A hoarder's home is filthy, dirty, and they collect things that have no value, and for no reason. This is what a hoarder's home looks like:
This is what a couponer's stockpile looks like (and yes, these are mine):
The things I buy (and sometimes in large quantities at a time) for my family are items we will use. They are kept neat and organized. Things like soaps, shampoos, conditioners, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, bodywashes - these things do not expire! These will EASILY last us a few years. I got about 40 boxes of almost free Finish dishwashing tablets back in 2009 and we've gone through about 1/2 of them. In fact, I just took out a new box from my stockpile yesterday. If you figure we go through a box a month, at $5 a box - we've saved about $200 by stockpiling back in 2009 just on that one item alone.
Food is another issue. We don't stockpile a TON of food. For food that can be frozen, we stockpile enough to keep in our stand-up freezer and that is it. We do have a back pantry with a lot of boxed & canned goods - but these things do have an expiration date, so we are very careful about what we add to our pantry. When buying food, we dig around to find food that has the longest expiration dates. For example, if we are buying canned chili - and they have an expiration date of 5/2012, we will dig around in the back and see if there are any that have a longer expiration date, such as 2/2013 or so. Stores always put the stock that expires first in the front on the shelves - so it is important to look in the back of the shelves for newer stock.
Another thing we stockpile a LOT of, is paper towels, napkins, tissues, and toilet paper. These things do not expire, and they last forever! With 3 dogs, and the 2 of us with allergies, we go through paper towels and tissues like water! We can never have enough!
And who doesn't use toilet paper? Here's the thing with toilet paper. You are literally - and I do mean literally - flushing it down the toilet. Do you like flushing your money down the toilet? I don't! If I can get it cheap or FREE - I don't feel like I'm throwing so much money down the toilet!
In my stockpile of non-food items, I figure we have a good 1 to 2 year supply. So when I find a great deal (something FREE or extremely cheap), I will buy it to continually replenish our stockpile, so we never run out. Because although I have a 1-2 year supply, if I stopped buying these things now - then our stockpile would not exist anymore in a couple of years. It would be empty.
I love when I run out of a bottle of shampoo, or need a bar of soap, or a roll of paper towels - I can just go to my stockpile and grab what I need, instead of going to the store and paying full price for it.
So there you have it. That is what a stockpile is.
People who use coupons to stock up on items they can get cheap or free, to supply their families' needs: STOCKPILERS
People who buy massive quantities of items of no value that they do not need or have a use for - HOARDERS
Please learn the difference. They are no where near the same thing.
LOVE'T .. you have everything so neat and orderly.Good job on the awesome deals you find :D
ReplyDeleteWell there is a line that some couponers cross - ie the ones who buy hundreds of diapers for themselves and they don't have kids, or buy 100's of bottles of mustard because its was a $.01 and they don't use it but they keep it... that is a couponer-hoarder.
ReplyDeleteOther than that I agree with you! :)
Well Said :)
ReplyDeleteI have Major stockpile envy... i want 1... there are 7 in the house 3 kids and 1 hubby who is now mentally and physically handicapped i have very little time to hunt for the great deals you have posted..to reach your level with my schedule is not possible so i will be content seeing what you gather and dream it was me lol take care.
ReplyDeleteWell said. There is no way a couponer (extreme or otherwise) could ever be a hoarder. I'm pretty certain the OCD and organizational skills would not permit hoarding. lol
ReplyDelete