One thing that I teach in my coupon classes is how to stockpile.  I think that it’s the SMART thing to do only when you’re stockpiling things that you can get for FREE or as cheap as that item can get.  AND, by stockpiling…I mean getting LOTS of a particular item or items!  LET ME define “lots”!  By that I mean getting enough that your family will use before the expiration date and/or enough to last until that item goes on sale again and you can get it for AS cheap as you just got it for.

I don’t believe in stockpiling hundreds of toothbrushes or other things like that!  You’ll never use them all, so unless you’re going to donate them INSTANTLY then I would only grab a few to last your family a year or so, if they’re FREE!  You can get FREE toothbrushes all the time.

I DO believe in stockpiling things that your family uses alot of.  Food items, laundry detergent, body wash, toothpaste, things like this.  I still don’t advise anyone to get hundreds of these items like you see them do on TV, but enough to last you till the next GREAT deal which could be a few weeks to a few months away.

Now you ask, “How does anyone get enough coupons to be able to stockpile?”  Well, there are many ways to do that from dumpster diving, buying several papers every sunday, collecting friends and families unused coupon inserts, and many more ways but that’s not what I do.

I actually only buy 2 or 3 Sunday Papers every week and that is sufficient for our family.  However, if there is a store deal that comes around and something is priced just right and a certain coupon will make that item FREE then I will purchase multiples of that particular coupon on Ebay so I can get ALOT of that item for FREE.  Keep in mind, that I only do this with items that we will use or that I can give away quickly.  Really, to be honest, the only way that I would stockpile things that I don’t use is if it’s a Money Maker and will give me alot of overage at checkout that I can use towards my other purchases and then these items will be given away.

YES, it does cost money to buy coupons on Ebay but only cents on the dollar.  You have to determine for yourself if the cost of the coupons is going to be worth it.  If you figure in the cost of your coupons and subtract that from what you’ll be paying out of pocket for your items and it’s still saving you TONS, then yeah it’s worth it.

Here’s a deal that I did several months ago.  Kroger had StarKist Tuna on sale for $0.99 a pouch.  There was a $0.50 off coupon that was in the Sunday Paper and I knew that it would score me some Tuna for free because Kroger doubles my $0.50 coupons to $1.00 off.  SO – I bought (30) coupons on Ebay and paid around $5 for the coupons.  Those coupons allowed me to get (30) pouches for FREE so figuring the $5 cost of the coupons, that’s all I paid for all of that tuna!!!!!

I would suggest that you have storage space ready to hold your stockpile before you begin or you’ll wind up with bags of stuff just sitting…and that’s NO fun!

Do YOU have any suggestions that you’d like to comment about??  We’d love to hear them!!

Blessings~