• Toilet Paper
• Laundry Detergent
• Dish Detergent (hand)
• Paper Towels
  
• Mega-Sized Shampoo
• Bars of soap (body)

I can stock up on frozen things or things that can be frozen since I got my 5 cu ft freezer. (Meat and bread and juice are the main things). Pantry items tend to be the things that I don't stock up alot on or buy big sizes since it's just me using them and it tends to be infrequent in use (so wasted). 

TP, tissues & some paper towels, dish detergent, laundry detergent, body wash, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, mouthwash, some cleaning products are in stock and I always have large kitchen and black trash bags as well as blue recycling bags.

Canned goods:  mostly stewed tomatoes as they are low cal & versatile, but I do keep and go through spaghetti sauce, Drew's salad dressings/marinades (no or low carb), some fruits like mandarin oranges, raspberries, blueberries, condiments like an extra mustard or dill relish in the cupboard, olive oils, vinegar by the gallons, coffee flavoring syrups, lemon curd, home canned jams which my lady friends and I are making, and yes, some commercially canned soups, mostly Progresso.  I am also purchasing some of the tinned meats/fish as they go on sale, as I am low in that category and they are handy to have on hand.  This week it will be white albacore tuna at Walgreens.  There is an onion relish I am fond of.  I would like to get some of that again and try to duplicate it.  I do keep a few cans of potatoes on hand, whole and sliced.  Black olives and mushrooms.  Lima beans, beans for soup and red kidney beans for chili-with-beans.

 Have some pasta, barley, rice and couscous.  I don't use mac and cheese enough to buy large quantities of it.  Most of the boxed things have MSG which I cannot tolerate.  Have some nuts and honey in my stash, cereal when it goes on sale with coupons and RR/ECB.

Food and some treats for the dogs -- they need to eat whether or not there are coupons/sales on their foods too, so I stock up when they are on sale.  Pee pads as I sometimes get rescues who are not housetrained.

Because of the MSG thing, I cook mostly from scratch and then very simply.  I am careful of what sweeteners I have in the house.

I don't usually stock items like Jello or cake/brownie mixes, but do have flour, sugar, tapioca, baking powder and baking soda.  Chocolate is an item I am not supposed to eat.  Once a year a friend makes turtles from scratch, chocolate without wax and caramel from sweetened evaporated milk -- then I will have a few pieces.  I do keep mint patties and peppermints in the house; they usually get tucked in with gift baskets or are served to friends who do eat chocolate.  Hard to keep any type of chips fresh for long periods of time, as well as much produce, milk, cheese.  I love Totino's cheese dip which can also be used to make a quick "from scratch" mac and cheese.

I stock up mostly tp, paper towels, laundry and dishwashing detergent, shampoo and other toiletries but sometimes when I go to

BJs I'll stock up on juice boxes, puddings or canned fruit or applesauces.

I love stocking up!!  I was heavily into refunding and rebating in the 70's and 80's and ended up with a lot of free or virtually free items stashed away, to the point of being a super-pack-rat. I mean, one bedroom was for us and one for The Stuff.   After my husband died I moved into this double-wide in a Senior Park and my poor friends had to haul 18 years' accumulation of stuff out of our apartment.  I wouldn't give away canned goods from the very back of the cupboards, but they all got toothpaste and conditioner, shaving cream and tampons, and so forth from my years of BOGO deals.  They had a good time opening cartons and finding bars of soap tucked into everything - did you all know that it lasts longer if you take the wrappers off?- and it was scenting all my stationery and "just lose 10 pounds" clothing. 

Some cartons had been hauled unopened from one state to another (we moved a lot, every time with a bigger U-Haul), so now I'm doing my Final Unpacking and finding little treasures - a box of books with a top layer of Kleenex, coffee mugs wrapped in blankets, clothes I can fit into again (sooner or later, everything's back in style).  And  I really do have a lifetime supply (my lifetime, anyway) of HBA products.  I had to throw out a lot of 20-year-old Bic pens, though. 

I've always been a devotee of the dented-can racks and no-one ever got sick, so I'm slowly eating through a lot of ancient canned beans, soup, vinegar dressings and so forth. When I used to buy packaged pasta and rice mixes, I'd use only 1/2 the seasoning pack because we weren't into that much salt; so I'm using up a couple of shoe-boxes' worth of these on my current pasta.  Remember when Lawry's packets were 4/$1, and then with a doubled 50-cents coupon....?  So I've got a few boxes of those.   My grocery bill is pretty much fresh produce, on-sale family packs of pork chops and fish (eat one piece, freeze the rest in one-serving packs) once a month or so, 29-ounce packages of pasta from the 99-Cents Only, and kitty litter.  I may have to start buying detergent again in 2009.

All in all, I think my lifestyle has been a total vindication of the wonderful art of Stocking Up. 

juditur

P.S.  Buy your socks in one color, so you'll still have pairs as they disappear.

Like the rest of you I stock up on the paper products, household cleaners and hygiene products. .  I must say, I do appreciate my brother in law because he works at a paper factory and I get my parchment paper and paper towels for free.  As for food, I stock up on canned food; frozen foods and peanut butter.  In the winter I stock up on flour/sugar for baking--but I can't seem to use the boxed stuff fast enough-they usuall smell like my cupboards by the time I want to use them.  So that's a waste for me (and I'm frugal).

 How many of us not only 'stock up' but 'put up' for the pantry (you know, make your own jellies etc).

Nina462:

How many of us not only 'stock up' but 'put up' for the pantry (you know, make your own jellies etc).

Two of my friends, both single ladies, and I get together to make jams and can them.  We have done orange marmalade, four fruit marmalade, blueberry jam, strawberry jam and cherry jam.  We have not yet come to pickles or veggies, as crops seem to be coming in slowly here in Ohio.  At the same time, we usually throw something in the crockpot and share a meal together during the day.  We also bring dogs together to give them a canine playdate and break from their routine.  We are accomplishing needed work and socializing at the same time, so it's good for the spirits of all concerned.

There are also some specific threads on canning and freezing foods in the Frugal Food and Cooking forums. 

Glad to have you aboard! 

 Hey, everyone.  Brand new member here.  :-)  I'm single and new empty-nester.

Like most of you, I stock up on paper products like toilet paper, paper towels, etc.  I also stock up on light bulbs, dish detergent, bars of soap, deodorant, toothpaste, etc.  I used to stock up on laundry detergent, but I plan to make my own.  Also, I don't eat a lot of canned foods (sodium!) so I don't stock up there.  I try to keep the freezer well-stocked with meats and frozen veggies. 

 I'm re-stocking my kitchen now so I can fix frugal meals again.  I've been frugal all my life, but many times I regress into bad spending habits. 

 I stock up:

All kinds of canned beans (chickpeas, black, pinto, kidney, etc.) split peas, oatmeal, corn grits, whole barley and other grains, wheat germ and bran, dry milk,canned fruit, tp and towels, detergent...anything I can get on sale, preferably in bulk.  Some canned vegetables - peas, carrots, corn, tomatoes. Peanut butter (scads) and jelly, crackers and pretzels from Boxes and Cans Store (2 big bags for $1.00).  In my freezer - bread and milk.

My vegetables are all fresh whenever possible, as are fruits.

I adore fresh tomatoes, so I stock up on those when they're in season at the farmers market and can them. I wish I could do more (much easier) freezing for other in-season vegetables, but I live in an apartment and just have a small freezer. 

I also stock up on paper towels and toilet paper, and chapstick- which I go through really quickly! Next I want to find some big airtight canisters and start stocking up on dried beans.