To think 'essential shopping' depends on your socioeconomic status?

[HamsterJane]

I've just read another lockdown doomsday piece on a national newspaper website about how clothing isn't deemed essential, and I have the lockdown rage again because that really depends on your situation, doesn't it?! I was left having to make do with extremely loose, self esteem denting baggy maternity clothes after starting to diet in Jan to lose baby weight, and that was not great but not essential.. fine... But my baby went through a massive growth spurt in late April/May and we couldn't easily get to anything other than corner shops without queuing for ages to buy bigger baby basics (any style/colour in the bigger supermarkets with clothing, sleep suits and t shirts that sort of thing).I ended up just cutting the feet off some smaller ones to get by for a month until we could queue in a big city day trip out. Getting baby clothes is an essential when you have a growing baby and yet all my richer friends simply ordered stuff on Amazon prime or from premium places with decent returns and delivery like Clark's or Gap. I couldn't afford that.

Now we need a bigger safe baby crib soon and lockdown is looming again, and we had hoped to get one from IKEA as I trust their safety standards rather than buy online, plus it's a budget option. My friend just suggested we buy online from a super ££ specialist shop that I simply cannot afford, if we can't get to the city IKEA next month, but safety is still something I care about (obviously) so unwilling to eBay it etc.

AIBU to suggest closing "non essential shops" really just impacts people very differently depending on how much cash you can splash on internet buys?

@Rqiuta

You can get plenty of clothes online from Asda or Tesco. Can't buy Tesco clothing online? At least where I am. They shut down their f and f website a while back.

You can get a limited range of their clothes from next online

I’ll carry on ordering online despite being told I was “murdering” delivery and warehouse workers back in April.

Thank you! Off to have a mooch

@NeverTwerkNaked

Yes *@KitKatastrophe* I think you get free parking voucher if you purchase a certain amount in store?

Ah yes that's true, I forgot about that. You get three hours free if you spend a certain amount. I havent been to ikea for about a year!

You get three hours free if you spend a certain amount.

3 hours! Who manages to finish in 3 hours! Robbery that

I got loads of baby stuff off eBay, massive bundles for a tenner, and Ikea delivery is I think a tenner for something like a cot

@formerbabe

Yes I heard something on the news earlier, didn't get the full story, about supermarkets having to close off their non essential sections...seems ridiculous to me. What if you need to pick up some socks for your dc, or pants, or a pair of pe shoes? That's essential, and probably more essential than certain foods and drinks

Seriously? Is this in Wales or Scotland? I don't remember this happening in the last lockdown in England

@Funkypolar

I’ll carry on ordering online despite being told I was “murdering” delivery and warehouse workers back in April.

Me too!

You definitely dont pay for click and collect at Asda. I have done some Christmas shopping there recently and collected several orders over the past few months. Not paid c&c once.

But I do get yout general point. Stopping you from buying clothing when you are already in the store buying food seems completely pointless.

People are already in the shop anyway, it saves either having to pay for postage or spend x amount to get it for free. Its a ridiculous and pointless policy that screams of a power trip.

@ThankHeavenForFuzzyDucks

Sorry I have no idea...turned the news on and caught the last few sentences...but I won't let that stop me from getting angry

If you were truly sticking to absolutely essential items you’d not buy very much at all. Essential is definitely a moveable feast.
Clothes are rarely essential; we all probably have too many.
We probably all buy too much food.
We bought very few items when we had a baby - the pram but not much else.

That said, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t declare a bottle of Mermaid pink and a box of Fevertree as a necessity.

IKEA also have an online shop (you pay for shipping but once you add on parking charges and the inevitable meatballs it works out about the same)

Delivery from Ikea is £35 to us! Petrol to get to our nearest store approx £3 and parking free.

@CherryPavlova

If you were truly sticking to absolutely essential items you’d not buy very much at all. Essential is definitely a moveable feast. Clothes are rarely essential; we all probably have too many. We probably all buy too much food. We bought very few items when we had a baby - the pram but not much else.

That said, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t declare a bottle of Mermaid pink and a box of Fevertree as a necessity.

Yes I said that to dh...technically we could survive on rice and tap water..

IKEA delivery is £35 here too

Not England

Yes they're talking about stopping people buying e.g. basic babysuits from the supermarket even if you're already doing your food shopping (which to us is 1hr away by car; we live in a hamlet with zero bus service. Not crap bus service, literally zero. With national speed limit roads and no pavement linking us to the next big town which has a corner shop and post office/gp type places).

Charity shops weren't open during lockdown anywhere I know if , Wales OR England... Not in April or may.. unless I simply didn't look hard enough? I checked British heart Foundation and a local animal charity shops, all closed with signs up.

TKMax, H&M, Matalan... were all doing online deliveries during the lockdown and they are not more expensive than Primark!
Aldi does deliver their special buy but you need to keep an eye out for the week they sell baby clothes.

Ebay and local sites are full of second hand baby clothes, parents don't know what to do with them, you can buy bags for a couple of £. If you buy locals, you can pick up and don't have to pay for delivery.

I was going to agree with your title, but you are unreasonable.

formerbabe.....and gin.

You can order everything online from all the shops you mentioned..

Also you don't need amazon prime to order from amazon it will just take a few days longer to come

[quote formerbabe]@ThankHeavenForFuzzyDucks

Sorry I have no idea...turned the news on and caught the last few sentences...but I won't let that stop me from getting angry [/quote]
I can't blame you for being angry! It is ridiculous! so they want to keep the economy afloat or don't they?? In the last lockdown people were allowed to buy nonessential if they were part of an essentials shop.

It’s actually really weird I found the opposite, lock down was extremely eye opening for me.
We are not a well off family but I realised during lockdown how much I spend on stuff that probably isn’t needed. Too many kids clothes / food etc
I saved a fortune in lock down 🤣
Last month I went and did a winter shop for DD and I bought probable 1/5 of what I would usually buy literally 3 tracksuits a few pairs of leggings and 2 jumpers and 1 coat.
We have survived well with those and a washing machine.
Food we survived with no online shopping slots for weeks before we got our priority slot and just with the essential box that was delivered on Mondays. When I first saw the box I was like how will I survive but actually we didn’t go hungry 🤣
It’s actually been a huge learning curve for myself.

And no, am not living off rice and tap water for six months! No way! I wash my hands, I distance , I don't go to crowded places. I comply with the law but when it comes to shopping, no, am gonna shop online until I drop!

Online shopping of art supplies, books etc got me through lockdown when my mental health took another dip ( I ended up admitted to hospital).

Use ebay for clothing.

I'm not well off, no car, been able to get everything I need and alot of what I want. If I still lived in the hebredies would I struggle. Probably. But I did even in good times. I haven't heard of anyone in the situation you describe. Rural life sucks but that's always the case.

We are having the big essential shopping live trial in Wales in the next 17 days. That should yield data enough on what is essential
There are already pictures of people covering the supermarkets with big plastic sheets. We may end up doing supervised shopping at this rate.