Am I cheap?

[97guns]

When I see something cheap I like to stack it deep. I have a good 5-10 year supply of car oil, underwear, socks, shoes and other things.

I had a slew of toothbrushes and am finally running low on them so I've been perusing the dollar store, they have my brand but I've been holding off at $1 a pop. I picked up the last batch online so I tried again and found some for .29 each, not the brand I'm on now but a brand I've used in the past and liked them so I picked up 50 pieces for a $20 bill, .40 each shipped. 50 pieces will probably last us a year, maybe I shoulda bought more.

I'm pretty passionate about my opening statement and feel it saves money in the long run, an old lady I once knew who drove a Benz but bought day old bread every week told me - pinch the pennies today so you can spend dollars tomorrow

 

[easysurfer]

Does pretty much having a lifetime supply of forever stamps fall in that category? That's what I did .

 

[97guns]

Oh yeah, I'm sitting on a few of them too

 

[Major Tom]

One thing to bear in mind is the shelf life of the item you are stashing. For example, will the elastic in underwear lose it's elasticity after a number of years? If you're only stashing it for a couple of years, probably not, but I wonder if your undies will be as good as new if you don't start using them until 5 or 10 years after first buying them.

About 20 years ago, my then-fiancee bought me a large amount of bottles of moisturizing lotion, which she got a deal on. Thing is, I don't use very much lotion at all, and after about 10 years, it was separating out, so I had to toss what was left away. I still have toothbrushes left from the stash she got me though.

Something to consider.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I probably lose thousands of dollars every year by not re-balancing, and by sticking to a less than ideal AA. That being said, I love a bargain if its not a hassle to get. I have over 100 high hat lights in my home, I bought enough light bulbs to illuminate all of Times Square. They were such a deal I couldn't resist. When I sell this place the light bulbs get thrown in as a bonus.

 

[SheitlQueen]

Does pretty much having a lifetime supply of forever stamps fall in that category? That's what I did .

People still use snail mail?

 

[Texas Proud]

One thing to bear in mind is the shelf life of the item you are stashing. For example, will the elastic in underwear lose it's elasticity after a number of years? If you're only stashing it for a couple of years, probably not, but I wonder if your undies will be as good as new if you don't start using them until 5 or 10 years after first buying them.

About 20 years ago, my then-fiancee bought me a large amount of bottles of moisturizing lotion, which she got a deal on. Thing is, I don't use very much lotion at all, and after about 10 years, it was separating out, so I had to toss what was left away. I still have toothbrushes left from the stash she got me though.

Something to consider.

I have not bought underwear since 1999.... elastic is still good...


Just for info, I had a good number, but bought a bunch new just before moving overseas to work... when I got back home I had twice as much... I can go more than a month without washing (maybe two)... and I only wash undies in one load... they are wearing out pretty fast now... but I think I got my moneys worth....

 

[Texas Proud]

As to OP... it is not a waste IF you use it....

I bought a few pairs of dress work shoes since I loved what I had and it was hard to find... JCPenny had an online sale so I bought.... still have one or two new pair in the closet that I will not use... well, maybe some time in the future...

But shelf life is an important part of the calculation.... otherwise if you have a place to store it all then go for it....

 

[omni550]

Does pretty much having a lifetime supply of forever stamps fall in that category? That's what I did .

How many stamps^^ is that?

omni

 

[Meadbh]

Having too much inventory is not always a good thing. What about the opportunity cost of the money spent to buy it, and the cost of the space it takes up? Having said that, I do stockpile certain items when they are on sale, such as toothpaste and toilet paper. Just not years' worth of supply of toilet paper, because of its bulk. I haven't bought bar soap for at least six years, since I last moved, because I have a couple of baskets full of it, from hotels I have stayed at. There is no noticeable deterioration in the quality of the soap over time. As for underwear, I am still using panties that I bought 10-20 years ago. New ones in storage seem to keep indefinitely. I am still using some sheets and towels that I bought when I moved out of my parents' home 35 years ago.

