.  A dozen bottles of $1.50 laundry detergent are heavy, will require room in the moving truck for one more box, and require another minute of time added to the moving help. 

Standard disclaimers - I wholeheartedly believe in couponing.  It makes quite a lot of sense for large families with time to devote to the process and room to store a well-managed stockpile.   

[Quark]

Great! And when each of those things run out, you can adapt to not using most of them! Especially paper towels, what a ridiculous invention.

Except toilet paper. No family cloth. I'm not going there.

[OSUBearCub]

Great! And when each of those things run out, you can adapt to not using most of them! Especially paper towels, what a ridiculous invention.

Except toilet paper. No family cloth. I'm not going there.

I agree but two thoughts:

I love a paper towel.  It's a plate, it's a napkin, it's a kleenex in a pinch!  However, I will switch to the green(er) option at the warehouse store and I'm a dedicated recycler.

Try as I might to kick the deodorant habit, I live in Florida and I work in a rather compact cube farm.  I already switched to plain deodorant for the aluminum concerns in antiperspirant.  That's about as far as I can compromise - no one likes a stinky cube neighbor.  :-)

And a question:
How does one get around dental floss?  I'm fairly certain my gums would hate me.

[Hot_AZ]

YAY!  I love couponing and have a stockpile like yours.   When i hit the 3 year mark on things like laundry detergent, TP, dryer sheets, razors, toothpaste/toothbrushes, etc I stopped for a bit.  Now we're also moving (hopefully this summer/5 months) and we're working on moving as little as possible :) 

Love your thread!

[rocketman48097]

Just buy the store brand dental floss, that's what I use.  I have a permanent retainer so it's pretty much a necessity for me.  Besides, when I floss once per week, my teeth feel really clean. 

My current roll of paper towels was a 1 penny secret shopper publix roll, that I did not have a coupon for.  They gave it to me for a penny anyways.  Out of 3 times attempting the secret shopper items without a coupon, I was only denied once. 

[pwegifts]

Ive watched those shows like Extreme Couponing and now seeing this post has me intrigued.  We have a small boy and girl, with another on the way, and expenses like these are only going to grow over the next 20 years.

Where exactly do you get the coupons?  Is it a mix of from the newspaper and online?  Now that we moved to Florida from Wisconsin, we no longer get a newspaper, and because of that, we dont really get coupons.

And how are you able to achieve this kind of savings? From what I understand many stores do not allow the stacking and matching of coupons anymore?  Publix is one of the supermarkets here and they will match manufacturer coupons only up to $.50.

Like lets take a Target store brand Ultra Soft toilet paper.  18 Rolls is normally $7.99. We have a $2 off coupon that got printed at the register.  Now its $5.99.  Maybe Target matches the coupon making it $3.99.  How does it get discounted even further?  Same idea for the other items you listed.

@ OSUBearCub, since you live in FL as well, id be interested to hear how you do it.

Thanks!

[Bob W]

Great! And when each of those things run out, you can adapt to not using most of them! Especially paper towels, what a ridiculous invention.

Except toilet paper. No family cloth. I'm not going there.

I agree but two thoughts:

I love a paper towel.  It's a plate, it's a napkin, it's a kleenex in a pinch!  However, I will switch to the green(er) option at the warehouse store and I'm a dedicated recycler.

Try as I might to kick the deodorant habit, I live in Florida and I work in a rather compact cube farm.  I already switched to plain deodorant for the aluminum concerns in antiperspirant.  That's about as far as I can compromise - no one likes a stinky cube neighbor.  :-)

And a question:
How does one get around dental floss?  I'm fairly certain my gums would hate me.

shave your pits and let your soap lather set for 2 minutes to minimize deoderant need.   Use a water pic instead of floss.

[Wupper]

The people I know (relatives) that stockpile household goods spend an enormous amount of money of shelves, bins, tubs, containers, to store their stockpile.

Doesn't make much freaking sense to me.

Not saying the OP is one of these idiots.

[kathrynd]

We have a few rental properties, and when tenants skip, they leave a lot of stuff behind.
So we probably won't need to buy

 toilet paper,
 paper towels,
kleenex
shampoo
conditioner
cleaning supplies
liquid soap

for about the next 2 years

[Bracken_Joy]

The people I know (relatives) that stockpile household goods spend an enormous amount of money of shelves, bins, tubs, containers, to store their stockpile.

Doesn't make much freaking sense to me.

Not saying the OP is one of these idiots.

Exception: a relative of mind stockpiles personal care goods and donates care baskets to women's shelters, homeless shelters, and has "go kits" she brings over to families in our area who get emergency foster placements (ie, middle of the night drop-off, no prep), which happens quite a bit in our area actually.
Some people don't just let it all sit and gather dust. I personally think it's brilliant. She gets a hobby, she gets to contribute charitably in spite of her low income, and obviously the community benefits.

