AIBU to think people will be less tolerant of those who are unprepared next time?

[NoSoapAndGory]

In mid March, as the shop stock plummeted just before lockdown was announced, our local parent FaceBook groups etc were full of "I've tried all shops with no luck - where can I get Calpol / Paracetamol / Nappies / Tampax / pasta / toilet roll' etc.

For every post, there was at least one person offered to help or share - usually more.

Are people now expected to behave differently as supplies are stabilising? Do you think people will be so accommodating the next time we have an emergency, or will you be considered foolish not to have prepared in some way if you were able to?*

*Obviously not including people who can't afford to buy spares or basics.

The only thing that's certain in this crazy situation is that loads of people will continue stubbornly refusing to understand the distinction between prepping and panic buying.

What I think is interesting is that this is what panic buying looks like when supply chains are largely intact. I get that there are particular problems for some items, like flour, where they aren't set up for production of smaller domestic 1kg bags, but generally, food has still been flowing in smoothly. What we haven't seen yet is what panic buying when supply chains are broken looks like. We can't yet rule out a no deal Brexit at the end of the year. I prepped for that (over months and months, where I could) and that came in very handy this time round. We weren't putting any pressure at all on supermarkets when it all went crazy. There is no way on earth, having seen how mad everything got, that I am running down our supplies this year until I absolutely know we aren't going to be facing a broken supply chain come January. I am very aware I am incredibly lucky to be able to do that. I do think that everyone who can should, so that when situation like this happen, there is less pressure on the food supply system, and more left for the people who can't.

Of course the supply chain slowed down, supermarket orders goods months in advance. They know they are going to sell more in November/December so they up their orders, so manufacturers can be prepared for the increase. They didn't have a chance to adjust the orders before the panic buying started.

Buying extra doesn't have to cost a lot every time you shop. If you just allocated say £5 to be used, and only buy what you will actually eat you will soon have a small pantry being set up.

Because I have a pantry I was able to not go to the until things got back to normal. And the few things I haven't been able to get at the major supermarkets I have been able to get from my local corner shop. Which we continue to use once things are back to normal as they have been fantastic during this time.

@PrincessConsueIaBananaHammock
...we haven't had to replace milk with cheese, we haven't used potatoes instead of bread and haven't wiped our arses with the cat.

For which, I'm sure, your cat is very grateful

Most people don’t have the space or the cash to buy a few extra every month,and even packaged foods go out of date as does paracetamol/calpol

I don't think that's true at all. Obviously there are people who have no spare money and/or live in very small properties, but it's far from 'most people'.

I'm not talking about having months worth of supplies, merely not leaving until you actually need something to buy it. Operating on a 'just in time' basis and buying week to week, leaves you very vulnerable if there are any supply issues or reasons why you can't get out, as people have discovered.

We've always shopped for a store cupboard not what we expect to use week to week. So will buy a 4 pack of beans for example and then get another one when we're down to the last two, that sort of thing. Buy another shampoo when the last one in the cupboard is opened, not when it is nearly running out.

It is also far cheaper to shop this way, because you just buy things when you see them on offer, you are never forced to buy a high price item now because you need it now.

Excluding the people who have no money obviously, it can't really be said that 'most people' can't afford to do this. Our stocks are worth maybe £100-200 at most. You can't really say that 'most people' don't have a spare £200 when they often spend hundreds of pounds a month on entirely discretionary items. Plus as I said it actually works out cheaper to keep a store cupboard so easy to do once you get into the swing of it.

It doesn't take much space up either. We live in a small 2 bed house with a very small bathroom, and the shampoos, toilet rolls etc are in a tall cupboard (cheap from ikea, so that's not expensive either) and the rest of the Costco toilet roll is under the bed.

The spare beans are just in the one tall kitchen cupboard with the normal beans.

I’ve always liked to keep the freezer Well stocked and the cupboards with a good variety of long life stuff, enough for a few weeks but not a huge stockpile. I learnt it from my gran who lives through the war. It’s been very useful in the past when snow hits and people panic but and supplies can’t get through.

So no I won’t change that, and I’d 100% share with people I know rather than see them hungry.

I have changed my shopping a little now, but purely in buying things in before they run out. So buying toilet roll when down to 6 type thing (big family, use a lot). Ordering toiletries online In advance because I’ve not been able to get in supermarkets.

We are preppers on a small scale and have managed to do ok on this lockdown.

I think that people panic shopped as they didn't know what to expect with talk of lockdown. I think there will be more preppers and less panic buying before the next wave of covid 19 hits. Lived experiences and all that.

On the subject of ability to prep, its also worth pointing out that some preppers do it precisely because they're low income and vulnerable. There are obviously people who can't possibly do it, though the large majority of even low income people can stretch to and store a few extra tins and packets. But there appear to be a number of MN preppers in much more vulnerable circumstances than some of the people who were scornfully telling them a couple of months back how unnecessary and/or irresponsible they were because there'll always be deliveries anyway.

its also worth pointing out that some preppers do it precisely because they're low income

That's exactly why we buy in small scale bulk. Because there's been times in the past when we couldn't afford to buy small packets week to week. The difference in price can be astonishing.

It's often cheaper to buy a four pack than two singles. Four pints of milk costs hardly any more than two. The price per toilet roll if you buy 16 instead of four is about half as much. It's endless, you can easily save 20-30% or more buying like this.

That's a great example, @KillerofMen - my nephew is the same. Hardly ever eats in and has no need for cupboards full of food. I would be more than exasperated they didn't learn from the experience and start to have at least the basics at home.

Another example for me; a friend's cat only eats a particular food - she had to put a Facebook post out asking if anyone had any spare as she was down to the last tin and couldn't get it anywhere.

