Re-Buyer's Remorse

I could open my own cracker store

We’re having company tonight, and serving cheese and crackers for an appetizer. So, when I hit the store the other day, I made sure to pick up a package of crackers. Trouble was, I already had four, count ‘em, four other packages of the same (or very similar) crackers in the pantry.

Last week I finally did a long-overdue inventory of my books (the ones I wrote). How many copies of Unhaling, Underway, Everyday Matters and In Discovery do I currently have in stock? Need to make sure I have enough in anticipation of holiday sales, and also copies for purchase at upcoming speaking gigs!! At a recent event in Delaware, I noticed that my supply of Unhaling's was dwindling, so I went ahead and ordered a big batch more from the publisher. Which would have been great, had I bothered to open the still-sealed box that turned out to be filled with Unhaling's in the bedroom first. I now have enough of my first book of essays to last me until 2029.

 I recently ordered a snappy wine-colored sweater from LOFT, and congratulated myself on my fab purchase—that is, until I unearthed the EXACT SAME SWEATER in the back of my closet. No wonder it looked a little familiar!

Why didn’t I check before shopping?

Why, indeed. Lately it seems that extra step is a step too far for me. And it’s a shame, because we don’t have oodles of spare cash to just blow on surplus baked goods, or extra volumes of stories, or duplicate sweaters, that we don’t need.

Is this how hoarders get their start? I have always been highly critical of the hapless folks with houses full of cats, or old newspapers, or canned beets. But now, I can almost see how a little initial carelessness morphs, over time, into obsession…it is weirdly comforting to know that we are so well stocked on various items. One might even say, overstocked. We aren’t at the point of building more storage space. Yet. But that day may come, unless I start to pull back. Not to the Marie Kondo level of sparseness of course, but I do need to look pre-leap before buying more stuff.

This goes for church as well. My Advent Prayer Center partner-in-crime Marda and I cleaned out the closet where we keep the items we need for the various prayer stations each December. In the space of one hour, I discovered: a huge bag of scallop shells, markers and pens galore, beads of every size and shape and color, etc. I know I have recently re-ordered every single one of these items without checking that closet first. Some thrifty Lutheran I am!

In this month of Thanksgiving, I give thanks for the bounty I possess. And I vow to stop before picking up one more bottle of saffron at Shop N Bag. Do I own an Indian restaurant? I will ask myself. No? Then step away from the spice rack, Elise!

Plenty more where these came from (trust me)!