[ameeker]

Well, I like your 70% off rule, that sounds good to me. I'm a little less scientific, when diet coke goes on sale I buy 3 months worth. My sale price is $.99/12 pack, and I will buy a 3 month supply, since I know it will be on sale again in 3 months. Cereal I will buy as much as I have q's for if I can get it for less than $1/box. We don't eat as much as I buy, but the school likes it for snack break and the food pantry likes it as well. If I can get it for free, I'm begging q's anywhere I can get them from. Shampoo and conditioner I buy when it's name brand for less than $1/bottle, but I should lower that threshold because we seriously have 41 bottles in the house. Toothpaste, I like to make a profit on, we're stocked up through 2012, so I really do need a profit on it to get interested. Disposable razors, $.25 each or lower. My husband needs 2 a month and it goes on sale every 3 months so 6-12 at a time is about right. Pasta we eat every week, so I'll try and get it for $.50/box or less and buy a dozen (or more) if I can get the q's. Deodorant $50 or less, and I need about 8 for a year, and 10 for DH.

You should look at what your needs are per quarter, that way you'll know how much to stockpile. Most sales come around every 6-12 weeks. I've made some errors in shopping, because I'll leap at one sale and a week later it's on a better sale somewhere else and now I have no q's for it. But I keep a running list of the best prices I've seen on things, along with where and when I saw that price, so I'm better prepared for the next round. It takes a while to get going, but it's all gravy after that.