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When Stockpiling Turns into Stress - How to Stay Prepared Without Drowning in Clutter. What to do when your ‘just in case’ turns into ‘just too much’ #162

• Caroline Thor - Professional Organizer - KonMari® Consultant

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Is your pantry full of peace... or panic?
Have your ‘just in case’ buys become ‘just too much’?

You’re not alone — and this week on The Living Clutter Free Forever Podcast, I’m getting real about something we don’t talk about enough: the hidden stress of stockpiling.

We think we’re being practical.
We think we’re saving money.
But when those “just in case” cocoa powders, toilet rolls, and tins start taking over every shelf, cupboard, and corner… that sense of preparedness? It turns into pressure.

In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on how fear, rising tariffs, and a heavy mental load can drive even the most intentional women to overbuy — and how that can quietly sabotage our home organization goals.

You’ll hear:

  • Why stockpiling feels so good (until it doesn’t)
  • How clutter builds behind the scenes — especially when you’re low on time
  • What you can do today to start organizing your bulk buys without the overwhelm

I’ll share real-life examples, practical declutter strategies, and a gentle mindset reframe to help you make space for what really matters. (Spoiler: it's not 50 packs of pasta.)

If you’ve been craving a more intentional approach to your space — one rooted in the KonMari philosophy of choosing what truly serves you — this one’s for you.

Because decluttering isn't just about tidying. It's about reclaiming calm.
And that includes your stockpile shelf.

Tune in now to discover how to stay prepared without drowning in clutter.
Let’s declutter the fear and create the kind of home that supports you — not suffocates you.

I would LOVE to hear from you. Text Message me here.

Thanks for listening! For more organizational motivation, support and free resources:
Join my online membership Clutter Free Collective
Join my podcast Facebook group Living Clutter Free Forever Podcast: KonMari® Inspired Organizing | Facebook
Visit my website www.caroline-thor.com
Come and say 'hi' on Instagram @caro.thor
Follow me on Facebook @carolineorganizer

Speaker 1:

Hi there, I'm Caroline Thor, professional organiser, konmari consultant, teacher and mum of three. I started off my life as a mum feeling overwhelmed, disorganised and desperately trying to carve out some time for me amongst the nappies, chaos and clutter. One day, one small book called the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying changed everything and I began to learn strategies for making everyday life easier. Today, I have the systems in place that means life can throw almost anything at me, and I want to share them with you. If you're an overwhelmed mum struggling to keep it together, then this is the podcast for you. Grab a coffee and settle in for a quick chat with someone who gets your reality. Hi there, and welcome back to this latest episode of the Living Clutter-Free Forever podcast. I am so happy to have you with me. Thank you for giving me your time today.

Speaker 1:

And this episode has been inspired by Leanne, who listens regularly to the podcast, and she got in touch with me because she'd heard a news anchor say that she was stockpiling cocoa powder due to the tariffs in the US and it struck a nerve. And Leanne got in touch with me and said that she thought that perhaps this would be a really good podcast episode, and I totally agree with her, because it's not just about Coco. It's what this all says about fear, preparedness and clutter. So today we're going to be exploring why we stockpile, what it's doing to our space and mindset, and how we can meet our need to feel prepared without overloading our homes. Now, quick disclaimer this episode has got nothing to do with politics or judgment. This is about how to create peace in your home and clarity in your mind. So let's get started.

Speaker 1:

First of all, why do we stockpile things in the first place? What is the psychology behind it? Mainly, it is emotional reasons, so fear of scarcity. What if I can't afford this later? What if I can't get access to it later? We can all think back to the time of the COVID pandemic, where people had fear of scarcity for toilet roll and other essentials and they were stockpiling them. This also leads to the next point, which is wanting control.

