You realize that asking that kind of question nowadays practically invites government investigation, don't you? :-p

Seriously, if these items are unopened and not stored in extreme conditions (no freezing garages, etc.), they should last for at least a year; probably longer. Did you use a Web search engine to search, for example, for "expiration date" and mouthwash?

You know, I didn't even make the connection when I asked the question.

I just checked one battle of mouthwash, and it had a date of something in 2007. The other bottle had nothing.

I'd think shampoo would last forever.

Deordorant might dry out some, and/or not spray if it is aerosol.

Conditioner might in time separate...but only after a couple years of storage.

Sort of like the rest of us - have a tendency to deteriorate with age, I imagine.

What's your expiration date? Have you heard? (I doubt that it's printed on your bum.)

Indeterminate, I guess.

ole joyful

Hi, Joyfulguy!

I love reading your posts.

My mother found an old package of toilet peper way in the back of a closet. She thinks she bought it in the seveties. Remember colored toilet paper? It was pinkish mauve. She tried using the rolls,but they're very dried out and have a powdery texture. They didn't even rip properly along the perforations,just tore jaggedly. Proof that paper goods don't last "forever".

Don't stock up on shampoo. It will start to smell rancid after a period of time. I can't remember how long, but I know that from experience. I used to stock up on stuff like shampoo, and have had it get old and had to throw it away because it smelled bad. I'm thinking maybe a year, but probably even less. I would think conditioner would do the same thing.

I'd say if it is a really good price, by two. Don't get 20 :)

Here is a link that might be useful: craftfetish blog

I agree, everything degrades after a certain period of time. Fats go rancid, chemical combinations alter or change, perfumes go "off" from heat/cold variances, items can actually dehydrate.

Don't forget the containers the "stuff" is in - even plastics - they are porous and you can get odors penetrating the packaging which may alter the contents. Packaging will also breakdown and may start to leak (that's why you shouldn't store liquids in old plastic milk jugs - they quickly breakdown after several months). Where you store your bargains will also have an effect. Under the sink is a poor place for storage because you have huge changes in temperature and humidity. Optimum storage is around 72°F and 50% or lower humidity, so if you store things in a hot and humid environment, it will degrade faster.

When it comes to bargains - you'll probably be able to find things like toothpaste, deodorant, etc., on sale again... Don't forget to rotate your storage items - put new in the back and use what is in the front. Writing a month/year date on your storage items is also a good idea.

-Grainlady

With regard to temperature of storage ... I suspect that most goods would last longer if stored in temperature (perhaps even in the 40s) in the 50s or low 60s than as high as 72.

Stuff containing fats or other ingredients that tend to grow rancid would certainly last longer at lower temperatures - even (possibly even best) at a few degrees above freezing.

I have some pre-laundry stain spray from over 30 years ago - that still works (seems about as effective as previously).

Haven't tried it on a dirty mind, though - haven't been able to find any. Does that indicate a comment on the increasing permissiveness of our society?

ole joyful

I stopped "stocking up" on things when they are on sale. I was losing money. I ended up wasting a lot of stuff that went bad - especially food items.

As previous poster suggested, if it is on sale by two, not twenty.

Fabric softener turns clumpy in a few months. Salad dressings seem to go rancid fast. I was storing extra TP and paper towels and tissues in the attic in big cases bought at big lot stores and they degraded and smelled like the attic.

Deoderant seems to lose it's "active" ingredients. You'll still have the gel or waxy stuff but the product is ineffective.

I don't think shampoo and hand lotion 'turns rancid' but I think that the perfume they add at manufacture evaporates leaving a product that still works, but doesn't smell nice anymore. You''l still have clean hair, but instead of smelling like lavendre, it will smell like a hamster cage.

Things sold in plastic seem to degrade faster than things sold in glass or metal.

Now there are things that one can stock up on that won't go bad, like razor blades and Q-Tips but I found that it is emotionally draining to keep drawers and shelves stuffed to the bursting point. Storing things 'out of the way' in the attic or basement or crawl space means they end up getting lost and you can't find them when you need them, and you end up buying something at full price when you run out.

I want to keep clutter to a minimum and not have little bottles of shampoo falling out of the linen closet everytime I open it. Or have to move economy size boxes and bottles around while I forage for my tiny bottle of contact lense solution waaay in the back of the closet.

I figure it this way, if I buy $100 worth of stuff @ 20% off, for $80, I feel I "saved" $20. Right? But if it takes me two years to use that stuff, I could have put that $80 dollars in the bank and made interest on that money and made my $20 that way. And I wouldn't have to trip over boxes of laundry soap and cases of paper towels on my way up to the attic everytime.

I have been reading a few books on Feng Shui recently and I am developing a 'new attitude' towards things. I am evolving a whole new way of looking at things.

I don't really feel the need to buy large quantities of items and store them as I make most consumables last a long time. I also tend to buy fairly inexpensive ones, so sales which are normally on brand name items are rarely cheaper.

However, if you do buy sale items I find they cycle around quite fast on personal/household items. At any one given point in time most stores will be holding a couple of BOGOF or discounts on certain brands of shampoo, toothpaste, etc.

If I expect to replace something within the next few weeks I just check each week when I go shopping and almost inevitably find a good deal at some point. I don't often pay full price for something unless it's store brand.

I didn't read the whole thread, so this may have been already mentioned. Toothpaste's expiration date is written/imprinted on the end of the tube.

I prefer to stock up on those items I find on sale. For instance, there is only one type of soap DH will use and yesterday, it was on clearance for over 1/2 off. Usually, it's about $4.50 each but yesterday it was only $2.34. I purchased 10 of them. I also stock up on toilet paper when it's down to $5.00 for a 12 pack. I don't live in a large house and don't have tons of storage space but I prefer not to have to think about shopping for those items I will purchase anyways.

