The Stock-Up Delusion
Posted by Gail | Filed under Smart Shopper
When times get tough people look for ways to save money. One of the strategies most often recommended is to stock-up when things go on sale. Unfortunately some people turn a good piece of common sense into an excuse to go shopping.
I used to stock up much more than I do now. With a family that’s almost grown and away from home a lot, I had to throw away a few things that expired before I figured out that stocking up was costing me money. Sensible shopping doesn’t just mean getting the best price. Sensible shopping means getting the best price on stuff you use. If you end up watching it grow a beard, give it away or throw it away, no matter how good the price was at the time, it was a waste of your money.
I’ve subsequently learned that Just-in-time Inventory Management (JIM) can be my best friend. JIM and I are forming a strong friendship that I think will last a long, long time. JIM’s philosophy is that using the stuff you have until it cannot be used any longer and then replacing it makes the most sense.
JIM’s teaching me to be more judicious about whether or not I have to buy something. Do I already have stuff I can substitute as a replacement? Will the replacement even be necessary? Is this the right time to buy a replacement, or should I let my money go on earning some interest?
Stocking up still has it’s place. If tuna goes on sale for 89¢ and your family loves tuna sandwiches, buying enough to last a month or three all at once makes loads of sense. And if your laundry detergent is on for 30% off, buying three at once will save you the cost of almost a whole bottle.
But hitting the linen store’s white sale just because you’ll eventually need new sheets or towels doesn’t make sense. Four years ago I bought six beautiful bath sheets at Costco for $15 each. They are huge. They are plush. And while I’ve been tempted to buy more beautiful towels since then, I’ve avoided the temptation with the rationale that I have no space to put more towels, so I’ll have to wait until these are done for. Using the “do I have the space” criteria can work since limiting the space you give to a particular item can act as your stop sign.
I have a thing for fresh panties. Once a year I change my baggies completely. I buy a new set of skivvies and then throw out the old set as I wear them. (I can’t abide the thought of throwing out clean stuff.) I look forward to that underwear-shopping trip. In the mean time, I avoid the stores that would tempt me.
Wardrobe basics are another great temptation for most folks. Hey, if T-shirts go on sale it makes sense to stock up, right? Not if you still have stuff in your drawers or cupboards in the original wrapping or with the tags still on. Then you’ve just wasted money. While you may feel good having 25 T-shirts in every colour imaginable, it’s a waste of your money. Hey, if you have something that has a hole or is stained, by all means dump it and get yourself something new. But just buying stuff because you might need it and it’s a great price… well, that’s just dumb.
If your favorite make-up goes on sale or comes with an amazing free gift, you may be tempted to buy before you actually need. Women have thousands and thousands of dollars worth of lipstick, perfume, foundation, eye-shadow, mascara, eyeliner, and blush sitting in drawers, make-up cases, and handbags. If you don’t know exactly how quickly you’ll use your existing make-up, the next time you buy something like foundation, which you use all the time, date it and see. The last thing you should want is to be left with expired make-up or something that doesn’t suit your style by the time you are ready to use it. So don’t go shopping until you’re almost at the end of what you’re using. And do you really need sixty-two colours of nail polish, lipstick, or eye-shadow? Really?
Now that I’ve introduced you to my friend JIM, maybe you can form a firm friendship and save some money. Lemme know how you like him.
June 9, 2010 at 7:10 am
Gail, I find that using your “magic jars” helps JIM work. Sure, I’ll stock up on toilet paper if there’s a great sale. It doesn’t go bad, and in a house with three gals, well, we use it! But I can’t stock up too much because there’s only so much grocery money for the month. I wouldn’t want to be left without money for fresh food but have four months worth of toilet paper around.
Besides, I really don’t have room to store too much.
Oh, and my make-up case only has two lip gloss tubes, one mascara and foundation. I’m pretty low maintenance in that arena. (The little nail polish basket is a bit more full, however!)
