Only on mumsnet do people prep.

[Notlong20]

There is not one person I know in real life that is prepping for a coronavirus outbreak. In fact, no one I speak to even mentions the threat of the virus.

Of course we know of it as the hysteria surrounding it is all over the news / social media, but aibu to think preppers only exist on mumsnet?

Happy to share wisdom/experiences. Have done on here for at least a year.
In real life, I'm joking with pals about binge watching telly, not having to go to work, what a pain in the arse kids are when they are bored and saying it'll all blow over but if it doesn't I'm sure we'll be fiiiiine.
So if you are having those kind of conversations with someone in real life, maybe they aren't telling you the full story.

I was thinking this morning that if we were suddenly told to isolate ourselves we would struggle. We never have more than a days worth of food in at a time. But we don't own a freezer and have a tiny kitchen so not sure where we would store anything!

I am not going to prep. What will be will be.

Op what would you do if we had to all stay in our houses like in Northern Italy?

They have been prepping on money saving expert for years ,Ive been a member for 10 years and I think they were doing it then ....they are probably wetting themselves in delight at the moment

I'm prepping my medication, dog and cat dry food.

I always have tons of tins/pasta/pulses anyway as I buy these in bulk to save time.

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie . Not sure what your money situation is but even a few tins from Aldi/Asda shoved under your settee or bed or on your wardrobe would be an idea.
Also look at jack Monroe's website. cookingonabootstrap.com/
Her book Tin Can Cook has some good cheap ideas for cooking from shelf stable stores. Tried her corned beef chilli and it's really yummy. Had it a few times now. And cheap.

It's odd how some people find it so annoying that others like to plan for the future.

Do they hate squirrels? Burying their nuts in secrets stashes so no other squirrels will find them.

Even healthy eating and exercising is a form of future planning. That winds people up too.

I am syurprised at some of the reactions here.
I didn't know there was sucha thing as "prepping" until I read it here.
I have spent much of my life in rural areas, keeping bulk supplies of food just seems like a sensible thing to do if you have space.
It means not running out of stuff, it saves money, it means that you can feed people if you or a child becomes confined to the house meaning you can't get out.
I don'r "prep" for disasters, I prep because it makes running a home easier.

I certainly wouldn't call myself a prepper but on the other hand I always have medicine and tinned or long life food in the cupboard. Have always shopped that way, I suppose I just do what my parents always did.

It's not coronavirus related though, more like planning for bad weather etc.

Things that would make my family unpleasant to be locked in a house with,

No tea and coffee
No spaghetti (I kid you not)
No paracetamol
No prescription drugs
No loo roll

We have basic food but if getting extra in of those is prepping then yeah, we are.

What I’m really tempted to get is some paint and polyfiller . I mean if we’re all at home surely we could just get the house looking smart??? .

The first rule of prepping seems extremely selfish!

Maybe you should just take responsibility for yourself rather than expect other people to prompt you.

It's not selfish. I work out my provisions for meals for 6 of us etc so adding another in would throw it all off.

I work in a school and there is plenty of worry about the virus inc local authority and DfE briefing docs being sent round for us to start planning around and lots of conversation between school leaders about what we are doing to prepare. So almost all the people I know in real life are v aware

I think it is a modern thing not to prep.

My grandmother would harvest her apples , carrots and potatoes in the autumn and keep them under sacking in the shed to last all winter. She would make dozens of bottles of rose hip syrup and jams when fruit was in season, there would be rows of preserves and jams, months of supplies to use for months ahead. Onlions would be tied in long strings, bringing one into the house when she needed it. She would slice and dry plums, bag them up and use them for baking during the year'

Prepping is not a modern invention, it is something humans have been doing for thousands of years, I was brought up to prep, to gather food in times of plenty to make sure future times were easier,

I think it is human nature.

I know people who are. Not in an extreme way but maybe just stocking up more than usual on tins and medicines etc. I've started to do the same, just seems a sensible thing to do.
I had flu earlier this month and as a single parent with an also poorly two year old it was absolute hell, we were housebound for about a week. Just made me realise its better to have a nice stocked cupboard, lots of nappies, wipes, cleaning stuff etc

Some bizarre views on here. So, people who have got supplies in for potential Coronavirus lockdown/empty supermarkets are to be scoffed at, accused of mental health problems and hysteria, AND at the same time they are inherently selfish for not offering up front to share the very supplies that people are mocking

Also prepping can save a huge amount of money.
Prices of reduced stuff in supermarkets can be incredibly cheap. Not just fresh food, but end of lines, slightly bashed but sealed soap powder etc.
I bought "christmas flavour" (I know ) cat food, a box of 12 pouches for 50p. I bought twenty boxes, expirey date is June 2021.
It costs less in he long run if you can buy bargains and store them.

Christmas flavour cat food?

My grandmother would harvest her apples , carrots and potatoes in the autumn and keep them under sacking in the shed to last all winter. She would make dozens of bottles of rose hip syrup and jams when fruit was in season, there would be rows of preserves and jams, months of supplies to use for months ahead. Onlions would be tied in long strings, bringing one into the house when she needed it. She would slice and dry plums, bag them up and use them for baking during the year'

That's not prepping imo. That's just simple not wasting resources. Everyone with large amount of garden produce preserves it somehow.

I live somewhere very isolated so everyone I know "preps" so I wouldn't know any different

That's not prepping imo. That's just simple not wasting resources. Everyone with large amount of garden produce preserves it somehow.

It's has the same elements though. Making hay when times are plenty to protect ourselves from possible future situations.
Taking advantage of cheap or plentiful resources and storing them for times ahead for any situation that may limit the supply of these resources.
Like saving money.

I save- for no particular reason, but to give myself a buffer- so if the roof leaks or we have illness and can't work for a while we will have some protection.

To me having a store of food is the same thing.
It's a protection against future time/money/effort/availability.

I remember people prepping for the millenium computer bug- big thing then too- computers would fail, planes plunge from the sky and we would be without transport and power.

@speakout when I think of prepping as it is meant today I always think of people going out of their normal way to get resources. We just never looked at this as prepping prepping (it wasn't for any particular Armageddon or famine) but simply not wasting. I was aways curious about distinction between prepping and just normal stuff

Some bizarre views on here. So, people who have got supplies in for potential Coronaviruslockdown/emptysupermarkets are to be scoffed at, accused of mental health problems and hysteria, AND at the same time they are inherently selfish for not offering up front to share the very supplies that people are mocking*

Looks like it. It's a good reminder that there are entitled people out there who have some very strange ideas.

I hate all these daft "only on MN" posts. Surely you can see how stupid you sound. Firstly your friends (and certainly your acquaintances) in real life probably don't tell you if they're prepping and in any case your friends in real life are probably predominantly from a certain demographic, yes that demographic may not overlap that much with the demographic on MN but that doesn't mean they're any more typical than the wider population.

When most people say they're prepping they're usually buying a few extra tins and dried foods. Which will be used anyway. I'm sure plenty of people in Milan and Hong Kong are desperately wishing they'd done the same.