My Real Stockpile: The Linen Closet

You know you do it. You’re in a friend’s house, and you’re using the bathroom, and you just take a little peek in a vanity drawer, or a shower curtain, or the linen closet. 

No? You haven’t? Well, forget I said anything.

Anyways.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m offering an all-access view into my. . . .

Health & Beauty Stockpile Closet!!

Ok, so why am I airing my clean laundry?  Well, mostly in response to a recent reader question about what my $80/week grocery budget includes. And yes, it does include health, beauty, and cleaning products. This closet it how I do it.

I can’t point to one thing in this closet that I actually paid full price for.  In fact, I would estimate that I saved between 50-100% on every.single.item you see here.

On the top shelf: miscellaneous cleaning supplies, random medicines that we don’t use frequently, and body lotions. I worked at Bath & Body Works during Christmas of 2009 and got so many full-size lotions for less than $4 that I am still going through them.

On the middle shelf (left to right): 

Hair color, soap & body wash, various medications & first aid supplies, contact lens solution, and shampoos & conditioners. 

On the third shelf (left to right):

Travel supplies, razors, deodorant & face wash, toothpaste & toothbrushes, and hair appliances.

I have been “working” on this stockpile for about 2 years off and on. The beauty of having multiple items is that when I run out of something, I never have to make a mad dash to the store and pay full price! I can save time, money, and gas by  just opening up my linen closet. 

How did I create this stockpile? Basically just by combining coupons from coupons.com or newspaper inserts with store deals. Many of the free items I have been able to get at Walgreens or CVS, but there have been quite a few deals on these items at Wegmans’, especially lately with their Heath & Beauty Coupons. 

Why do I do this? Am I one of those crazy “Extreme Couponing” people? Does TLC want to create a show about me? (Uh, no). As I mentioned before, never having to pay full price for products  that my family uses daily means that there is more money in the grocery budget for things like our CSA membership, organic produce, and organic milk.  

Because, to me, living frugally does not mean a life of barren deprivation -- expensive chocolate, cheese, and fresh produce are some of the things that make life worth living! But if I can spend a little time to save money in one place of the budget, it means I can guiltlessly splurge on things that really matter to me and my family. 

(Oh, and at last count, there are 64 bars of soap, 12 bottles of shampoo, and 10 tubes of toothpaste.)