How to organize and/or simplify a "stockpile"?

You could get a bunch of those plastic bins from Walmart and label them ("Shampoo", "Tissues", etc.). Another good way to keep things is to save those red string nets that onions and oranges come in (at least, the sturdier nets), and hang them from hooks in the walls.

If you need to get rid of some of your stockpile, take plastic baggies and put a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, mini New Testament, etc. into each baggie, and then donate them all to the hospital. These are called 'care packages' or 'admission packets'. My church ladies' group did this a year back, and got a lot of appreciative messages (through the hospital) from people who had needed the packets after finding out they'd have to stay in the hospital overnight with a loved one.

Altogether, as long as it's not overflowing and creating a huge mess, it's probably a great idea to have a "stockpile closet". Just make sure there's nothing perishable in there...

I think the best way to organise the closet is stackable plastic boxes, with lids, to make best use of the space.. But they should be tranparent, so you can see at a glance what you have of everything. Keep everything separate too, to help with that. And make sure the shelves are sturdy enough of course.

It's also good if you want to see how long the items in your stockpile will last, to work out how long it takes you to use a bottle of shampoo, or a tube of toothpaste. Easy to do, make a note, maybe even write on the bottle with a permanent marker the day you start it and the day you finish it. Since all the others should either be in the same standard size or some multiple, then you can now work out how many months or years supply you have.

If the number of months or years supply you have is longer than you expect to live/wait out the zombie hoards/wait for the radiation level to reduce (yeah, I personally have enough Uniball pens to see me through a nuclear winter :oops: ) or whatever length of time you want a supply for, then donate 'em!

Maybe choose a time period, like a year's supply, or whatever you can easily store, and limit yourself to that, even if you still have coupons for more. Then give away or donate any excess coupons. More coupons will show up (perhaps from friends you've given coupons to) when you're ready to restock to top up the supply.

It's also good if you want to see how long the items in your stockpile will last, to work out how long it takes you to use a bottle of shampoo, or a tube of toothpaste. Easy to do, make a note, maybe even write on the bottle with a permanent marker the day you start it and the day you finish it.

If the number of months or years supply you have is longer than you expect to live/wait out the zombie hoards/wait for the radiation level to reduce (yeah, I personally have enough Uniball pens to see me through a nuclear winter :oops: ) or whatever length of time you want a supply for, then donate 'em!

Maybe choose a time period, like a year's supply, or whatever you can easily store, and limit yourself to that, even if you still have coupons for more. Then give away or donate any excess coupons. More coupons will show up (perhaps from friends you've given coupons to) when you're ready to restock to top up the supply.

-"junkfoodmonkey"

I have more than I will ever use. But i would hate to run out or let a deal pass me by. So maybe the problem really is I like to hoard things and I can rationalize these things because them are useful.

I am going to take a look at what I have and reduce. Maybe, I can give away some of the old when I acquire new stuff. Also, there are some brands I prefer so I should eliminate any brands I won't use.

I appreciate the responses!

If you really want to simplify? Keep maybe five bottles at most and give the rest to charity. If you don't have room for it, you shouldn't be keeping it: in the words of FlyLady, you can't organize clutter.

So maybe the problem really is I like to hoard things and I can rationalize these things because them are useful.

Verily, I agree. Sounds like that's what real problem is.

I used to horde other things, and it really did get in the way of simplifying both mental and physical clutter in my environment. The one thing I am guilty of hording frequently these days is Post-It notes ;-)

What I might recommend is also to think about how the value of those things decreases in such large quantities. I think I go through maybe 6 bottles of shampoo a year. I don't think I'd enjoy using 4-year old shampoo! I remember my parents keeping moisturiser for three years and it had all separated and was quite nasty-looking.

I was raised with a quantity over quality mindset, but over the years I have tried to bring myself to change that view. Instead of buying 50 bottles of shampoo for, say, $30 (completely random number) I find it more rewarding to buy one or two high quality shampoos every 3 months or so, for maybe $10 each.

There are some things that buying in bulk would be okay for, but maybe one solution is to not stop hording everything at once – maybe just pick a few of the bulkier, less nice products/items and cut down/give away those ones.

If you dont need it its not a good deal .How much shampoo do you use ?Cheap plastic bins good .Do you need a stock pile ?