June 9, 2010 at 7:23 am
I can’t do much stocking up because I don’t have a lot of storage space in my house. Otherwise the house gets too cluttered if I stock up too much. Closet space is at a minimum which keeps the clothing horses at bay. Being in a small place and not liking clutter is a good curb on my tendency to “stock up” because the price is right!
June 9, 2010 at 7:31 am
We have a lack of Storage space that makes Stocking up hard to do. We do stock up on pasta when it comes on sale, and I think I’ve got it timed nicely so that we run out just when the next sale hits. I hate throwing away stuff that has expired, so with most stuff we use JIM.
regards,
Jason
June 9, 2010 at 7:37 am
We only stock up on things that aren’t perishable, or have a really long shelf life. And only what the jars will allow. As for household items, they only get replaced when they are worn out or broken.
June 9, 2010 at 7:55 am
I am resisting renewing my Costco membership for this very reason….I love Costco and sometimes you can get a great deal but it’s always a HUGE bill at the end of the trip and most of the time I find myself still having to hit the regular grocery store and spend more money!!! And other than a few select items we tend to get sick of the bulk items before we actually run out!! My sister in law has offered to just pick me up what I need whenever she goes … I have a feeling that will save me some $$..not just on the bulk items I throw out before using but also on those terrible impulse buys..especially those from the dreaded middle aisle!!!..:)
June 9, 2010 at 7:57 am
My husband used to laugh at my parents and grandparents for what I call their “world war 3 rations” which includes canned food in the cold cellar and lots of toiletries. Now my husband has turned into them and gets excited when toilet paper or toothpaste goes on sale and he can stock up. We try not to do it too much with food though because we have a tiny kitchen.
June 9, 2010 at 8:22 am
I used to shop at Costco too, Amy, and I stopped and let my membership lapse. I couldn’t use up the huge amounts of stuff before it expired, and I realize that if I can get the same items on sale and smaller, then I’m better off. And yes, those items you simply add while you are there because they are such a good deal, kill me! I do shop sales for those items we use a lot, but I’m dealing with the clutter of our house (with two daughters 6 and 9), and I’m trying not to add more clutter. I will continue to live with JIM too!
June 9, 2010 at 8:38 am
I love hitting the sales for non-perishables too. My closet is always well stocked with toiletries, hygiene products, laundry detergent, dry goods like pasta, etc. I used to stockpile crackers, cereals (my husband will tell you I still stockpile cereals as we’ve got no less than 10 boxes on the go, but we get tired of the same ol’ and like to shake it up a bit I tell him!), and canned goods too. But I’ve since stopped doing that as one box of something would be 3/4 done and a new box would have to be opened. I love JIM for most things, and I’m realizing that there’s a lot grocery money tied up in stockpiling some months.
June 9, 2010 at 8:47 am
I like to stock up too, but I’m usually pretty good at buying only things that will be used eventually (favorite brand of soap, shampoo…)
Where I find JIM to be best is with technology. No matter how enticing a sale is, it doesn’t make sense to buy things ahead of time – things get better, things get cheaper. Better to wait!
June 9, 2010 at 8:50 am
This is something I’m struggling with. I did let the Costco membership lapse (I can find the same stuff in smaller bottles at the grocery store at the same price if I wait for a sale). However, I recently purchased 14 jars of spaghetti sauce. I don’t see how we are going to use it up, but at 50 cents a jar (sale and coupon) I couldn’t leave it behind. I will have to ask myself ‘will I really use this?’ before buying more of anything, even if it’s near free!
June 9, 2010 at 9:09 am
In defense of Costco, we almost never buy “bulk items” and we still save a ton. They are particularly good for eyeglasses, prescriptions (low dispensing fee), and basic clothing items (socks, undies, even business clothes sometimes).
The only thing I can think of that we stock up on is Tropicana OJ cartons. They can be crazy expensive on their own, but they have good sales too. If we can get them for half off, we usually buy about 6.
June 9, 2010 at 9:18 am
Jim and I have danced a few times, but I’m not quite as light on my feet. I try though.
My bf has OCD, which hampers alot of my efforts to have JIM. We live in a 1 bedroom apartment, and I’m a crafter. Not a huge amount of room. We have a small freezer chest, and the usual kitchen cupboards and small freezer in the fridge.
