aibu to spend money now trying to prepare for increases in everything?

[nononin]

So everything is rising.

Me and DH did the math and when our fix is over, even if we overpay on our mortgage by everything we can (dream world, there's always something else that needs paying first that cuts this down) Even if rates rise by a few percent which they seem to be, well we would be looking at an increase we can't realistically afford.

We still have a couple of years left on the fix BUT Everything is going up so its safe to say our mortgage probably will too.

(also relevant) We are a single income family of 6, and although my partner now earns a good wage, we have been hit with illness and he has had to stop working for an extended period, a few times this has happened.
So we have been in the position of worrying about money and job security. It wasn't good and makes a bad situation worse.

So here is my Aibu

I want to spend a couple of hundred pounds now, in the next few weeks, buying extras of what we would already buy (pasta, sauces, canned goods, dried food. Long shelf life stuff) so that we have enough food in the house to subsidise our shopping in a significant way should we need to.

I also think this would be a good idea for the rising costs (everything is going up weekly so we'd be saving money straight away)

We can afford it. And we do have space to store it.

It would give me peace of mind.

I can't really see a down side. Our savings are losing value all the time but we will be buying the food anyway. Surely this would count as just another form of saving.

Am i sounding like an idiot here? DH thinks its mad and akin to panic buying in covid. I don't think it is as there doesn't seem to be a shortage around here for anything and it would be over a few weeks, just buying extra long life stuff.

It seems the most logical thing to do?

What do you think?

Also am i right about increase in interest rates means our mortgage rate will go up too?
We are paying 600 pm and our absolute highest would be 750 but an increase of only 2% sent our payments up to 8-900 on the mortgage calculator.
And we factored in the increased equity.

and sorry, I know this is another money, energy, what should we do??! thread BUT it would help reading if other people agree with me or with dh.

To settle the argument I suppose.

If you have the money and the space then why not?

Reading the last part of your post then I don't think you can afford it.

Have you thought about looking for a job for security if your dh's health is precarious ? This is the first thing I would be doing rather than worrying about not being able to pay the mortgage ?

OP spend your money protecting yourselves. You're a single income family already hit by illness. Get some decent income protection and critical illness cover as well as life cover (but this is generally the 3rd most important)

I don't see why not, I can remember my mother overbuying food in the 70's when inflation was about 20%, if you've got the space, I think it can only be helpful

Of course not. Go for it.

as long as you have space to store it, it’s stuff you would otherwise buy later on (when it’s more expensive) and will use it up at some point there’s literally no argument against buying it now.

Maths - it has a letter s on the end.

Not much point, it’s a one time saving. As soon as you eat it you’re back to square 1. Surely better to build credit up on bill accounts etc and prepare by buying extra layers or an air fryer for food.

It was me that was ill and dh had to stay off work with the children at home until I was able to get well enough for him to go back.

It was a massive struggle and cost us thousands for a relatively short amount of time.

That was money for taxis to and from hospital included though. Its not a disability or long term illness so I'm not too worried about that
however it hit us out of the blue and we are lucky he still had the same job to go back to. we were worried he was taking the piss but they were really good about it. which I'm very grateful for.

it wiped out our savings in 6 weeks though.

yes, buy food/tins/pasta/rice etc but also can you work out for the mortgage what your equity will be at the end of your fix? Could you achieve a better LTV to access the best fixes? I have stress tested to see what my payments will be at 5% and 10% and worked out what I need to throw at the mortgage over the next 4 years to get it to a stage where I can service it.

Ah I went with that trend and got an airfryer, dh was against that and the one I wanted went up £40 by the time he finally agreed.

Is anyone else stocking up on the lower prices now before they go up even more?

Do you mean you're going to overpay to try and get a better rate after your fix?

We looked at higher rates and it was upsetting seeing the monthly cost go up so high.

If you can afford and have room, then why not. Just be careful not to buy things that, in reality, you won't use and also book by use by dates. If you're buying in bulk, compare the prices of a couple of supermarkets and get whatever is cheaper from each of them.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable if you can manage. Food inflation is likely to still go up given fertiliser is becoming an issue. Chucking a few extra packets of pasta and rice in the shopping basket is probably useful.

