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Original poster

Who still has lockdown stockpiled stuff to use up? Own up!

169 replies

BaroldBalonz · 09/02/2023 15:32

DD has just finished the huge box of glasses wipes which was bought on amazon near the start of lockdown. To be honest I accidentally bought a much bigger pack than I had intended to, but with all the crazy buying that was happening, who will admit to still having lockdown purchases that haven't been used yet, what are they, and when will you use them?

OP posts:
lightand · 09/02/2023 17:58

Finished everything.
Well except for some cleaning materials!
Oh and for some reason, DH thought I needed back then 6 rolls of baking parchment. Still have 4 left!

I learnt what I get through quickly and what I dont. Useful exercise.

Mrsjayy · 09/02/2023 18:05

brillianthopefulness · 09/02/2023 17:52

@Mrsjayy Yes those are the ones!!! 😂

Well I know somebody if you want replacements😃

thecatsthecats · 09/02/2023 18:06

I misread a pack size and have eye wipes for the cats in a pack bigger than the vets.

I do have a mega bag of pasta and one of rice that predates lockdown, but that's my husband's fault for going carb free.

MotherOfPuffling · 09/02/2023 18:15

The hand weights and stepper I bought as I couldn’t go to the gym in lockdown - now gathering dust under my desk!

I do now have a well stocked kitchen as it was such a nightmare during Covid running out of things, that about 6 months ago I decided to stuck up on all the long life stuff in case it all went tits up again over winter. Loads of tins and jars etc., which is a relief as price rises mean I wouldn’t be able to afford a lot of things now if I actually had to buy them! Am hoping the cost of living crisis is over by the time I actually have to buy marmite or teabags again…

ShirleyPhallus · 09/02/2023 18:17

Ariela · 09/02/2023 16:39

My friend's husband. Annoys me as much as it does her, he leaves all the packages of food out in the kitchen and wipes them over before putting them in the fridge. Unfortunately he wants to leave them there for 24 hours. I say that's a health hazard for chilled food.

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That is honestly nuts. What a tool.

WaddleAway · 09/02/2023 18:19

No. Because I never stockpiled. The images of elderly people wandering up and down empty aisles in supermarkets were heartbreaking so there was no way I was adding to the difficulties.

As476 · 09/02/2023 18:23

Nope. We didn’t stockpile. I was away for the weekend, 2 weeks before the lockdown was announced. I’d seen on Facebook that our local supermarkets had absolutely no toilet rolls in them, so I bought one big bag of washing tablets, and one big toilet roll multipack (24 rolls). That was it.

I worked in a takeaway at the time and got to work one evening and sobbed because I genuinely didn’t know how I was going to feed my children. I had nothing in and all my local shops were completely bare of everything. My work gave me a bag full of their ingredients (rice, chicken, tinned tomatoes, mince, vegetables and fruit) to help me through.

Spanielsarepainless · 09/02/2023 18:32

Tins of steak in gravy, ditto chicken in white sauce, various tins of beans. Sister gave me two large bottles of hand sanitiser which may go to the food bank.

Daffodilsandtuplips · 09/02/2023 18:34

I accidentally stockpiled flour, I’d asked my daughter to look out for flour as we couldn’t get any locally. I ended up with ten bags of SR. and five bags of plain. She’d put the word out among her friends.

maddiemookins16mum · 09/02/2023 18:48

I have a tin of custard.

AddictedtoStarmix · 09/02/2023 18:56

I still have a couple of packets of fake nails, fake lashes and fake tan left over that I bought when all the salons closed (you can tell my skewed priorities!).

LlynTegid · 09/02/2023 19:03

I still ensure I have about a month or more's worth of toilet roll, perhaps twice what I had before March 2020.

LangClegsInSpace · 09/02/2023 19:12

I've kept the same rolling stock going since before brexit.

It enabled me to stay completely away from the shops when everyone was panic buying. Also to help next door with some bog rolls and pasta when the shelves were empty. It also meant that I wasn't worried about food for the couple of times I had to isolate.

I'm currently grateful for it because there are still sometimes gaps on the shelves and of course everything is more expensive, so it's helping to keep costs down.

I'm running it down at the moment because everything costs so much to replace but I keep an eye out for special offers.

I DIY'd on the hand sanitiser so I have leftover isopropyl alcohol and aloe vera gel. Both have multiple uses.

The only thing I have that I won't use is a few bags of sugar because the kids moved out and neither DH or I use it for anything. So thanks for this thread, you've reminded me to get the kids to take it.

LangClegsInSpace · 09/02/2023 19:38

puppacup · 09/02/2023 17:56

@gamerchick yeah but you're not every prepper are you? I remember reading posts similar to yours saying we don't panic buy we always have stock in as opposed to reacting to news, panic buyers are the ones who react to the news. And yet after news of food shortages there were lots of posts springing up on the prepped board...😆

There's this weird belief that panic buying is what other people do. A bit like the lockdown threads of "I was walking my dog & the park was so busy", or "I was food shopping & the supermarket was so busy, don't people realise there's a lockdown"!

