To be genuinely concerned about the next few years

[YellowDuck1]

Or have I been spending too much time online?

I am the sort to bury my head in the sand/avoid the news as I find it quite difficult to be so out of control. However I still seem to end up seeing a lot of it.. How we are going to be impacted because of everything that’s unfolding in Iran.

Should we be prepping? Stockpiling?

Individually? In the UK ? In practical terms probably nothing.
Collectively, morally and ethnically? Think hard about our use of fossil fuels. Think hard about which countries we support and where we sell arms.

You don’t think it’ll have any effect on us? It already is with fuel prices

No stockpiling is necessary. I tend not to worry about things that I can't do anything about.

It makes much more sense to be genuinely concerned about the UK economy

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/04/labour-welfare-bill-income-tax-revenue/

Yes this is one of my biggest concerns (selfishly speaking)

But what can you practically do about fuel prices or the economy? Prepping isn't going to help.
Are you being unreasonable to worry? Probably, yes. Because there's little you can do to change the outcome. Other than emigrate, earn significantly more or broker world peace.

I agree. Nothing we can do about the World wars etc - we just have to hope that the relevant leaders can get the behind the scenes deals done to end them.

But a big YES to the UK economy. That's a much bigger issue. Unemployment up, numbers of job vacancies down, the "bulge" of older people requiring pensions, benefits and expensive health/care. Lack of affordable homes. Ever worsening deprivation in the regions. Debt up, spending more on interest on the huge national debt than on education. I just don't see how there'll be any improvement on a national scale. Time for people to put themselves in the best possible position to weather the storm, i.e. saving and investing more, spending less, taking promotions/extra shifts etc to build savings, investing in themselves by taking training/education courses to upskill. All the kind of things that most people can do to help protect themselves against worsening economic climate. And of course, thinking carefully about who to vote for in the local and national elections of the next few years as we need people who can "repair" broken Britain.

Exactly - like I said in my OP I try to avoid my exposure to the news etc as there ultimately is nothing I can do but doesn’t make it feel any less concerning right now.

As for prepping it’s the only piece of control we do have buying basics to make sure our families would be somewhat okay in any eventuality

Hopefully this all amounts to not a lot but as the days go on it’s feeling less and less likely

For fuel prices, you can use the car less, i.e. start applying for more local jobs or jobs that you can get to by public transport, walk or bike for local journeys to the local shop, etc. When it's time to change car, look for a more fuel efficient model.

For the economy, upskill to get a more stable/lucrative job, work longer hours, build savings/investments, stop spending/wasting money, and vote for politicans who have a cohesive plan for improving/saving the economy.

I think we will end up like the pandemic where we are told to WFH as much as possible. Luckily in my current role I only have to go into the office one day a week. My husband usually does a few more but I think this is something we will have to cut back on as it’s not mandatory

Completely agree with all of this, but would (perhaps wrongly) think that everyone would do this anyway. Just as part of adult life?

Should we be prepping? Stockpiling?

Surely it’s panic buying now?

Before this war we still had big problems, low growth, ageing population, global instability. Basically taxes & the cost of everything will only be going up.

Time for people to put themselves in the best possible position to weather the storm, i.e. saving and investing more, spending less, taking promotions/extra shifts etc to build savings, investing in themselves by taking training/education courses to upskill.

Great post up until the 'simple' tips which are anything but for many people.

The problem with fuel prices rising is that it will affect food prices, public transport, all of those things even if you reduce your own car use.

I am liking the advice about saving and upskilling as well though.

vote for politicans who have a cohesive plan for improving/saving the economy.

A proper plan would involve unpopular choices eg removing the triple lock so the politicians who propose this wouldn’t get the vote.

I don't worry about it at all. I skim through the news every day but I don't dwell on any of it tbh. There's nothing we can do about it anywat. Fuel crisis-wise... I can't WFH in my job (and dh works in the same town and ds goes to school there too, so they go in the car with me) but fortunately we have an electric car. Prepping? No, I really don't feel that's necessary. The media love to cause a panic.

Yes exactly, it will all have huge knock on effects. We have barely started to recover from Covid and now this

Everyone should have a prep cupboard for any kind of emergency, be it the national grid going down or flooding. Here's the government Prepare website: https://prepare.campaign.gov.uk/get-prepared-for-emergencies/

THis came out a couple of years ago specifically to make sure people could get through a couple of days hardship. In Europe they've had the same info but in much starker terms!

From the website:
Put together an emergency kit of items at home
This could include:

Battery or wind-up torch – torches are safer than candles.
Portable power bank for charging your mobile phone.
Battery or wind-up radio to get updates during a power cut – a car radio can be used, however in severe weather it might be safer to stay inside.
Spare batteries for torches and radio and a backup battery for any medical equipment you rely on.
A first aid kit (or some first aid items) including items such as waterproof plasters, bandages, a thermometer, antiseptic, eyewash solution, sterile dressings and gloves, medical tape for dressings, and tweezers.
Hand sanitiser and wet wipes for hygiene purposes when the water is off.
Bottled water – there is no standard figure for this as emergencies can vary in duration and people use different amounts. A minimum of 2.5-3 litres of drinking water per person per day is recommended by the World Health Organisation for survival. 10 litres per person per day will make you more comfortable by also providing for basic cooking and hygiene needs. Additional water might be needed to make up baby formula, for medical devices and for pets.
Non-perishable food that doesn’t need cooking, such as ready-to-eat tinned meat, fruit or vegetables (and a tin opener). As with water, how much you need will vary based on your own circumstances. Don’t forget food for pets.
Baby supplies such as nappies and baby formula – ready made or ‘ready-to-feed’ formula is best as you may not be able to boil water or sterilise bottles.
Rather than buying all the items at once, you could just add to your emergency kit when you are able and build it up over time.

We never recovered from the 08 crash

We had barely started to recover from the 2008 crash before covid either. Top economists at the time of the 2008 crash said it would be a decade to recover the lost ground in terms of the economy, which took us basically to the eve of covid, which will take another decade to recover from. It's going to be a very bumpy ride from now on.

Thank you. I’ll take a look at this. I’d probably feel more comfortable knowing we had it

I was born in 1958. There have been loads of really tricky/risky/shit times in my life.

This is no worse than others.

If the oil issue continues it will impact transport and therefore food.
I have just bought pasta, rice, peanut buttter, tinned foods like beans, loo paper and flour, basics.

These all have a 12+ month date on them so can be used as normal.

I am hoping to goodness things calm down but I am very concerned.
Europe is very vulnerable.

I am hoping European countries can negotiate with Iran directly as Spain, France and Italy are doing to get deliveries through the Straits.

I am trying not to stress about it, but I am definitely worried about the future for my extremely cossetted but lovely young adult children.
They have lived charmed lives up to now, including Covid.

Really?
I am in my 60's and can't remember anything like this.
Trump is so unhinged and those around him so amoral that it seems far worse than anything I can recall.

We haven’t ever had the demographic issues before & the subsequent impact of that on public services plus years of austerity