Food for Thought Sundays

Stockpiling vs. Hoarding

Stockpiling is buying things that you will use, preferably at the lowest price possible, in sufficient quantity to hold you over until the next sale and before it expires.

Hoarding is buying things just because you can get them free or super-cheap.  Hoarding is bringing them home, adding them to your pantry where they sit until they have expired.  Hoarding is buying things that you know you will never use, just because you can get them for free and then not donating them or giving them to people that can use them because all that free stuff just looks so PRETTY sitting on your shelf…

I visited some blogs recently and saw stockpile pictures that made my chin hit the floor. There were people who had 50 bottles of shampoo, 63 Tylenol heat patches, and more toothpaste than my family or yours will use this century. It made me consider the concept of stockpiling from a different perspective.

I have been using coupons, pairing them with store ads, and playing The Drugstore Game for free and almost free items for 2 years.  I've accumulated a nice stockpile of items we regularly use in our home. I don't have replacements ready for every item we use in our home, but we have a lot of personal care items now. It's nice to know that when we use the last toilet paper roll, I have another couple rolls in the closet.  We don’t want to be caught with our pants down now do we? :)

Notice I said a couple, not 50.   It’s not taking up a whole shower in my house. I can't see the purpose in stockpiling more than we know we'll use in a reasonable amount of time.

I've found that stores offer sales on a rotating basis. If shampoo was on sale this week, it's going to be on sale again in a few weeks or months. If I can keep enough in my stockpile to last a few months (think 1 bottle per month- I encourage you to make it a point to find out how much product your family TRULY uses.)  I can be assured that the items will be available at a decent price again before I run out. By remembering that sales aren't a one-time thing, I keep myself from hoarding things.
 

Some questions to ask yourself when Stockpiling-

• How many of this item do I think my family will need in the next 3 months?
• Does that number fit my budget this week?
• Am I cleaning this store out as to not leave another item for this entire store until restock day and leaving it unfair to other shoppers who may like to take advantage of this deal as well?
• Do I have enough room to store what I am buying?
• Is there a limit to how many the store says I can get?

Maybe the people whose stockpile pictures I found have much larger families than mine. Maybe they have been through some trying times emotionally and/or financially. I don't know their stories. But I know that my family doesn't need more than we can reasonably stash away for the next few months. I know that God is our provider, not CVS, Kroger, or Walgreens.