Organizing the items that you purchase

Another important piece to successful couponing is keeping the items that you buy organized so that you can see what you have!  This will help you figure out what you have, when it expires and you will also be able to see what you need! I only buy products I KNOW we will use and I (except for my ivory bar soap) don't have an insane amount of each item in my stockpile

I ordered some cheap but sturdy shelving units for our two closets that were a total waste of space!  One of them, which is the gift closet has yet to be organized, the other which is our hallway closet is where I store all the food!  Our linen closet had built in shelves which is great because there are enough shelves in there that I can fit the linens and all the health and beauty and drug items that we have!  

 The two shelves in the linen closet which have the health and beauty stockpiles! 

Close up of one of the shelves! In the back which you cant see I have two baskets that I use to keep the free samples that I get from companies in the mail!

The food stockpile.  I picked up this shelving unit through the Walmart website for about $20 and got it shipped to the store for free!! 

I love having everything all organized so I can see it all!  I also organize by expiration date with the stuff that's going to expire soonest in the front and the stuff that will last the longest in the back!  It helps to cut down on being wasteful!  A great thing to do if you have more than you will use of something is to donate to your local food pantry or homeless shelter.  I just saw  that at Plaistow Old Home Day they will have a truck set up to collect food and other items for those who were affected by the tornado's in Springfield, MA so I am planning to donate some of the items that we have extras of such as band-aids, soap, and some non-perishable foods!  This will be the first time I have been able to donate and I am VERY excited for it.