My Stockpile

I've decided I'm slightly a hoarder... since I started really couponing (about 2 years ago) I literally always have my eyes out for a sale. Free dish soap? yep. 25 cent toothpaste? check. 

I absolutely can't pass up a deal. But I also know that I need to limit what I bring in my home. These are the cabinets we've set aside for my stash. And this is plenty. So I need to learn how to say "no" to sales for a while... sales/deals will always come back. 

In the meantime it was time to organize these cabinets- ya know... so I'm perfectly clear on when I need to start shopping again ;) 

Don't get me wrong- they were pretty organized already- soap together, shampoo/conditioner together, ziploc bags together. But it was an ABSOLUTE pain to need to reach stuff in the back- it meant pulling EVERYTHING out so things didn't crash out. 

Not to mention I'm 5'1" and it was pretty treacherous to reach up there- I would go from the floor to the chair, chair to counter, and reach WAY over the pantry and fridge. Oh yeah- and the past 5 months I've had a pregnant belly! Not the best set up.

So when I didn't feel like climbing, most things got thrown into this basket on top of the fridge. It's really for my linens (placemats, napkins, etc). 

I figured if each item were organized in a bin, it would be easy to pull the bin out and not have everything crash down on everything else. My go-to for amazing bins is Dollar Tree. They're cheap, colorful, and get the job done! I tried out the bins I used in the island (see here) but they were a little too long ( I LOVED the handles) . I needed some that measured smaller- somewhere between 10.5-11inches. 

I had a choice between yellow, navy, bright blue, or green. I chose yellow because it's such a happy color!

I began by buying 6 but realized I needed a 7th. I found the exact same bin in my classroom. It was a gift from some friends in college for my first classroom (and it was filled with all classroom goodies). I was glad I could repurpose it instead of rushing out to buy another. {yes, those "great value" brand storage bags were bought before my wal-mart boycott in January- I really do buy ahead}

The easiest way to organize something this chaotic was to pull everything out and assess what I had. I refilled our house supplies (I was getting low on shampoo in the shower, we were almost out of hand soap in the kitchen) and then began putting everything in a bin. I've decided if it doesn't fit in the bins, it doesn't come in my house. A surplus of 8 shampoos and 9 conditioners is plenty!! Having 14 dish soaps is MORE than enough (and yes I donated the 4 that didn't fit in the bins). 

They desperately needed labels! I labeled them using simple avery (business card size) labels, an adorable background, a cute font, and my printer.  

My labels include cleaning supplies, dish soap, teeth/toiletries, shampoo, conditioner, shaving/deodorant, and soap/bodywash. 

Since they printed on sticky avery labels, I simply attached them to the front of the bins! The pink background goes with the yellow bins...

and the lone blue bin:

I also love that I can pull out 1 bin and everything not fall everywhere!

Now I just need to stay out of stores... if it's not free and I don't need it, then I don't need to buy it. Coupons will come around again; sales will cycle through again. I just need to listen to my own advice!