Prepping as insurance

[K9medic]

I know a lot of people class prepping as a physical type of insurance and that for the majority of us there is usually a perceived threat that starts us off.

For some it was Britexit, for others Covid19 or perhaps a bad winter or flood. For myself it was growing up on an English / Scottish borders hill farm in the 1960’s and 70s.

We had “real” winters in those days and of course the Cold War was very much in the forefront of peoples mind. Even if you did not think a nuclear strike was likely the political unrest and disruption during the winter of discontent sobering (though as a kid the rolling blackouts were just posh camping).

Both on here and on a couple of forums I hang out in I have heard people saying they are running there food / equipment stocks down, either because Britexit has happened or they can see the light at the end of the Covid19 tunnel.

So sticking with the Insurance analogy do you see Prepping as either;
a) Travel Insurance – in that you only have it when travelling, next time I see a problem coming I will restock relevant to that problem.
b) Life Insurance – in that you pay into it all the time, I keep a reasonable stock of food and equipment on rotation because eventually I will need it.

I would be interested in your thoughts are and why

[Begonias]

Definitely life insurance for me. I've grown up with my parents buying in bulk so we always had a stockpile. So it came as no surprise that I was in my element when I started prepping back in March 2019. Some of the things I've replaced others I haven't. I have a spreadsheet of everything in the stockpile on my phone. If there are any offers on something than I do stock up. Short term pain long term gain.

[BlackeyedSusan]

Bit of both. Background levels of prep plus extras. Bit like taking out extra insurance if you are going on an adventure holiday

[DogInATent]

If you look at the run we've had from 2016 to now, the insecurities have been as great as they were in the 1970s. The seemingly never-ending dumpster fire that is Brexit (still ongoing - cross-Channel freight ifs massively down, cross-Channel parcels are exorbitantly expensive), Trump (thankfully out of office, but is it all over?), Covid (ongoing until at least the end of 2021), general rise in right-wing governments (Brazil, Poland, thankfully Austria knocked that one on the head), etc. It's no wonder that preparedness has had a bit of a resurgence as an insurance policy.

We'll run our stocks down to something a little more manageable, and focus on those things that will also come in handy for camping trips in the UK.

Prepping as insurance is a bit of both life/travel to use your examples (although as I have an annual travel policy there's not much difference). But maybe you're looking at it from the wrong end. If prepping is an insurance policy behaviour, then the amount you invest in it is the equivalent of the premium. The more threats you see in the world around you the greater the cost of the premium to feel adequately covered against them. So as you see your world become less stable the more you spend (in time as well as cash) on your preparedness activities.

[K9medic]

To be honest I only used the Insurance analogy because I keep hearing about people running their prepps down because “the event” is over and I just wondered if other people were short term preppers or long term.

Personally for me it is more a life style choice, rather than an add on.

I’m old enough to have lived;

Under both Labour, Conservative and even a they couldn’t make their minds up governments,
Outside, Inside and Outside Europe again,
Lived in a hole in the ground watching Soviet troops and Lived with a lass from the former Soviet Union,
Seen hot, cold, wet and dry weather,
Had a pantry full of food and glad a kind neighbour left a carrier bag of potatoes on my door step.

I can not remember a time when there was not a been realistic threat to life style, even in a relatively safe country like the UK.

However, saying that I don’t live in a bunker in the woods (well ok I did teach the kids how to build a pretty good den in the woods, with over head cover and concealed exits).

To me prepping is being independent and yet maintaining a reasonable life style, not worrying myself that the sky is falling.

[iwishiwasatcentralperk]

I grew up on a farm and in the 70's we had a period of several weeks where we were snowed in and had no electricity. Luckily they had a generator for the milking machine, and wood fires etc.

But due to that, I developed my mother's "seige mentality" as I call it, and I always have cupboards/freezer full of food, and freeze bread and milk in the winter. I always have plenty of toiletries and toilet roll to hand too. I could survive for several weeks on the food in my cupboard.

I do live in a very small town now with a shop, but that sells out of anything decent at the first sign of a snowflake, and we are 20 miles from the supermarkets.

But thanks to the "seige mentality" when covid hit, I did not have to worry about food as the cupboards were full. I also always have 4 shopping deliveries booked ahead, so was covered there too.