If you dont need it its not a good deal .How much shampoo do you use ?Cheap plastic bins good .Do you need a stock pile ?

-"woody787"

Do I need a stockpile? That's a good question. I live in a city, about a mile form several stores and not overly concerned about the outbreak of WWIII or nuclear winter, so I guess I don't need a stock pile. But stockpiling has advantages. I stockpile useful household items like shampoo, toothpaste, t.p., dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, etc. I buy these things at a 75%- 100% discount. By buying at a discount in bulk, I save a good deal of money.

But at some point paying $.10 for a bottle #200 of shampoo is not a "good deal." I like the idea of only keeping on hand a limited amount, like 1 year's worth of any one thing. Deals are always around and I'm sure I can get more before next year. And if I can't I could just buy a bottle of shampoo at retail price! :o

Thanks everyone for the advice!

I reduced my stockpile! I limited myself to ten of any item. The storage room is empty and I love it! Evaluating which brands I like and which I had actually used this past year helped me choose what to eliminate. I gathered everything I don't need and passed it on to family. My clothing is next! Thanks for all your help.

Congrats! :-D I'll have to do some decluttering tonight myself. I think your final solution was a very good one =)

Well done! And think of all the goodwill you have earned giving the things away to your family.

Clothing is a good one to do too. Very liberating. Get down to a capsule wardrobe of things you know fit and suit you, so you know whatever you take out of the wardrobe will work. Anything that reduces the amount of thinking I have to do in the morning suits me fine. :wink: Put outfits together when you're orgainising the things to keep, and after you finish laundry in the future. Keep the whole outfit on one hanger if you can, then you dont have to hunt through for things that go together.

It is way cool that you are so good at couponing. That is a real talent! Stockpiling is not so noble. No one needs masses of stuff in their space. There is so much need in this world why not pass on the extra goodies to a nursing home, a homeless shelter or a womens abuse center? You can make someones life a bit easier with that great talent of yours.

Oh, I can identify with this. It's so easy to get sucked into a consumer lifestyle when the things we're buying are "virtuous"!

When I start to get overcluttered, I know it's a sign of my shopping jones recurring, regardless of how good the deals are. Sometimes what helps is issuing myself a different challenge: can I get through this month on $X, or can I only buy what I absolutely need (and don't have at home in some closet) for a month? Bargain buying gets to be a nasty habit. Taking a break from it makes me appreciate what I have, it makes organizing a priority, and it means the stash is going to get smaller, which, believe it or not, is a good thing. Besides, it's only a month - I can just about guarantee someone will have a killer sale on toilet paper before you run out!!! :wink:

Congrats! It sounds like you did a good job of eliminating all the unnecessary stock. I bet it isn't easy parting with that stuff, and I say that as a fellow hoarder.

Hi folks,

I'm a newbie on this forum and I'm so excited to find here is somewhere I can go to discuss my decluttering obsession with like minded people. I'm from Ireland, tho I live in England right now. I was brought up on the post-WW2 rationing and shortage bit in the 1960's. My family was genuinely very poor both relatively and absolutely for a Western European family even at that time but there was also the issue of a mother who was and to this day is just exceedingly TIGHT even when she doesn't need to be!

I have always promised myself I wasn't going to be stingy with stuff and as an adult have gradually become comfortably wealthy in world terms at least. But I can still get into that "if one is good then six is six times as good" mindspace.

I can understand the lure of tokens and coupons. The other thing we have in Britain right now is offers in the supermarket "BOGOF" or 3-for-2 items. This can be a bargain but only if you can actually USE two huge nets of oranges or 50 liters of cola or whatever. And come on! Which of us is so sure we're gonna live long enough to use up 50 bottles of shampoo, jewlelbrook!! I mean a guy could go bald as a coot in that time!

I still snap up some "bargains" but I do try to take a deep breath first. Like none of this stuff is FREE really. If I get it at so much less than it cost to produce, and get to the stores, then some other poor sucker has had to pay somewhere, whether it's the producer, the retailer or (most likely) the other customers of the supermarket/store. When I think that way, it suddenly doesn't seem so much like I'm being clever playing the game and feels more like I'm being kinda greedy, and snatching someone else's share of whatever it is we all need. For me, that doesn't taste so good. I also think how hard I work to keep my home uncluttered and ask myself if I really want to both pay in advance AND do all my own warehousing instead of Mr Walmart/Costcutter/ValuCo doing his job?

