MW 'I need protein shakes': Couples disagree about panic-buying for this weekend's snowstorm
By Aditi Shrikant
There's one thing worse than hunkering down during a snowstorm - and that's doing so with someone who resents your spending
Anila Podila, 29, and her partner live in Chicago: "I'm inclined to buy more because I think I am just more of a 'what if' thinker."
On Friday morning, Bernadette Joy, 40, and her husband AJ, 44, engaged in what seemed like a trivial couple's quarrel: where to go grocery shopping that night.
Usually, they would be on the same page about such a routine task. But the couple lives in Charlotte, N.C., which is expected to get up to an inch of ice this weekend, and this shopping trip is meant to keep them fed for the next four days.
While AJ said they didn't need to overspend by buying items in bulk, Bernadette's intuition skewed the exact opposite way.
"I need protein shakes," she said. "I need snacks. I need matcha cookies. My survival mode kicked in, and I'm like, 'Oh, I'm out of makeup-remover wipes.' He is thinking we don't need nonessentials. I'm thinking we need to stock up in case there's a snowpocalypse."
'My survival mode kicked in'Bernadette Joy, Charlotte resident, on preparing for this weekend's ice storm
And, as in any squabble, there will be a winner and a loser.
"I won the debate - we are going to Costco instead of the regular grocery store," she told me from a packed Costco $(COST)$ parking lot.
Seeing as this weekend's winter storm will affect an estimated 230 million people, theirs will not be the only household in need of navigating such disagreements. The phenomenon of panic buying, or overspending on goods before a natural disaster, is well-documented.
As couples prepare to weather frigid temperatures and record snowfall, they will also need to learn how to communicate with a partner who might not see their needs as essential purchases. Because there's one thing worse than hunkering down during a snowstorm - and that's doing so with someone who resents your spending.
A sense of control over the weather
Buying physical goods, as opposed to renting a movie or planning a trip, allows people to feel some sense of control during an uncontrollable event, said Hal Hershfield, a psychologist and professor of behavioral decision making at the University of California, Los Angeles. "When consumers are facing financial uncertainty, they opt for more material purchases," he said.
Indulging in niche snacks provides Bernadette with some semblance of power. AJ, though, would prefer to stock up on books and records.
"Typically, I feel like I don't need a whole lot of extra stuff, but the one thing I was thinking about was some entertainment," AJ said. "We just bought a vinyl player secondhand. Books, music, things like that - to me, that's always helpful."
For Bernadette, this wasn't such a priority. "How about we listen to that stuff we have?" she asked.
For some people, control means retaining a sense of normalcy, especially when panic buying is escalating all around them - partly due to what psychologists refer to as a "herd mentality."
'What if things end up way worse than we think?'Hal Hershfield, a psychologist and professor at UCLA
Anila Podila, 29, and her partner live in Chicago, a city that frequently endures winter storms and, this weekend, is expected to experience wind chills of minus-25 degrees along with snow.
"I'm inclined to buy more [than my husband] because I think I am just more of a 'what if' thinker," she said. "I'd be, like, 'Let's buy this bulk box of chickpea cans and toilet paper,' and he would be trying to convince me that we don't need it - since he's from Minnesota and is used to these kinds of storms."
Even in such unforgiving conditions, she said she prefers to take public transit to work, as opposed to driving. The commuter train costs $3.75 each way, while driving and parking would cost $10.
Taking the train, in theory, allows her to avoid traffic jams - or, even worse, the pileups that some states have experienced in recent days. "I don't want to sit in the car and drive and have to pay attention," she said.
Her husband, on the other hand, told her that he prefers to drive, as that would mean he wouldn't have to stand or walk in the cold.
It was a trade-off worthy of discussion, but Podila was adamant: "I want to decompress on the train."
How to avoid overspending
Recent events like the 2021 Texas ice storm and the COVID-19 pandemic might be causing people to stockpile even more than they otherwise would be inclined to do, UCLA professor Hershfield noted.
"For a lot of people, there is a feeling of, 'Who knows how bad this could be? Because I've seen things go much worse than they were predicted to go. What if things end up way worse than we think they are going to be?'" he said.
To ensure you and your partner don't end up overspending, honest conversations need to be had.
'Let's buy this bulk box of chickpea cans and toilet paper.'Anila Podila, from Chicago
Bernadette, who is a financial coach and founder of the financial boot camp Crush Your Money Goals, said that while she and AJ didn't communicate as effectively as they could have Friday morning, typically the two would have had a more detailed conversation about what they want their budget for the weekend to be.
"Before you go out and shop, check all the cupboards," she said, to avoid buying duplicates. Be precise about how many meals you'll need to cook, and what exactly those meals will be.
"Here in Charlotte, they are saying things might be closed until Tuesday," she said. "So, in my mind, that's four days. That's three meals a day; that's 24 meals between the two of us." If your budget for all three daily meals is $50 per day per person, then you know you shouldn't be spending more than $200 at the grocery store.
By communicating clearly about what you each want to prioritize, you can avoid unnecessary friction, save money and make what could be an unpleasant weekend a bit less stressful.
"Make a list," Bernadette said. "Stick to the plan."
-Aditi Shrikant
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 26, 2026 10:53 ET (15:53 GMT)
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