Let's see now ...

If I eat less ...

... lower cost for groceries (I often buy the stuff from the flyer that's on heavy discount, or I don't buy much, except bread and milk) ... (well, maybe some ice cream, as it's summer).

Less toilet paper (need I explain further?).

No fees to Weight Watchers.

However ...

I'll probably live longer ...

... in better health.

So - will need more money for that travelling and jazzing around, now that I'm retired.

And will need more money to keep me for all of those extra years.

Less weight to carry around, less complaining from back, hips and knees. Probably avoid hip/knee replacement, as well.

Being as I'm in Canada, though, the hip/knee replacement would be without direct cost to me.

What's my expiration date?

Who knows - but if I'm not overweight, it'll probably be dalayed.

The chief job that we have as money managers is to arrange for the last dollar to evaporate at our expiration date.

Except, of course for some left in the kitty to cover outstanding debt (as I feel obligated to pay my creditors, not force them to chase me - difficult to do, beyond the grave).

Including debt to the Income Tax people.

And, of course, costs related to my cremation, memorial service, etc.

If I have my kids scatter my ashes ... no need for a burial plot. Their Mom, a U.S. citizen (born in Iowa) spent a number of years in Canada (head dietitian in a psychiatric hosp for a number of years) and asked our kids to scatter her ashes on the Detroit River, from a park that she used to visit on occasion.

Assuming, of course, that I have no interest in passing some of my assets on to my kids.

Assuming, also, that I have no interest in giving some of my assets to charity. I certainly hope that there will be some residue left to do that.

So - what's my expiration date?

Only God knows!

And S/He ain't tellin'!!

Have a really memorable week, everyone.

ole joyful

P.S. Did you see the message I put on Kitchen Table yesterday about the greatest four-letter word?

o j

Ole Joyful,
Don't assume that because you are not overweight you can avoid such surgery. Many of us have sustained sports injuries that make surgery a possibility, if not a neccesity, in the future.

P.S. I prefer the term frugal rather than cheapskate:)))

valtog,

Sorry if I left the impression that, if one isn't overweight, one needn't worry about replacements for hips, knees, etc.

Just meant that the possibilities of needing some of that are much smaller if one has successfully avoided being overweight.

I think that playing quite a lot of hockey increases one's chances of needing such a service.

As does jogging.

I think that walking (or, even better, swimming, to let the water take the load off one's hips and legs) is preferable to jogging.

But that takes longer ... and you know how modern man (well, women, too) hate that!

Also, with regard to the jogging ... I suspect that I harbour a streak of laziness somewhere in my makeup. I've found that I'm too lazy to hold back when running downhill.

Life do have its problems!

I hope that you're having a memorable day.

o j

I did enjoy ice skating, but my Dad wouldn't buy me a stick because I was a girl:)

The world sure has changed!

It was skiing that did me in. I'm beginning to wonder if living somewhere warm would have been easier on my body...LOL

valtog,

Especially if you had a swimming pool nearby.

Especially nice since it wouldn't need heating (through a longer season).

Not much call for hockey in those areas, tho' (I assume that you weren't referring to lacrosse).

Enjoy your good health - well, the measure of it that you have.

o j

(This thread doesn't seem to have expired yet - anyone have something new to add??)

o j

Just imagine ...

... if we did have our expiration date printed on our bum ...

... it'd be a deuce of a job to read it, wouldn't it?

Problem with mirrors - the print'd be at least backward, maybe upside down as well, depending on where we placed the mirror.

Of course, we could get someone else to read it for us ...

... but would they tell us the truth?

Wanting to spare us unnecessary trauma, etc. - especially if the date were fairly close.

You can imagine the complications!

Why can't life be simple and easy - like it is for a cow?

By the way - you've heard my story about pigs being smarter than cows?

Have a lovely week!

ole joyful

No use-by dates on shampoo here in Australia. Wish there were. Nothing like yuk-smelling stuff all through your hair. So I rang the customer number on the bottle and they said oh, that must be an old bottle if it has our number on it, we sold that brand off about five years ago. We didn't stock up, we didn't buy it at the reject shop. We would've bought it a few weeks earlier at most in our usual supermarket.

Now you've got me wondering about pigs and cows.

Hi macbirch.

As you know, World War II started in 1939, when I was 10 and had brothers 7 and 5. Farmhands went to war, Dad had a large farm, so we had lots of work to do.

Dad had built plank platforms in the corner of several pig pens, and we'd throw a forful of straw in there.

When we kids were playing, we could go into those platforms and lay down on the straw, as it was clean. The pigs slept there, did there business in another corner, and that not near the trough. Never in the feeding trough.

A cow, on the other hand, will shi! in its own manger!

Where I come from, we figure that pigs are far smarter than cows.

You can have a pig for a pet, let it run in the house - it's clean!

Don't try that with a calf!

Hope you're having an interesting late summer/early fall.

ole joyful

My mum told me years ago that pigs are her favourite animal. I guess I just wrote it off as one of the weird things she said that was incomprehensible to me as a teenager but it actually makes sense now.

Some investigators and researchers like to use pigs for evaluation, as they are omnivores, as are we.

Their bodily functions are quite similar to ours, we're told.

At an investment group that I attend, we had a local research co. tell us of using pig (pancreases?) to install into diabetic humans, with a filter around them to block the human's rejection mechanism from attacking it, for it to produce insulin to feed insulin out into the bloodstream.

That was back in January ... I could have bought a share for 40 cents for a few days after, and almost did. Then it rose to 80 cents, a dollar, $1.20, and now sits at about a dollar.

Heck - some humans (even adults) exult in using mudpacks!

ole joyful