[Dyrne]

I’m a bit of both - I’ve been maintaining a general “buffer” of food for a few years now, plus I’d built a BOB etc and bought some funky gadgets for obtaining fire/water etc. Our general lifestyle is quite outdoorsy with camping/hiking etc so it fit in well.

Recent events made me step it up a notch and refocus - COVID made me realise I didn’t have a lot of medical/disinfectant supplies or “non-food” groceries; and Brexit made me reconsider the supply chain and think of things like Balsamic vinegar and olive oil - yes, I’m not going to die without them, but i love them so might as well make sure I’ve got a couple of spare bottles. These concrete events also were what made DP get “on side” - before he kind of accepted it as a weird hobby of mine, and appreciated the stash of pasta when we couldn’t be arsed to go and do a food shop; but now he’s fully on side and in fact was the one to suggest doing a couple of bigger one-off shops.

As a result we’ve not been inside a supermarket since last March - we’ve been getting shopping delivered and have had enough supplies to stretch out when we couldn’t get deliveries etc.

I never went mad and got 6 months worth of food at once etc so I don’t really have anything to “wind back” - I’ve got enough for a couple of months of decent well rounded meals then probably a few more of random combinations. All are stored away and I’m not tripping over anything so I’ll keep going as I am with rotating stock.

[BiddyPop]

I grew up on the outskirts of a village, 10 miles from the nearest town, in the 70s/80s with a large family (and subject to powercuts a lot). And then the big freezes of 2009/10, after a couple of fairly cold winters in 200-02 range (not snow, but lots of icy mornings and a serious lack of gritting in our LA area). So Covid/Brexit just added to the need, but I had always kept well stocked cupboards (larder and other).

Interestingly, this year is the first year in many years that we have NOT got an annual travel insurance policy - as we travel to family a few hours away in this country frequently, and often used to have weekends away for leisure, bring DD to compete in sports events requiring a stay away, and our annual holidays - so an annual policy covering all those made sense for not a lot more than a policy only covering the 2 week holiday.

I had already been doing online shopping a lot for time purposes. And had my normal winter stocks built up slightly for Brexit when things started looking dodgy last January - so started to add more shelf stable items like oat and almond milks, and some extra tins of shellfish (and a tin of ham). And bought facemasks, hand sanitiser before they sold out (but had not realised my liquid soap stocks were almost gone - not a good time to ignore that part!).

I've improved as the year went on - like finding good coffee roasters delivering direct, and learning the quiet times to go to supermarkets when I need to go in person. (And the times the slots open each week to get a booking for online orders).

Initially, I had gone slightly overboard because it really did look like we wouldn't even get out the door, and shelves emptied so rapidly here, that I basically put an extra 1 of almost everything we use in the wardrobe - food, cleaning products, sanitary stuff. But mostly only 1 extra (except for both rice and pasta as we use a lot of those - so 3 extra bags of each).

But I have used and rotated most of those during the year. I am now not buying that spare of everything, just keeping to my normal "1 open, 1 in the cupboard" levels. So the wardrobe is emptying out again. And I am using up freezer items more than buying fresh - to do an empty out and restock phase (as I would normally do in spring - but hadn't last year).

But I will always have a certain level of spare capacity. Because life is very hectic in our household (DH and I both work FT in very busy jobs, have both got international travel committments, have both got voluntary committments, DD has a serious level of sporting commitment as well as school and also needs help dealing with SNs at times, we live away from family....) and I have had times when getting to shops had been way down the list of priorities. Because we have had weather problems. Because DD is a fussy eater (and getting fussier) - partly an ASD thing and partly now also a healthy eating and sports thing - but it means needing things not always from supermarkets but health food stores and that is difficult at the moment. Because the virus has pointed to vulnerabilities in systems, and in our family that we need to be ready to respond/adapt to.

But a lot of that is having a mindset to watching what's going on, and being ready to act before the changes are right upon us. Having plans and strategies to deal with things, and being able to implement those.

So I guess its a mixture of travel and life for me.

[Ridcully82]

Interesting points op.
As a pp said,I think I'm somewhere in the middle:my current plan is to run down the pantry to just one shops worth (if you see what I mean)but I'm thinking I'll start building it up July/August as Autumn maybe a little unknown,and well have a new baby as well as the toddler,so if the only benefit is cheaper shops over autumn/winter,and bit needing to shop as much,it's still an advantage.

