Stockpiling for Beginners

Okay, we've had a number of conversations about stockpiling, some of us. And the rest of us are probably just about to have that self-same conversation --- so .... lets all do this together, shall we?
Why stockpile?
No, not because I think the world is going to end sometime next month and I'll need all of that food and shampoo and toothpaste.
And no, not in case of nuclear winter either.
And, definitely no ... not because we might find ourselves persecuted and unable to exercise basic acts of living... like buying food.
And yes --- I know --- all of those are reasons why some people do stockpile.
I stockpile for one very simple reason:

I see no reason to pay for something this week that the store was giving away for free last week.

That's it.  Its just that simple and cut-and-dried for me.  I "buy" when its free or nearly so.  I store it somewhere in my house.  I use what I need, when I need it.  I don't pay money for things that are easily gotten for free.
Shampoo, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, and laundry detergent can sit on my shelf as easily as they sit on the shelf at CVS, Walgreens, or RiteAid.  I am NOT paying rent to the store so that these items can sit on their shelves instead of mine.

The trick comes in finding creative storage inside my house so that my house doesn't look like CVS.  I'll work on photographing some of my storage (I don't go overboard).  But in the meantime -- have a look at AllThingsFrugal.  She has collected some of the best articles and photos (even a video) about stockpiling that I've ever seen.  Some of the folks go a little bit over the top --- beyond what I can manage or even want to manage, thank you very much.  But its enlightening --- and if you don't come away from this with
1) at least one gasp or amazement (or shock -- depending)
and
2) at least one new idea that you actually CAN USE for increasing storage at your house (the can rack/sofa table is a serious NO GO around here)
then you're doing something very wrong (or very right and should have written this article yourself.

Free Soap!!!

Who doesn't like free soap??? We all use soap, don't we???
Well, thank you Proctor and Gamble for providing free soap for all of us who are savvy enough to be paying attention ---
In the 4/5 P&G insert there is a $2 off Olay bar soap (When you look at the coupon, you wont' think it is good on soap, but if you check the tiny print all the way through, it IS!!).
The Olay 2-pack bar soap sells for about $1.97 at Walmart so you could get it for FREE with the coupon.
And, Target, Stop & Shop, Price Chopper and Shaw's sell the 2-packs for about $2.29-$2.49 so you could get it really cheap at these stores as well after the $2 coupon!
This is one of those times when you're glad if you have multiple copies of that week's insert. Soap is easy to stockpile -- it doesn't take much space, it doesn't spoil and you know you'll use it.

Stockpiling

Help, I feel like they’re going to call that TV show about hoarding on me!! Isn’t all this stockpiling for people who think the end of the world is coming?? I don’t want to become a crazy person. 

Stockpiling is not about hoarding or being crazy or fatalistic.  Stockpiling is about refusing to pay rent to the store. 

Look at it this way: 

If I buy paper towels at the rock bottom price of FREE and I only buy enough for 3 weeks --- and then during week 4 when I am out of paper towels, I go to the store and I pay $1.50 for a roll of paper towels to get me through ---- I have just paid the store rent for the shelf space for storing those paper towels for 3 weeks.  I’ve paid them $.50 a week rent on that shelf space for that one silly roll of paper towels.  I could have stored those same paper towels in my house on my own shelf for FREE – but no, I decided to pay the store rent. 

Now, personally, I am adverse to paying anything I don’t actually have to pay.  And rent on shelf space to a store that is already charging me for items drives me bananas.  Whenever possible, I buy at rock bottom prices.  And I buy the right amount so that I will not have to buy that item again until the rock-bottom price returns again.  My price book tells me when I can expect that to happen, so I can predict how much I need. 

So, I have some shelving in my house (how much shelving will depend on your family size and needs and on how often the rock bottom prices seem to come around on the items your family uses --- every family is a tiny bit different) I store my own non-perishables on my own shelves and I don’t pay rent to the store. 

My own house is a bit unusual in the storage department, so we have to get a little bit creative in the storage department.  Our house is over 200 years old, so there are NO closets, and the basement is not useable for storage (it is stacked stone with a dirt floor --- it cannot be made mouse-proof and it gets very musty during damp weather.  Anything I put down there either ends up chewed or moldy smelling)  We do have a small room that serves as a pantry.  We’ve lined it with shelving and cabinets and store food products there.  

We also have three small shelves in the main bathroom.  I’ve fitted them with bins that hold our toiletries stockpile.  Its all organized, looks pretty, doesn’t raise the eyebrows of guests and works pretty efficiently for us. 

In the half bath/laundry room, we have an old cabinet that stores the stockpile of laundry supplies, batteries, and odds and ends. 

Finally, at the top of the attic stairs (accessible, but not “right at hand”) we have some shelving and an old dog crate that store the paper goods (paper towels, toilet paper, Kleenex etc) of our stockpile.  That’s about it.  We don’t have some super jumbo set of shelving lining every wall of our house.  We have just what we need to stockpile efficiently and effectively for our household. 

We don’t hoard.  We don’t stockpile more than we need.  We don’t save things we don’t or won’t use.  We selectively plan for the future and store away what we know we will need so that we have it.  We don’t pay rent to the store for keeping items on their shelves.  They get enough of our money without paying them rent.