Last week we discussed greed and the consequences of greedy actions on couponing and sales.
This week, we are discussing hoarding.
As everyone who has couponed for a while knows, saving can become addictive. Sometimes we are so intent on chasing the deal (I swear there is a coupon-high) that we gather items we have little or no use for. This is fine if you have a family member or friend in need, putting on a yard sale for extra cash, or donating.
But what happens when you can’t part with the good stuff? When you “need” 100 mustards, 500 packages of pasta and a five year supply of diapers – when you have no children and have had your tubes tied!? At that point, you may have crossed over into hoarding.
According to the Mayo Clinic, hoarding is:
The excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them. Hoarding often creates such cramped living conditions that homes may be filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter.
By this definition, people with large homes and neatly arranged stockpiles that can be eaten down or used up are unlikely to become hoarders. I’m not too sure about that. There can be excess in the largest of home that is simple hoarding when the items will never be used by the occupants. When the occupants cannot part with those items, and keep accumulating more of the same items… there is an issue. Or possibly volumes.
There is a very fine line between stockpiling and hoarding if you ask me. But what do you think? Can stockpiling groceries – even free groceries – lead to hoarding? Is there ever a point when something free should be passed up? And how do you know when enough is enough? Are you ever concerned that your wonderful savings habit will turn into hoarding?
Next week we will discuss ways to adapt in these changing coupon times.
Click here for past Extreme Couponing Reality posts.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
I think there is a point when something free should be passed up. This week is a great example at Rite Aid with all of the pain meds for free or almost free…I made a list with all of them on there and then when I got to the store I had a reality check….I have a ton of Bayer Advanced Aspirin from the sales when it first came out…I am never going to use this stuff and I walked away with my hand sanitizer and left feeling good about myself….its totally possible to get caught up in getting every “FREE” item out there but with all the effort stuff becomes NOT being free….thanks for all you do
I had some health issues in the past 18 months that kept me from shopping much and I therefore used up much of my stockpile. It gave me time to reflect on just what you are asking. I am back to shopping again, but much less intense now and being more realistic in what items I really need in my stockpile. In the past I have given lots of what I have to my kids, but they no longer live close enough to do this. So that has also caused me to rethink many items I used to purchase. Sometimes we do get caught up in using as many coupons as we can and getting that deal high (oh yes there is one just like when the slot machine pays off!). It is always a good idea to step back and really examine things once in good while imo.
It really does depend on the size of your house though. When I lived in a smaller house, my stockpile looked HUGE. I moved and have it more organized and it definitely looks smaller. I do agree it can become a hording issue. BUT as long as you are willing to part with it (yard sales, donations, etc) it shouldn’t be considered hording. My definition of hording (if you watch the TLC shows) is you cannot part with getting rid of it. So no matter how large your stockpile is…if you’re willing to use/give/sell or dispose of it ….it isn’t hording
Yes, when the getting was good, I did buy ‘extra’ and stored the stuff in my storage locker. But one gets tired of eating the same old things and heat and cold extremes will over time ruin even can goods. Right now I’m working through a stack of milk crates. The two crates left consist of tomato sauce and baked beans. Overall, I still have enough non-eatible items on hand for a good while.
Now when there is a good deal, especially ‘free’, I do buy additional to donate. Last donation run amount filled a shopping cart at the pantry, except it consisted of bottles of BBQ sauces and salad dressing. Previously I usually had one or two bags of HBA items; but Wags and CVS deals lately have been a joke. What is troubling is that this church ran pantry puts money aside each quarter to help people; but the fund was deleted early. IMHO, some will go visit the local pantries and get food stamps, while not clipping MQ and buying food items that are the best bang for their budget.
I think the show promotes hoarding. You should only have enough on time for what you/your family can use within a span of time. Who wants to use overly expired deodorant? Might still work but the potency is gone. One of the things I notice too is the lack of fresh produce on the items that some of these family live on. There was a couple who wanted to go on vacation and they were going to live off on their purchase for 6 months and all they purchased were frozen food items. Can’t be healthy.
I can see how people could get started down the ‘hoarding’ path. I have a pretty good sized house, but started filling spare closets with H&B ‘necessities’ and – of all things – pasta (etc). I finally had to make myself stop buying. I had all I needed and enough for friends in need. I also started thinking about the other people who were couponing to eat and decided to leave deals for everyone, not to buy as much as I could to donate. I still do buy and donate, just not as much as before. I did start to feel as if maybe I shouldn’t give so much away, because who knew how much rice/toothpaste/pain reliever I might need tomorrow?!? I can see where hoarding could become an issue if you don’t make yourself stop.
A common theme among couponing blogs is learning to stop shopping on an immediate need basis and purchase multiples of things that you know your family will use over time. The start-up requires some investment, but after that it’s maintenance here and there. If time is money, then every minute I spend clipping and searching cuts into my savings. Presently, my family has enough toiletries, canned goods, pasta and sauces to last for months. I’m not even looking at coupons for that stuff. Instead, I’m enjoying the free time with my family and the extra money in the bank. All I buy now each week is milk and produce.
Isn’t that the point?