[Snugglepumpkin]

I'm not running my supplies down.
I'm actually planting more food this year because I am pretty sure I am not going to want to pay shop prices in 6 months time & I can always donate any excess.
For me, prepping is a way of life (has been for a long time) & I also don't think this is anywhere near over.

I went to put the usual things in my shopping basket that I use to make up food parcels & one item had gone from 59p to 90p in the last week.
Most things are creeping up in price at a less dramatic rate, but I'm finding things that used to go on offer for £1 are now £1.25 on offer and it all adds up to a significant price increase.
This is going to start hitting peoples wallets along with other price rises (council tax, utilities etc..) & it's not going to stop.
More & more people are turning to food banks at a time when less & less people can afford to donate.

Other items just seem to be quietly disappearing from the shelves & ranges are being reduced so there is less choice which people don't really seem to have noticed because of the way shopping has changed in the past year (so much more online where you can't see what is in the shops) so I don't think right now is a clear picture of what this country is going to be like in 6 months time.

[BlackeyedSusan]

definitely prices going up, offers not as cheap, and items disappearing.

[Diversion]

I have been prepping for a few years now. It was never really about Brexit and of course Covid wasnt about then. I have grown up children so my preps were to help them too. What happens if you lose your job? I know that I could massively reduce my food bills each month if I only needed to buy fresh food. My DH doesnt get sick pay so if he caught Covid he would only receive SSP which is a pittance. My children have all borrowed food/medicines/toiletries etc from my pantry at some point and I very rarely need to pop to the shop for anything. It was also useful in the first lockdown to replace any missing items for my parents. I wont be scaling down my preps, but wont be increasing them either at the moment

[Tana433]

I try to "insure" as much as i can against rising food prices. If something i use a lot goes on offer (think chicken breast pieces, cooking sauces etc) I buy in bulk. So for most things in jars and tins i keep a years worth in my pantry and i have at least two months worth of frozen meats, veg,chips and the like. I like the thought of eating tomorrow at todays prices.

[Toorapid]

I don't consider myself a prepper, but I've always had enough in so we manage for a while if we can't get out, can't get money or some such.

Sometimes I'm better at restocking than others but Covid has definitely reminded me I don't ever want to be down to my last pack of toilet rolls and I'm taking more care of the stocks and plan to continue to do so, although I won't replace things I bought that we don't usually use (long life milk being the main culprit)

The is definitely a comfort in knowing you can feed your family no matter what comes up.

[AlohaMolly]

I only started ‘prepping’ in September 2019, thanks to these boards. Initially it was for brexit as I’m on a low income and can’t afford massive price hikes. Then we locked down in March and I didn’t have to go to a physical shop for around 6 weeks.

I’ve refined my stocks since then and figured out what we used and what has just sat there, but it’s a way of life for me now. That has included sourcing milk delivery, fruit and veg delivery as well, both in order to support local businesses but also ensure a regular supply of both.

Like a PP, I will run down some of my freezer stocks now because when I first started freezing veg I panicked. I now have bags and bags of frozen cabbage/spring greens that are taking up space and that I don’t typically use. I’m going out of my way to make myself lunches that uae those so I can stock up on veg I know we eat, that I think might get more difficult to source at reasonable prices going forward, maybe like peppers.

It also prompted a move from supermarket to butcher meat and me asking him if it was his own meat (it is.) I don’t want supermarket meat with American standards if possible; but it means bulk buying.

[Sideorderofchips]

Insurance. In the end I'm aiming to have 3 months supply of food for 1 adult and 3 children.

[BlackeyedSusan]

Is that enough food to feed you without buying anything else at all?

That's an awful lot, especially as you would expect to be able to get hold of some food buying or growing. I suppose that you never know which product you will not be able to get hold of.

I have a lot stored, trying to reduce it so it fits away somewhere. There is stuff you would have if there were no bread...but don't eat so often while still able to get shopping...

How are you planning for that?