As someone who is blessed with a good income, and stupid in that I still have some debt that I’m whittling down, I have had great difficulty in maximizing my RSP debt.
Also, I don’t like to shop with a list. I know! It’s a great way to control spending… but I’m just not a list girl. Something else I’m working on.
With these challenges, I have developed a system.
Food:
1. If it doesn’t have nutritional value, no stocking up. ie ice cream, cookies, chips.
2. No longer than a 3 month supply unless it is something that keeps exceedingly well and great price (ie. Ketchup goes on sale in the spring generally, we always stock up with as close to a year’s supply as we can).
3. Whatever I anticipate my tax rate being, the sale price has to be *lower* than that in order to warrant stocking up. And this would work for people in credit card debt too — being charged 18% interest? then the sale price on anything would have to be better than 18% off. On a $5 item, 18% off would be $4.10.
The struggle is keeping these rules while being partnered to someone with OCD. Sometimes I will bend them, but mostly for stuff that he eats and not me.
For all my effort though, every nook and cranny is filled with food… but 1/3 of the freezer has premade meals in it (meatloaf, thai curry etc).
I would give myself A for effort, and B- for reality.
June 9, 2010 at 9:20 am
My mom and dad were raised in the stocking up generation and still do. I love going over there and browsing through her freezers and pantries. She’ll say ‘what do you need?” I say “nothing…I just like to look” and it’s true. There is something comforting about knowing there are supplies down there.
I don’t stock up nearly as much as she does because I don’t have the space but I am mindful of the flyers and watch for $1 days where I can get cans of things we use at half off.
June 9, 2010 at 9:21 am
Each month we have 1 out of 4 pays where we can stock up on things like t.paper and such. I buy pasta, tuna, rice and meat in bigger portions whne they are on sale. If I got a huge pack og chicken on sale then at home I split it into meal portions and freeze it. I am a pretty obsessive planner so if I know there is chicken in the freezer from a “stock up” I make sure I plan it into the next weeks meals. I also use the meal plan to make my shopping list and then do an inventory and remove things I already have in the cupboard.
For make up and what not, I am also pretty low maintenance. I think my make up bag sees daylight maybe a dozen times a year. I keep it really light.
June 9, 2010 at 9:25 am
I have been practising Jim for a long time because I cant stand clutter and I only have so much space.
This is the only way to be in my opinion. I find it so odd when people are ecstatic that they go to Costco and are thrilled that they have a 64 ounce jar of pickles or mayo?? Really how often do you eat pickles and use that much mayo?
I just find this strange…and wasteful.
June 9, 2010 at 9:47 am
I am a big stocker upper for some items, such as tuna, and what makes my boyfriend laugh – toilet paper and tissue. I find those make the most sense to stock up on though we have limited space in our apartment. I also am one of those people who have 20 lip glosses, but I don’t foresee that stopping as I love cosmetics. I think of it as my treat as as long as I’m saving what I plan each month it’s part of the expenses I allow myself to.
June 9, 2010 at 9:47 am
I stockpile some things. But have made it a goal of mine to not buy anymore of it until I actually use it. When I was a student I would stockpile things like body wash, shampoo and conditioner whenever it would come on sale. Now I have a couple of shoeboxes full of the stuff! Good thing it doesn’t expire!
When I have a place of my own I could see the benefit of stockpiling certain things like laundry soap. Also things like flour and baking supplies that don’t really “go bad” and meats if you have a good freezer. Those things can be expensive so stockpiling could be beneficial as long as you do use it.
June 9, 2010 at 9:59 am
We stockpile a few things…usually toilet paper and laundry detergent. We look at something in the store and ask if we will use it within 2 months. If the answer is no, then we don’t buy it at all.
When I wasn’t a part of such a huge family, I let my Costco membership lapse too, it wasn’t worth the savings of buying in bulk. If I needed anything, I would tag along with a friend and she would buy it for me with her membership. You have to be wary of Costco though, sometimes the deals aren’t as great as they seem.
