Is Bulk Buying an Aspie Trait?

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I bulk buy to limit the number of times I'll have to go shopping as I dislike it. Plus it makes more economical sense if soemthing is on special offer. I do this with toiletries - shampoo, shower gel etc - buy a lot in one go on a trip to town that occurs every so many months. It makes sense to me that if you don't like going out, when you have to go out you get as many other things done on the same day, then there will be a longer period before the need to go out again. Having no money as we're on benefits fits in with this too.

I think it could be related to Aspie-OCD, in that we don't like change, and the fact is that products change from time to time. Case in point: If I like a certain brand and model of work boots, I'll buy 2 or 3 extra pairs of the exact model and size, and hopefully made the same month at the same plant. That way, it's the closest thing to wearing the same pair of boots for 3 times longer than possible. Same holds true for food, when it's something that won't spoil too fast. I like certain brands of certain foods, and I tend to keep a stockpile in case of a shortage, or in case they change the product or quit making it. That way I have time to accept the change and find a replacement with less stress.

My TV is a 1972 Zenith 25" color set, and they stopped making replacement parts for it about 10 years ago or more. So I stockpiled many new parts, and 4 or 5 complete spare TVs of the same model in case I need parts. It's a kind of security blanket, I guess.

Charles

I think that it may be related for some Aspies...

EX: in my family there is me, my cousin, and my grandmother.
Me:
- aspie, ADD, anxiety, slight OCD
- I do it because I don't like contact with people, I eat the same foods, I wear the same clothes, and it makes me happy to see that I am set for a while.
My grandmother:
- aspie, ADHD, OCD
- has the *stereotyped* Aspie mindset where she is set in her own ways and is always right, so dealing with sales people or workers at a register is impossible; plus with ADHD she gets overwhelmed. she likes online shopping. when she buys in bulk, or when we go and buy 5 tons (10,000 pounds) of horse hay at once she says "it makes me feel safe". (and then she giggles and says "and it makes me feel wealthy when I have this much _____!!" for whatever she got). she will find clothes that she likes then will buy the same thing in bulk.
My cousin:
- aspie, ADD, possible OCD
- he wears the same clothes, he is a very particular (but not picky) eater, he gets frustrated by other people a lot.

ALL of us:
- IDEALLY will just build up a collection to avoid things we know will upset us
- knowing that we have our "stockpile" makes us all heppy
- our stockpile is things we know we LIKE and will be HAPPY with. (we all hate the "mystery" of going to the store and trying on all he clothes or trying a bunch food just to find ONE thing we are happy with and get multiples; it is much easier to stick to what we know and like. plus is seems we all have sensory/touch issues, so...)

(I forgot to add this to my reply)

Also, I personally HATE change, and I know that neither my grandmother or cousin like change either.

going through some of the responses seeing "___ buys bulk and is NT"... there is a difference between them.
EX:
- an NT will go to Costco and get a large box of goldfish crackers because it is $3 cheaper there than the grocery store
- an Aspie (recently my cousin and I) will go and buy MULTIPLE of the large goldfish cracker boxes because that is one of the foods that I will eat for weeks on end, he will grab tons of the boxes of 80 Scooby-Doo fruit snack packets. we do this because this is what we WILL eat, we minimize dealing with people for a while, and it makes us happy to see our "stockpile"

I will admit, if you come to either of our houses it may look as though we've started to prepare for an apocolypse, or appear as tidy food hoarders... I believe that is is an Aspie thing. for him it may be and OCD thing, for me it may be an Anxiety+OCD thing... I don't know. but we are both Aspies and both do it as well!

my parents always make fun of me when I stock pile because they see it as me being weird and hibernating.

@AshConverse - thanks for pointing out that Aspie/NT difference. That is what I was trying to get across. Sure, bulk buying is for everyone, that's why Costco and Sam's Club is there. I understand that. Bulk buying every week is not bulk buying because what was bought should've lasted for months or years. Perhaps I should've called this "extreme", "stockpile" or "zombie apocalypse" buying.

Yay! Campbell's Vegetable Soup was on sale for 88 cents each so I bought 10 cases, or 120 cans. Sweet. That should last a few months past the upcoming zombie apocalypse. If corn, green peas and peas go on sale I'll buy 100 cans of each, maybe more if I have the money.

I don't think it's an Aspie trait, necessarily. I think it's more a "case" (pun unintended) of the need or desire to economize.

You're right, KK. It's just that I'm homeless and live in transitional housing so my stockpiles looks like so much here against the backdrop of sparseness.

In your case, it's being smart.

If I could get 100's of packages of pasta for 50 cents a pop, I'd go for it!