Prepping vs. Hoarding and Why You Should Care

Avoiding the Crazy

Talk about prepping vs. hoarding – March 2020, I was away from home traveling, as the toilet paper ‘shortage’ unrolled before our disbelieving eyes. Guess who left her bathroom closet dwindled down to the last few ‘squares’ (aka three rolls) of essential toiletry? I remember calling home and asking Stache, ‘Uhhh, Honey? Are you paying attention to what’s happening out there?? We’re almost out of paper!!!’

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Along with everyone else, we watched incredulously the panic and mayhem that overtook any semblance of sanity here in the US. I may be overstating the case from another vantage point, but things got pretty crazy from ours.

2020 Meets Y2K

Back in the ’90s, reports that master computers running the world had a fatal design flaw stirred up quite the concern. It became widely reported and feared that the moment the clock turned to the year 2000, life would shut down as we had dependently grown accustomed. Consequently, Y2K ‘prepping’ became quite the thing in the late ’90s. I’ll admit it; I led us into becoming modest versions of food hoarders.

It took us ye-e-e-ears to get through the storehouse I built up before Y2K. Truth to tell, after the world proved it would indeed continue to turn, we lost so much time and money with the overabundance I had collected. The effort I spent in guilt alone for those losses is incalculable. I don’t mind telling you; Stache took on a particular eye roll at my survivalist hoarding tendencies that I don’t care ever to see again.

Together, these experiences have had me thinking. Lord willing, Stache and I want our home and resources to be a modest safe-haven if our family or friends ever need one. We can’t hope to provide even for ourselves without at least SOME preparation.

Prepping vs. Hoarding | What’s the big diff?

What exactly is the difference between prepping and hoarding? What constitutes wise preparation, as seen in Proverbs 6:6-11? How can I prepare my home for serving family and friends in uncertain times but avoid excess, waste, and loss in the process?

Webster’s Online Dictionary 1828 describes preparation as ‘the act or operation of preparing or fitting for a particular purpose, use, service, or condition.’ After several explaining sentences, Webster finishes with ‘preparation is intended to prevent evil or secure good.’

Similar yet distinctively different in purpose is to hoard. Webster defines hoarding as ‘to collect and lay up a large quantity of anything; to amass and deposit in secret; to store secretly; as, to hoard grain or provisions; to hoard silver and gold. It is sometimes followed by up, but without use; as, to hoard up provisions.’

Questions Begging Answers

Wise preparation involves personal attitude, intention, and boundaries. For myself, I have to ask:

1. Is my desire to store up goods for our home rooted in genuine wisdom or fear? 
2. Is my purpose towards ‘prepping’ one that serves many, or is it for possession’s sake alone? 
3. How much, precisely, is excessive prepping? 

I refer to wise thinking or attitude as a mental position set on discerning Biblical truth and good sense. Fear has a way of robbing these qualities if we are not intentional to avoid it. And wisdom knows its own strengths and weaknesses. Because I know that I am too often prone to fear, I seek trusted counsel to verify my thinking process.

Perhaps you’ve seen or experienced somewhere in your life the instability and mess that an inclination towards hoarding creates? Lord, help us! Many items expire if not used in a reasonable time. In terms of a food pantry or toiletry closet, stockpiling for possession’s sake is neither wise nor helpful.

*Consider, how can hoarding such as this, without an intention to serve others, possibly glorify God (the assumed life purpose of every Christian)?

The process of avoiding excess and waste will help determine how much is enough. Storage space, containers that help preserve, careful product rotation, and expiration dates define reasonable stockpile boundaries.

Answering the question ‘How much…(?)’ is as individual as you and the storage space with which God blessed you. Avoiding the insanity of hoarding is more about discerning what you can faithfully use without wasting rather than the amount of your collected goods.

More To Come…

Interested in how to create a working Food Pantry and Toiletry Closet that can modestly provide for your family and friends with little to no waste? See my next post – How To Prep a Pantry. I promise to avoid conversations such as ‘How To Clean a Squirrel,’ ‘How To Grind Hard Winter Wheat Without Burning Up Your Grinder,’ or ‘How To Store Enough Toilet Paper To Cause the Next National Crisis.’

Until then, Grammie