tpinbulk

Thank you all for your nice comments on my last post! It really does mean a lot that people are still reading. I believe I have found a new source of inspiration, but I won’t tell you what it is just yet.

Today’s post was actually inspired by J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly, a super financial blog that I read. Today he wrote a post asking “when does it make sense to stock up?” and it really got me thinking.

This used to be a major problem of mine. It went beyond simple stocking up and slipped into hoarding behavior for me, though I’ve got it under control these days. I would see an item on sale and think to myself “That’s such a great deal, I should get a few more and save money!” In my defense, I didn’t do it for just any old sale (10% off? Please.) but the 50%, 60%, and 75% sales made me weak in the knees (and in the pocketbook).

I would rationalize it by saying I was saving money. And I probably would have been saving money, had I actually used all of the items I’d buy. But you know me by now, and you know there’s a good chance I’ll have lost the “spare” items before getting around to using them. If they didn’t get lost or go past the best before date, perhaps I was tired of that brand by the time it came to use them. The items would just end up sitting there, taking up space and wasting my money. Nice, eh?

These days, while I still have to fight the urge to take advantage of a “great deal” and buy several items while they are on sale, I’ve really taken control of my stocking up habit. I still stock up on several items, though now they are items I will actually use (before they expire, no less!). If there is a good sale on bread, I will buy a few loaves and pop the others in the freezer to eat later. I go through about a loaf of bread per week, but I never buy more than 3 loaves at a time, no matter how good the sale is. I only have space in my freezer for 2 extra loaves of bread, so I have to keep to this limit. I don’t want bread cluttering up my kitchen counter just because it was on sale. I try to keep the same mentality with any other items I stock up on (tissues, toilet paper, canned goods, etc.).

If an item is on sale, there is a good chance it will go on sale again later.

While clearance and discontinued items are another story, regular sales will always return. Trust me. It took me a long time to trust in that, but it’s true. Sales will always come back, as they are an important strategy for stores to make money.

Ask yourself:
Will I use it regularly?
When this one/pack/pair is gone/worn out will I certainly buy another one?
Will this one still be fresh/good once the old one is used up?
Do I have a place to store it until I use it?
Does it make me happy?

If the answer is yes, go ahead and stock up a bit. Remember to keep everything in moderation.
I find the last two are the most important questions for me. If I don’t have a place to put extras of something, I don’t allow it into the house anymore. If something doesn’t make me even a little happy, well, what the heck am I buying it for?

One item I do stock up on is some types of clothing. If I find a bra that fits well and flatters my shape, I’ll buy a few. I know I’ll wear them (I do wear a bra every day, after all ) and alternating between multiples means they each last longer. If I find a t-shirt that fits well and looks good, I’ll buy a few different colours of the same shirt. Having a handful of similar shirts you wear all the times takes up less room in your closet than 20 different shirts you hardly ever wear.

I would not stock up on items such as electronics or perishable items. A certain style of iPod (such as the one J.D. has his eye on) will certainly be revamped in the years to come, and he may find himself liking a future style even better. Electronics become obsolete so quickly these days, I don’t see a point in stocking up, even if it was a great deal. Also be wary of items that require a specific accessory or other item in order to function properly. A savvy commenter on GRS mentioned a friend who stocked up on a particular type of replaceable razor blades, but then the razor shaft itself broke and he was unable to replace it, leaving him with a whole bunch of unusable blades! Stocking up is only a good deal if you can actually use the items.

Don’t buy a spare iPod, J.D., but buy that extra pair of hiking boots you want. You know you love them, and they make you happy, so go right ahead.

Do you stock up? What items to you tend to buy in bulk, and what do you avoid?

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• Cyber Monday Clutter