Speaker 1:

In uncertain times, we very often feel like we don't have any control over a situation, as in the pandemic. And so what can we do? We can go out and buy things. It makes us feel in control, it makes us feel prepared. So that is a major thing. Another thing is the influence of news and social media. Even if it is well-meaning, we perhaps will watch something, it will cause anxiety for us and we will want to act on that, and that may mean going out and buying things. And then there are also generational patterns or lived experiences. So if your parents have grown up with very little, then perhaps your experience growing up has been that we should hang on to everything we need to make sure we've got enough of everything. Again, if we've lived through the pandemic, it has become a thing of okay, what if we can't get hold of what we need? Now.

Speaker 1:

There is nothing silly about this. It's not a weird thing to want to go out and stockpile. It's actually a very human response. But just because it's a common response doesn't mean that it's necessarily helpful long term. And we've actually had this in the clutter-free community in the last year, where we have had members who are very sensibly wanting to make sure that they have got enough bottled water and enough tinned and dried food should there be an emergency situation and they not be able to get hold of water, and we had a big discussion within the group about okay, well, where do you then store this? Because if it's actually stored in your day-to-day living space.

Speaker 1:

It's taking up storage and becoming clutter, and where is then a sensible place to store it? And how much is sensible, like, how many bottles of water do you need? How many packets of I don't know pasta or tinned food do you need? So this is when it starts to affect the home and when clutter becomes a problem. When your cupboards are overflowing with all this backstock, this stockpiled stuff, then you've got no room for everyday items and you've also got the issue that you very often will then have forgotten items expiring or going to waste. I have worked with a client who has a space in their cellar where they, very sensibly, have got food for emergencies, but she was very clear about the fact that perhaps they'd lost an overview of what was down there and if some of the food was expiring and we were trying to look at a way of, okay, how can we store this so that if you have got easy access and easy eye line on it, you can go in easily and see and take things up to the kitchen to use if you can see they're going to be expiring. And then the other thing is that this clutter actually can become quite stressful because you're seeing it every day. It becomes visual noise and unfortunately that equals mental noise as well. And this stockpiling becomes a problem when it becomes part of the mental load.

Speaker 1:

It very often will come down to you, as the woman in the house, to carry the emotional responsibility for stocking up just in case and for managing the aftermath of any emergency that happens, and that is a huge responsibility to think, okay, what if the whole family didn't have access to water or food, and to have actually thought ahead and made sure you've got enough. So apparently, according to statistics, americans spend $38 billion a year on self-storage, not because they're bad people or have lost the plot somehow, but because they've been sold the story that more is better. And very often, when your home becomes too overwhelming and too cluttered and too crowded, people will rent storage in order to move stuff out of the home and clear it, but then these spaces become very, very cluttered as well. So if you've bought in bulk, here's how to store it. Mindfully, I thought it would be useful to give you some tips today.

Speaker 1:

Store like with like, and what I mean with that is if, for example, you have got toilet roll, or if you have got tins of I don't know pasta, then have a dedicated basket or a shelf for each type of item so that you can see exactly what you've got and how many. If you just have all your tins randomly stored on one shelf together and they're all mixed together so perhaps some of them are things in sauce, some of them are just beans, some of them are I don't know soup Trying to think what comes in a tin but you've got them all mixed together, then you can't see what you've got and it starts to become a little bit difficult to keep a handle on it. So store like with like, either having a section of the shelf for each type of item or a container or basket. Shoe boxes are great for this. If you're storing them in the cellar, for example, then you can just put a shoe box, fill the shoe box and perhaps you know that's then enough of that particular type of item. Another thing that is really important is to keep the oldest items in front, so that it's the first in, first out, so you're not going to end up with this problem that things are going to expire and you're going to forget about them and it's just going to go to waste if you need to use labels or chalk pens to write the expiry dates very clearly on them so you can see them easily and you don't have to pick. You know what is it with tins when bottles and jars you pick them up, it takes you about half an hour to find the expiry date on each one. So if they are back stock, if they are stuff for stockpiling, then perhaps writing this expiry date on very clearly as you add it to your shelf or basket will mean that you have got a really clear idea of what things you need to use first.

