With the global economy looking pretty grim, we can look closer to home to see how to make those pennies stretch bit further. One method to do this is “stockpiling” of your household goods and staple foods. I'm going to write about many tips and tricks about this money-saving method!
This article is based on the situation here in Canada, but it can be used all over the world, perhaps in slightly different ways, with different websites to refer to. I stock pile quite a bit, mainly toiletries, and I know quite a lot of others do too.
What's A StockPile?
Your stockpile is a quantity of items that you store for usage in the future. Stockpiling toiletries and foodstuffs at home can be very handy and can make life easier, and provide many cost savings which are detailed later in this article. I'm referring to having enough items on hand to satisfy the needs of your family, for at least a few weeks or months. I mean basics, such as shower gel, pet supplies, paper towels, detergent, razors… Say you to purchase 10 bottles of shower gel for $1.50 each with the use of free online coupons, you won’t have to run out to the store and pay $3 for a single bottle when you have none left.
Stockpiling methods involve quite a bit of forward thinking and planning. If you find yourself running out to the store every single day, you might like to try this method out.
Stockpiling Ideas
There are many products of which you can build up a store of in your home! For example:
- Toilet paper
- Laundry Detergent
- Cleaning items
- Feminine hygiene items
- Razors
- Shampoo
- Canned goods
- Dried goods
I have quite a supply of canned tomatoes, corn, and fruit in my kitchen cupboards. I've also got quite a lot of shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, shaving gel, and cleaning products. :) I recommend that you make a list of all the things you could possibly stock up on.
Where To Store It
Depending on how much storage space you have available, that will dictate how much you can keep at any one time. If you have the room, you could buy a sort of shelf unit for your home, e.g. From Ikea. It could be useful for keeping all your products on. A lot of people stockpile goods in their garage, or even in their basement. But think about it carefully - Is the area OK for storage? Is it damp? Does it have extremes of hot and cold? Think about what you want to store there, and make sure the area is suitable.
There are loads of places in the home where you can store items. I use the space on top of my kitchen cupboards to store light items such as ceran wrap and paper towels. I've even heard that some people store canned goods in roller boxes under the bed!
How To StockPile -Find Free Coupons!
The first step in your stockpile mission is to stock up on very useful coupons for money savings and discounts. You may find these free internet coupons from many different sources.
One major resource for coupons in Canada is Save.ca - they have a database of online coupons for loads of brand named products. From Save.ca, you can choose the grocery coupons that you want, and Save.ca will mail these out to your home. You simply take these coupons in-store to your local supermarkets or drug stores, and claim your discounts. Examples of excellent Save.ca discount coupons: The $10 discount on Gillette fuson razors, the Iams pet food coupons, or the $1 Toblerone discounts.
Another site to add to your bookmarks is GoCoupons.ca. Go Coupons is quite new, and at the minute only has a few Yoplait discount coupons, but is worth checking in on from time to time.
Another source for your voucher discounts are the various free printable coupons that you will find online. You can see many of these posted with the “printable coupons” tag on the Canadian shopping forum, Dealguild.com. There have been some hot deals on there. For example, a printable coupon for buy 2 get 2 free on Campbell’s soups or a $3 discount coupon for children’s Tylenol.
You can sometimes pick up booklets full of coupons in your local grocery store. Many stores keep these booklets by the checkouts for you to take with you. If they have useful coupons in them, perhaps take a few of the booklets, if you know you are going to make use of them. But be courteous - don't take all of them, leave a few for other customers!
Another way to get free coupons is to subscribe to email newsletters online, on corporate websites. Make a list of all the brands you regularly purchase and go to the retailers' web pages. You can join their mailing lists and they might send Canadian discount coupons to your email account. For example, Ocean Spray, Procter & Gamble Canada, or Dove Canada.
If you'd like to read more articles like this, check out the "canadian shopping tips" tag!
And check out Part 2 here.
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