 

[Amethyst]

I can actually speak to that I bought a lot of my favorite brand of undies some 11 years ago, when I had BX privileges overseas. Just broke open the last pack, and they are just fine! Recently, I checked their price at Macy's and almost had a kitten. It was about 3X what I remember paying in 2006.

I must admit that, while I do look for good buys, I don't spend much time bargain-hunting any more. Time is much more valuable than money.

I wonder if your undies will be as good as new if you don't start using them until 5 or 10 years after first buying them.

.

 

[pb4uski]

Having too much inventory is not always a good thing. What about the opportunity cost of the money spent to buy it, and the cost of the space it takes up? Having said that, I do stockpile certain items when they are on sale, such as toothpaste and toilet paper. Just not years' worth of supply of toilet paper, because of its bulk. I haven't bought bar soap for at least six years, since I last moved, because I have a couple of baskets full of it, from hotels I have stayed at. There is no noticeable deterioration in the quality of the soap over time. As for underwear, I am still using panties that I bought 10-20 years ago. New ones in storage seem to keep indefinitely. I am still using some sheets and towels that I bought when I moved out of my parents' home 35 years ago.

+1 I think there are some false economies of taking stocking up to the extreme that the OP has that some you have pointed out, like opportunity cost, the clutter that it adds to your life, possible additional space you decide that you need to keep all your "stuff", etc. But most importantly, your needs and wants may change and some stuff may not be used in which case that which isn't used is wasted money so the savings of stocking up are not as great as first thought. Perhaps you have a closet full of briefs but now prefer boxers so the cost of the briefs that you will not use are wasted.... so much for those big savings.

For me, I would much rather buy what I need when I need it and shop for a fair price than have a lot of clutter in my life. Now, if I could just convince DW!

But to answer your question... yes, you are cheap.

 

[Dawg52]

I would rather have someone else store my necessities even if it cost me a little more in the long run. And as others have suggested, that might not be the case anyway due to shelf life and style changes.

 

[LOL!]

A 6-pack of good toothbrushes is $1 at Walmart.

 

[RunningBum]

I had a slew of toothbrushes and am finally running low on them so I've been perusing the dollar store, they have my brand but I've been holding off at $1 a pop. I picked up the last batch online so I tried again and found some for .29 each, not the brand I'm on now but a brand I've used in the past and liked them so I picked up 50 pieces for a $20 bill, .40 each shipped. 50 pieces will probably last us a year, maybe I shoulda bought more.

Are you talking about toothbrushes throughout that whole paragraph? 50 "pieces", an odd way to refer to a toothbrush, only lasts a year? That's 2 weeks per. I go about 6 months, or replace after a cold.

 

[Nemo2]

I haven't bought bar soap for at least six years, since I last moved, because I have a couple of baskets full of it, from hotels I have stayed at. There is no noticeable deterioration in the quality of the soap over time.

We pretty much use nothing but bar soap, from The Soap Works, now:

https://well.ca/brand/the-soap-work...MIgpXarrL31QIVgrbACh3x4AMhEAAYASAAEgK7qvD_BwE

Bulk Barn sells it.....they also issue flyers with coupons giving $3 off on purchases over $10.......we pass by, grab ~$10 worth, get ~ a 30% discount.

Then again, we are cheap.

 

[athena53]

I read Andrew Tobias' "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need" when it first came out and he was a big advocate of buying in bulk. He made the point again and again (which this group already knows) that saving AFTER-tax money is important because for every $ you spend, you'll have to earn about $1.30 to replace it.

Having said that- I'm not into clutter and, with just me in the household, spoilage is a concern. I buy at Costco when it makes sense but wouldn't want more than a year's supply of anything, particularly bulky things.

 

[Meadbh]

I tried stocking up on fruit and vegetables at the farmers' market, but I had to make a lot of sauces and dishes to freeze, and I only have the freezer compartment of my fridge. If I sold my condo and spent another $200K I could buy a SFH and then I would have room for a freezer. I'm not going to spend $200K to store frozen vegetables!

