How do you determine if your stockpile is large enough?

[ahatt]

Last night, DH said that our stockpile is out of control and that I need to slow down. He understands the purpose of the stockpile, but he says that I just continue buying stockpile stuff when we already have so much, which isn't saving us money. (I should add he doesn't care how much stuff I buy if an item is free, it's the stuff that we pay for he cares about). He used laundry detergent as an example...we have about 20 bottles.

I can see his perspective, maybe I have gone a bit overboard. But he is returning to school in September, so I've been trying to stockpile items now before his income drops in September.

So I was wondering, how do you all determine when you have enough of an item in your stockpile? And how long do you stockpile items for (ie. 6 months worth of stuff, 1 year worth of stuff?).

[kanewtz]

I can't really help, seeing as I don't stockpile anything.

I can, however, see how stockpiling can become an addiction. And I do see his point how eventually you will be stocking soo much stuff, there is no cost savings to it all.

I guess the size of a stockpile is based on many factors and parameters. Size of family, how much everyone uses, etc etc.

[jayne_a]

When i lived in my house i usually kept one room to keep my stock pile in. I had about a six months supply of stuff in there. Now that i am in an aprt, i only keep about a month maybe 2 worth the stock pile, b/c i have limited space. But as soon as my house is built and i'm on our farm, i told DH that i plan on keeping a years worth the stuff, and will need 2 freezers He's okay with that.

About the laundry soap, this is Smart Canucks i think everyone here has a lot of that (i'm actually down to 7 bottles now)

[screamy]

For dry goods that won't spoil, I don't think there's anything wrong with up to a year, maybe 18 months' worth of stuff, especially if it's free.

I don't have a lot of room, but there's just me, so I have limited myself to a reasonable amount (and I still feel like there's too much clutter, but that's a whole different story, LOL). And when there are MIRs and BP offers, I add to the stockpile for things I can give to people to help out, or to donate, etc.

If I had room for a freezer in here...oh, that would be so awesome!! I would keep a stash of milk and bread, and probably chicken - there are sites that will tell you how long something will keep. It would be wonderful to have one!

[anisa]

i would say that about 6 months worth of household supplies is plenty.

[Mia001]

when do i know i have enough?....when DH says so

jokes besides, it depend on things....like for some items 5-6 are 6 month worth and other 5-6 just stay for a month or less
it all depends if i have room to store them

[JD in Van]

I have a set of shelves in the storage closet. When they're full that's enough. That's for me about 4 - 6 months depending what I put on it.

[amandamck]

I think you can become a bit obsessive at first, I know I was and then it wore off. I've stopped buying laundry soap now. I have approx. 20 bottles. Enough to last a really long time. It was hard at first but I told myself no, I don't want to become a hoarder. Plus there is always a new deal around the corner.

[Sherbear609]

I don't have a stockpile... the most of something I have in the house is diapers... I have 2 pks of size 2 left, 1 box of size 2 and one size 3... and baby toiletries...I have enough baby body wash and lotion for awhile once sdm puts them back on for 2.99 I will buy them!!!)

[greentires4me]

I understand the idea behind trying to save money by using coupons I used to use lots but I have no room with all the things I have to keep something else. It can be overwhelming to someone else added into the mix such as a stockpile that continues to grow with no end in sight do you have an ultimate goal you are trying to reach before you are satisfied you have enough bottles of something? Or is it just the thrill of the find and the buy when it does happen?

[Chantel]

Well, I have personally determined that now that we have 30-some bodywash, 30-some toothpaste and about 50 deodorants for both sexes including trial size (we give those away a lot though, which is why we have extra) that is enough for us. It should do us for about 2 years for those, so after a year and a half has past I will start collecting those again, unless of course there's some new fantastic thing that I have to try in the meantime.

A lot of our toiletries are getting emptied out around christmas to make gift baskets so I may or may not stock up on more of those once they've been cleared out, just so we have enough for our own use for 2 years.

I typically don't collect dozens of one item and if I do it's COMPLETELY nonperishable (like razors) and I never have a bunch of the same cleaning supplies, just a few of each.

And as for the freezer... when we can't shut it anymore! I'm dying for a stand-up store-type freezer :D That would make organization soooo much better.

As long as I still have space left, nothing is overflowing and nothing has to touch the floor, I can still collect.

[oddduck]

I have a pantry in the kitchen I can fill, plus laundry room and the regular kitchen. Once my space is full, I'm done shopping.

[glenglen]

I started 4 years ago and I just got a lot of stuff this past year now that I don't need anything I really don't obsess over getting anything except diapers as my daughter has 2 in diapers she lives in Ontario but with the first one I sent them Canada Post.
I said this before who needs 40 or 50 bottles of body wash etc not me I gave away almost all I had,it depends on what you need or are going to give away[guessing]

[ahatt]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all your insight!

when do i know i have enough?....when DH says so

jokes besides, it depend on things....like for some items 5-6 are 6 month worth and other 5-6 just stay for a month or less
it all depends if i have room to store them

Lol too funny! That's helpful thank you

I think you can become a bit obsessive at first, I know I was and then it wore off. I've stopped buying laundry soap now. I have approx. 20 bottles. Enough to last a really long time. It was hard at first but I told myself no, I don't want to become a hoarder. Plus there is always a new deal around the corner.

I don't want to be a hoarder either. It can be very obsessive, and I guess I need to learn when to say "Ok I guess 20 bottles of laundry detergent should last us quite a long time, I'll stop buying more".

I understand the idea behind trying to save money by using coupons I used to use lots but I have no room with all the things I have to keep something else. It can be overwhelming to someone else added into the mix such as a stockpile that continues to grow with no end in sight do you have an ultimate goal you are trying to reach before you are satisfied you have enough bottles of something? Or is it just the thrill of the find and the buy when it does happen?

I don't really have an ultimate goal. It's not really the thrill, it's making sure I have enough to last several months or more and and trying to save money in the long run.

[KathieL]

As an Interior Decorator my answers to the question would be 1."when you can't hide it" and 2. "When you are no longer storing it in the room for which the item is intended" meaningi f you have 200 boxes of cereal under your bed, because there is no more room in the kitchen, storage closet/pantry you may have gone too far. JMO.