June 9, 2010 at 10:02 am
I am a stockpiler. We always keep a ton of non-perishables around, because it makes both of us feel safer knowing that in case of emergency (natural disaster, financial) we would be able to survive for some time on what we’ve got.
Costco is my best friend! There are so many things that you can get cheaper there. We buy our meat in bulk and divvy it up into little freezer bags (we only buy meat once a month), we buy bulk lettuce because I eat salads every day, bulk cleaning products, toilet paper, paper towel. Cartons of egg whites cost less than half of what they do in the grocery store and last longer than eggs. We tend to avoid the clothing/books/movies, because we don’t have the cash to spend on stuff like that right now.
If you have the space, there’s nothing wrong with a little smart stockpiling, IMHO.
June 9, 2010 at 10:19 am
I find that stocking up at Costco about every three months eliminates many trips to the store where I might be tempted to make impulse buys. It’s hard to go shopping for the one item you’ve run out of and not come home with something else. For me, the fewer shopping trips the better.
June 9, 2010 at 10:33 am
I am with Manda. We have a Costco membership… have for years. We make a list of what we need for the week’s menu plan as well as toiltries etc and, list in hand, off we go to our 3 or 4 stores (depending what we need). We buy meat at Costco all the time. We portion out the chicken, ground beef, sirloin, tenderloin (yeah yeah, I know… but it’s in our budget!), pork etc into baggies when we get home and put the stuff in the freezer. We also buy the big cuts like the whole sirloin, the whole tenderloin and the whole pork loin so it is much cheaper and cut it up ourselves. We buy flour, cheese, eggs, some fruit and vegetables, salsa, milk and vitamins etc at Costco. I avoid looking around as I can always find something I ‘need’. We are lucky that we have storage space for the things we buy. I do stock up on dried beans, coffee, canned tomatoes (when they go on sale). I don’t see it as a problem as long as you use everything up, have the money in your budget and stick to the list.
June 9, 2010 at 10:38 am
I don’t have a Costco membership anymore, because of the size of most items and because prices are not always that good. However, I didn’t want to eliminate that store from my list, because I think it can be useful if you plan wisely. My parents do have a membership, so I went to Costco with them once last year and I noted the price of the items I use frequently. Now, all I have to do is ask them to get me certain items that I know for sure are a good deal. If the price changes, I write it down on my Costco price list.
Also, to make sure everything is used before expiration, my mother, my sister and I often buy items and divide in three.
Those two little methods took care of three things: buying on impulse, buying something that’s not really a deal and buying too much of one item. It works very well for us.
June 9, 2010 at 10:39 am
I too am a stocker…of some things! I’ll buy 3 or 4 tubes of toothpaste when my brand is on sale for a good price; same thing with my fave shampoo (half price is good!) – I hate having to pay full price for things like that when I know they come on sale regularly, and although some toothpaste does have an expiry date, I generally use it up before it expires. I to with a friend to costco a couple of times a year and buy the huge package of toilet paper…generally 1 every 9 months does me (I live alone), and when I get down to 4 rolls or so I call my friend up and we go shopping.
June 9, 2010 at 10:54 am
I am fortunate to have a cold storage room in my basement, and the shelves are starting to get respectable. I am finding myself in a bit of a pickle tho! Last September I managed to snag a part time job at Superstore to pay for my horse’s training. She is no longer costing me $600/month extra, but I have no intention of giving up the job, as I finally got my employee discount card – 10% off of almost everything! My dilemma is two fold: Part of my job is helping to stock shelves – showing me stuff I didn’t even know was out there, and therefore tempting me to try new things. The other part of my job is processing damages/discontinued product, marking it down 50% off and wondering if my mom/sister/niece/myself would like some of …..! And cuz it’s 50% off, I’ll buy two – strange logic, I know. I also can keep a good eye on sales, and have started to recognize cycles. One week Purex TP 24’s/30’s were on sale for $6.49, so I bought two. The next week the same product was on sale for $4.99, limit of four!! Myself/mom/sister/niece all got four packs, and shouldn’t need any until the same price comes around!! I took in an out-of-town apprentice student for two weeks while his regular housing was being made available. When I showed him the pantry and told him he could help himself, he asked if anything was specifically for a meal plan! He’s under 30 and knows about meal plans! The smart thing to do would be to employ that tactic. The best part of my job is being able to buy ‘reasonably’ fresh fruit and vegetables,meat, cheese and yogurt half price on an almost daily basis. I just need to strike a balance with what comes in and what gets used up. Meal planning, here I come. Oh, and the 10% discount – it’s going to go to my student loan. Tip – learn where your store’s discount racks are: if a manufacturer changes the size of a package, even by a little bit, the ‘old’ stock will be discounted – a great way to stock up on laundry detergent and fabric softener.
