CarolPa
Executive Chef
I don't "hoard" out of any necessity like the rurals. I have Ralphs, Von's, Albertson's, Walmart, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market within short driving distance (all but the last two within 5 minutes drive).
I just like hanging around home. I see no reason to have to dress up and go out in public (even for 20 minutes) just to buy food. If I see a good buy on something I stock up. If it's something I use often I stock up. (If there was a shortage of toilet paper I'm good until at least mid October.)
I figure if it's something you use all the time, buy a bunch and put it on the shelf or in the pantry, so that you don't have to keep putting it on the shopping list and buying it again and again and over and over.
If it adds 1 minute to my shopping trip to buy 1 package of toilet paper, it takes 1 minute to buy 10 packages of toilet paper. Multiply that over all the repeat stuff you buy and I spend a whole lot less time in the supermarket than ordinary people.
Who likes shopping in supermarkets? My goal is to minimize my time spent buying food. Plus it's convenient and allows a lot of flexibility if you can just cook dinners out of your stores rather than having to drive to the store.
Most of the time I don't "dress up" to go shopping, but I do hide when I see someone I know.