I am one of those folks that hordes my miles and points. I generally pay for my trips so that I get bonus miles/points on them with my status. I only redeem my miles/points for family members who do not have status and thus cannot get bonus miles/points for their flights/stays

I don't wanna be a miles (w)hoarder...really
 

but it seems hard to justify spending my miles/points when I know my typical travel patterns do not maximize their economic potential.

Somehow I never seem to get around to planning/booking international J trips and it just seems like such a waste to use my miles on the domestic trips that I'm more apt to take.

Either that or just as I've convinced myself to take advantage of my miles/points, some sale or other promo happens to make using miles less attractive than scoring some extra bonus points/miles.

Not to mention, that it's tragic to see those hard earned balances dip. ;)

There is 1 exception to my insanity, I'm new to UA and for some reason I now seem to be more than willing to pony up (miles or AMEX points) for upgrades whereas I previously never even considered doing that.

oyyyyyy

This is where I come down also.

I don't earn all that much, but what I do earn I'll sometimes "hoard" for years, just for those occasions when there's no affordable paid option.