When I started stockpiling kitchen and bathroom items, I was worried because we have a small house. We don't have much cabinet space for pantry items and that includes health & beauty products. I had no idea how I could have room for stockpiling. So I had to get creative without spending alot of money. That's the idea of couponing and stockpiling, right?
When we first started out stockpiling, I was purchasing everything that was FREE after coupons and store rewards (ECB or RR) and what I needed at the moment. My theory was (and still is) "why pay for it full price when you can get it FREE or nearly so when it's on sale". So needless to say over the last several months we have accumulated quite a stash of razors, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, tampons, feminine pads, hair coloring kits, body washes, toothpastes, toothbrushes, flosses, mouthwashs...My bathroom cabinets were booby-trapped! Nearly everytime we opened the door to get something out, 4 or 5 other things fell out. It got to be ridiculous and my husband finally said something needed to be done about it.
While shopping for the deals one week, I noticed CVS had marked down their storage containers 75% off at the end of summer. So I snagged two of them for around $2 each. I sorted through everything and placed shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotions and soap in one container and slid it under our bed. The other container is slap full of razors of every kind imaginable. It also resides under the bed. I found another plastic container I purchased at Walmart a few years ago to hold my daughter's crib sheets and what-nots under her crib. I pulled it out and filled it with toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash and floss. It still sits behind the door in the bedroom but after this post, I'm going to move it under the bed as well. (I'm feeling a little guilty knowing it's taking up much needed space.)As for the bathroom, my husband's side of the cabinet is full of bathroom cleaning supplies and extra bars of soap. My side of the cabinet is full of feminine products, Q-Tips and beach towels. We have a narrow wall cabinet we purchased when we first moved into our house 8 years ago to hold bath towels and knick-knacks. Now the bottom cabinet of that is stocked full of hair color kits. I store toilet paper in our garage, but that's another story for another post...
Now that our stockpile is pretty complete, I only purchase what's FREE after coupons and store rewards. There really is no need to do impulse shopping. If there is something we are running low on, I put it on a list on my fridge and keep my eyes open for sales. If worse comes to worse and we run out before a sale, I'll use accumulated store rewards to get what we need, which makes it essentially FREE.
Be creative, there's more space in your small house than you may think. Dust bunnies may not be happy you are infringing on their space, but your family will be happy they are not setting off booby-traps anymore!
Enjoy!
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