According to Wikipedia, compulsive hoarding is a pattern of behavior that is characterized by the excessive acquisition of and inability or unwillingness to discard large quantities of objects that would seemingly qualify as useless or without value. If you look at the symptoms of compulsive hoarding, we aren’t hoarders but we do stock up on things we know we’ll use. I suppose no hoarder has ever admitted to being a hoarder though.
Most everything that we use every day, I try to keep at least a year’s supply on hand. I only buy extras when things are on sale so I’m always “shopping” out of my own pantry and then when things are on sale again, I replenish my supply. Not everyone has the room or the desire to do this but to me, it makes sense. When you think that saving 50¢ per can on vegetables and using probably 5 cans per week . . that’s $2.50/week in savings or $130 per year. I’m guessing that by doing this with the things we use so much (toilet paper, paper towels, sugar, canned goods, dish soap, bath soap, shampoo, etc.), we save several thousand dollars per year and it’s so nice to want to make a recipe and know that unless it calls for something really unusual, I have it in my pantry.
This week at Kroger, they have some kind of deal where the large Gatorades on sale for 67¢. Do you know how much Gatorade Vince drinks when he’s out working in this heat? A lot! Do you know how many bottles we have in our pantry? Enough!
But our best find this week was charcoal.
Kroger has the same charcoal for $6.99 for 16.6 pounds which is a decent price. That comes to about 42¢ per pound. But, Home Depot had a two pack – 20 pounds each bag for $9.97 and that comes to about 25¢ per pound. We use at least two twenty pound bags per month so that’s about 24 bags per year.
We had stocked up the last time they had it on sale for this price — maybe around July 4.
There were 12 bags left so when Vince was at Home Depot Friday, he bought more.
That brings our total to 26 bags, which should be about a year’s worth. But, then when we had to go back to Home Depot on Sunday, Vince decided to get a few more bags.
What great timing! He tossed a box of trash bags in just as I was taking a picture! Eight more double bags of charcoal brings our total in stock to 34 – 20 pound bags. That’s 680 pounds of charcoal and at a savings of at least 17¢ per pound, we’ll save roughly $115 over the next year. Sounds like not a whole lot but it truly adds up. And, it’s nice to know that no matter when we decide to fire up the grill, we have charcoal and don’t need to go to the store to get it.
We won’t need to buy charcoal til we find it on sale again next summer.
We have a gas grill too but we much prefer using the charcoal grill.
SarahB says
Your timing couldn’t be more perfect! My husband is all about saving money BUT he hates to have “stock piles” laying around. So, each time something is on sale that we use regularily I buy a ton of it…. then he gets a little woozy when I show up at home with 10 mega packs of toilet paper! I have tried to explain the cost savings but I just can’t do it justice. Now, I can give him your example and maybe he will get it. Good news!?! He finally decided he wasn’t going to break me of the habit so I am getting a storage room all to myself to put my stock in! Plus, it will be can storage room as well… it’s pretty much like your old concrete room back in MO where you used to keep your storage… I can’t wait for it to be done!
Betsy says
I think there’s a difference between stocking up and hoarding, too. Stocking up on things you are going to use and that are consumable is one thing. Actually USING the consumables or buying multiples of non-consumables because they were a “good deal” is where hoarders seem to run into trouble. They also seem to run into trouble when they can’t find anything because of the sheer volume of stuff they have, no matter how organized it may seem!
Diana W. says
I couldn’t agree more. I almost never buy anything at regular price. I shop the sales and use coupons and I have a stockpile of the stuff we use regularly just like you described. It saves a lot of money. every year. Just for fun, I started keeping track of the saving when I shop, both from sales and coupons and will be posting the amount on my blog at the end of the year. I love shopping out of my pantry and freezer almost as much as making quilts, etc out of my stash!
Linda Steller says
$115 in the pocket beat a poke in the eye with a sharp stick any day! I too buy things in bulk. I do most of my shopping at Costco, even though there’s only me. I have a food saver, so I package up meats and fish in my size bags and freeze it. I eat enough salad and greek yogurt to justify buying the big containers, and milk products there are generally ultra-pasteurized, so they don’t spoil for a long time. The Greek Yogurt I bought yesterday doesn’t expire till the end of October. It will be long gone before then! The few times I do go to the grocery store, I am appalled at the prices. I now look at the ads on line and only shop there when they have something I really need at a decent price.