June 9, 2010 at 11:12 am
Stocking up doesn’t work with me because of space issues. I might buy a larger pack of something like toilet paper, but I still don’t have the space for more than one package. I learned a neat trick once. For folks who have a family that goes through a large amount of certain things (say apple juice or baby food) you can note when the grocery flyers have their sales on that product. Usually products are on a 12 or 20 week cycle. You note the time between sales and then whenever the product goes on sale you buy just enough to supply your needs until the next time it’s on sale. It might sound like a lot of work but my sister saves quite a bit this way and doesn’t waste as much food.
June 9, 2010 at 11:15 am
I’ve danced this stockpiling dance before……and experience has taught me only to stockpile the laundry detergent and toilet paper brands we like. When we had tried to stockpile food — it was a disaster — we ended up throwing out too much. For us it’s cheaper to buy what we need in small quantities weekly or every couple of days than buy larger quantities monthly or weekly. This mentality has spilled over to our other shopping — we tend to buy only the item we need, and in a small quantity.
It sounds odd….you’d think buying in bulk is cheaper — but that only applies you use it before it expires. That, and do you really need 10 shirts when 1 will do?
June 9, 2010 at 11:22 am
I do all of the meal planning for my family, and JIM is what keeps our grocery budget at $125 a week or less (for two adults and one child). We make all of our own food, but don’t buy things like milk, vinegar, etc. until we actually run out of the previous container, or need it for recipes. We pick up anything we run out of, like milk, only after we’ve run out of it, and don’t stock up on items except for meat and seafood, which can go on sale a drastic amount, which we then freeze.
It does mean a little more work, but we have very little food spoilage (usually none at the end of the week, when we clean out the fridge before adding new groceries) and our only food waste is leftovers from a meal. I operate on the same JIM basis for clothing, make-up, etc., not buying anything until we’re actually out of something, or will need it in the immediate future (such as a backpack for a plane trip in two weeks).
It’s great
June 9, 2010 at 11:34 am
I struggle with this constantly. I buy extra meat and then it gets freezer burn and I throw it out. I also have a hard time judging bread properly. Some weeks we go through everything and other weeks I throw out quite a bit. Because of different shifts etc I never know when people will be around for meals. I do like to stock up on toilet paper and cleaning/paper goods because they never go bad. I let my Costco lapse too but I want to go with a friend and pick up a few things that we like to get from them like garbage bags – last me 6 months, the frozen chicken breasts etc. I have no idea if these products save us money but I do like them. I just can’t see paying the membership for a few things. My plan is to clean out the pantry and fridge/freezer and try to employ the JIM strategy (oh and doing a better job of planning meals would help too)
June 9, 2010 at 12:10 pm
I stockpile meat, but I also plan it out on a whiteboard on the fridge with what the dinner plan is for the week (since one of the things I hate is opening the fridge at 5:30 and thinking “ugh. I don’t feel like having to decide on what do do for dinner”, and then resorting to pasta out of laziness).
I will then make extra, and the food will be eaten for lunches, either immediately, or stuck in the freezer for lunch/dinner another day. If there’s a bit of freezer burn, we still eat it, but might put some BBQ sauce/spices/marinade a little longer for extra flavour, since I can’t stand the thought of throwing out food.
