I am a person that buys products when they go on sale, preferably with a coupon. And this definitely includes laundry detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets and Oxi-Clean.
If you are new to buying in bulk and especially if you are buying in bulk on a tight budget, it is hard to determine exactly how much to purchase in one run.
What’s the solution?
Dating your laundry detergent.
When you open a new bottle of detergent, fabric softener or dryer sheets quickly write the date on the package. After a few months, you’ll have an accurate picture of how many your family consumes during the sale period.
When the next sale period roles around you’ll know what your purchase plan should be.
And if your laundry room is organized, you’ll know exactly where that Sharpie is to write on your package!
(How did I think of this fabulous method? It all started with Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. I bought 6 bottles when I was getting my feet wet with bulk shopping. Know how many we use? 1 bottle every 10-12 months! Learned a big lesson with Lea & Perrins: you’re not saving money if you have to throw expired items away!)
I am pleased to link this post to WMFW over at We are THAT family. Head on over for a great round-up of links!
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Great idea!! The last time there was a big sale my husband bought a 2 pack of huge bottles of mustard. We don’t even use mustard! I use maybe one small jar every 6 months..of the good stuff. LOL
What a wonderful tip! Obvious, but only once you said it. It never occurred to me before! It is like one of those slap yourself on the forehead moments.
I’m not sure what I was going to find when I saw the headline, “dating you detergent,” but I was thinking more along the lines of seeing if you and your detergent liked one another. Duh! I knew that didn’t make sense! I’m glad I read your tip. It makes sense now.
.-= Taylor at Household Management 101´s last blog ..Cleaning A Coffee Pot With Ice, Salt And A Lemon =-.
Brilliant, my friend! Brilliant!
.-= Crystal & Co´s last blog ..Weekly Meal Plan 16 =-.
Oh I LOVE THIS!!! I am clicking the organzing link but had to stop here to tell you I am beginning this relationship with my detergent TODAY!
.-= Jana´s last blog ..I’m Back! =-.
Isn’t that the weirdest title? I realized how it sounded after I hit ‘publish’ and you know it’s hurtful to change the stinkin’ name after you publish.
So…I’m stuck with dating. 🙂
This is a marvelous tip and is applicable to most household items. I’ve been doing this with my shampoo & conditioner for so long because I use up the shampoo faster and wanted to find out a better way to manage my supply.
Lots of food items benefit from this too. Not just for managing the purchase cycle but also once they are opened many of them have a limited shelf life (cooking oil, comes to mind).
.-= Sara´s last blog ..Walgreens: Weekly Deals 2/7-2/13 =-.
Hey Sara – I totally agree that it’s great for most any household item. When I first started buying using the stockpiling method it was really hard for me to know how much of each to buy. Just marking when I opened it saved so much headache!
Thanks so much for commenting 🙂
-Lauren
I think this is helping me to realize I usually don’t buy enough during the sales. I’m always running out of laundry detergent in between the really good sales and have to pay more than I want to for it. But when I buy 8 bottles of detergent it seems like enough….. 😉 Thanks for the great tip!
Yes, it does seem like 8 should be enough, right?? It seems I under (or over-) estimate some things that I buy regularly. At least this method helps a little!
Thanks for commenting! 🙂
-Lauren