For years my friend Jessica has been telling me when there are great sales on at various grocery stores. She is a sale shopper and when she finds something her family uses regularly on sale for a good price, she will stock up! Jessica is a bargain shopper and has a great system setup for storing her extra food and houeshold products she has bought on sale. I have to admit, this is a good way to save money on your grocery bill, but who has room for all that extra food? Did I mention that Jessica’s home is 600 square feet, she has a two year old and no garage?
In my small home I have one, yes one, cupboard for food. My food cupboard also is a shared home to my bakeware, which I keep behind the food. The idea of buying 50 cans of princess spagehetti when it is on sale for $.40 a can (saving me almost $.80 a can) sounds wonderful, but I just don’t have the space to put it. When I grocery shop I always think about my space. A large package of toilet paper may be on sale for the same price as the smaller one, but the big one doesn’t fit under my sink and I have no other place to put it!
If you have a garage or storage room, you’re probably rolling your eyes right now. Who can’t find space for a package of TP? Well, me! Every square inch of my home is pretty much full, or so I thought. 
I recently decided, if Jess can do it with 600 square feet, I can do it with 900! I took a hard look at my laundry room and found one square foot of floor space not being used. One square foot is not a lot of space, but when can find stackable storage cubes that are only one foot wide and can stack to the ceiling, one square foot instantly becomes seven square feet!
This shelving system is not strong enough for can goods, but I simply moved my roasting pan, soup pot, crockpot and other extra things I had stored on a sturdy shelf onto my new cubed one. Now I have a whole shelving unit free for extra food and household products!
I’ve stocked up on my favourite soup when it was on sale, oatmeal, cereal, my family’s favourite marshmallow cookies and a few other canned goods so far. It ‘s not full, but I have room there now if I do find something on sale. The best part? My food cupboard isn’t jammed full anymore and neither is under my bathroom sink! I now have a whole shelf dedicated to TP and paper towels!
I was really sick last week and Joe was gone away for business. It was so nice to not have to drag myself and the kids out grocery shopping on the weekend (which is when we go each week) and instead shop from the laundry room shelf!
If you don’t already have a little extra space for food storage, consider creating your own “Costco Corner” or “Sam’s Shelf” in your home. It will save you money and the occasional trip to the grocery store!
Happy Organizing!
