Can you be addicted to couponing and sales?

**stevie** · 08-14-2008, 05:51 PM

I'm new to this and think it is fun to see my stockpile grow but I read about others who are really over the top with this. I see a bit of this here and on a few other boards I frequent but mostly on blogs.

I've read about a woman getting 70 bottles of shampoo, who needs that much? Then I saw on a blog today that someone is having a couponing garage sale so I guess that may be where all the excess is going. No wonder the stores run out so quickly of sale items.

I also have read about people buying multiple blood sugar monitors because they are free when they don't need them. I have also read on the blogs about having lots of CVS memberships and things like that.

I want to save money and keep a stocked pantry but not sure I need a whole house full of products I may not need or use. How do you find that balance? Do you have a limit you set for yourself? How long does some of this stuff last? I have an extra pantry and when that space is full that is it for me.

**kmsinsa** · 08-14-2008, 05:56 PM

I know that some people will buy those type of items (shampoos,etc) and donate them to local homeless shelters and such. I do not agree with just buying stuff because it's "free", especially items like the blood glucose monitors.

**savvymom** · 08-14-2008, 06:03 PM

I was beginning to work on a stockpile, but since we are moving it will have to wait. My plan was to start with 3 months of food, HBA, etc and see how well it worked for me, then I could fill it back in as the sells came along.

I'll get back to that, but anything extra that we wouldn't use within a year I would absolutely donate or use in a gift basket. I will only buy the things we use regularly.

**jas** · 08-14-2008, 06:07 PM

When I first started couponing I stockpiled more than I do now. I have learned what we use and what will go to waste. In the beginning I had to throw some stuff out because it went bad before I could use it. Mostly stuff like salad dressings, the creamy kind.

**Ms. Clear** · 08-14-2008, 06:14 PM

I don't buy more stuff than I will and can use. I don't buy things just because they are on sale. I don't care if it's free if it's not something that I will use.

One of the reasons that I don't use many coupons is that mostly everything I buy is generic. I don't want to hunt for name brands on sale, when the generic sort is always cheap.

I do stockpile a few things and especially HBA items--feminine needs especially. But they don't go bad and I will use them. It's just a matter of degree. Everyone probably would draw the line in a different place.

I'm new here, but I've been reading a great deal on Stockpiling and I think I may try and build a food version. I have space limitations, but a modified version may work for my family. It's a great concept. But it's probably safe to say it can be taken too far.

**frugalbabe** · 08-14-2008, 06:49 PM

I think anything can be taken too far or made obsessive. I have a modest of stockpile of HBA products, toilet paper and the like. I have a very large stockpile of food but I have also been doing this a long time so I know how to buy, rotate and use it all so it doesn't go to waste and I have seen the absolute wisdom of keeping a nice food storage so that I do take seriously. But I would never buy or get anything for free if I knew I wasn't going to use it. I think my attitude comes from that I live in states that have very long hard winters and the state I lived in the longest (North Dakota) you have a very good chance of having such a severe storm that it can be weeks before you can leave your house (I've lived through that twice) so maybe I'm kind of like a Depression Era survivor where it makes me nervous to not be sure I could be self-sufficient for at least a few weeks!

**spyzvixxen** · 08-14-2008, 06:55 PM

It's mostly the "thrill of the hunt" and when you get paid to take those items out of the store. At least that's how it is for me. There are worse hobbies out there like doing drugs or being a raging alcoholic.

I only cut coupons for free or cheap items if they are something I or my or DF's family might use. I do agree that people can go overboard. My mom does estate sales and often comes across someone who was a stockpiler who meticulously dated each item as it was purchased. Who needs 50 rolls of Saran wrap circa 1985?? Find that happy medium and only stock what you are going to use.

**IntlMom** · 08-14-2008, 06:58 PM

Well, let me be the first to say that "Yes!, I am happily addicted to couponing, sales, and stockpiling, and I wouldn't want in any other way"

I donate lots, but I keep lots too. In reference to a food item, I will buy it "just because I can get it for free" and then I plan a meal around that item that I was not "planning on buying". I have been doing this for so long, what I plan on buying IS what I can get on sale, free, or a great deal with a coupon. I don't have 70 shampoos, but I have about 20, and yes, I'll get a few more the next time that they pay me to take it out of the stores.
I'm sorry that some of you don;t agree with the stockpiling that some of us do, but we see that we are being diligent and purchasing items when they are on sale or free, so that we don;t have to pay full price just because we ran out. Do I NEED the 12 deodorants in my cupboard? No, but when I do need one, I'm not going to go to the store and buy one for 3.99 or worse, I'm going to go to my stockpile and get one that they paid me to take out of the store.
The more things in my home that I can do this with, the less we are spending on foods and toiletries from our budget. Seems to me that just makes good money sense.

**spyzvixxen** · 08-14-2008, 07:18 PM

I too have about 20 bottles of shampoo and 40 of dish detergent but living in an apartment limits me to the space I have so I have to limit my addiction. I've also got 9 8 packs of paper towels sitting next to me in my living room. Not very decorative, but gotta love CVS!!!

**nodmicks** · 08-14-2008, 07:41 PM

I think you can over do it if~ the stuff sits and rots. If you use it or donate it terrific! I bought 30 boxes of General Mills cereal in the last week . My friend thought I was crazy. It cost me .70 a box. However it will get used up long before it goes bad.

I also bought 12 jars of peanut butter today at .50 a jar. We go through several jars a month.

Also we have some friends having a hard time. Their kids will be thrilled to get so called "cool" cereal.

Dh's work gets slow in winter so the stockpile sure helps out.

**beks37** · 08-14-2008, 07:57 PM

I am kind of new to the couponing and stockpiling thing. I generally buy and stockpile the things I know that I use and will use. I will get things that are free if I can see myself using them. Not things that I don't have any use for, like a blood glucose monitor. If there was a good sale on shampoo, I would grab it up. That stuff has 2-3 years of shelf life so it would get used up eventually.

**stevie** · 08-14-2008, 08:01 PM

I don't have a problem with stockpiling at all I just have to wonder at the woman buying 70 bottles at one time, that just seemed like she has a "problem" to me. I didn't mean to insult people at all.

I was also wondering just how much I should stock. I have about 10 shampoos right now for 3 of us and have vowed not to get any more unless it was free but guess what? Most ever week there is free shampoo to be had! I guess I could see how if I don't have some sort of boundries set up I could be the crazy lady with house full of shaving gel.

**stevie** · 08-14-2008, 08:03 PM

Thanks Becky! I was wondering what the shelf life of shampoo was. I would hate to have throw anything out. I hate to waste things.

**guest002** · 08-14-2008, 08:07 PM

I stockpile HBA items in moderation. Some things like school supplies will not go bad. I do try to have a full pantry of non-perishables. I'm afraid to have too much frozen/fridge food for fear of a power outage.

**1tiredlady** · 08-14-2008, 08:35 PM

Addiction is creeping upon me fast! I started using coupons in January and have definetly became addicted. Let me give you an example. I had coupons for pudding $0.30 off. I used them BUT I went to my moms and she gave me more coupons including more pudding coupons. I Cannot wait to use them. It made my pudding from Kroger $0.40. We will eat the puccing but just having the coupon around is eating at me.
I have 20+ boxes of cereal, 6 kotex pads, etc. It's stuff we'll use without a doubt but I can't convince my husband that we need it NOW!!