I’m with you. I have a 1 year old, so I’m stocking up on some things to keep me through the winter so I don’t have to take a 1 year old out for sale shopping. instead, I an pick up the basics after work, then spend the winter evenings and weekends home with the family. Yay!
with the way the deals have been lately, i wonder if keeping a large stockpile isn’t the way to go. i am not working now so i always wonder how are we going to afford this? my stockpile helps with that. i don’t think it is hoarding.
I think when I first started couponing, I got caught up in it more. Now that I’ve settled into couponing a few years, I try to only get what we truly need and can use. I mean, how many free shampoos are you really going to use? With the state of the economy, we are using more of our stockpile and I am trying to buy less. If something is really free AND it is something we use, then I will get it. But to chase a deal to have it sit on a shelf is sorta crazy. I will donate to the big rig truck at Thanksgiving and they will be thrilled! Makes you feel good too!
I have 6 totes and honestly they drive me crazy… I do not understand how the people can fill rooms, garages, whatever… I do think couponing can fill a “void”, a way to get “the rush”… and can become an addiction and therefor a problem…
Yeah, hoarding, sore subject… moving right along!
I have my laundry room/pantry w/ 2 shelving units and my very old, old kitchen cabinets in there. The one shelving unit is for my laundry cleaning needs, that shelving unit is near the washer and dryer.
I help my family and extended family, and till just a few month’s ago used to donate regularly.
The other shelving unit does almost an “L” shape w/ my old cabinets. That is for food products. I also have an area for soda’s juices etc.
I have 3 shelving units in my basement. Those are H&B, paper products (plates/napkins/cups plastic ware, Kleenex etc), and various assorted (Glade, Airwick, candles, stain removers etc). Only 2-1/4 of them are taken up. I will not buy anymore shelving. This will do, plentiful!!
I store my TP & PT’s in the garage on the hideous shelving units from previous owner!! But hey, another project, another day!!
That is it for stockpiling. That said, I have 5 kids, 2 that come “a shopping” frequently and one that “wipes me” darn that child!!
This insanity of rooms of stuff just totally baffles me, seriously, I’m not kidding, nor do I understand it at all!! Is it a sickness? An addiction? A void? What? I don’t get it…
I don’t understand the mentality behind hoarding. I could never do it. I like my house, pantry, garage, fridge, freezer and rooms to look neat and clean. Plus, I hate to even have things sitting around on end tables, coffee table, or nightstands. It’s too much work to move everything to dust effectively. I’m not lazy by any means but I do what I can to prevent bringing on additional chores. I keep hoping the stores will start to limit each person to 4 sale items or even 4 items of anything that a coupon is used on. It will be hard to do at Publix unless they start using store cards. Even then… people will cheat the system by using multiple cards. Like Didi… I’m baffled.
In my office (was my grandson’s bedroom till he joined the Army three months ago HUGE SOB HERE) there is a big closet and I have installed three shelves. That is my small stockpile. I donate to an organization that once helped me and give to my family and extended family. One of my extended family is elderly woman and her insurance just doubled, she is on social security only and I think that just stinks so when I give her shampoo, deodorant and assorted sundries and housekeeping items she is so thankful it does my heart good. I really never achieve hoarding except when it comes to Post-It Notes and shoes, don’t ask I just love both of them and I won’t share.
LOL I love Post-Its & shoes too!
I can see where the coupons have become sparse in my area but the stores are having better sale prices. They do limit you to the number of items you can purchase on your rewards card which is good.
When I first started couponing I would buy all the freebies but then I just had too much stuff and it was overflowing my house. I would donate bags of stuff to Catholic Charities but it kept adding up, especially all those little packets of Carefree, Tylenol Presice, foam animal kits and toothpaste. I was just buying to get it for free.
Now I am more selective about deals and only buy something that I can use, like toothbrushes, deodorant and food. I have about 10 each of toothpaste, shampoo and body wash so I wont need to buy that stuff until next year. I can see how you hoard in the beginning but then it gets a bit much and you just have to get rid of the stuff you dont actually use.
Before couponing, I just bought items as we needed them. The whole “stockpiling” thing was a real learning experience. I had no idea how much of an item we needed for a month, or a quarter or a year. I found out quickly that 6 body washes last us a LONG time. I do not need or even want 12 or 18 or whatever. Lot of items to the local shelter that first year.
When you have that much “stuff” it owns you. You don’t own it.
If anything, I tend to go through my stockpile too often and give away items and then have to replace them…..(insert hubby rolling eyes here.) That’s another kind of disorder (“OCD”……..lol !!)
I have a “comfortable” stockpile. I do not like to show many people because some people would consider it hoarding. I stockpile things my family will use- toilet paper, paper towels, razors, dishwashing detergent, kleenex, paper plates, napkins, fabric softener, laundry detergent- things that will not spoil. Also some vitamins and meds w/ long expiration dates. Food I really watch the dates and do not want to waste. My parents are elderly and love the weekly goody bags I bring them. I have enjoyed the stockpile this summer and taking some time off from the drugstores, not running for the deals. I have said it before, since “the show” I have never seen so many people with coupon binders. I think people think they can do what the people on the show do right away. I am glad to see people save money and use coupons, but not “extreme”.
