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Nobody could ever resist the benefits of something free. And freebies are something that coupons are great for.

However, like many other things, anything in excess will gradually do more harm than good. Not knowing when to spend your coupons will result to a total waste of freebies and coupons.

As such, it is important to know the difference between stockpiling with coupons and hoarding with coupons. Couponing is successful when you do it along your stockpiling. In a nutshell, stockpiling means buying extra items when they are in their cheapest, and making sure you buy just enough supply until the next sale comes.

However, if you watch couponing shows, you might not easily see the difference of stockpiling and hoarding. Stockpiling is basically smart shopping using your coupons. Hoarding, on the other hand, is an excessive form of couponing.

The following things are signs that you are not being smart about your coupons, and that you are only hoarding.

You are hoarding when: Your supplies reach their expiration dates before you could even use them.

Stockpiling means buying enough items to last you for a reasonable amount of time, while hoarding is almost emptying the shelves just because you have enough coupons to do so. It would be fine if you and your family could consume the items before they expire, but what do you do with 30 jars of pickles if nobody in your family even eats them?

You are hoarding when: You do not like to give away your extra food supplies

Couponing for some, is a chance to give to others. Since at times, the items are almost free when taken, people feel the sense of responsibility to share the items to those in need. There are local food pantries who accept food donations that they give out to shelters and other people in need. If you have coupons that would expire, and you have no choice but to buy them or make it go to waste, it would be smart and kind if you share it. Using the same story, instead of having those pickle jars rot in your cupboards, you could give them to shelters and then people would benefit from the delicious sandwich spread that they could make of it.

You are hoarding when: You buy things you don’t need just because you want to make a deal

Again, coupons are there to let us save a little extra on our next grocery trip. Hence, you have to realize that coupons are not tools just so you could feel accomplished about making a deal. Yes, there is fulfilment in being able to land an awesomely sweet deal. However, you also have to realize that it would be more awesome and sweeter if the deal is something you actually needed to land, and not just some random buy you came across the store with. Some people do this because they think that a sale would go to waste if you do not get them, even if you already have tons of those things in your home. You just have to realize that sales will always be there, and you will never run out of the opportunity to land a good deal when the need for it comes.

There are still more tell-tale signs that you are a hoarder rather than a smart coupon shopper. I’ll be sure to tackle other signs next time. For now, if you think you are any of the above-mentioned hoarder, then you should really try and work on that before you end up wasting more coupons.