couponing has its up and downs....ggrrr

[lizamarie]

I have been stockpiling for a few years now and I am just noticing a few things and was wondering if any of you had these same problems. Maybe its because I am single and am not going though it fast enough and it is sitting around too long--another reason why I haven't been couponing much anymore..I have enough.

1---my downey softener is really thick so I have to water it down so it doesn't clog up my dispenser but then have to use a dryer sheet anyway because the downey is not enough and am getting static cling.

2--I'm in the shower with a brand new gillette shave cream and after 1 use the aerosol is gone and its a full can gone to waste.

GGGRRRR---glad I have 20 other cans of shave cream and around 6 other bottles of downey

[anastasia1009]

i am the same way with downy, sunlight pods, tide pods - all thick and tide pod stained my clothes - all from stock piling them and we only do three loads a week.

[GracieAnne]

Maybe you could think about donating a few before they become completely unusable. I donated a bunch of sunlight pods last week because there's no way I could use them all before they started to go off.

[coupon girl]

-yep and that is why I cut down on my stockpiling -only 2 of us now
-my royale toilet paper is fluffy(has little pieces f paper disinigrating on it)so now I only keep 4 toilet paper pkgs on hand
-my shower gel seems thicker-so I will use up the 16 bottles then only buy some if it is free like the mens axe(but my hubby likes to use my dove anyway
-only keep a few mens deodorant on hand as they shrink(old spice did)

so I hear you

[maggiespice]

Yeah, I noticed that my shave gel did the same thing, gel dish detergent turned to the consistency
of water. Bottom line, it really is a waste of money when products are left too long and have to be
thrown out.

[walkonby]

Ladies. how long of a time period are we talking about? I have shave cream, hair products and many cleaning products from 2011 ? or so, and they are all still fine. coupon girl I do agree with what you said about when it is just 2 of you, how many of each products do you need to have around?

[sam786]

I have this year
40 dishwashing liquids,sunlight,dawn,Palmolive,green works etc
65 hair care products,shampoos,conditioners and gels
and almost 120 bar soaps,
20 face care products,
20 softsoap bottles
and almost 20 or more tide liquid products,
I started couponing at the end of last year and that is my stock pile from last December..
after reading the post about products quality,
I am little concerned now...
so any one have idea that how long I can keep those products from 2013 to ..... Any ideas.
because I don't want to wast the products and all my struggle,
however I oftenly give products as gifts to my friends,

[Ciel]

I seemed to have noticed in late March that original Palmolive dish detergent sold in jugs at Costco must have had a change in formulation or there is an issue. The product usually moves slowly like a thick cooking oil when decanting from the jug to a smaller bottle. But I noticed that the detergent moves fast, almost like a watery liquid, from a nearly empty jug. When the new jug came in, I checked the liquid-still runny. So if the product has not been thinned by the manufacturer, then someone is watering down the jugs. I actually told a family member not to add water to the dish soap when the kitchen bottle was almost empty-I was told that no water was added.

[CouponKitten]

ALWAYS keep an eye on the expiry dates of your household products. it should say so on the side or on the bottom.
dont let your "purchase date" make you think that your stuff will last longer.

2 months ago, i bought dove antipersperant on sale at wm and the exp date was may and june 2015 respectively.
when i bought the same type of dove antipersperant from that same walmart last week, the exp date was sept 2014.
HUGE DIFFERENCE!

i like to write the exp dates on EVERYTHING i buy with a big black sharpie.

[anastasia1009]

but expiry dates don't mean anything - my pods and fabric softner all say 2015 or late 2014 - but they went bad. its because they stay in a cupboard or storage unit in the basement - and they just go bad. I just noticed all that pasta I bought last year - all long expiry dates - just used the pasta and starchy and horrible same with knorrs side dishes. And the soft soap all thick no more stock piling for me

[maggiespice]

but expiry dates don't mean anything - my pods and fabric softner all say 2015 or late 2014 - but they went bad. its because they stay in a cupboard or storage unit in the basement - and they just go bad. I just noticed all that pasta I bought last year - all long expiry dates - just used the pasta and starchy and horrible same with knorrs side dishes. And the soft soap all thick no more stock piling for me

I feel your pain!

[d.ot]

I dont stockpile too much since I give a lot of my stuff away to family (and also because I have no room!). But I can relate to products going bad, namely hair products (gel, hairspray, mousse). I rarely use hair products on a daily basis and only keep them on hand for those special occasions - weddings, etc. Last time I used mousse it came out liquidy haha

I havent been couponing too long but have figured out that it's best to only get what you need (for yourself and the people you're buying for, if applicable). This saves you time on running around and finding deals, & saves you money in the long run (less disposal of expired/unusable products).

Besides, many o the things we tend to stockpile go on sale every few months, so it's easy to just buy what is needed and get a fresh new product the next time the sale rolls around.

I sometimes feel it's a blessing that I dont have the room to keep large stockpiles!

[Patty Smyth]

I had a problem with the Pledge all purpose spray. There was an FPC in the insert one year so I got about a dozen and they were notorious for having faulty spray caps. I think 3 never even worked. Other than that I have had body wash for 5 years and Satin Care also. I guess I am lucky. The only bottle of shampoo that ever went bad on me was J&J baby shampoo. One bottle of Scrubbing bubbles the can rusted on the bottom and leaked.

[torontogal12]

when it comes to stockpiling, I think bar soap is really the only safe item you can buy in huge quantities. When you buy something, make sure you put the new stuff at the back and the old stuff at the front of the shelf.

@anastasia1009 I wonder if the issue with your pods is the temperature? If they are not expired yet, something has caused them to deteriorate. We don't stockpile much because there's only two of us, no space, and DH gets sick of certain brands fast and then they sit on the shelf forever. I learned this the hard way as we still use up the Dove body wash I bought 3 years ago because he doesn't want to use it anymore....I've been donating the bodywashes but we still have enough to use as handsoap

[tjthemanto]

I usually never stock pile more than 4-5 months of stuff ..things remain within the expiry date & don't get spoiled or outdated.

Also some other sale or couponing opportunity almost always comes up within these 4-5 months in case my stockpile gets depleted and I can replenish them.

It looks like no other sale or couponing opportunity is going to come up again , but if you just have some patience it almost always comes up ..bcoz 4-5 months is a long time.

Some things like Deos , Toothpaste etc with longer expiry dates ..I might stockpile more of

But yeah I have noticed some items which are stockpiled and used after 4-5 months are not the same as using them in the first month ..even though they are well within the expiry date ..so I don't really stockpile a lot , just for the sake of it.