Speaker 1:

And you need to be realistic about space. You've got to set physical limits. I'll only store what fits on this shelf. There is no point having so many bottles of water that you have absolutely nowhere to store them all. I remember working with a client once and they had bulk bought toilet rolls this was actually before the pandemic but it's cheaper very often to order them in bulk. But they had nowhere to store them and so they were stacked up on the floor in her bedroom behind the door. So when she closed her bedroom door at night, she just got a lovely tower of toilet rolls there which isn't particularly attractive to look at. So be realistic about the space. If you haven't got space to store a bulk amount of toilet rolls, then buy a packet that you have the space for and no more than that. And clear containers are very helpful to visually track inventory. Okay, a bonus tip here for you Rotating stock.

Speaker 1:

Use bulk items in planned meal rotations, and what I mean by this is, if you know that you have got a tin of soup that is going to be expiring, plan that into your meal for in two weeks time or something, so that you know it's going to get used. Okay, so have some sort of like rotating stock and then you know that once that tin of soup's been used, you can replace it Rather than just keeping buying more and adding to what you have. Think to yourself what would be a sensible amount for us to have. Okay, I always need eight tins of soup there. I will occasionally perhaps every month, use one and then I will replace it so that we always have eight. Okay, how to decide if bulk buying actually serves you. I don't think many people actually think about this before they start bulk buying. Do you actually use this item often enough to need that much? Now? This isn't necessarily when you'll stop piling for an emergency. This might just be that you see, buying toilet rolls in bags of 50 is a lot cheaper, so let's do that, but how often are you actually going to use that particular item to get through it?

Speaker 1:

Another question to ask yourself is do I have a place for this to live in my home? Do you really have the space for it? Because if you don't, and it's just going to end up getting squashed in somewhere or left out somewhere, then what it's doing is adding to your clutter. Another really good question to ask yourself am I buying from calm or fear? Buying from fear is never a good place. You need to think about this logically. If you are buying because you want to have a stock at home should there be an emergency, then thinking about it calmly and being really clear what does my family need? And making a plan and going out and buying those things is much more sensible than panic buying when you're in the shops because you're worried that something's going to run out.

Speaker 1:

And could I stock up gradually over time instead of panic buying? Now, this is what I tend to do. We have a few items that we use that are really quite expensive, and one of these and shoot me if you want, but we use powdered coffee. We do not have a coffee machine. We get two teaspoons of powdered coffee and we put our boiling water in it. So we're very, very advanced in my house. But these jars of coffee in Germany they cost 10 euros a jar and that's really expensive. So what we do is if we see they're on offer which happens every few months and they go down to five euros, so like half price then we will buy four so that we have got a backstock of coffee because it's saving us money and we know we're going to use it and we gradually over time will add to it, but we know that we'll have used it in the meantime. So that's what I mean by.

Speaker 1:

Could you stock up gradually over time instead of panic buying and I would always encourage intentionality over impulse Stocking up providing for your family in an emergency or so that if you get to the weekend you're not going to run out of toilet roll. It should feel calm and empowering. If it's coming from panic, that is your sign. To pause. That is your sign that perhaps you're going to buy something and down the line you're going to regret it, and I would always recommend this pause and then saying to yourself okay, I'm, I'm just going to leave this for today. I will make a mental note, or even write a note down somewhere, whether it's on your phone or in a notebook that you have. I really wanted to buy this today. I'm going to revisit this. Do we really need it? Go home, check how many you've got, and if you find you're down to your last one, then the next time you go shopping, you've almost given yourself permission, if you like that it's okay to buy that thing because you're doing it from a place of calm and intentionality.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I think that we do need to acknowledge the reality that prices are going up. They are. There's no getting away from it. So we've got this thing of we want to live with less, we want to be decluttered, we want to have an organized, calm, feeling home, versus navigating rising prices. Because as the prices rise, we are really tempted as I do with my coffee and as that news anchor did with her cocoa we're really tempted to buy lots of these items so that when the price goes up, we've got them Okay. So that actually is relatively rational.

