Are you stockpiling?

[CravingHobnobs]

Are you stockpiling food, clothes, toys, medicines? I’ve gotten a bit worried lately with the news of price increases and limited supplies. Shelves seem fairly full where I am (London) but perhaps that’s not going to last? Can’t help but notice much of my food comes from abroad, not to mention medicines, DC clothes and toys, etc.

I’m a bit skint already but if prices will rise and I can do a bit of Christmas shopping for DC now I reckon I’d rather have it sorted.

@YetAnotherSpartacus

Because those of us who live from week to week won't be able to buy any loo roll or pasta when they've all been hoarded

Really? You are so totally missing the point. This was explained by many last year. Those of us buying NOW are not the problem. Stock can currently be replenished. It is if it can't be replenished later and/or if there is a rush later (when we don't need to join in because our stocks are full) that those who are worse off will be affected. We are actually helping you and not hindering as it was explained ad infinitum last year.

So it's all 'WE' the stockpilers that only do it now? Stock piling is stock piling, there isn't a specific breed of person who follows your 'code of conduct'. Some people will wait until the shortages and stockpile. It will affect those who just can buy only what they need.

@YetAnotherSpartacus

I have nowhere to put it. Very small fridge and freezer, and no storage space

Fair enough. I used to be like that. I used the top of my wardrobe, and under my slat bed and every cupboard was carefully crammed.

Tops of our wardrobes and under beds are already stashed with ‘out of season’ clothes/winter coats/wellies etc that we don’t have any other space for. Tiny storage space under the eaves had to be cleared out for DH to work from home ‘for a few weeks’ in March 2019 and now they’ve permanently closed his office!

Never stockpiled but I always have extra in so a larder as such
Means you always have in what you need, you never have to buy stuff at highest prices and if you're unwell/can't shop/don't want to shop then you deplete the stocks and shop when you want
I couldn't imagine not having say tinned tomatoes, peanut butter, spices, porridge etc in, and I always have spare

I'm also intrigued by what mumsnet people think of as hoarding - it appears to be "anything more than a week's worth of food is insanity".

I've got half a lamb on order from my local smallholder. It's as low in travel miles and ethical as meat is ever going to get - I've met the lamb even. I did the same last year and the meat lasted us months and saved us money long-term. I'm thinking of getting the leg as a whole and freezing for christmas rather than two half legs (I hate turkey). It needs to be done now because male lambs slaughtered any later will not taste nice. Hoarding? Stockpiling? Insanity? Or perfectly fine and supporting local business?

I didn't 'stockpile' - just prepared

Isn't this what everyone on MN claims? Other people stockpile and hoard, MNers make simple preparations!

I will confess to having about a year's supply of noodles, when I go shopping I can''t remember if I need them so I buy them, 'just in case'.

@FreekStar2

Stockpiling is silly- nobody is ever going to starve in the UK!

Ocado had no frozen stuff left when I was trying to shop yesterday! Nobheads filling up their chest freezers in their garages, no doubt!

I don't keep stuff in because I will starve I keep stuff in because Our water was contaminated for weeks, and we couldn't get bottled water so now I always have a few litres I buy when on offer so may have 3/4/5 of the same thing so I don't have to pay full price When lockdown hit, I am CEV and couldn't get a food delivery for 5 weeks I batch cook so always have stuff in for that, and a weeks worth of frozen meals cooked and ready to defrost and eat

Again, pre-plague, I added to my cupboards in August/September/October because I was worried about weather in winter. I don't feel as comfortable adding the same amount.

The one thing that my DH and son drink with their dinner was out yesterday. Not a single bottle on the shelves. The water in our taps tastes foul. I'm going to have to get a filter jug.

So it's all 'WE' the stockpilers that only do it now? Stock piling is stock piling, there isn't a specific breed of person who follows your 'code of conduct'. Some people will wait until the shortages and stockpile. It will affect those who just can buy only what they need

The OP clearly asked who is stockpiling NOW. What you are describing is panic buying which is exactly what we are avoiding.

From this thread it appears stockpiling is merely preparing, and low income families can then have what's left of limited stocks because that should be enough for them. Low income families obviously don't deserve a choice and should just accept the dregs from the bottom of the barrel.

Right....

Tops of our wardrobes and under beds are already stashed with ‘out of season’ clothes/winter coats/wellies etc that we don’t have any other space for. Tiny storage space under the eaves had to be cleared out for DH to work from home ‘for a few weeks’ in March 2019 and now they’ve permanently closed his office!

Fair enough. Back then I didn't have that many clothes so I could use wardrobe space, tops of the wardrobe and under the bed. I now have my mother's old Ottoman for blanket storage.

@Tyredofallthis1

Again, pre-plague, I added to my cupboards in August/September/October because I was worried about weather in winter. I don't feel as comfortable adding the same amount.

The one thing that my DH and son drink with their dinner was out yesterday. Not a single bottle on the shelves. The water in our taps tastes foul. I'm going to have to get a filter jug.

If you can afford it it is really very worth getting one of the electric little water chiller/filters instead.

I laughed at this until my husband got one. It makes all the difference in how much I drink.

From this thread it appears stockpiling is merely preparing, and low income families can then have what's left of limited stocks because that should be enough for them. Low income families obviously don't deserve a choice and should just accept the dregs from the bottom of the barrel

Point missed. Again.

