AIBU to think my friend is overdoing emergency stockpiling?

[bagpuss90]

I get that we have been advised to stock up on essentials, though I think it will encourage panic buying. I will probably get a few days worth of stuff at some point . My friend however has, at least in my opinion gone ott about it. She’s stocking up a six month supply of food. She’s bought head torches, a camping gas stove and various other stuff. She thinks I’m being naive …Am I missing something here ?

hang on while I get the popcorn

I have approximately 600 bottles of wine at home. Plus 2 or 3 tins of beans. I think that is all I need once the zombie apocalypse comes.

My step sister works for DEFRA and has said there is definitley shortages coming and to stockpile a decent amount. 6 months does seem excessive imo though.

Well there’s sure to be shortages if everyone’s trying to do as your friend is doing. It’s selfish and just causes more problems for those who are not in a position to stock up or can’t afford it.

No it doesn't. At the moment there are no supply chain issues so if people buy more the shops simply order more.

The selfish people are those who dont bother to do anything and rely on others to bail them out.

This isn’t how ‘just in time’ stocking works. The scanning of the bar code tells the stock programme that an item has been sold. When enough have been sold, the programme orders more (with some leeway for shoplifting / damage etc).

If the computer goes down, whether due to a power cut or a cyber attack or any other reason, the order for more doesn’t go in and the shop doesn’t restock.

(Similarly if the lorries can’t get through, the shop can’t restock so bad weather has a similar effect though the cause is different).

At the moment, there is nothing to stop the shops replacing goods purchased by customers. That means buying now rather than when there is a problem with restocking (if that occurs) is a good thing.

The cyber attack / inability to know what to stock is what happened to M&S last year. They had power and the weather was fine, they didn’t have the stock on the shelves because they didn’t know what was needed because the stock control computer had been hacked. That was apparently 4 teenagers. A country carrying out a planned attack would target all shops at once. It took M&S months to get back on track. Imagine the same with every supermarket chain in the country.

Id forgotten they'd even said that we should stock up! We'll be breaking into the co-op if owt happens!

2-3 items a week is not going to cause shortages. People often buy 3 items instead of 2 in buy one get one free offers, or 2 instead of 1 in 2 for 1 offers- or maybe even 4 where they usually buy 2 if something is half price.

Exactly.

Yep. We have very limited money in our house, but also circumstances where things will be hard enough thanks if there are any power or similar issues.

Like people saying, you need an emergency pile of ‘treats’ but plan to eat everything cold out of the tin.

people planning litres and litres of water to drink, ready to waste it but that’s ok. However, wasting food is a no-no so you only buy what you know you’ll eat.
Or a stock of toilet paper
But no one is planning water to flush the loo or wash dishes. Now imagine the state of the loo after 5 days with no water…..

id be worried about heating in winter. Because great to have food in the house. But the cold after 5 days? After a couple of weeks with no heating? What’s the plan there?

And I think a plan to deal with the anxiety, the fear in those times is an absolute must.
So is finding ways to ‘entertain’ yourself during the days. When you’re stuck at home, no Tv, no music etc…. Even more with children. Both because days would be long but also because it can reinforce the anxiety if you just wait doing nothing.
Because my main memory of those days with a hurricane (and the few days afterwards) is that anxiety and fear. Not food. Food for a week or so is fine. You find something to eat. And often you’re not really hungry anyway.

If we’re planning for weeks of disruption then it’s a different matter.
I do believe that we will get disruptions (of food) this winter. We will have empty shelves. But that’s much easier to deal with. You can stock what you know you’re eating in advance to have a buffer. It doesn’t require short cooking time, long life milk and being happy to eat foods you dint normally eat.

Thats not really an answer. "Treats" may not be important but food is, so why shouldn't some of it be biscuits?
You think water storage isnt important, but query how people plan to manage hygiene? Huh?
Your memories of that hurricane dont include hunger because you had food!
"You can stock what you know you’re eating in advance to have a buffer" - literally the advice. You're not reinventing the wheel.

How much disruption did you actually experience during this hurricane?

Definitely planned for water other than for drinking and cooking, 1000 l rain water stored outside.
Heating is the most difficult issue for those without log burners or similar, for definite. Would be relying on multiple layers of clothing. With regards to eating food you don't normally eat, my stores are items I would normally eat. Heating anything would be down to my butane gas stove and fire pit outside.

My God, don't do it if you don't want to!
For me, I absolutely am preparing for the most likely short term scenarios.
During covid I swore I would never let my family get in the situation we were in again if I could help it.
I don't drive and I was working outside the home still during covid. The local shops reserved earlier shopping for blue light workers, which I wasn't. By the time I finished work the shops were bare, and I wasn't eligible for deliveries.
We were down to the dregs of our food and its not nice I can assure you.
But, hey, I'm glad others had a fine old time of it during covid.
If nothing else does anyone not remember the price gouging during covid for face masks etc?
I don't really give a shiny shit what others decide to do. I'm planning on helping others who couldn't prepare, but if you could and you laughed at those who have prepared....well, you made your bed.

@Nighttimenoise same! Glad it’s not just me 🤣

They should be able to work on averages though. The sort of things that everyone needs probably don’t vary much. They might vary on a seasonal basis, like salad being preferred over cooked vegetables over Summer, but items like bread or milk should be fairly consistent over time and even if they slightly under ordered, they should be able to cobble together an order to restock.

I have enough food for about 4 months as I have 2 large chest freezers. 1 is mainly for harvest from our garden with a couple of bags of frozen chips and loaves of bread. I have enough water for about a week. I have frozen milk too and coffee whitener. I have pet food for 2 months. I only have prescription medication for about 6 weeks. My youngest DS who lives about a mile away says he's coming straight home if we are under attack and bringing his 2 cats too.

Do you have a generator and/or solar that works if the grid goes down (apparently many solar panels don’t)?

If not, and you do want to have emergency supplies, you may want to ignore the contents of the freezer and consider whether you are happy with your shelf stable items.

Same! My 2 teenagers demolish it quicker than I can buy it!

A happy medium is needed here- a few days is definitely not enough , but 6 months is excessive. Having an alternative way to cook if one or other supply fails is usually a good idea-if you can manage it.

@EvieBB yes, I reckon if it came to some kind of emergency my kids would eat me!

😆