It's just another way of looking at it, I guess, and helps me put the brake on my buying.

Still, it's a process. I still have seven roll-on de-odorants in the bathroom cabinet that were a multi-buy **Bargain**

D'oH!!!

Hi, I'm another newbie too, and loving all that I've read on here so far, and I love that I'm not the only one who gets the hoarding bug, and the de-cluttering bug and the organizing bug.
We have 4 sons, and when they were all still at home, growing and eating and consuming :!:, bargain hunting and stockpiling was a real benefit, but then things got used up quickly. However now that it's just DH and me at home, I find it doesn't really pay me to stockpile too far ahead at all. We did a bit of travelling and I loved those itty bitty motel room kits...shampoo, lotions and sachets. I saved them to use for my own guest room, but after a few months, I actually found that most of them had gone "off", leaked, gone gunky, or just discoloured. Even things like hand wipe sachets and coffee, all dried up and I ended up throwing out a big bag of them.
Now if I see a pantry item that I use on sale, I just buy one extra of it. I have a big pantry, but I only ever have one spare item of anything on hand at a time. It's true, by the time I need it again, it is usually on sale again. The cost benefit of stockpiling I found, is often cancelled out by the waste of stuff perishing in some way and by the space it takes.
Cheers.
Daisy

:) Hi Daisy,

I can SO-OOH relate to the motel shampoo,sewing kits etc. At one time when I was travelling with work a lot we had a whole bag of mini-shampoos etcs but as you say they go gunky or simply fade and look kinda SAD! The thing is the time I really wanted those neat little supplies, when I was a back-packing student, I never had such a thing because I certainly didn't stay in hotels of any description. Now I can afford hotels I no longer need the dudey little soaps! I think your mail also shows how this is a continuous process; adjusting to what we need today rather than just replicating what wprked for us a few years ago. I know lots of people who, as you have noticed, find it hard to adjust their catering when kids leave home. I am a writer and for a long while I also taught at a University so I have always found excuses to buy stationery and office supplies. That's one area I often overdo it. The truth is I just like that kind of stuff! I'm a staionery addict! Sometimes I think pens are quietly breeding in my coat pockets, and I find it hard to understand that many, perhaps most, people are able to leave home without even a single pen in their pocket or purse! Or a small notebook!! Imagine!! :wink: Yet the truth is a work more and more on computer. I was quite early making the move from floppies to CDs for storage but that too is now almost superceded by pen/flash drives and so forth. I try to stay humorous about this though, because if I turn it into yet another reason to beat up on myself, it seems to be counterproductive.

Hey-ho! Another day and another opportunity to grow huh?

:lol: Me too mustafap! I am also a stationery addict. I actually have wall paper on my computer of photos of stationery... notebooks, pencils, old paperbacks and even a stationery shop that I found with my name! I love the smell of the stuff, and I still remember the total thrill of opening a new foolscap notebook in grade school. I don't have a fondness for pens though, like you, but I am hooked on any other type of office supply....LOooove the smell of pencil shavings, rubbers, and new paper.
Now it seems that personal stationery is becoming a fashion statement, and I have to resist so strongly when I go down an aisle full of designer diaries and planners and boxes and post it notes and files. Yummmm. Polka dotted file folders in earth tones, colour coordinated with the phone message book and binders. sigh! The amazing thing is that I have a totally de-cluttered and streamlined office and desk and file cabinet. But you are likely to find me standing in the Office Supply Store gazing in rapt admiration at the shiny black chunky staplers and tape dispensers. :lol:

Become present find the stillness inside you it speaks muchthe one that seeks to make life harder is your ego it feed off your strith when you are in a mind of what if or I need all from the ego, in the freedom of stillness there is no need for all this junk set and stop thinking clear your mind hear your breathing in and out think of nothing but your breathing find stillness inside and freedom with it . I would say buy and read the new earth, by Eckhart Tolle it is a wonderful felling when you become free of all that stuff I hope you all get to fell this freedom that is stillness.