[MMMaybe]

I'm so glad that this thread is not about family cloth!

[Bracken_Joy]

I'm so glad that this thread is not about family cloth!

+1. I may be crunchy granola to pretty extreme levels sometimes, but I do not go that far.

[OSUBearCub]

@ OSUBearCub, since you live in FL as well, id be interested to hear how you do it.

Thanks!

The extreme couponing show is pretty much a fantasy made for tv.  Real life isn't anything like that.  My typical savings when full-on couponing is only 50-70%. 

I buy two Sunday papers for the coupon inserts and print the rest off the web.  I shopped at both Winn Dixie and Publix.  In Florida, the coupon policies would allow you to use two identical coupons on a BOGO deal.

I shopped at Target for the mega stacks - Target printed/mobile coupon, manufacturer coupon, and Cartwheel discounts all on the same item.  For example that Target TP you mentioned would be 7.99 -2.00 manufacturer coupon -1.00 target coupon - 10% from Cartwheel.  Total $4.50. This sounds super complicated but it's not.  There's a website that lists each week's deals and coupon match-ups.  I would just check the site, gather the coupons, and head to the store.

Now before anyone lobs any facepunches or ridicule my way, please keep in mind that I really enjoyed the "game".  It was like chess and I always won.  Recently, though, I'm moving away from couponing because I don't have as much time to devote to the activity.

The people I know (relatives) that stockpile household goods spend an enormous amount of money of shelves, bins, tubs, containers, to store their stockpile.

Doesn't make much freaking sense to me.

Not saying the OP is one of these idiots.

I'm not one of those idiots ha ha.  Because I'm only stockpiling for one, my entire TP stockpile fit on the top shelf of the closet.  The food items all fit in the pantry.  I did buy a few cheap under-bed bins for the toiletries/cleaning products but my total investment was maybe $25 in containers.  Families of 4 or more need a much bigger stockpile.  If you don't keep it organized and rotated, it's wasted money.  Hence they tend to set up more elaborate shelving systems.

Exception: a relative of mind stockpiles personal care goods and donates care baskets to women's shelters, homeless shelters, and has "go kits" she brings over to families in our area who get emergency foster placements (ie, middle of the night drop-off, no prep), which happens quite a bit in our area actually.
Some people don't just let it all sit and gather dust. I personally think it's brilliant. She gets a hobby, she gets to contribute charitably in spite of her low income, and obviously the community benefits.

I do the same when an item is free or nearly free.  Shelters have trouble stocking personal care items. 

[No-stache]

I also used to be a couponer but gave it up. I liked the "high" of getting free stuff, getting paid to take stuff from a store, and regularly saving over 75% on stuff. BUT... it started to consume a lot of my time, gas, patience (especially after that god-awful show aired), and actually my money in the end as I was buying things just because they were a good deal.

I lived off my stockpile for several years and I'm not gonna lie, the first time I had to actually buy toothpaste, it hurt a little. Now I just try to get the best deal I can and move on. I'm not storing nearly as much as I used to, I'm not bringing stuff into my house I'll never use, and I'm not bringing in nearly as much junk food.

[PJ]

Try as I might to kick the deodorant habit, I live in Florida and I work in a rather compact cube farm.  I already switched to plain deodorant for the aluminum concerns in antiperspirant.  That's about as far as I can compromise - no one likes a stinky cube neighbor.  :-)

Have you ever tried the natural crystal deodorant stone?  I was skeptical but a friend convinced me to try one, and they do work.  They cost about as much as paying full price for a regular one, but they last very very much longer!  Just get it wet, rub it around as you would your regular deodorant, allow to dry, finish getting dressed.  It doesn't stop you sweating, but does prevent the smell.  It works for me at least as well as antiperspirant and naturally it is safe.

Also, if you're concerned about the cost of transporting all the heavy stuff on your move, have you considered selling off your stockpile to someone, or to several people?  You might find people in your circle of friends happy to buy desirable brands of laundry soap, shampoo, etc  at greatly reduced prices (but still breakeven or slight profit for you) and then you'd only have to take a couple of each with you.

[OSUBearCub]

Try as I might to kick the deodorant habit, I live in Florida and I work in a rather compact cube farm.  I already switched to plain deodorant for the aluminum concerns in antiperspirant.  That's about as far as I can compromise - no one likes a stinky cube neighbor.  :-)

Have you ever tried the natural crystal deodorant stone?  I was skeptical but a friend convinced me to try one, and they do work.  They cost about as much as paying full price for a regular one, but they last very very much longer!  Just get it wet, rub it around as you would your regular deodorant, allow to dry, finish getting dressed.  It doesn't stop you sweating, but does prevent the smell.  It works for me at least as well as antiperspirant and naturally it is safe.