I would probably though invest in something that will reduce your energy usage so airfryer, heated blankets, thermals, thermal curtains. That kind of thing.

Everyone should have a food stash if they can afford it - just don't forget to eat and replace it fairly regularly so it doesn't go off or get mouldy (even dried beans, tins etc can expire), and store it in a cool, dry place away from anywhere vermin can access (big plastic storage boxes with a lid that locks into place are good). Only buy things you actually eat regularly, else you'll never use it.

Once you've built your stash, you're better off keeping any spare cash in savings rather than overpaying your mortgage (as this will only reduce repayments slightly, and you might need the cash sooner). Only do this if you know you can be trusted not to spend it on non-essentials, though!

The interest rate rise is a bit unclear, as normally the Bank of England raises interest rates to encourage saving and control inflation domestically. This inflation, however, is caused by circumstances outside the UK's control, so it's not a given that raising interest rates will do much to control rising prices (which are driven, at the moment, by the high costs of energy, caused by bloody Russia). I have no idea what to do, neither does DH, and he's an economist!

We're doing something similar, in the sense of a bit of future-proofing. Like making sure that things we need are in good condition (washing machine has become very noisy, so we're getting it serviced now rather than risk it breaking down completely, also would rather replace it now than next year when prices may be astronomical) and that everyone has working bicycles to reduce car use.

I have always been a bit of a grandmother groceries prepper: I always have a few extra in the cupboard and replace items whenever a new one is opened. And I multi buy when there are offers on things we will definitely eat or use. I always have a buffer.

An important adaptation for us will be training the dc to take short showers and not use the electric oven multiple times a day for making snacks.

Yes exactly - I worked out that I need to clear £25k off the balance to get to a point where I’m not worried about rates. I don’t have a big mortgage and I have equity but my disposable income is tiny and shrinking all the time. The more capital I clear, the less interest I pay per month.
mathematically it’s better to save that money if you can get a savings interest rate higher than your mortgage interest but I find the money gets siphoned off for other things too easily.

@KvotheTheBloodless @Dilbertian glad to heat I'm not the only one.

I have a bit of a stash already and it already helps when you run out of biscuits and fancy tea and biscuits we used to go to the corner shop and pay £3 for 2 packs. Or milk, I always have long life for when we run out. I actually prefer it

But I've currently got one small cupboard full and have basically an empty full sized pantry.
it's not empty but empty of food and full of junk.
I wouldn't mind having it full of food like the Americans on those pantry organising shows.

@LadyShatterly
yes. I know what you mean.
But we have had money in savings for 3 years and only made £1 interest... so we've managed to lose money in real terms.
The mortgage, we pay off and take the time off the end. It seems to be more palatable.
We still have 20 odd years to pay.

Oh sorry @LadyShatterly I know what you mean about the money getting used for other things.
Once its paid in the mortgage its gone. But also we can pay off £250 and reduce the mortgage term by 1 month, but the payments are £650 per month so every £250 we pay in the mortgage early we are saving about £400. So that seems like a better use of money than a tiny amount of interest from the bank.

Buy your regular things on offer I've stocked up on gluten free pasta and rice we always use gluten free pasta and rice so it's a no brainer to buy it when it's on offer currently 85p in asda and over a pound everywhere else so guess where I shop

Yes do it. Food is expensive but the sad fact is it will never be cheaper than it is today. Tesco have Lloyd Grossman pasta sauces for £1.25 (usually £1.90) so i have bought 12. Bbe date of Feb '24 so even at 1 a month it will save me some money. In fact i will probably get a few more because i know my mum uses them as well. Cant lose really.

We've always done this and doing more so now- nappies in next sizes up, pasta, flour, baked beans, wet wipes etc. All things we will definitely need at some point. When we get our energy bills rebate we will be using that extra each month to do the same as we are on a fix.

See it is a win win. We will always eat food.

@Ambertonix right I'm sold.
I know my dh would moan about 12 but that's only 1 a month for a year. surely you use more than that?