Tuesday Tip: Packages of Multiples

This week's Tuesday Tip actually comes from my sister, Rachel, who shared this method a few years ago.  Unfortunately, I don't feel like I had some great examples to show you, so I'm working with what I've got!

When you buy general household goods, and even some groceries, there are a lot of items that you can get in packages of multiples be it bulk packaging, or individually packaged items grouped together in one large package. If you shop of Costco, Sam's, or other bulk-type stores, you will have a lot more of this. Some examples are: toilet paper, tissue boxes, wipes, toothpaste, canned foods, etc. Hopefully you get the idea.

The tip for this week is when you return from shopping, completely un-package, or unwrap, everything that is packaged in multiples. Or, for items like toothpaste (and other things I can't think of right now), go ahead and take it out of the box before putting them away in storage. Rachel said her little kids loved to help unwrap everything after a shopping trip, and also helped put it away.

Here are my few examples that I have available to show you:

Toilet Paper: When I buy toilet paper (usually in a large bundle), I unwrap it all and stack it in every bathroom cupboard.

My basement bathroom "cupboard." I'm actually running low on toilet paper; usually these shelves are stuffed to the gills with it. And we just ran out of my 18-month supply of tissues that had resided in the top "shelf."

Diapers and wipes: Instead of leaving them in the boxes, they all get unpacked and put on the shelf.

The whole idea behind unpacking and unwrapping everything is to make it easier to access. Especially if you're in a hurry, or if you're sending someone else (maybe a little kiddo), to get something, having it unpackaged already makes it so much easier to grab. Ever run out of toilet paper and have to wrestle with the packaging to try get a new roll? This little trick will eliminate that problem! Or, have you ever been in the middle of a messy diaper change and need more wipes? Who wants to wrestle with a cardboard box in that situation when you could just easily grab the next pack?

The other perk to this method of storing things is: it eliminates a lot of trash right away. All that cellophane packaging, cardboard boxes, etc. gets hauled out right away. I have found that if the un-packaging happens randomly, and over time, the trash part is more likely to stay in the house longer and build up. If I do the un-packaging right away when I am putting all of my shopping away, I usually just haul the big pile of cardboard/wrappings right out to the trash. And it's out of my house for good!

Hopefully this tip is helpful for you! And, hopefully Rachel doesn't mind that I used her idea for my Tuesday Tip blog post!