 

[easysurfer]

People still use snail mail?

I definitely send less and get less snail mail now than the pre-electronic days. I say, around twice a week, isn't uncommon for me to get zero snail mail, not even ads.

Still, there are times I still use a stamp. I'm old fashioned in sending snail mail Christmas cards to some folks.

Plus, I write a check (yep, use that too, but get paid 10 cents a check - I know, cheap) for stuff like paying my health insurance premium and HSA contribution. I don't trust their electronic setup.

 

[Another Reader]

For those of you that don't stock up on underwear, here's something to consider. Sometime around the late 70's or early 80's. polyester and nylon became the primary materials for ladies' underwear. You could not find cotton underwear. There were people in my family wearing cotton underwear with holes and marginal elastic for years, looking everywhere for the "holy" grail of cotton underwear.

At some point, cotton made a comeback as healthier and more breathable. Later on, the low cost producers, Hanes and Fruit of the Loom, started importing cheap cotton underwear. Buy it cheap and stack it deep was the approach used at that point, because you never knew if the product would once again disappear from the store shelves.

Should have bought a 20 year supply of Tide laundry detergent before they took out the phosphates as well...

 

[easysurfer]

How many stamps^^ is that?

omni

I forget exactly as I stocked up several years ago. I say about 200-300 stamps doing an estimate of how many mailings I do in a year times how many years left before I may kick the bucket.

A Forever stamp at that time was about 43 cents.

 

[easysurfer]

One thing to bear in mind is the shelf life of the item you are stashing. For example, will the elastic in underwear lose it's elasticity after a number of years? If you're only stashing it for a couple of years, probably not, but I wonder if your undies will be as good as new if you don't start using them until 5 or 10 years after first buying them.

....

Something to consider.

Not so much elastic wearing out I'd worry about but the battle of the bulge. Had some totally new underwear that when time to use didn't fit anymore .

 

[clobber]

Am I Cheap?

Yes.

 

[garyt]

Big difference between cheap and frugal. Pinching pennies and saving where you can is frugal.
Not buying something you want and can afford because you just won't spend money is cheap, imo

 

[RunningBum]

Plenty of reasons not to stockpile--many things, not just food, have a shelf life. Stockpiling takes storage space, expensive space if you need to freeze it, and a long power outage can wipe out your stockpile (or you spend more money for a backup generator). Things go out of style. Things may no longer fit. Things may be improved such that you no longer want the old, inferior product. Some things can be made more efficiently and will go down in price in the future, so you really aren't saving, and in fact are tying up money that could be invested. Needs can change.

Toothbrushes are an example for me, in a very small way. I bought 6 or a dozen in bulk years ago. Went to a new dentist who gave me a new brush every 6 months, so I wasn't using the ones I bought. And now my newest dentist is recommending a much softer brush, so I really shouldn't even be using those old ones I bought. I'll probably just phase them out as travel brushes, or eventually use them anyway even though they aren't what I want to use.

I've also run into issues with stockpiling running shoes that had been working well for me that went out of production. I bought 6 or 8 pair of a road shoe, and 3 or 4 of a trail shoe. But since then I've found better shoes, so I'm just using them sometimes for shorter runs or hikes to give my newer, better shoes a break. Luckily they were also on deep sale when they were being phased out.

One more kind of funny story. I used to play a lot of golf, and always walked, and I was pretty rough on golf bags. I like the two strap kind, but many didn't seem to be built well. I found one that had great reviews and had everything I wanted, at a good price, so I bought two. Well, that turned out to be the indestructible bag. It's at least 10 years old and shows hardly any sign of wear. And I play very little golf anymore. So I have this second bag taking up closet space. It probably will eventually get used, and it's good to know I've got a reliable backup. I could sell it, but chances are very high that two weeks later the first one would suddenly go to pieces.

And yet, I still buy in bulk, but I try not to go overboard with a lifetime supply or things that don't make sense to stockpile.