What do you consider “stocking up” vs “hoarding”?

[HeatherC]

Each week I have been buying a few extra supplies on things like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, disinfecting spray and wipes if I see them, etc.. Just kind of preparing for the fall and winter in case things run short again. ( I also am buying for my elderly parents and mil as well.)

This got me wondering, what would you say is stocking up vs hoarding supplies? I don’t personally think buying an extra package of toilet paper each week is hoarding. I am not clearing the shelves of items, and if there is a limit of one I simply buy one.

What do you consider hoarding supplies?

 

[spiders]

There is nothing wrong with having a little extra. The ones I consider the hoarders are the ones who are literally buying every single thing they can find because they think the world is literally going to end but haven't thought about how they are going to defend those supplies in the event of an actual apocalypse.

 

[Christine]

Hmmmm....it's a fine line. I'm kind of doing what you are doing, OP, yet, in doing so, I've now got toilet paper stashed all over the house, probably 10 containers of Clorox wipes, and 8 bottles of rubbing alcohol. I never used to buy this much and would just buy something right when it was going to run out. But I feel that I'm on the verge of being a hoarder at this point.

 

[soccerdad72]

I'd say if you have more than 6 months supply in something, you're probably hoarding.

 

[JimMIA]

Simple. I stock up. YOU hoard.

 

[disykat]

I am keeping on hand more than what I normally would. I'm staying one pack ahead instead of letting it almost run out. When one pack is almost done and I know I'm about to open another I immediately buy another so I always have a back up. So that means for a brief period have two back up packs on the shelf.

 

[RamblingMad]

I'd say if you have more than 6 months supply in something, you're probably hoarding.

I agree with this.

 

[Kamy04]

I’m asking my shoppers to buy disinfecting wipes, bleach and hand sanitizer each week if there is any. Hand sanitizer is more readily available now. Bleach is hit or miss. Disinfecting wipes are only if you get lucky. I also have cleaning spray on my list each week, though that has been gone since March. I’m a special ed preschool teacher and I know I will go through that stuff like crazy in my classroom and at home! Normally parents send in disinfecting wipes, but I’m sure they will have problems doing that this year with how hard they can be to find.

 

[Kitty 34]

Because I live in Michigan I always referred to it as stocking up during the long winter months. Just put covid in as an adjective now before winter months.

 

[pigletto]

I’m trying to get a good handle on what I use in a month and would like a 3 month working pantry. I’m not hoarding.. I don’t need 62 bottles of mustard. But I have quickly seen the value in having the items we regularly use on hand in case of job loss, or a bad storm , or illness etc. I think prices are going to increase sharply as well and I‘m getting 12 or 24 cans of the sauce we use when on sale or pasta etc. I don’t clean out the supply of any store or make multiple trips. I‘m just slowly but surely getting a decent working pantry going.

 

[mousefan73]

I recently came up with a new definition of hoarding. A friend of mine is currently in the process of cleaning out a home of a person who has been put into a nursing home. So put yourself in the position if you were to suddenly not in your home and put yourself in the position of whoever needs to clean out your home. Will they be overwhelmed in dealing with where and what to do with your stuff?

As in my friends case she is currently dealing with shelves full of jars of jam and jelly that are store-bought. “ he would only have two left and would run out and buy 10”. And it literally thousands and thousands of baggies freezer type bags. Pallet of sugar who “got on sale and sugar prices are going up”

So basically if someone needs to hire a U-Haul to transport all those rolls of toilet paper you have then you are “hoarding”.

I like the 6 month rule.

 

[HeatherC]

I recently came up with a new definition of hoarding. A friend of mine is currently in the process of cleaning out a home of a person who has been put into a nursing home. So put yourself in the position if you were to suddenly not in your home and put yourself in the position of whoever needs to clean out your home. Will they be overwhelmed in dealing with where and what to do with your stuff?

As in my friends case she is currently dealing with shelves full of jars of jam and jelly that are store-bought. “ he would only have two left and would run out and buy 10”. And it literally thousands and thousands of baggies freezer type bags. Pallet of sugar who “got on sale and sugar prices are going up”

So basically if someone needs to hire a U-Haul to transport all those rolls of toilet paper you have then you are “hoarding”.

I like the 6 month rule.

Yes I would definitely consider that hoarding.

 

[Searc]

I've always had a well-stocked supply closet and pantry, so I'm not really doing anything different. Though I did have four packages of TP at one point in the last couple months and DH made me give one to each of our kids. They know mom always has extra TP, paper towels, kleenex, wipes, cleaning stuff, etc, so they typically always go home with some of it.