I agree that there is a fine line between stockpiling and hoarding and if a person isnt careful they’ll cross that line before they know it.
I addressed this issue myself a couple years ago. I had a lot of stuff. HA.. I STILL have a lot of stuff.. but I finally decided to not stockpile more than a years worth of most things and thats where I draw the line.
There are a few things I will go a little beyond on that year limit, but not many. I dont need much of most items at the moment, but I noticed my personal body wash stash is getting thin. I think someone has been helping themselves to them without asking me. Grrr..
I dont worry at all that my stockpiling will turn into hoarding.. I think this stuff is to be used… and hoarders dont use their stuff… they just save it.
Kim excellent point. Hoarders don’t use their stuff, they just save it.
This is my hoarding story. I have known this woman since I was a child and did not know of the hoarding. City has been sending her notices. Watching the shows, you can only learn so much. It is still stunning to walk in the house. Basement, first and second story waist high stuff. Sometimes little paths. Dust…nasty! I have learned that she doesn’t think like I do. You have to be careful to not be tricked by them. They say they saving this to give to someone. Not true. They are recycling. Not true. Saved money wearing her mothers old sweaters. She said to me she just packed some boxes but didn’t know what she packed. She wants to save broken table and broken hutch for sister. Sister hasn’t visited since mother died about 20 years ago. Had to stay in hotel. Sister has a house stuffed with dolls. Grandma bought house in 1920. She turned into hoarder, and daughter and granddaughter. On the second floor is a kitchen. I cleaned out canned goods from about 1960. In the basement is a fruit cellar filled with jars from 1930. Both fridges had petrified stuff in them. Everything has a memory attached to it. There is no sense that you would want to keep things that we think are valuable. Instead she saved 2 lap robes from when her father was in the nursing home in the 1970′s. Last year she found $30,000 in cash the house in various purses. She is always broke. She has had money taken out of her check for 45 years and put in a savings account.
My conclusion is that hoarders are very nice people that think very different. This woman has lived life in a disgusting home. Very sad.
You know that sometimes people die and then you find out they are worth a lot of money…..you get the gist.
So, I think the show encourages hoarding under the guise of being thrifty. That is not cool. It is challenging befriending a hoarder. The house isn’t finished being cleaned out. I never want to do any cleaning at a hoarders house again. I think everyone should clean up their own c@#$! Do you really want someone reading a note you wrote 70 years ago about the days you are fertile in your menstrual cycle?
I have had to clean out a hoarders house also, my Mom. OMG the tears, the pain, the fighting, the work. It is hard not to be resentful, I am still not over it. I am angry that it is a on going issue. What ever is uncomfortable to deal with is avoided and left for me. Since when did I become my moms mom? I will never put my kids through this.
I buy in large quantities because I have a large family, and it goes almost as fast as I buy it. I consider what I am doing is smart buying. I know I am not a hoarder.
UGG…Resentfulness is understandable.
because it won’t expire and i got it for free (or not more than 25 cents each pack), i ‘hoard’ my toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, and paper plates. those are things i will not donate or give to family/friends. all others, if i have more than enough for my immediate family, i LOVE to give from my stockpile.
i have thought about this paper products ‘hoarding’ issue, and i’ve come to the conclusion that i do this because when i was young, my mom ALWAYS ran out of tp. i mean, ALWAYS! i remember her asking her friends to stop and pick up a pack of tp for us because we ran out and lived in the country if that friend was on their way over. we were a household of 3 females and you know tp runs out quick. but, now i’m the only female in a house of 3 and you’d think that i still live in a house with 3 females. i haven’t bought a single roll of tp (except when rite aid had them for free after UP+ a while back) for about a good year and a half. i always have tp. those experiences as a child, though, really stuck with me on the tp, paper products ‘hoarding’. it was embarressing and quite ridiculous. i still have 3 totes full of tp. i’m sure i’ll have to start buying again sometime in 2012.
i know some of you think that’s too much and that i should have donated, but HELLO!!–it was free and i use it!! i don’t actually consider that hoarding.
Stocking up on TP when it is on sale is common sense. Could you imagine that every time you bought TP it wound be full price.
When I was a kid my mother would not buy Kleenex…we had to use TP.
thanks, wendy. my hubs has gotten on me, telling me i’m a hoarder because of it, and that’s aggravating!
OH, no, no, no, no, no! Does he have any idea how much TP costs not on sale!
I’d rather save money on TP and eat steak!
Does anyone know where I can find a list, I have seen in the past, showing what items are typically on sale during each calendar month… I used this section because there were so many comments – thanks ANN!!
I have to say if it is free, I will tend to pick it up, if it isn’t out of my way or too many hoops to jump through to do so. But I do regularly donate to the local food pantry. But I certainly never find that much free, as I usually only have enough coupons for one or two free at a time, I never seem to amass much of a donation. A few hygiene items per month seems to be about it for my donating of free stuff. And if people get free toilet paper, I want to know where! (Oh, and no Rite Aid’s here. CVS and Wags, yes.)