One of the frugal habits that I grew up with was the need to maintain a well-stocked pantry and stockpile of personal products. In fact, last fall prior to quitting my job, I spent a large amount of time looking at my stockpile(s) and trying to figure out what I would need…especially when I was broke.
The thing is, building up a stockpiling is mildly addicting. Partly because you get to shop. There, I said it out loud. So, I totally understand how people grow massive stockpiles.
The thing is, as much as I enjoy stockpiling I discovered an important and yet 2 mind-blowing truths Stockpiling takes up a lot of time and money. And, if fear is part of why you’re stockpiling…you need to kick that fear to the curb.
Now let’s be clear, I will always have a stockpile. I will always have an awesome pantry and will continue to pin obsessively to find amazing ways to hook up my fantasy pantry space. But, somewhere along the way I thought about my stockpile and my stockpile process changed.
What was I afraid of and why was it driving my shopping process? I think that I was afraid of the unknown, afraid of running out of whatever it was I wanted to have on hand, afraid of job loss, and I enjoyed “the thrill of the chase.”
When I watched Extreme Couponing I was astonished by how large most of the stockpiles were and I wondered if the goods that these people had held onto were rotting (if it was food) lost its strength?
Also, when I looked at these stockpiles it made me sad. I do think that having a stockpile is important. I also think having up to one year of goods per household member is pretty reasonable. Having a one year stockpile is more than reasonable. Then, you just have to stop buying stuff, consuming, and shopping. You need to focus on the following.
Use Your Stuff!
It makes no sense to continue buying product, soap, toothpaste, or pantry items if you never use your stuff? Back i the day, people would spend the entire summer and a good part of fall canning, preserving meats, making jams, and setting things aside for the winter. Then, they would do something crazy-they would use what had been set aside for the entire winter until it was time to begin growing new new food and started the process again.
I’m not sure what happened but we forgot that part of the equation. I think what happened is that we stopped living an agrarian lifestyle and the items we were buying were always around. We lost the thrill of the chase.
Last year I tried to be a lot more deliberate about using my stockpile. As I was purchasing my items for 2015 I thought about the fact that I would be self-employed and that I wouldn’t want to be in stores shopping, and probably wouldn’t be able to go shopping because I probably wouldn’t have cash on hand.
I’ve become very deliberate and focused about using my stockpile. I’m quite convinced that I actually have 2 years (ahem-am blushing a little bit) of the majority of items that I need set aside. In fact, I haven’t even purchased toilet paper since I returned from overseas at the end of February. It is almost the middle of May and I don’t anticipate needing to purchase any t.p. until the end of June.
By becoming deliberate about how I use what I have I am much more aware of what is important for me to have for personal grooming AND how quickly I go through each product. By knowing how quickly I go through each product I can purchase exactly what I need for the year and save money. Did I also mention the other substantial plus with my new system?
I’m Saving Time And Money!
Every time I avoid going to the store I also avoid: emotional shopping, impulse shopping, and just shopping for fun! I’ve only gone shopping for groceries and 2 Goodwill runs where I purchased exercise bottoms on one trip and 2 cocktail dresses this weekend…for $6 total. And yes, those dresses are freaking cute!
I love my stockpile and the security it gives me. I also love that having it makes me feel empowered and like I have an additional layer to my emergency savings.
But, I don’t want to walk in fear. I don’t want to let fear dictate what I do. And, I’ve realized that fear has driven a lot of my actions. In focusing on fear I lose sight on the most important thing:
I’m Still Standing.
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I’m here to admit another frugal fail… I have a stockpile. My panty is so well stocked, I cannot close the door. My problem is that I don’t take the time to check my on arty before I go to the store. So I have 3 boxes of spaghetti, for example. Having kids (and working full time) sure does make it hard to plan well. But one day I’m going to go to the store for produce only… And make do with my “stockpile”. There’s obviously enough food!
I may have giggled when I saw this. I’m wondering if your hubby could collaborate with you at the beginning of the months so that you can take time to look through the pantry? Tag team! It will save you money AND time I try not to guarantee anything. But, I think in this case (because you can’t close your door) I can safely assume that you can eat through your pantry for awhile just by toping it off with fresh veggies.
You SHOULD giggle. One day I’ll take a pic and post it to twitter or something… Right now, it actually shuts pretty well so it would look like I was lying. But it’s totally absurd.
I try as much as possible to avoid going to the grocery so that I can use what is left in the kitchen. It’s not that I am lazy, it’s just that this is my way of saving money and time.
It’s funny how much I like grocery shopping! But, when I was popping in all the time I was also SPENDING all the time. So, I seriously had to rethink my grocery shopping love. I save a lot of money by staying out of the grocery store and a lot of time.
We used to have a pretty good sized stockpile, although we’ve let it dwindle down over the past few years. Many of the stores in our area no longer run the double and triple coupon specials, but we still stock up when we can find great deals. I think that you hit the nail on the head when you say that you need to use your stuff. That is what it is there for! If you don’t use it, you are really just wasting time and money.
I was just finding that I could spend time working on my stockpile every week and I was still going to be unsatisfied with the amount that was in it. OR, I was always going to “need” more. Well, I’ve discovered that it takes a heck of a lot time to use up a well planned and well stocked up stockpile. AND, by using what I have in a deliberate way I am becoming aware of how long it takes me to use each item.
Although I was never a stockpiler myself, I used to be a lot of groceries at a time and found I wasted a lot that way. Although many would argue I’d be SOL in an emergency (lol) I actually am doing better with my food budget by buying little, well thought out amounts at a time. Part of that is just because I’m a shitty, uncreative cook and I’m always amazed at the creations people can come up with when they only have a few items left but want to use them up!
I love me some good food! You just have a European way of approaching food purchases. I love cooking so the danger for me is that I love food and food related shopping. I’ve really worked through my pantry in the last couple of months (becoming a freelancer will do that) and now I’ve begun working on restocking my food stockpile (slowly)
Love the post Michelle!
We’ve learned the hard way that stockpiling doesn’t always save money. We’ve had duplicate purchases and some food wasted. We have since organized our pantry and held off on grocery runs until we depleted our time sensitive items.
I was making a lot of duplicate purchases too (on top of what I had already purchased in multiple quantities). It was just really wasteful on so many levels so I had to rethink my process.
So well said! We are not to live in fear. Believe it or not, I don’t stockpile a lot of food items. When my children were younger I would stockpile as many diapers as I could…because they are super expensive! Now, I feel comfortable if I have a couple of toiletries in my stockpile. I have an issue with clutter and anything that closely resembles that. So, I try not to do too much nowadays. This was a great article!
I love a good stockpile, but I had to flip the switch on the fear script-it wasn’t serving me well. AND, I don’t want to continue with a fear mindset. I want to feel empowered by the actions that I’m taking to improve my life.