Also, if you're concerned about the cost of transporting all the heavy stuff on your move, have you considered selling off your stockpile to someone, or to several people?  You might find people in your circle of friends happy to buy desirable brands of laundry soap, shampoo, etc  at greatly reduced prices (but still breakeven or slight profit for you) and then you'd only have to take a couple of each with you.

That crystal has been put on my radar quite a few times.  I've got about a year left on the deodorant stockpile but once it runs out I think it will be time to give it a try. 

When the Extreme Couponing show was popular, most of us broke out into various couponing factions in reaction to some of the awful couponers they profiled.  I landed in the "Ethical Couponing" group so I'm opposed to making any profit on my couponing hoard.  Since I can't remember what I paid (or IF I had to pay) for the various items, I'm bound by conscience not to resell.  There are quite a few unethical folks who will get crazy deals and then sell them at flea markets and garage sales for profit.  Instead, I plan to donate whatever is burdensome to the local men's shelter (they're always desperate for razors) and food pantry. 

[PJ]

When the Extreme Couponing show was popular, most of us broke out into various couponing factions in reaction to some of the awful couponers they profiled.  I landed in the "Ethical Couponing" group so I'm opposed to making any profit on my couponing hoard.  Since I can't remember what I paid (or IF I had to pay) for the various items, I'm bound by conscience not to resell.  There are quite a few unethical folks who will get crazy deals and then sell them at flea markets and garage sales for profit.  Instead, I plan to donate whatever is burdensome to the local men's shelter (they're always desperate for razors) and food pantry.

Makes sense to me ... since I was talking about selling to friends, I was thinking more along the lines of the break even point, which would be good for you (get back what you put into the purchase) and good for them (they get couponing prices but without couponing hassles).  Wasn't really thinking about the fact that it would be hard to remember how much (if anything!) you'd paid for the stuff in the first place!  Donating anything that seems unworthy of transportation cost is a good plan.

[CommonCents]

I've done this as well - couponed, and sat and rested because I had too large of a stockpile and also wanted a break from something that was so time consuming.  I also have a few things I think I shouldn't have bought (various med stuff), even for the $1 or whatever to roll the CVS extracare bucks.

My list is shorter:
Soap
Laundry detergent
Deodorant
Shampoo
Hand lotion
Toothbrushes
Floss
Disposable Razors
Cleaners
Dish detergent

I donate the travel shampoo/conditioner/gel to women's shelters.  Still have plenty leftover.

My mom was saying she needed to make a stop at the store for dish detergent when it was running out at an inconvenient time and I offered her mine.  She declined not wanting to take it from me, so I went and pulled my 3 little bottles and one big to prove I had enough to share.

I'd add toothpaste, but I'm running out on that count.

Have a crazy amount of deodorant and apparently it isn't as effective after a time.

I've been trying for a year to sign up for free Savings Central at the Boston Globe.  Finally sent them an email about it and they claim I should start receiving it on Sunday, so that means free coupons for me.  I previously bought the paper through a deal, but I'm 1) pretty unhappy at how difficult it was to cancel and how Globe employees tried to cheat me (lying directly to me even about what they were putting in for the sum for reimbursement - I had canceled weeks for vacation they weren't paying me back for even though they agreed I was owed it), and 2) not sure if the cost was made up for by the savings enough.

[OSUBearCub]

I've been trying for a year to sign up for free Savings Central at the Boston Globe.  Finally sent them an email about it and they claim I should start receiving it on Sunday, so that means free coupons for me.  I previously bought the paper through a deal, but I'm 1) pretty unhappy at how difficult it was to cancel and how Globe employees tried to cheat me (lying directly to me even about what they were putting in for the sum for reimbursement - I had canceled weeks for vacation they weren't paying me back for even though they agreed I was owed it), and 2) not sure if the cost was made up for by the savings enough.

I wish the Orlando Sentinel did something like this.  I had two Fri-Sun subscriptions to get multiple inserts (we get inserts on Saturday and Sunday) but the amount of wasted paper was starting to bother me too.

[CommonCents]

I've been trying for a year to sign up for free Savings Central at the Boston Globe.  Finally sent them an email about it and they claim I should start receiving it on Sunday, so that means free coupons for me.  I previously bought the paper through a deal, but I'm 1) pretty unhappy at how difficult it was to cancel and how Globe employees tried to cheat me (lying directly to me even about what they were putting in for the sum for reimbursement - I had canceled weeks for vacation they weren't paying me back for even though they agreed I was owed it), and 2) not sure if the cost was made up for by the savings enough.

I wish the Orlando Sentinel did something like this.  I had two Fri-Sun subscriptions to get multiple inserts (we get inserts on Saturday and Sunday) but the amount of wasted paper was starting to bother me too.

Yes, that bothered me too!