I think that some people are just determined to miss it really.

@DucksFlyTogether

From this thread it appears stockpiling is merely preparing, and low income families can then have what's left of limited stocks because that should be enough for them. Low income families obviously don't deserve a choice and should just accept the dregs from the bottom of the barrel.

Right....

I’ve been a low income family. I literally bought one or two tins extra every week. And if something was on a bogof a bought it and stashed it.

I had a situation in early 2020 where I couldn’t leave my home for 9 weeks and there were limited delivery slots. My prepping made my life possible. I was a low income family at that point on min wage with tax credits.

Once you have a stock of items all you are doing is your normal shop because that tops it up.

I don't have the funds or space for a massive stockpile, but my war generation father would probably have upset the anti-stockpilers no end.

I'm assuming because of his experiences during war years we always had 6 months worth of dry goods, 2 freezers worth of frozen meat, veg and various carbs and milk, an absolute minimum of 'one open and one in the cupboard' for absolutely everything. He would have considered that sensible and being prepared and it didn't seem to the rest of the family like a particularly crazy thing for him to do.

Maybe it's just because we view being prepared through the American 'preppers' lens now, rather than the more respectable 'keep calm and carry on' perspective it had before we all bathed in American TV. Or maybe it's just seen as hysterical when middle aged women do it 🙄

@Miniroofbox I stockpiled tins of tuna for years for those times when there was too much month left at the end of the money. Who knew I did so because of riches. (I hate tuna so much now).

With me it was beans and tomato soup. I can bake all kinds of bread so I always have flour in. Freezer is full always and a rotate the stock.

Who knew that buying an extra tin of soup and can of beans a week was fucking over low income families (of which I was one).

I’ve been a low income family. I literally bought one or two tins extra every week. And if something was on a bogof a bought it and stashed it

Yes, this is what my mother did - and Squash's anecdote rings true too.

Aside from the meat, this describes my habits - learned from war era parents.

@YetAnotherSpartacus

I’ve been a low income family. I literally bought one or two tins extra every week. And if something was on a bogof a bought it and stashed it

Yes, this is what my mother did - and Squash's anecdote rings true too.

Aside from the meat, this describes my habits - learned from war era parents.

Yes me too. One open on in the cupboard for things like shampoo and when the one in the cupboard is opened, get a new one.

Same with loo roll. Buy 9 packs. Once one is opened, so there’s 8 left, but another 9 pack.

How is that screwing over low income families?

Autocorrect hates me today. Buy. And I in previous posts not a

I am a low income family, I'm a lone parent working a full time job with UC. I literally have to buy and budget a weeks worth at a time.

When everyone panic bought at the start of the pandemic I went to Lidl to do my weekly shop and there was hardly anything there! No pasta (which DS loves) no rice, no toilet paper, no frozen pizzas or chips. I thought. ok I'll try Aldi....same thing. Even all the tins of rice pudding and beans had been cleared out!

When a large proportion of people stockpile and panic buy the logistics just can't keep up. So shops stand empty and if you weren't there just after the shelves had been re-stocked because you are in work... you are fucked. It was a nightmare.

It's one thing to have that one extra bag of pasta in the cupboard or a few tins, but it is another thing to "stockpile".

So perhaps people are using the word stockpile incorrectly. All they are doing is ensuring a few extra essentials, stockpiling is different. So perhaps MN aren't stockpiling just loading the cupboard up.

Exactly Mini.

I don't know how some people still don't get it. I've had no money in the past and that's exactly when I benefited the most from buying a little extra and in most cases it's not unachievable.

It's simply buying a 4 pack of beans for £1.50 instead of a single can for 60 p. Or a 9 pack of toilet roll for £3 instead of a 4 pack for £2.

You start small and get a couple of extra things every week and after a while it all takes care of itself and the unit cost of many of the things you buy is reduced by 20-40% or even more.

You don't have to get the same things every week so in week 1 you buy the beans, week 2 the toilet roll, week 3 the canned tomatoes, week 4 the bleach etc etc.

After a while you have a good storecupboard and if you get down to the last couple of cans you then start to look for that product on offer and you don't have to buy it until you see it on offer again.

And if a global pandemic hits and everyone else is fighting over pasta, tomatoes and loo roll, you can just get your bread and milk from the Co-op and otherwise stay out of the shops and use up the spares you have at home until things stabilise a little.

I hardly had a penny when I left home as a student. I very quickly learned how to buy yellow label food at the end of the day in the supermarket, do a load of batch cooking and freeze it. The habit has never gone away even though I'm financially secure now.

I have done 3 Costco trips a year for things like toilet roll, washing powder and all other household goods. They get put in their place in the garage and are used as needed.

I grow fruit and salad so always have a freezer full of homemade food and jars of jam, tomato sauces etc.

The only difference the pandemic made was that I was able to help out some extremely vulnerable neighbours when the shelves were empty and when they were shielding.

I haven't changed my shopping habits since Covid.

So perhaps people are using the word stockpile incorrectly. All they are doing is ensuring a few extra essentials, stockpiling is different. So perhaps MN aren't stockpiling just loading the cupboard up

No - we are using it to mean 'buy in advance of the merde hitting the fan so that we don't panic buy when it does'.

Clear difference between the terms.