Monday, March 05, 2007

Do you really save by stockpiling?

I've been contemplating stockpiling more non-perishable stuff I could get cheap or "free" from coupon usage. I wonder however if it is worth it? I mean is it worth stockpiling stuff if you need to live in a bigger home to stockpile?

How do you justify the expense of purchasing or renting a large home/apartment? I ask because if you are stockpiling an entire garage and two spare bedrooms, wouldn't it be cheaper to sell a huge home and just downsize?

Does it not cost more to maintain, heat/cool, other utilities for a larger home than a smaller one? I understand if you have children you need more space than a couple of DINKS, but I wonder if our consumerism isn't driving us to stockpile more than necessary?

I wonder if the meat is good after sitting for 1 year? Is it worth an extra 500 sq ft to save on non-perishables, when you could a house 1 room smaller?

Where do you draw the line between being frugal with stockpiling and being foolish? Remember the saying "penny-wise and pound-foolish?" If it costs more to heat a 2000 sq ft home when you only need 1000 sq ft but would have to shop more and stockpile less who comes out ahead? The person with the smaller mortgage or the couponer?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Space could definitely be an issue when stockpiling. I personally just stockpile those things that I hate running out of because I live in a small place. Something to keep in mind with stockpiling, too - beyond space concerns - what could that money be doing otherwise. Is it better to have 50 rolls of toilet paper for $10 or to have $10 in your pocket. I think with the FREE coupons, there is no argument there, but stockpiling is not always frugal. I'm somewhere in between a just-in-time inventory fan and a stockpiler. That is, if something is on sale, I might buy two -- or as many as I think I can realistically use before I find it on sale again -- but I don't go nuts and buy too much. In either case, it's definitely not worth any savings on goods if you need to pay more for storage. Another example of this is the huge industry of public storage. I made this mistake. Oh, I want to keep my furniture because I don't want to have to buy new when I get a bigger place. Storing that crap cost way more than replacement.

Anonymous said...

I only keep no more than 6 months worth of supplies. When something is on a good sale, I stockpile up to 6 months. I have a small rack set up in my basement for dry goods (toilet paper, canned goods) and a pantry in my kitchen. I live in 1140 sq feet.

Living Almost Large said...

I don't have a basement and space isn't as much a concern as it was before. Though I am not likely to want to have a ton of stuff just because.

I try to load up like I did with Soda when it was $1.99/12 pack. However I know that's a great price and realistically it happens 1-2 a year. And we drink a lot of soda.

I agree that storage places are a gyp. We had one because we were moving and put some of our "stuff" in there to show our condo. If you don't need something enough to take it out of storage, why are you keeping it? Those places must be making a fortune.