Stocking Up or Hoarding?

My girlfriend in NYC is someone I’ve always admired for her ability to save. Granted, when we were young in San Francisco, she didn’t have any student debt like I did. Even so, she was very careful with her money and how she spent it.

A few years ago, I bought Kokologyand I asked her one of the questions. It basically set up a scenario and your response is supposed to reveal something about you. You forget your wallet and you need to buy lunch, how much money can you scrape up? I said I could probably find $5 on me in my purse or at my desk at work, from the change in my car, etc. My friend said she’d have nothing. She’d have to borrow money from somebody. The interpretation of our answers is that I am not so careful with money. I have dribs and drabs of it tucked away in pockets since I don’t account for it well. My friend on the other hand, is very careful with her money and therefore if her wallet wasn’t on her person, she’d have nothing. It also implied that she is most likely in a better position financially. No doubt this interpretation is true.

The other day, after writing the hoarding post, I asked her how much she stocked up on staple products and found her answer quite revealing. She told me as she packed her belongings to make the move back East, she had something like 20 bottles of shampoo. Where she kept it in her studio was beyond me. I never saw them!

For a while my friend worked for a consumer products company and she would get products at a discounted rate. Though she got a phenomenal discount on household products, she no longer stocked up and kept only 1 or 2 bottles around. (Naturally, when she left that firm she stocked up again, but this is allowable since that discount was going away.) In the process of moving cross-country, she realized that she was keeping too much and it was costing her to move it with her. So you CAN take it with you, but is it cost-effective?

I like stocking up too, but I realize that I had hoarded lotions and soaps from my college job at the mall. I still have Bath & Body Works products, 10 years later. I try not to stock up anymore, but it’s hard habit to break. I have made the commitment to use some of this stuff up before I buy a replacement. Shampoo & conditioner are the only things I keep on the shelf and I try to stick to supermarket brands as much as possible. (Unless as I’ve found out, it damages my hair. Stay away from Pantene Smooth & Sleek. It dries your hair out if you use it daily.)

So while you can get a good deal, just keep in mind that stocking up isn’t always saving money if the product goes stale on the shelf or costs you money to move these extras around.

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