The other is that the plastic bottles themselves tend to develop leaks. One is that the liquid itself separates into a thick, gummy layer at the bottom of the bottle, with a thin liquid over that, and just shaking the bottle does not mix it up well. I discovered that liquid dishwasher detergent does not keep very well for really long-term storage (over a decade or longer). However, I am now a widower living alone, and use very little of that. Q: In past years, I was a bit of a couponer, and one of the items I stocked up on was dishwasher detergent. Three months of my kids' favorite cereal is about nine boxes.īut for other items, it's good advice not to buy more than you can use before a product spoils. It's not as much as you might think - for our household, three months of ketchup is three bottles. Most of the time, I buy in three-month quantities. And the paper towels were on a shelf in the garage, so they weren't taking up any of our living space. Even when I've hit a great deal on paper towels (and ended up stashing extra rolls in the garage!), I think the longest that stock-up lasted was close to a year. Completely nonperishable items, such as paper products, never expire. I try not to stock up on anything that we won't use before its expiration date. But couponing without some form of stockpiling is tough as we "win" the couponing game by buying when prices are low, then using our on-hand inventory when prices are high. For most items, I'm only buying in quantities that we can use over about a three-month span. Roger N.Ī: Notes like that make me want to scream from the rooftops, "MY house isn't full of cans and toilet paper!" My stockpile fits on a set of shelves in my laundry room, and it's rotated regularly. We don't want that much in the house, and I can't help wonder - don't these people want to live in their living spaces? Show me couponing without stockpiling and I just might sign up. But I have seen those TV shows where people stockpile a whole bedroom of things. Q: I read your column in my paper each week, and I know you couponers are saving large amounts of money on everything. However, for some people, the word "stockpiling" has become synonymous with "hoarding" or "buying big." And, based on some of the email I've received, I think we need a new word for what we do! Thanks to extreme couponers, that word seems to be scaring off would-be coupon shoppers: Need another box of cereal? Tube of toothpaste? Roll of paper towels? Grab it from your stockpile versus running to the store and you're saving big. It's a great strategy for shelf-stable, nonperishable or freezer-stable items because prices fluctuate.īuying at a low sale price, with coupons, ensures that we never have to pay full price. 'Stockpiling" is the term couponers have long used for shopping ahead of sales cycles, then storing groceries and supplies until the next sale.
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