Speaker 1:

But clutter has a cost too. Not a dollar cost, but it has a cost, because the cost is to your energy and your time and your peace, and I hear all the time from people. I don't feel calm in my home, I don't have any time, I'm always too tired, and this comes from being overwhelmed by our living spaces. So I'm offering you a reframe on this. Could you say to yourself can I trust that I will figure it out later if I need to? So, if the cost of cocoa goes up, can you figure out how you will be able to either afford to buy it so that you don't need to stockpile 10 bags of the stuff, or can you figure out how you will be able to either afford to buy it so that you don't need to stockpile 10 bags of the stuff, or can you figure out a way of changing the way you bake, cook, whatever, so that you are not needing to use as much or any cocoa for while the prices are so high? Another reframe that you could ask yourself is do I want a home that feels like a shop or one that feels like a sanctuary?

Speaker 1:

Now, at the moment, if I open my cupboard that serves as the pantry in our kitchen, we literally have just enough stuff to last our family of five for a week and probably an extra day or two. We have got no stockpiled items in our house and we have actually talked about this the other weekend when I told my husband that Leanne had had this idea and he said we maybe do need to think about stockpiling a few items so that, if there was an emergency, we would have something that we can eat and drink. So one practical tip would be to set a small preparedness budget each month so that, instead of splurging, you have said to yourself I have allocated this amount of money this month to be able to buy extra of whatever it happens to yourself. I have allocated this amount of money this month to be able to buy extra of whatever it happens to be where the prices are going up, or we need something and that will stop these impulse and panic buyings happening, and it can be something that you discuss as a family. Okay, if the prices of this go up, is it something we as a family would really want?

Speaker 1:

If it is something that most people in the family would really like to still be having, how many of them would we buy in advance? Do we all agree? If they're sitting there in the cupboard. They're not all just going to get eaten and used like within a week, which is what happens with lovely tasting things in our home. Which is what happens with lovely tasting things in our home. If I buy multiples of something because it was on offer, by the end of the week they're all gone because everyone's like, oh, we don't normally have those, and get very excited and eat them. So that is something to think about.

Speaker 1:

And then you need to think about in these moments where you are feeling under pressure, because the thing you normally buy is three for the price of two or it's half price or whatever it happens to be. Who do you want to be in these moments? Who do you want to be? Are you going to be the kind of person who buys with intention? Are you going to be the kind of person who is not ruled by fear but makes choices from calm? Are you going to be the kind of person that values space and ease over stuff? And that is what you really need to be able to understand if you are going to see yourself as someone who can handle day-to-day life without needing to stockpile things that you don't actually need, just in case and out of fear.

Speaker 1:

So I would like to challenge you now, after listening to this episode, to go and peek in your pantry or cupboard and look for what something you have bought just in case and haven't used in months, and then I would like to invite you to remove one bulk item that no longer serves you, perhaps set a space limit for stockpiling going forwards and talk to the rest of your family about buying from calm going forward. Now I would love to reassure you. This is not about doing it perfectly. It is about becoming more aware, because when we are aware, we are able to make really, really sensible decisions that will stop our homes feeling super cluttered.

Speaker 1:

Leanne, thank you so much for suggesting this episode. I don't actually think it is a topic that I would have thought to cover, and I have loved giving it thought and thinking about how I would talk to everyone about it today. So I hope, as you've listened, you have found it helpful. Please could you do me a favour and come over to Instagram at carothor and could you send mea message and tell me what you have found in your pantry or cupboard today that you have bought just in case. I would love to know Until next time on Instagram, at carothor, or on Facebook at Caroline Organiser. Thanks for listening and I look forward to guiding you on your journey to find your clutter-free ever after.