Stockpiling right products can save you cash

HOUSTON

We teamed up with Super Saver Erin Libranda to learn how to stockpile items. She says many people shop for just the items they need for that week and that's a big mistake. If you want to stockpile to save money, you have to be willing to make an upfront investment and have enough storage space.

Libranda became a believer in stockpiling after she scored a great deal on hundreds of razors -- $2,500 worth to be exact. She got them for free by combining a sale with coupons.

"It ended up lasting us about six years," Libranda said, "and I am down to the last one and it's like the hall of fame."

Libranda stockpiles to purchase items she's already needs at a great deal. She takes it a step further by using coupons on sales to score other rock-bottom prices.

One example, she is stockpiling dog food from PetSmart.

"Right now until the end of the year, if you have the PetSmart PetPerks cards, you can get the AvoDerm for 99 cents a bag," she said.

But before you begin to stockpile, Libranda has a few tips.

"You have to be organized, that's the number one thing," she said.

Tip No. 2: If you don't have storage space, Libranda says create some in your home.

"Even apartment dwellers, there are places you can put stuff, under the bed, on top of cabinets, build shelves," she said.

She built a peg board in her garage to store razors, bought plastic shelves to store cleaning supplies and uses the space under her stairs for shampoo.

Tip No. 3: find out what you need.

"I'll look at what we would use in a month's time and then go by that as far as stockpiling," Libranda said.

Whether it's cleaning supplies, cans of soup or pasta, Libranda says don't just stockpile just because you get a great deal.

"There is a fine line between hoarding and stockpiling," she said. "Hoarding is just going in and buying everything just because it's completely free or very cheap. Stockpiling is different; it is to get you by until the next big sale out of necessity."

Tip No. 4: start with items that don't have an expiration date.

"A lot of things that are easy to stockpile that you don't have to watch dates are HBA products -- shampoo, toothpaste, razors, dish detergent, stuff like that -- stuff that you'll always gonna need, always gonna use, and no expiration dates to worry about, so that's a safe place to stockpile with," Libranda said.

And when you're stockpiling food, keep an eye on expiration dates.