To those of you who read here regularly, you will notice that I often suggest that you collect multiple copies of the Sunday paper and purchase many items at a time to get the best deal. Although every week is different, the story is often the same.

One of the results of this kind of shopping is the accumulation of a number of toiletry items, medicine, and canned goods that you may not use for some time. The accumulation of these goods is often called a stockpile.

In coaching a friend in saving the way I do, I heard them say, "that's a good deal but I have enough of that item right now." I quickly thought how different we were in even approaching deals and shopping. My personal philosophy is that I shop & store stuff when an item is free or drastically reduced. This prevents me from running out of something an having to pay full price. For example, a grocery store in my town and triple coupons (up to $1) in the summer. I had fabulous coupons for turkey bacon. Since we try to eliminate pork completely but spend a small fortune on breakfast meats, I stocked up. I purchased like 20-30 packages of meat that were about 90% off the normal price. Only now are we dwindling down to our last packages of meat. I do the same with soap, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. When something is free or at a low price, I stock up. This works best for me for a few reasons:

1. We have the space at home to store stuff. We have a large basement with storage, an extra refrigerator, and a large laundry area to store goods
2. I build the extra money in our budget each month for things that are on sale. In the meat example, I was able to buy enough meat for the rest of the year & still stay in budget
3. I have a flexible schedule where I can run around to nab sales. This is fun to me & doesn't cause stress

Stockpiling may not work so well if:

1. you become excessive in getting and storing. Stockpiling works for me because when I feel like we are getting too much we donate it, use it for gifts, or sell it in our family yard sale.
2. you have limited space. Not all items have to be stored at a certain temperature. Considering storing some items outside or in protective containers if space is an issue.
3. you don't also plan to organize your goods. There's nothing worse than buying something only to realize that you had one tucked away in the back of a cabinet somewhere. I'm no queen of organization. It seems like I just don't have the time to ever get things the way I want it, but keeping your stockpile organized will save a lot of time and energy.
4. money isn't a motivator for you. Perhaps time is more of a driving factor in your life right now. A stockpile system might not work for you.

I thought about writing this today because there are a number of layers to saving money. One is the art of spending at the right time, sometimes even before you need something. You'll have to test the one for yourself. To stockpile or no?