We are limited on how much stockpiling can really be done though, since we just have a freezer over the fridge, and there has to be enough room in that freezer for my 1L water bottle to get frozen, and BFs 4L water bottle during summer months.
In terms of “stuff”, we can’t stockpile. We don’t have spare room for anything. We have a 1 bedroom apartment with super limited storage. I also don’t WANT to stockpile, since I know this is a temporary home. In 5 years, the plan is to have a non-apartment home, so having less stuff for moving is ideal to me! We rarely use anything anyways, aside from books, TV, and our computers…
June 9, 2010 at 2:22 pm
I worked in retail for a long time including in a grocery store and in a department store during price and wage control so I am a dab hand at stock rotation. I always shop with a list now and nothing expires in our house. For us the hardest thing about stocking up was of course the money. We have a grocery budget that was very, very tight but has loosened since we no longer have debt. The way I look at our grocery budget is that it is for the month. Lots of perishables need to be bought as well as a lot of repeat items. Quite quickly I realized that in order to take advantage of sale prices for stocking up we had to have a separate budget for that so we created a stock-up jar. At first we could only put $20 in every month but now we are up to $50. It is amazing how much you save buying items on sale. If you figure out the percentage it is better than any savings account – as long as you don’t buy on credit of course
June 9, 2010 at 3:18 pm
You found my achilles heel!
I am a stocking up maniac. If I drop below 12 cans of mushroom soup, I get nervous. Some of it stems from my uncertainty about the future… I want to make sure there is “enough” just in case suddenly our situation changes. (and I call it my emergency rations). I make sure they are rotated though, I only stock up on sale. Dispite all the comfy security I think these canned goods give me, I cringe thinking about the SPACE they take up sometimes.
It can be an addiction. Not everytime the sales come on do I need more!
June 9, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Gifts-with-Purchase are mighty tempting, and yes, I now have more lipstick than is necessary. I try to restrain myself to one GWP per year, as otherwise I end up giving half the items to friends. Speaking of which, since you often have to buy at least two items for a GWP, it can be nice to go in with a friend and then divvy up the bonus.
June 9, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Generally I’ll only stockpile things like toilet paper, Kleenex & laundry detergent. Though if I find a really good price on things like tuna, pasta, soup, etc… I’ll definitely stock up.
We have a Costco membership and shop there once every couple of months for staples such as bread and fresh meat.
The worst stockpiling mistake I’ve ever made was going in on half a cow with my brother and sister-in-law. Much of the meat was awful, fatty, gristly and tough. We used maybe a third of what we got. Such a waste of $400.00 and something I won’t do again.
June 9, 2010 at 4:18 pm
something that hasn’t yet been mentioned is the stockpiling of “stuff” such as toys, , books, clothes for kids, etc. I guess its on my mind because I have a 13yo, a 4yo and a 4 month old.
My mom used to buy my oldest a ton of stuff – “oh, you’ll use these toys, clothes, books” for the next kids too. Okay, true in some cases, but when you have big age gaps, I ended up storing stuff for no reason. I now give stuff away (or resell, see below) as we outgrow it.
What we have decided to do is stop buying brand new for the most part – toys, books, clothes can all be bought gently used for usually 25% of the price. Yes. My kids still get new stuff, but mostly bigger things that the 13yo wants (Ipod, etc). the younger ones don’t notice, or care. Not only are we saving piles of money, but also the environment. That plastic garbage island somewhere in the Pacific makes me sick. My kids don’t need a brand new riding toy (that will get used for less than a year) when my neighbour, sister, or swap shed has one for sale for 1/4 of the price. then, I resell it, and get my $ back too!
June 9, 2010 at 4:22 pm
I have a Costco membership, and only recently have stopped buying the larger food items that we end up throwing out half of before they go bad. Mostly what I buy there is non-perishable necessities and vitamins. We also buy cereal, milk, eggs and nuts there as we go through a lot of those every week. We have room to stock up on TP, paper towels and cleaning products, so I watch for those to go on special and then stock up.