Sandy says
Stocking up is great if you have the money to buy it, the space to store what you buy, and are going to use it up in a reasonable length of time. I have a small pantry so I don’t buy huge amounts of food, even if it’s on sale. I do, however, buy extra paper goods on sale and keep it in the garage. I have nowhere near a year’s worth of anything, though! (Fabric doesn’t count!)
Susan b says
I’m so jealous! I live in brooklyn, ny in an apartment with no basement, no attic, no garage, no storage outside the cupboards and tiny closets in my apartment. My definition of stocking up is having 1 or two of everything that I might run out of soon, and it is a real challenge to find where to put everything. Stocking up on fabric, of course, is a different story . . .
Kay Sorensen says
Please be careful storing charcoal.
We had a fire in our community that started in a stored bag of charcoal – no live coal – just I believe dampness in the bag? You might want to further investigate what I am saying to be sure if is correct.
JudyL says
It is incorrect. This web site talks about it:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2169/will-charcoal-self-ignite-if-wet
Specifically, it says: “The data show that the largest commercially-available bag of charcoal briquets, 9 kg (20 lb.), cannot self ignite at an ambient temperature below 394 K (121 C or 250 F). All tested variations: size, different formulations, addition of water or dry wood, aging, and different bag configurations, raised this critical temperature even higher.”
We store part of it out in the shop and part of it out in the implement shed.
There’s a good chance of spontaneous combustion with coal but not with charcoal.
Karen Langseth says
We run stocked home also, but my reason is completely different than the saving money part….I HATE shopping, so when I do make a run to Sams, walmart etc, I stock up so I don’t have to go back for a few months.
And grilling with charcoal is the best.
Erin says
Totally agree with you! Unfortunately I’m living in an apartment right now so I have nowhere to store extras, so I’m constantly having to go to the store. We are looking to buy a house right now, I can’t wait to have a bigger pantry and more storage!!
Swooze says
I have been thinking about you. I unloaded my 10×10 storage room onto the driveway last Thursday. I sorted, culled and tossed for two days. Then I emptied the majority of my garage into my driveway and have been doing the same with that. Made me wonder if you are making progress with your boxes. The biggest thing that helped was that things are now labelled so when I go searching I can now find it. Now that I have reclaimed a chunk of my garage I may have to buy a few things on sale for my own stock pile.
Kate says
oh my i am laughing and laughing… DH retired a few months ago, and has volunteered to do the shopping (save me)… But I have to make the list… so I say “buy light mayo” and he says – we have some – I say how much – well whatever is in the fridge – YOU MEAN ALL WE HAVE IS HALF A JAR??? buy three jars – why, he says … and on and on it goes. We are working toward a 1/2/3 rule: one in use, one in the cupboard, one in the garage… we’ll see how that works….
JanetB says
I think you are stocking up and Vince is hoarding.
Linda Smith says
Judy, you are super organized, and I really admire the way you keep items in stock. I have tried to do this since 2000, but I have trouble with organization and remembering what I have and using it before the expiration date. I would love it if you would share some tips on how to successfully maintain and use a stocked supply. I don’t have storage for a year, but I would like to have at least three months of supplies stocked. Meanwhile, you have encouraged me to clean out and update the best I can. Thanks!
Cindy B says
I have big walk in pantry that DH put in shelves from floor to ceiling. I keep a years supply of staples and all can and bottled goods we use on a daily basis. Plus paper and cleaning products. I only buy on sale and like you, shop from my pantry. It has saved me a few thousand a year. I can feed six adults and six kids for a year from my pantry not counting the contents in my freezers. A year is the max I store and replenish. I have to have a cut off or I would become obsessed with what is enough.
Trudi says
Wow! If only our small, pantryless, teeny tiny British homes were able to accommodate this I,would! It would,also help if we had the huge reductions here too, but alas, a few pennies at a time, though makes a difference, isn’t massive. Growing our own vegetables and living a more seasonal life helps.