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.

I have a larder. And a small freezer as I have a fridge freezer.

I debated getting a bigger freezer and decided against it. I live mostly alone now, as my two youngest are at uni most of the year and I don’t need it.

My larder is stocked and I use up on date rotation. I also don’t buy things I won’t eat because that’s a waste of money.

I don’t waste food. I can stretch 4 sausages round 3 of us by making a pasta dish with some home made garlic bread.

I put sensible stuff in my freezer and freeze leftovers to be eaten later, or eaten for lunch the next day.

Surely if you’ve been a low income family or are a low income family currently that’s just sensible household management?

@BarbaraofSeville

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.

And I work with families that can't even do that they can only afford the 60p tin not up it £1.50 because their shopping budget for their household is £35 a week and that's all they can afford. So can never buy even one item extra above and beyond.

These families are not "low income" they are in poverty. They rely on food banks to top up their food, and then when everyone bought loads of tins/pasta/rice, even the food banks were running low on items because they couldn't source it. The local food bank we refer to in work at one point had to close their doors because they had no food to give out. It was horrible to have to tell these families that I could give them a food bank voucher but right now even the food bank is closed/empty.

@DucksFlyTogether but that's a whole other issue
Of course nobody should be in food poverty, but I can't help that as an individual (except for donating to the food bank) and me buying peanut butter when it's £1 instead of £2 doesn't affect that, apart from it means I can donate food because if it's on BOGOF, I'll put the "free one" in the collection box
I'm not a high earner so I shop wisely and if something is more expensive then I just don't buy it

I’m on a prepay meter. I’ve had times when it’s been sandwiches because I couldn’t afford the electric. Or beans on toast.

I don’t eat readymade stuff because generally that’s more expensive but it does take time to build up a stock of herbs and other goods to enable you to cook from scratch. And it relies on storage.

So I do get for people in hostels it’s harder and for those with no storage.

But I simply won’t accept that me buying an extra tin of beans or some long life milk is going to screw over low income families. That’s bullshit.

X post with @NotMyCat

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.

They don't get it because they don't want to. There's no insight at all into the level of privilege it takes to completely dismiss the explanations from people about their need to shop like this for reasons of poverty, disability, difficulty with transport, health conditions requiring special diets etc.

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

Because buying a 4 pack of beans might take them over their weekly shopping budget, but buying a single can for 60p won’t?

@Miniroofbox

I’m on a prepay meter. I’ve had times when it’s been sandwiches because I couldn’t afford the electric. Or beans on toast.

I don’t eat readymade stuff because generally that’s more expensive but it does take time to build up a stock of herbs and other goods to enable you to cook from scratch. And it relies on storage.

So I do get for people in hostels it’s harder and for those with no storage.

But I simply won’t accept that me buying an extra tin of beans or some long life milk is going to screw over low income families. That’s bullshit.

No because thats having emergency supplies. Nobody with 5 extra tins of beans or 3 bags of pasta in their cupboard is going to effect a supply chain massively you are correct. Also anyone with that extra weeks worth of food made up of tins or frozen stuff isn't going to. I agree.

But "stockpiling" that is to hold a large quantity of goods for many gives mental images of store rooms filled to the brim with 40 bags of pasta, 82 tins of baked beans and 900 loo rolls.

But do think, shops and logistics work on supply and demand. If every household in the UK suddenly decided to double their demand currently the infrastructure would be able to supply on that level. Especially with a shortage of cat C drivers/lorry drivers.

So in short one kitchen cupboard filled with emergency goods and a chest freezer, probably not going to effect anyone, preppers hoarding and stockpiling a large amount of them doing so will. And if everyone suddenly started to stockpile and panic buy thats where the bottleneck car crash happens.

Its always been advisable to have a back up store of food, for illness, emergency cash flow problem, but nobody in the UK (who doesn't suffer poor weather conditions/gets snowed in for months eat) needs to be storing a stockpile of food.

But we're not talking about people with no money at all and we're not talking about people who have never shopped for themselves or their families at all ever.

We're talking about the average person in the street who's had their own house and family for years but every time there's any type of supply issue they complain that they can't get any food and they have nothing in the house.

This can be avoided and a lot of money can be saved at the same time, by not putting yourself at the mercy of the supermarket's just in time systems, by running your own just in time system.

You can afford the 4 pack of beans because you don't need to get toilet rolls, because you bought them last week. Your money goes further because the unit cost of many things you buy is a lot lower.

@BarbaraofSeville

But we're not talking about people with no money at all and we're not talking about people who have never shopped for themselves or their families at all ever.

We're talking about the average person in the street who's had their own house and family for years but every time there's any type of supply issue they complain that they can't get any food and they have nothing in the house.

This can be avoided and a lot of money can be saved at the same time, by not putting yourself at the mercy of the supermarket's just in time systems, by running your own just in time system.

You can afford the 4 pack of beans because you don't need to get toilet rolls, because you bought them last week. Your money goes further because the unit cost of many things you buy is a lot lower.

Exactly that I can't comprehend people who CAN afford it who shop day to day and have nothing in. Like if you eat pasta, have the bag that's open plus one spare. If you do that with cupboard items then you will always have food in It's like keeping a frozen pizza/chips in for nights you CBA to cook, that's normal surely?!

I think it's important to be mindful of what we buy and avoid waste as the best way to avoid shortages. I still think that it's important to have a spare packet and tin in the cupboards.