 

[belleatdisney]

It is hoarding when you have a dedicated room or basement filled with stuff / as I may or may not have said to my DH.

Seriously, I buy a little extra (one pack) when they have hard to get items in stock. I hope to have enough by the second wave to ride out a shortage. I was a just-in-time purchaser so this is hard for me-we simply don’t have the storage space.
As I’ve said before certain essentials were never available curb side even when they had them in stock. I am focusing on getting a small supply of those items.

 

[SaintsManiac]

For me, personally, it's about what I can fit in my storage areas. If those spots are full I am stocked up. If I am putting stuff where it doesn't normally go then it's hoarding. lol.

 

[Donald13]

IMO hoarders never actually use the things they buy. They are proud that they have 958833 bottles of dish soap. If they use one they will only have 958832... hoarding is a sickness. We always have a few bottles of laundry soap and pasta sauce. Not enough to feed an army but enough. Having a few extra of specific items is fine.

 

[Karin1984]

If you can open your personal store with the supplies you have: It's hoarding.

 

[AuntieMe3]

So I saw someone leaving a store as I was coming out and all she had were paper towels and toilet paper(1 of each because of limits) and when she opened the back of her SUV vehicle, she literally had to stop other packages of TP and PT from falling out.... It was packed and from what I could see, it looked like it went all the way into her back seats as well. It was like she was making the rounds that morning buying what she could at every store in the area. I would think that as hoarding and not just picking up a pack or two when you're out shopping. I mean who knows, maybe it was the only day she had money to shop for those things or she has a extra large family or was planning on sharing with friends but the amount she already had stuffed in her vehicle would last a LONG, LONG time

 

[LYSE]

I think the difference is behavioral, your just stocking up/being prepared if you are rationally maintaining a supply that you are comfortable with, your hording if you really have no idea how much of anything you need and your just buying as much as you can get your hands on.

We generally keep a small stash of items in an emergency tote, the only thing we recently ran out of was alcohol...but we only usually keep less than 64oz at a time...something that will change.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

I think it is a difference in mindset. There is no harm in preparing an emergency stash of supplies, no different than setting aside an emergency fund for cash. I like to shoot for an "heir and a spare" with many shelf-stable items, including food, toiletries, and cleaning products. That way, I have some extra on hand, but most items can be used up within a year or less, so they don't go to waste. It also means that if a store is out of a favourite product, I don't have to settle for something I wouldn't normally purchase. I'm not going to wave a finger at anybody who is putting together extra supplies for emergencies, in fact, I would encourage it.

Hoarders, on the other hand, seem to grab everything they can with little thought to how they will use it up in a reasonable amount of time. They also don't seem to consider whether something is even an item they would want to use. I wonder how many people grabbed "all" of the toilet paper, with little regard for if it was quality or not. For me, unless I am desperate, I do not want to spend my money on something I would hate using. There seems to be something almost primal about it...perhaps an "I have the lion's share and you get nothing" sort of outlook. It is like what people can grab equates to a prize of sorts. I don't really understand it and can't speak to the minds of people who need to grab the most. This is real life, not and episode of Supermarket Sweep.

I basically have a grocery store in my basement. I always have. I rotate my supplies, but we do have enough to probably last four to six months (not a balanced diet, but not starving). I grew up in an area where, in the winter, you might not get to the store more than a few times, with weeks or months between trips. I watched my mom prepare us for winter and have carried that "prepare for the unknown" throughout my adult life. It didn't matter if we were living in California around earthquakes and wildfires, or nor'easters in New England. I have always kept extra supplies on hand.

I currently have two Kirkland packages of toilet paper in my basement. In fact, I just bought the second one today, as we finished off one of our other packages. I always keep at least one or two full packages on hand. I don't consider it hoarding because I have a limit in mind for our family's use and it is reasonable for us to go through it in a reasonable (much less than a year) amount of time. I follow a similar type formula in my head for how many boxes of pasta we keep, how much flour we go through, and how many tubes of toothpaste are on hand. This is our everyday purchasing model. When Covid happened, we didn't rush out to buy 12 Kirkland packages of toilet paper "just in case." We know what we need, purchase accordingly to maintain our supply, and if things go south and somebody buys up all of the toilet paper or spaghetti noodles, we try not to stress about it and restock when supplies in stores resume. In fact, having my stash of items likely helped others during the Covid-19 buying frenzies, because our family didn't need to run to the store to stock up while supplies were low and others needed them more. Our basement storage supplied us, as well as our adult daughter with much of what we needed, greatly limiting trips to the store for two households.