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.

Yes but only the same I do every year.
We get snowed in. So every autumn I start buying a bit extra each week so that we can last a few weeks if need be.

I mean there's a lot of middle ground between 'Que Sera Sera' and 'Armageddon Bunker'

Laying in a week or two's worth of food is not going to drive up prices

Medicines are the real worry.

I always have 2 freezers full of food mainly meat and vegetables and fruit grown in an our own garden. The veg all come at once so have to use, give away and freeze. I always keep 3 shelving units full of tinned an RF dried good I rotate. Plenty of Paracetamol, cough syrup and hot lemon drinks. 3-4 large packs of loo roll, washing tablets, fabric softener and 7 dozen times of cat and dog food plus packs of crunchies. I have 5 cats and 2 dogs. I always keep this level of stock regardless of Brexit or Covid.

All Christmas shopping done, a couple of months worth of food stocked up in the cupboards and freezer.

We're expecting online shopping to go berserk when the next Lockdown hits, with delivery slots rarer than hens' teeth. And we really don't want to leave the house.

I always add a couple of extra things between September and December so we don’t have a massive bill Christmas week. The DS have hampers too so I get three tins or jars when I shop which isn’t weekly and as we live in the country we always have extra flour etc so if it floods nearby or snows we can survive an extra week or two. I can bake bread, scones etc.

Living in the sticks for twenty years always had extras in for power cuts snow. I have started buying Xmas prezzies September onwards for years, spreads the cost and I can relax knowing the vital things are stored away before the weather turns. One year had to queue at the sorting office for an hour in freezing weather to collect parcels

I do think this time it’s different. Logistics and supply chain professionals have been warning of shortages and supply chain breakdown. I think people have perhaps become complacent because the previously there have been unfounded scares.
I’ve not been stocking up but I’m going to start, just a small cushion. The UK has had two massive system shocks, it doesn’t have much resilience left for any other unexpected setbacks.

I'm not stockpiling, but ever since the first lockdown when it was really hard to buy food, I've always made sure to have a few weeks worth in the house - that usually means buying an extra non-perishable or two per shop.

I also started bulk buying loo roll online so I always have loads.

It depends what you understand by 'stockpiling'. Buying a couple of extra things you don't want to run out of or blocking out the windows with loo rolls.

Yes to the former as I have an insanely fussy child so have an extra pack of certain things for example frozen sweetcorn which temporarily disappeared in my area. Same for the 2 brands of chicken nuggets which he accepts (this was an issue in the previous lockdown).

I have about 5 (smallish) bags of specific brand of cat litter.

Cat only eats one brand of food so have spares for that.

Oh and otrivine (nose drops) which disappeared from the shelves and my asthmatic mum uses loads of.

If there's no supply issues, I can use whatever I have extra without it going off or having loads of tins of stuff that won't get used.

No, I'm not stockpiling, and I hope to God that threads like this all over the internet don't actually cause people to.

I'll probably do my Christmas shopping a tad earlier, but I'm a last minute shopper normally, so even my earlier will be later than many people's usual schedule

@WorraLiberty

Yes, 300 Oxo cubes and counting.

You can’t smoke them if try and pass them off as drugs

No. There are significant.shortages in the supermarkets, but there’s always enough to put a meal together. It was awful last time when everyone stockpiled.

I haven't been able to get ds school trousers for almost a year now in his size. Out of stock in sainsbury's for at least 8 months.

I'm not doing a big Christmas this year after last year. It really took the shine off with covid. But I'm not leaving it until December either.

I dont stockpile but I am a prepper convert. I always have 2-4 weeks of food in. It was due to potential covid isolation but now it's for any reason like snow. I have four kids so we wouldnt have coped on 500g of pasta and one chicken like some.

I'm not sure about the supply chain anymore. I was even contemplating going back to dressmaking lessons so I can make and adjust school trousers ( only half joking). I dont but anymore than I ever did. I just never run everything down at once any more.

No

If you can afford to get the major Christmas presents now it would be prudent to do so. Global supply chains are in bad shape and items may not be readily available . We always have plenty of tins & dried pulses in. If we needed to we could happily live on these & the freezer fir several weeks.

No. I've got a fortnightly Asda delivery pass and I can't think why I would.

We're expecting online shopping to go berserk when the next Lockdown hits, with delivery slots rarer than hens' teeth. And we really don't want to leave the house. fgs there’s always one. There’s no way there’s going to be a next lockdown. However much people seem to be gleefully hoping for one.

Either way, people do realise that stockpiling is part of the reason why there are shortages? As for the type of food people stock-piled, you couldn’t pay me to even taint my cupboards with pot noodle or spaghetti hoops, so knock yourselves out.

No once people start to stock pile it drives up demand and prices.

No.

We'll get even more shortages for sure if people start stockpiling now.

Apparently the lorry driver shortfall is effecting most of Europe. My SIL is a farmer and has produce sitting in storage and still in the fields waiting to be collected.

CV has caused staff shortages all over and there is a backlog of people wanting to take their HGV tests. I thought the Govt were doing something to tackle this weeks ago?

We're not going to go hungry, but we might have to work with what we've got.

Yes, but I always have. My weekly shop doesn't look any more or less than anybody else as I'm just replenishing the pile, not creating one from scratch.

I wouldn't recommend it! It takes space, needs to be carefully rotated and is a general pain. I do it as it makes me happy, but I would avoid it if I easily could.

I haven’t been in a supermarket since February 2020.
We had deliveries for maybe 6 months but have done click and collect since that.
I do have stocks of things but then I always have had. I must admit I have been tempted to stock more. Have considered buying another chest freezer and shelving for the shed😂 Luckily I had a word with myself and stopped those thoughts!

Because I do click and collect I add things to my online order at random times during the week. I have noticed lately that when I go to add certain things there are none to be had. Onions a couple of days ago. Usually you would be able to choose from 10 different purchasing options. Only red onions! How strange. However, today, lots of onions to be had. Added what I needed to my order.

Moral of the tale, don’t panic!

There is nothing wrong with being prepared. I could not get out last winter for about a month, as the paths etc were not gritted and everywhere was like an ice rink. Personally I now have a supply of tins and some extra GF items as when things ran out, people began to buy GF goods, leaving nothing for people who have no choice but to eat GF. I will never be in that position again. Yes, Im prepared and I think given the warnings on TV, it's a good idea to have some extra in. I also make a point of donating goods to our food bank.

No.

But you’d think I’m stockpiling crisps if you open one of our cupboards

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.