I went through a phase several years ago where I often bought candles whenever we’d go to the mall; mostly tea lights from Yankee Candle. For some reason, however, I didn’t burn a lot of the candles I purchased, so they sat in our hall closet for years untouched. In my mind I was saving them for… what exactly? I’m not sure, so recently I decided I should make a concerted effort to use and enjoy them before they get so old the scent fades away. Not only that, but they are taking up unnecessary space and lately the amount of stuff we have in the house is starting to get under my skin. Clutter is my kryptonite, so most of it is organized (due to my tendency to every so often completely reorganize the hall closet, bathroom cabinets, or what have you) and largely out of site, but just knowing it’s there is enough to trigger a bit of anxiety.
This same reason is why I recently decided to pay less attention to deal sites. I love a good deal (who doesn’t?) but I’ve stocked up on so many non-perishables that the garage is starting to look a bit ridiculous. We have a bunch of big packs of toilet paper and paper towels in there, not to mention countless bottles of shampoo and conditioner, among other toiletries, stashed away in the bathroom. We could go a good six months to a year on our current stockpile.
Taking advantage of stocking up when these things are on sale has definitely saved us money, but it’s starting to take a toll on my sanity. Therefore I have decided to make sure our stockpile is nearly depleted before taking advantage of any further sales. This is tough for me, because every time a sale comes along I want to jump on it, so I have to keep reminding myself that another sale will come along well before I’ve run out of whatever it is. Plus, once things look less crowded I will feel less like the things are taking over every inch of space.
Can you relate to this at all? How do you take advantage of sales, and do you find yourself stockpiling a bit too much?
I stockpile books. I have about 100 now on my shelf that need to be read. It started with my love of thrift stores. There are like 8 within a 15 mile radius of me here in Utah which is crazy so lots of books to choose from at cheap prices so I started trying to collect a series before I read any. I have a few series of (20ish) books that I now need to start on. I cut myself off! I also went from apartment living to a 4 bedroom house with an unfinished basement that can hold a lot so I’m struggling to not fill my house up with junk! its so easy to be a packrat!
We don’t have many books, but we used to collect DVDs until we realized we weren’t going back to watch them often enough to justify the price. Now we either borrow from the library or rent from Redbox. I can only imagine how tempting it would be to stockpile even more if I had a basement, though! As it is I’ve tried to limit the number of storage totes in the garage for our holiday decor, etc.