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.

No more than usual. Eg I’ve started buying Xmas presents but I did that last year too, thanks to the bargain threads on here. I always keep a certain level of stuff in the cupboard and I buy a 48 pack of loo rolls so normally have quite a few of them knocking about as well just because it takes the best part of a year to get through a pack.

I don’t mind how much people prep/hoard as long as they eat the stuff (apart from loo rolls which are probably not very tasty).

Waste always really grieves me and when I saw people buying gallons of milk, I had the suspicion that when it transpired that supply lines were running just fine, they would just bin their greedy hoard.

@borntobequiet

She had so much stuff stacked up over the years she would forget what was there and buy it again.

I hope that if I started to do this, my children would notice and try to do something about it before it got out of hand. In fact I know they would.

That sort of sanctimonious 'I'm a better daughter than you' comment betrays your ignorance of how other people live.

Keeping an eye on a parent is dependent on them letting children or family into the house. My mum has not let us past the doorstep in the last 8 years so we didn't know how bad it had got. She insisted on coming out to meet us. If I dropped something off to her (prescriptions, food etc) she would talk to me on the doorstep. She would also go NC for months at a time if anyone suggested getting a tradesman, cleaner, gardener or carer in to help her out (and that's not financial, she is very well off). She repeatedly lied to us, doctors,friends and at the end, social workers, about her situation.

It's also dependent on the parent being a reasonable human being who listens to the opinions of others. My mum doesn't do that. She takes her hearing aids out and blanks anyone who isn't saying what she wants to hear. Thankfully a recent stay in hospital exposed her to experts in care of the elderly who were highly skilled in working through that.

No, I usually have about 2-3 weeks worth of food in the freezer and cupboards. If I can’t get something one week I’ll buy double the next week but I wouldn’t call that stockpiling. I buy the big bottles of laundry detergent etc (which can take a few weeks to get through) and as soon as I start a new bottle I’ll buy a new one.

I do have quite a stock of hair dye in (about 3 months) as it’s cheaper to buy in bulk.

OP I think the use of the words "stockpiling " in your title hasn't helped but I think some responses here are a bit harsh.

It honk if your able to it's perfectly possible to shop in a way that means if the shit hit the fan and affected your household for a week , you could cobble basic meals together. It isn't stockpiling.

Spindle your approach to stuff you didn't need - but had sensibly acquired - sounds excellent.

Stockpiling, no, because it is pointless. Having a reasonable amount of food in the house, absolutely. We always have various dried and canned goods in the cupboard, pasta, pesto, soup, there is always plenty of food in freezers (a fridge freezer in the kitchen, a free standing freezer in the garage, a legacy of small children and batch cooking). So yes we could cope with probably 2-3 weeks of zero incoming food and other goods, although it would involve some odd meals at the end.

The thing is if food was unavailable for several weeks society has already broken down, unless you have the means to protect your stockpile then it will do you no good as if everyone has no food then it becomes survival of the fittest/biggest/most violent, so unless you adding guns and ammunition to your stockpile it is largely pointless.

@dreamingbohemian

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

@Goldbar

Yes. We can't get in the door for toilet rolls (have to climb through the window). We bought so many that they sent us the Andrex puppy as well so now we also need to stockpile dog food (DH has several cans under his pillow). We are keeping three live salmon in the bathtub in case the army welds us into the house, but DC has given them names so it's going to be difficult to DTD when the time comes. I have also bought up the entire online stock of Fortnum and Mason's Rose and Violet creams in case things get really bad... cost an arm and a leg but it's good to be prepared.

This really made me laugh 🤣

@lannistunut

We may not have the choice - it may just be turnips - but there will be something. Well that is reassuring

Sounds like an episode of Blackadder.

I've barely got enough I the house to last me to the end of the week. So no.

No. I'm buying christmas presents now though, in case everything goes up even more before Christmas.

I refuse to stockpile food. I am a good and resourceful cook. I will manage if there's food available of any sort - I don't really care what we eat, so we'll get by. I do have a permanently full kitchen cupboard though, but that's more childhood hangups than planning.

It's often cheaper to buy in bulk, I often get household consumables on Amazon deals which usually come in multipacks and toilet rolls in 48s, it's also a lot easier.

what are you really going to do with the £50 of extra tins in your cupboard in 6 months time...

force the out of date food on the neighbours?

@DramaAlpaca

At the last count I had 550 loo rolls in my spare room.

