A Sea off Merchandise

So now you’ve started shopping, and the bags are stacking up around you.

What do you need to do?

They are taking over your house!

I went through this when I started out couponing.

Stockpiles taught me a lot about trial and error. I learned quick what worked and started adjusting what I was doing.

When I started couponing, I lived in a larger home and I started to bring products home faster than we were using them. My spare bedroom became a minefield of bags from various stores and my husband refused to go in there.

Then we moved into a one-bedroom apartment and I had to start being organized with my shopping.

So I started off in the top of my linen closet. I would line up the products and rotate them out as I bought more.

But my linen closet wasn’t an ideal location. I’m kind of short, so I would have to drag a chair or stepping stool into the tiny closet when organizing my stuff.

It also offered a very limited space and my stockpile quickly outgrew it.

Luckily, my mom was getting rid of an industrial shelf. I brought it home and placed it in my dining room.

When organizing your stockpile, I would suggest putting detergents, fabric softeners and cleaners up high in order to keep them out of the hands of small children and pets.

My next set of shelves normally hold shampoo, conditioners, soaps and bandages. Things that a child or pet has been around before, and won’t necessarily hurt them but wouldn’t be good if they got into either.

And my bottom shelves holds food and paper products. These are my son’s favorite shelves because he knows I won’t get on to him, and he gets to eat.

Another thing that I have learned when dealing with limited space is that you do not have to buy out the store. I suggest watching how much of a product you use in a month’s time.

When you have an idea of how much you use, buy enough to last three months. Sales on products rotate. Most stores rotate out their sales quarterly, so you can hit a deal again in a few months.

If you find yourself with too much stuff for your stockpile, you can give some away or sale some of it. I make little care packages for friends or family. If I’m short on cash, I sell of some of my stock at a discounted price and help both me and the person who bought it.

Organizing your products is an important part of couponing.

It keeps your house from being overrun by merchandise, keeps your sanity, and, if you’re anything like me, keeps your significant other happy.

So get your coupon on, but remember to put up what you buy.