OP here - appreciate the helpful and thoughtful responses. I’m quite skint and DH has lost wages so I’m trying to plan whether I should do a bit of topping up and nab some things for DC Christmas now, as we’ve got to be quite mindful of every pence this year…and whilst it would be easier to not spend for Christmas now, Id hate for my LOs to go without any gifts this year.

Not in a position to load up the loft with wine and wasn’t my intention to suggest others do that - thought that was apparent from my OP?

No

Our corner shop was always stocked

When the first lockdown hit and shelves got emptied, didn't it transpire it was mostly because lots of people bought an extra few things rather than people buying excessive amounts?

Yes, an extra spend of £11 per person collapsed the UK supermarkets' 'Just In Time' (JIT) system within days.

Why are you adding on to Christmas tat? I thought last year gave us blessed relief from that (as a last minute shopper, I didn't get my presents in before Christmas lockdown - hurrah!).

Covid, although it has been awful, has given us a chance to reset priorities.

The reason there was no pasta in the first couple of months of the pandemic was not because of panic-buying. It's because it all came from Italy, which was a few weeks ahead of us on the pandemic.

Beyond the very first week of the pandemic, I think there was plenty of food. Maybe not what we wanted, but easy enough to make substitutions.

@SpindleWhorl

When the first lockdown hit and shelves got emptied, didn't it transpire it was mostly because lots of people bought an extra few things rather than people buying excessive amounts?

Yes, an extra spend of £11 per person collapsed the UK supermarkets' 'Just In Time' (JIT) system within days.

No, that's noy quite correct.

A lot of people did buy excessive amounts. Some people bought just a little extra. Other people couldn't get to the shops at all.

ON AVERAGE, it worked out at £11 per person, meaning £11 for every person in the country if you spread it out. It doesn't mean that in reality, everyone in the coutry went to the shops and spent and extra £11.

Also, it happened all at once. And so it floored the supermarkets' supply chain.

If people gradually get their cupboards up to a level where they have lots of spares of things, then keep that ticking over, simply replacing items as they use them, this isn't going to mess up the supply chain as:

1. it's happening gradually not all at once, with people doing the initial stock up at different times
2. quite clearly, not everyone is doing it

Gradual stockpiling in a sensible manner HELPS the shops when everyone rushes in to panic buy as the sensible stockpilers can stay away.

Are we so divorced from reality that people can't work out that having a well stocked cupboard is a good insurance policy? And that you can quite easily do this in a way that doesn't cause shortages on the shelves.

And that you can quite easily do this in a way that doesn't cause shortages on the shelves.

But Christmas will be different, manufacturing is down, lorry drivers are nonexistent, factory workers are on reduced lines, some lines won’t happen because of staff shortages, etc etc

So there will be less choice and less products yet you will have lots of people wanting those sprouts and turkey gravy!

Demand high - plus shortages will see a huge issue in December

So yes I will buy a few extras on items less likely to be produced in the next few months and squirrel them away for Christmas.

It’s not stock piling its being sensible.

@CraftyGin

The reason there was no pasta in the first couple of months of the pandemic was not because of panic-buying. It's because it all came from Italy, which was a few weeks ahead of us on the pandemic.

Beyond the very first week of the pandemic, I think there was plenty of food. Maybe not what we wanted, but easy enough to make substitutions.

Seriously? Basic supermarket pasta is actually made in Italy?

I assumed that, apart from the fancy artisan ones, most of it is made and sold in the UK.

I've done my xmas shopping (gifts no food items) I always do it at the end of summer each year though, even pre covid

@CravingHobnobs

OP here - appreciate the helpful and thoughtful responses. I’m quite skint and DH has lost wages so I’m trying to plan whether I should do a bit of topping up and nab some things for DC Christmas now, as we’ve got to be quite mindful of every pence this year…and whilst it would be easier to not spend for Christmas now, Id hate for my LOs to go without any gifts this year.

Not in a position to load up the loft with wine and wasn’t my intention to suggest others do that - thought that was apparent from my OP?

This is always very touchy subject on Mumsnet.

OP buy what you can and when you can.

There is nothing wrong in spreading out the cost of Christmas both buying actual presents and food/treats.

The same as buying a extra bit of food to build up a larder.

We find by having a larder/stockpile of basic foods we eat mean we actually spend less on food, by only buying what we have used.

@Barbaraofseville the bag of Sainsbury’s standard label (not taste the difference but also not smartprice) wholewheat fusilli in my cupboard says ‘made in Italy using Italian durum wheat’

@Itsnotover

No. Stockpiling is selfish and it encourages the very problem stockpilers say they are trying to avoid.

I didn't do it at the beginning of the pandemic and I'm not doing it now.

Stock piling is not selfish per se. my buying an extra box or two of pasta each month over a longer period of time does not affect other people. It just means that I hit a point where I have x boxes, and any new boxes are now to replace old ones.

If I went in and bought 18 boxes in a panic buy, that would affect people and be selfish.

This thread is fascinating

“Stockpiling is horrible! I just keep extra x y z! Just in case of shortages! But I’d never stockpile! I’m not selfish”

The irony and lack of understanding what words mean is hilarious

How is it silly to keep a stock that will enable you to go 2/3 weeks without having to go out? Seriously?

I had a situation where I was stuck in for months and I used my “stockpile” and was bloody grateful for it too.

So shoot me.