the nice thing about my stockpile is.... (and other random things)

I never have to worry about having something here for dinner. The problem is WHAT to have for dinner. It is not a bad problem to have but sometimes gets boring. We eat seasonally generally speaking. Meaning that the foods that you see on sale in the winter are what I have stocked now, in the summer we have a lot more summerish foods stocked.


I talked to my boss about coupons the other day. She is a thrifty gal as well and knows how to stretch a buck however she doesn't stockpile. I explained stockpiling in layman's terms and she asked if it was because of my hubby's layoffs (my boss and I have a good communication, I tell her when Hubby is laid off so by some miracle if there are more hours available she will ask me to work them or call me first). I told her I started because I did not anticipate being asked to stay on year round where I work now as it was just a seasonal job and I was told it is really hard to get hired on year round (it is!!) and my unemployment was running out and I wasn't sure that we could afford everything if something unexpected came up like a vehicle repair, emergency room visit, or something like that so while I had the money I wanted to get us a little ahead of the game but my wanting to get us ahead and save money turned into stockpiling because that is the best way to save money. She didn't get it right away but I explained how using the coupons she uses now when something is on sale at the lowest price it will be at and using multiple coupons to buy multiple items (enough for 4-6 months) would ensure that she would never pay full price for that item and if she did run out she would know for next time and be able to buy more with the coupons next time and maybe only have to buy 1 at full price. I told her sales are cyclical and once you figure out the sales cycle for what you stockpile it is a piece of cake to buy for a stockpile. She was intrigued and pretty impressed by my knowledge. I think part of what impressed her is my young age (relatively speaking) and the fact that I figured this all out.

You see, the last time I told her that hubby was getting laid off she was worried I was going to quit and go work full-time elsewhere to pay the bills. She was worried that our income would not pay our bills and I would have to leave to make more money but once we talked and she figured out that I know how to stretch a dollar like it is a rubber band, she calmed down. She enjoys sharing her coupon scores with me and I like to tell her about Walgreens deals or the Kmart super doubles a couple weeks ago that she had no idea was going on. She is of the opinoin that taking the sales ads from other stores to walmart and price matching and using her coupons is best but once I told her a bit about walgreens and some other tricks I learned, she is quite happy to make a stop at walgreens after work.

Since stockpiling I have had people ask if we use more because we have more and honestly no. We don't eat anymore than we ever did. We still get every last drop out of a bottle of shampoo or conditioner, I still use my deodorant until there is none left. Hubby may waste a bit more but I trick him sometimes too. He refuses to go into our basement (long story) so I keep the supplies down there (not for that reason alone, just so I can keep them neat and organized and out of view of people who think I am nuts or think the stockpile is fair game since I "never pay for that stuff anyway so why do I care if they take deodorant, toothpaste, a toothbrush, shampoo and conditioner..oh and we are out of laundry soap. Gee thanks for saving me a trip to the store. You are so nice!" (catch the sarcasm there, please!!!) So anyway, I will just *forget* to get out a new bodywash or deodorant for hubby, knowing full well that he can get one or two or five more uses out of the one he has already so why toss it? I don't always do this but there is no sense in wasting stuff, even if I got it free or very cheap.