June 9, 2010 at 6:37 pm
We let our Costco member ship expire nearly two years ago and haven’t missed it. Yes there were some great buys on a few things we purchased regularly, but invariably we spent so much more on things we hadn’t planned to get that the savings were lost. Perhaps now that we’re much more practiced at meal planning and following the list that we could trust ourselves there. I haven’t confirmed it but I’ve heard if you receive a gift card you can go in and use it without a membership. Therefore….buy yourself a gift card and then go in and use it when you only want an occasional item – no membership required.
June 9, 2010 at 6:51 pm
I’m not the stockpiling type at all. I do not have much storage space, I hate clutter, I hate throwing out food, and observation has shown that having to throw out even one item from the stock wipes out the savings on the whole batch. My two rules of stocking closet, pantry and bathroom cabinet are, 1) always enough to last until next Saturday, 2) never so much that it lasts for longer than a year.
Never stocking for more than a year means that I never buy clothes or household goods in advance, as these always last longer than a year.
Of course, it depends on how one lives. My mother always has food stockpiled for being snowed in for three weeks, after we have been snowed in for three weeks with nothing to eat but pasta with jam, and after a week had to beg from the neighbors. But, living in a city, this is not a looming threat anymore.
June 9, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Ironic post Gail, just before I read it I was getting VERY frustrated with a skirt whose hem I was trying to repair. I love the idea of sewing and I know how to do it but when I sit down and sew I always get intensely frustrated. Still, because our clothing budget for the year is 0, I have to make do with what I have and that means getting over my personal issues with sewing and fixing the damn hem.
June 9, 2010 at 7:14 pm
We stock up on a few things: Tropicana orange. I know my local Metro has it on sale every 3 weeks, so I buy enough to make through to the next sale. I drink it everyday.
Toilet paper. No one ever wants to run out of toilet paper. Tissues, between allergies and colds, you go through a box of tissue in no time and I bring a box to work too. Since I work with a lot of paper that has been in storage, sneezing is a hobby at work.
I like to have a full stocked medicine cabinet. Nothing like having to run to the drug store for something when you are sick.
That’s pretty much it. Don’t stock up too much on food items, the grocery store is across the street.
June 9, 2010 at 7:19 pm
I’ve been dating JIM for awhile now. I’ve done the stockpile thing with mixed results–there’s been some waste, such as when I needed to change my diet and had stockpiled some things that I don’t eat very often anymore, like pasta. Now, the pasta kept and we used it all up, but it was a waste of space until we used it all up, and I tied up money in sale pasta when I could have used it elsewhere.
I tried doing what several of my bank customers did, and buy canned goods at a huge canned goods sale so that I’d have enough for the year. Less trips shopping, best price were the lures. I didn’t guess correctly on everything, and only threw out two cans because I was unsure if they were still good (I’ve had food poisoning before, so my rule is when in doubt, throw it out).
I was still trying to find the balance that worked best for my household–somewhere between JIM and Stockpile–when I broke my leg and was unable to do a lot for myself in the early weeks of recovery. The stockpile became magical. Hubby could go down cellar and get something that we could have for supper. He could pull something from the freezer down cellar, or I could pull from the freezer on top of the fridge in the kitchen and allow something to thaw.
He had to do a lot of caretaking for me, and it helped him not having to run to the grocery store right away. Me, too.
I like it best when I have a month’s worth of stuff on hand, and two month’s worth in bad weather seasons.
As for the tinned items, if my garden is successful this year, and I have lots of tomatoes to can, I’m okay with having a year’s supply of those. I know I’ll use them.
June 9, 2010 at 8:08 pm
One of the best purchases we ever made was a small apt. size chest freezer; it gets fed when meat goes on sale… I refuse to by meat when it’s full price. I peruse the flyers every week, and since we live really close to 4 large grocery store chains, the majority of the stuff we buy is on sale. Meat sales seem to rotate between each location, but I haven’t had to buy meat in the last 3 weeks because of what we have in the freezer LOL!