She's very comfortable for money: no doubt she was about to go shopping the next day as normal and it would have been no problem.

I would like to think the experience has lead to her making sure she has extra in but it hasn't -
she asked me to get some with my shop the other day as she had forgotten when she went to Tesco and was down to the last tin again.

That would piss me off. I dont mind getting stuff for vulnerable people who actually need it, but being expected to spend more time in a supermarket because someone couldn't possibly be expected to get their shit together is just annoying.

@NoSoapAndGory I hope you told your friend she could spin. Politely, of course.

I’ve learned through this that many people can’t see danger looming

But, if everyone shopped normally we would NOT have run out! Thats the entire point. If people hadn’t panicked and bought food they then had to throw out because it moulded we would have had enough.
The pandemic has not caused a lack of food. People’s stupidity has- forgive me for not realising how utterly selfish some people are. I know now.

I didn't, @JingsMahBucket, as I feel sorry for her cat - but I did say she needed to get a stock in in future, and I wouldn't be able to get it again as Tesco delivery only allows for 80 items*

• I have a delivery because we are isolating before I'm shot down.

In February I started a box of supplies for if I became unwell and my 2 DC would have to fend for themselves. It has been a lifesaver as I have been very unwell with Covid. We are on a very low income and use a food bank. I put a bit aside a bit each week and bought some cheap tins, noodles, cereal and biscuits. Also paracetamol, bleach and cleaning spray. The box is in my bedroom. I wouldn't judge people one way or the other and would try to help if I could.

I’ve always been a bit of a prepper- not for any particular scenario, but I’m disabled and have days/weeks where I’m unable to go out to shop, so I tend to keep a bit extra in at all times. I won’t change doing this, but I am going to be a bit more organised with my stash and make sure I have a couple of weeks worth of everything in at all times.

What I don’t get is people stockpiling stuff they don’t even eat. A Facebook friend put a post up a month or so back saying, “Just managed to grab 3 bags of pasta! I don’t even like the stuff lol”. This pisses me off as it’s just buying for buying’s sake and it’s people like her who have caused shortages for the people who actually need it.

I didn't have much sympathy then to be honest, unless financial reasons make it impossible it's sensible to keep a certain level of stocks in a household especially if you have kids, you never know when they might get sick/you are sick/car breaks down etc. I'm not a crazy prepper but I always have at least 24 toilet rolls in the house (spread across the toilets) and replace the spare as soon as I start a bottle eg once I start the washing up liquid buy another in reserve, often 2 as they are 2 for £1. I buy tomatoes in cases of 12 and again buy another as soon as I start one. If everyone who can afford to does this simple system then those on low incomes won't find supplies being stripped. As for formula and disposable nappies, I'm genuinely shocked that people don't have at least 3-4 weeks in reserve (I used cloth and breastfed admittedly so much easier.). I do think we all need to take responsibility for our families in a sensible way, canned food is now going to be far more popular is my guess

What PubsClubsMinistryOfSound said. I can't afford to pay corner shop prices. I buy trays of 33p tomatoes, and staples in 10kg sacks from a local supplier that many people would turn their nose up at.

Its also normal for people to have enough stored to see them through a whole season, its how people have lived for thousands of years. Supermarkets might be the new normal if you live in a city and work in an office but we don't all live like that.

I suppose we are semi preppers. We do a monthly online shop and bulk buy topped up with a weekly shop for fresh ingredients.

The monthly shop is mostly for bulky items like tins, cleaning products and toiletries. As it is being delivered we make use if bogofs and 3 for 2s which means we do have a stash in our garage.

It didn’t occur to me that hairdressers might be closed long term though and I forgot to buy hair dye! Couldn’t get my hands on any fir weeks and ended up spending £12 on a L’Oréal castings on Amazon.

This has shown the staples that I do need to keep a good stock of.

We're a big family (3 adults, 3 teens, 3 smaller kids) and if we'd not had a good base store we'd have had to have a lot of regular shopping trips. Especially because where we live the panic buying was crazy.

The supermarket here got super strict so you could only have 2 of certain things, but here that meant 2 tins of beans or spaghetti, or 2 tins of chopped tomatoes or passata or plum tomatoes. You could only have 2 bags of frozen veg and there were very few multipacks of fresh veg so at one point people could have 2 onions or 2 carrots which doesn't go far.

I had planned on stopping my fruit and veg box as it's a little over-priced for what it is, but I'm going to stick with it now. I'm also going to keep the butter and cheese extras that I added to my milk delivery.

That said people have needed to buy more food. I've got 5 kids who normally have lunch at school eating lunches at home. Even those with just 1 or 2 kids will still have needed 5/10 meals extra a week in their shopping.

A lot of what I buy, I ONLY buy when on offer - typically 1/3 off. I've been shopping in same supermarket for years and know these same offers come up regularly every 3 months or so. Therefore I ONLY buy every 3 months these particular staple items, and I buy enough for 3 months. Luckily, in Jan/Feb I bought loo roll, refill packs of Kenco coffee, tins of chopped tomato, baked beans, bags of flour, pretty much everything apart from tea bags. So when the panic buying started I simply didn't need to go to the supermarket, instead I just visited the corner shop I go to once a week for bread and various fresh veg to get milk.

My mum's family and friends scoffed at the idea of prepping for brexit. Now they are complaining about not being able to get deliveries or items being unavailable. They were very really disparaging so it amuses me greatly that they are now having to make adjustments to their shopping. They are all healthy and quite able to go shopping, they just can't get what they prefer and object to having to have something different. Mum started prepping over a year ago for brexit and has a supply of all her favourite things and treats. I do wonder if one particular friend had to resort to the newspaper she said she'd use if there was a shortage of loo roll No better use for the daily mail!