We have used our spare toilet rolls to build a small shed in the garden, very cosy as of course as the walls are super insulated. Then in a moment of serendipity we realised the shed was the perfect size to use to store extra toilet rolls and tinned goods. Win win. In addition it will be the perfect place for us to hide if there is a zombie apocalypse.

I’ve always had a stock of the items I use and will eat and rotate them.

Having been really poor and worried about feeding my kids I don’t do a just in time food and essentials system. I like to have a stock that will keep us going at least a month between tins, and frozen stuff.

But all I’m doing is buying an extra tin here and there and taking advantage of offers.

I need to keep a stock of generic painkillers as I take them every day and my doctor won’t prescribe paracetamol so I buy them regularly.

My ex bought 100s of Pot Noodles in preparation for the zombie apocalypse last year.

He then ended up eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner because they were taking up space even though he would have been able to get fresh food.

All that has happened from that is that he put weight on and is now complaining he can't get it off. Oh and he got gastritis.

No because I don’t want to live off long life and tinned food, think I’d rather be without! 🤢

I always start my Christmas shopping early so don’t count that as stockpiling.

I work in retail, there are a lot of goods at the minute which have supply issues. The general public won’t tend to notice because plans are changed if this becomes a long standing issue and other items which are available are put on display instead.

That being said, it’s still a tiny proportion of the goods stocked that are affected and nowhere near the start of Covid levels.

I do think it would be wise this year, if you can financially plan for it, to buy things for Christmas in advance. You just don’t know what way things will go in the winter months.

No but roll on october when we have to start imposing tighter customs formalities I think there will be shortages.

I'm sort of doing the opposite of stockpiling. I used to start buying Christmas presents around now, or earlier, because I had six birthdays in January of close family so I bought their birthday presents when most people are buying Christmas presents. Except now everyone is older and some are deceased, so it's likely to be Amazon vouchers all round.

The loo roll situation was weird for me. I had a stockpile long before the plague because I had Andrex on Amazon subscribe and save and I had misjudged the frequency. I already had a loo roll castle.

I also had a massive stock of handwash from 2018 when there was a banging offer on it and I went large. I'm good for the next few years, I reckon.

I think it was 2015 or 2016 I got a little overwhelmed, saw an offer, was not in a good place mentally and ended up with 72 cans of Heinz tomato soup bought over a fortnight. To be fair, we got through it relatively quickly as it's a favourite here.

Last night I went into Tesco and there were a lot of empty shelves and big gaps. All sorts of junk seemed to have been thrown on to fill the spaces. I found it seriously worrying. I didn't pick up much, though, just the stuff I needed. I couldn't get all the stuff I wanted because of the gaps.

I even felt guilty because I picked up two bottles of brown sauce. But I normally keep one on the table and one in the cupboard, and I had let myself run out.

It's scary times.

I buy Christmas presents when I come up with a good idea for something because I will forget where I saw it if I don't. It also spreads the cost and avoids the out of stock panics in December.
I always buy another pack of rice, pasta etc when I open the 2nd to last one. Keeping a sensible stock of things that you use all the time makes sense and does not add to supply issues. It also meant that when there were shortages of staples last year one more person managed to get a pack of pasta because I didn't need it.
There are and will be ongoing supply chain issues. We have to acknowledge that and mitigate the effects where possible. I agree the shelves will not be empty, however, surely, if I buy a packet of my favourite coffee one week earlier than I normally would in September it will not affect the supply or price going forward. I see it as a win win. I get the coffee I like and there will be an extra pack on the shelf next week for someone else.

Gawd Mumsnet is becoming more censored day by day! By all means say it’s irresponsible and you disagree etc etc but seems to be every second thread is “reported” lately.
One lady was asking about what to put in her medicine box on a thread and it took about 4 comments before someone came on to say “ don’t you know what to stock”
I’m guessing she just wanted a chat and a few tips which is what I though a lot of “chat” was for!!

@WorraLiberty

Yes, 300 Oxo cubes and counting.

Sounds like a good pitch for a Channel 4 documentary.

Nope on the stockpiling - we don't have the storage space for it to be honest even if we wanted to. Chest freezer has the usual "just after payday" trip to the good butcher supplies that is normal for this time of the month - that's about the only stockpile we have, and a couple of reduced price whoops loaves of bread etc in there for emergency toast supplies.

No, we always have enough food to be able not to starve for a couple of weeks. I can't see us being left with absolutely nothing to eat. I understand people with restricted diets due to medical issues, stocking up on things. I am more concerned about medication, & have a couple of months spare of that.

Nope. Not stockpiling