[AGnu]

We don't have a massive store but we treat it as both life & travel insurance. We have a baseline of at least one unopened pack/meal's-worth of things we use regularly that gets restocked as we use things. We also top up our supply with things like bread flour, crackers, UHT & tinned veg we wouldn't usually use if we can foresee a potential supply issue. We started doing that for Brexit & have continued for Covid restrictions & bad weather forecasts. Anything we don't use normally that isn't needed in a foreseeable crisis gets donated to the local foodbank.

[DoubleGloucester]

Travel and life. Unfortunately I am having to run my stocks down as I had prepped really well for a no-deal but we only have a tiny house and it's just not sustainable for us to keep such large stocks long term. Also, we could really do with saving on our food bills right now!

However I will still keep say a fortnight's food and other essentials, and look at other ways to prep that don't cost a lot of money.

[invisibleoldwoman]

Prepping crept up on me. First it was always having at least one spare of things so we didn’t run out. Next it was buying the bread flour I like in bulk to avoid delivery costs. Then I started buying free range meat in bulk directly from farmers so as to avoid delivery costs and always have a stock. Bought another freezer for that. Next I wanted to buy tp, kitchen roll, tissues from a firm which has environmentally friendly production and funds toilets in 3rd world countries, again buying in bulk to avoid delivery costs. And laundry/cleaning products from another green firm.

This was all very convenient. I was able to reduce supermarket shops and the inevitable associated impulse buying. I found I was doing big shops around January and Aug each year. As Brexit loomed I started stocking up on other kitchen/household essentials. By the time the first lockdown hit I had just done big shops for the basics so we were well set up and did not have any problems.

During lockdown I discovered this board and realised I have become a prepper. Now the snow is here and once again I don’t have to worry.

It is both insurance and a way of life for me now. Have learnt so much from you all now.

I don’t say much about it in real life as I am very privileged to be able to do it and I don’t want to be accused of hoarding, which I don’t consider I am.

The prepping snuck up on me disguised as household management. So DH knew what I was doing. During lockdown I explained that this had turned into prepping and he is well on board with it as he appreciates the convenience of it all. It is so relaxing knowing we can ‘shop’ in our garage.

[AuntieStella]

For me it's both.

I was brought up by thrifty wartime generation parents, who always kept a a stash of long life food and some other staples; and would bulk buy when they saw good deals, which meant for some things we had a couple of years supply

So my 'normal' is probably much fuller cupboards than most people seem to have.

But yes I add to it when I think there might be a greater chance of disruption (I add things like long life milk which I wouldn't normally bother with) Right now, I think the risk of needing to SI for 10 days on no notice is still real, so I'm not running supplies down.

[1Dandelion1]

I wouldn't describe myself as a prepped, just organised. I have alway bought products like to and washing detergent in bulk to save money and I have always kept a stocked kitchen and done batch cooking.

In January 2020 it was clear that covid was going to be a big issue from the reaction of Chinese (digging up roads etc) and I ordered masks for the family and made them lockdown boxes (filled with essential food, treats and toys like Uno cards for the kids). When I gave them to family members they seriously looked at me like I had 2 heads! (I was vindicated in March when I wasn't their crazy sister/daughter).

[Sideorderofchips]

Yes January last year it seemed covid was worse than people thought with the way the Chinese were reacting so me and my collegue just did extra amazon pantry stocks and masks and what not. Meant I was able to avoid the supermarkets at the start of lockdown and the panic buying

[Regulus]

I was brought up as a prepper however I was haphazard, in the past I would have had enough food for about three weeks however they wouldn't have been meals iyswim. Since reading these boards I've definitely prepped in a less chaotic way and have taken more notice of special offers so buying in bulk which has definitely saved me money, especially as interest rates are so low.

[DontBeShelfish]

Travel and life insurance here. We're fortunate to have sufficient storage space to have quite a lot of stuff put away - jars, tins and toiletries. We also got in a second freezer.

My DP was very much of the mind at the start that I had lost my marbles, but he's very firmly on board now.

I'm not running down my stock; I'll be keeping it topped up, refining it and readying us as a family for what I think are going to be very lean times ahead. With that in mind, I'm also very slowly getting rid of my small amount of debt. Hoping to have halved it by the end of this year and to have cleared it entirely by the end of 2022.

[Sideorderofchips]

I'm not running down my stocks at all. If anything I'm adding to thenb