I get super-stoked when paper goods go one sale, and we do have an en-suite storage room (it houses the washer, dryer and freezer, with quite a bit of shelf space left). I seem to be finding a nice marriage between JIM and stock-piling… it’s a lesson I wish I’d learned long ago!
June 9, 2010 at 9:22 pm
I’m a stockpiler on things that will get used within a couple of months when I find them on sale. Like the poster above noted, I do keep a stocked medicine chest for the same reason. I HATE to have to go get cough candies when I’m feeling crappy!
One other item I’ve been known to stockpile (Insert sheepish grin here….) Wine from Costco! I was going to let my Costco membership expire until I discovered Costco Liquor Stores. I can get really good wine at a fraction of the price… I’m talking 30-40% off per bottle! I usually make a run in the spring (pre-BBQ season) and fall (pre-holiday season) as I know that I’m often invited to events where it’s appropriate to bring enough wine, and I like being able to just grab a bottle off of the wine rack instead of going out of my way to find a liquor store and pay more money. If I’m low enough, I’ll buy a case and save an extra 10% on that too! Thankfully for me I don’t drink much wine on my own!
June 10, 2010 at 4:03 am
This is what I have learnt –
No matter how good a deal seems – THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ANOTHER SALE!
No deal is a good deal if you weren’t planning on buying it anyway.
June 10, 2010 at 4:16 am
Just wanted to share this with everyone who is worried about expired canned goods: 2010 is the “K” year, so look for printed numbers on the can/jar/package – 041K would mean the product’s best before date was February 10th, 2010. If you find numbers with a J, it expired in 2009. Note – best before does not mean it is no longer good on that date, just not as fresh. I also agree with above posters, having cough/cold medicine on hand when needed is much nicer than having to go out with bleary eyes and a red, runny nose to get some Nyquil!! Immodium is also one of my must-haves, and since it is expensive, I watch for it to go on sale.
June 10, 2010 at 8:05 am
Zellers has a great system- they will give you a rain check that has a 1 year expiry. If you have asked for more than 1 item, you can just buy whatever number you want when you want it and the cashier just crosses the number off and puts down the current number.
If you happen to have a cupon for the item you can used the rain check and cupon together.
Zellers also does price matching for any local store, so this saves driving to different stores. The only catch is knowing what products Zellers never stocks so that you don’t waste time looking around for the products to match your competitors flyer.
June 11, 2010 at 2:17 am
[...] Stock up when things go on sale? Gail V-O discusses that falacy of savings, interesting point of view. [...]
June 14, 2010 at 7:28 am
I am careful about what we buy in bulk. I buy toilet paper, kleenex& paper towel in bulk. I only buy what I regularly use.
As for Costco, I really like having my membership. When we didn’t have a child, I didn’t find value in it, but now I have regular items I buy there such as flour, rice, nuts, milk, chicken, cleaning supplies etc. I enjoy the selection and can often find a nice gift item there for a reasonable cost. I dont’ buy just for the sake of buying. If I’m buying a big package, I have to know we will use it.
Costco has reduced cost on great books & magazines. Photo finishing prices are good and so is the BBQ propane tank fills. It’s not for everyone, but like shopping anywhere, you have to comparison shop. Somethings are not worth it.
June 14, 2010 at 5:58 pm
I’m a little bit on the fence with stocking up. I will stock up on toilet paper by buying 36-pack at either Costco or superstore. Everything else I don’t bother. I used to do a lot of stock up, but realized that as long as I live in the city, I’m close to stores. Why should I waste my minimal storage space, when I can get the store to stock it instead? The trick for me is to go into the store with a list of what I need. This way I’m buying fresher foods, as well as buying what I need when I need it. My commuting route allows me to select from a variety of stores, so there really isn’t an excuse…
June 17, 2010 at 3:43 pm
In 2006 I made a new year’s resolution to use up all of my cosmetics – including make up, creams, shampoos etc. before I bought anymore. I just finished using up all of my ’stocked up’ creams and am hoping to be through all of my makeup by the end of this year!
Hard to believe I had so much excess in storage.
Thanks – great article.