Of course there were threads on the preppers board!

Mostly they were 'what are you glad you bought?', 'what do you wish you had bought?', 'what will you do differently next time?' etc., plus a load of threads saying thank you to the regulars there for their very sensible advice.

If there was an occasional 'what should I be buying?' thread then the OP would be told clearly that now was not the time to be stocking up on anything as this would be panic buying, not prepping.

MeinKraft · 09/02/2023 19:49

We've got loads of those 5l bottles of sanitiser in my work as well as dettol sprays etc

CharlotteRose90 · 09/02/2023 20:02

My mum has tinned stuff still about and shampoo and conditioner etc.
drives me mad as it’s just in the cupboards. I asked her to donate it to a food bank but she won’t .

Sahara123 · 09/02/2023 20:08

I work in a school and we have approximately 30-40 huge boxes of covid tests still , they go out of date this month . Plus tubs of wipes , hand gel, all unused . The waste and the amount of plastic horrifies me . The council got completely carried away ordering so much stuff

gamerchick · 09/02/2023 20:11

puppacup · 09/02/2023 17:56

@gamerchick yeah but you're not every prepper are you? I remember reading posts similar to yours saying we don't panic buy we always have stock in as opposed to reacting to news, panic buyers are the ones who react to the news. And yet after news of food shortages there were lots of posts springing up on the prepped board...😆

There's this weird belief that panic buying is what other people do. A bit like the lockdown threads of "I was walking my dog & the park was so busy", or "I was food shopping & the supermarket was so busy, don't people realise there's a lockdown"!

Those of us who do it anyway we're lumped in and blamed for the empty shelves. No matter how many times we explained how we work. It would happen again in a heartbeat if this stuff happens again. Because we have stuff and other people don't. Some people got really cross about it because we didn't need to go to the shops and left what was left for those who needed it.

Doyouthinktheyknow · 09/02/2023 20:13

We didn’t stockpile during lockdown but I had stockpiled loo roll prior to COVID because it was cheap and I am a bit of a squirrel. That came in very useful and I didn’t buy any for months.

The only thing we still have is hand gel and this wasn’t from the start of the pandemic, I couldn’t get any for ages so have maybe 3 bottles from when we could get it. Still use it but a bottle lasts for ages.

I do still have a couple of boxes of tests but I’m a nurse so do need to test sometimes.

I remember when it was almost impossible to get a shopping slot, it seems like a lifetime ago now!! The one way systems in supermarkets and god help you if you forgot something. Our local co-op was nuts, the aisles are so full and narrow, it was a nightmare to navigate and there seemed to be no way to go back if you did forget anything. You just had to go round again or get shouted at🤣

Aposterhasnoname · 09/02/2023 20:25

FuckabethFuckor · 09/02/2023 15:52

Giving some of you lot the hard eye. (Somewhat lightheartedly but not entirely.) Those early weeks of lockdown were made infinitely harder when panic-buying meant we couldn’t get basic stuff.

This. I had to shop for my self, my elderly parents and my clinically vulnerable DD. Thanks to hoarders there was either nothing left after I’d finished work (no WFH for me) or there was a one person limit so I had to go to the shops three times a week, (technically against the rules but what was I supposed to do) to get us all one loaf of bread each.

Doughdog · 09/02/2023 20:26

PVA glue! For some reason I convinced myself that a gallon of glue would be the only thing that would get me and three kids through the boredom of lockdown. I'm about half way through, we used some at the weekend to make an Egyptian death mask.

inloveandmarried · 09/02/2023 21:03

Yeast and a box of gloves. They will get used but not in a hurry.

garlictwist · 09/02/2023 21:33

I didn't stockpile anything but I did buy some weird art equipment after it was shown on Countryfile. I have never even taken it out of the packet. I think I must have had some sort of weird episode as I hate arts and crafts. And Countryfile, come to that.

LangClegsInSpace · 09/02/2023 21:37

gamerchick · 09/02/2023 20:11

Those of us who do it anyway we're lumped in and blamed for the empty shelves. No matter how many times we explained how we work. It would happen again in a heartbeat if this stuff happens again. Because we have stuff and other people don't. Some people got really cross about it because we didn't need to go to the shops and left what was left for those who needed it.

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Yes, this.

We got 'lucky'. Most of us were prepping for the effects of brexit (which are ongoing, slow and complex). We didn't expect covid but when it happened we found we were in some ways well prepared. We didn't have to join the scrum with the rest of you because we already had stuff.

Not sorry, just grateful.

thenightsky · 09/02/2023 23:07

LangClegsInSpace · 09/02/2023 21:37

Yes, this.

We got 'lucky'. Most of us were prepping for the effects of brexit (which are ongoing, slow and complex). We didn't expect covid but when it happened we found we were in some ways well prepared. We didn't have to join the scrum with the rest of you because we already had stuff.

Not sorry, just grateful.

Show quote history

Exactly this for us too.