Selfish panic buying?

[CwtchesCuddles]

A friend in London has just been shopping and sent me this picture of bare shelves, people have been panic buying!
AIBU to think it's selfish? I can understand buying an extra few things as part of your normal shop but clearing the shelves? Is everyone just looking after number 1 these days? What is going to happen when all those with spare cash buy up all the supplies?

My local supermarket had no hand sanitiser on the shelves but at the till every customer was being offered a travel size bottle for £1.

That’s very sensible.

I always run on having enough food in my cupboard to last us a good 4 + weeks if it had to. I keep long life milk and bottled water in too. I have done this for years now and not in a panic buy or being a ‘preppier’ type of way. I just like to know if something out with our control happened (bad weather etc) or if we get a large unexpected bill and money became really tight we could easily get by.
I only buy things I know we will eat and make sure to rotate tins and packets so nothing goes out of date. We also have quite a lot of food we could easily eat should we lose power for a few days.

The good thing about running in this system is we don’t feel the need to even venture to the shops when people are panic buying because we are already well stocked.
I also don’t spend huge amounts of extra money on food. I built up my surplus supply over time. I just buy a regular amount of food each week to keep everything topped up eg: if we use 2 tins of beans the week before I replace them in this weeks shop, even though we still have about 8 tins in the cupboard. I only ever really stock up with larger quantities of items if I see a really, really good deal.

That’s pretty much how my local supermarket looks at the end of a weekend- it’s not panic buying, they’re just rubbish at keeping the store well-stocked, and the majority of people do their shopping at the weekend.

@lyralalala how do you feed 4 teens on 2 loaves of bread? We get through a loaf a day and that's for dh, 1 teen and a 12 year old. Tell me your secret, we are always running out of bread.

It is very selfish, and will cause problems that mightn't have occurred otherwise.
With only one confirmed case here in Northern Ireland I struggled to get a delivery or click and collect grocery slot yesterday, not much fresh milk available in Tesco, everywhere sold out of hand gels, not a single diesel pump with fuel in it at Tesco petrol station.....assholes.

snoopdogsbitch

Not everyone has family and friends. Why the confused face??

People are routinely told to move for work. Move out of London if low income. Move from the south east to buy housing. Leave the bastard especially when violent.

So lots of people no longer live near family and friends and some people have lost them, you know to disease and death.

Those on benefits (you know, the most vulnerable, sick, elderly, disabled) don't have that luxury unfortunately

How would it have helped people on benefits if I had not prepped?

Those on benefits (you know, the most vulnerable, sick, elderly, disabled) don't have that luxury unfortunately.

I started prepping while on a low budget to cover the eventual change onto UC and continued it into self employment which is rather feast or famine.

Mad props and shout outs to the Brexit crew, especially those who pointed out the spend x save y type vouchers if I used a new supermarket for the first time.

No panic here thanks to you all. You're all wonderfully helpful and patient and I'm proud to call myself a prepper with you.

Shelves always look bare on Sundays.

I went to Costco today and there wasn’t any obvious sign of panic buying. People seemed to have the usual mix of foodstuffs in their trolley.

No panic here thanks to you all. You're all wonderfully helpful and patient and I'm proud to call myself a prepper with you.

wipes away tear, goes to hug SharpieInThe, then remembers virus, so nods in acknowledgment

I went to the Cash and Carry today and they were not short of anything at all.

Yes, I have a 'shop' in my garage. I buy cleaning stuff, tinned fruit and vegetables, toiletries etc. when it is on offer and hoard it there. My freezers are full, I have medicines galore (doctor's daughter!!), pet food and loo roll. I would be quite happy to be at home for 14 days (although DH would probably drive me nuts!). Let's just do what we can to contain this illness and hope it has gone by the summer.

This is reminding me of the people on Extreme Couponning. They all seem to have an extra room in their house for it all.

How would it have helped people on benefits if I had not prepped?

If there is panic buying, it’s the preppers’ fault for buying products gradually over months. If people completely unrelated to preppers can not afford to stock up, that’s also the preppers’ fault. I’m waiting for preppers to get blamed for Covid19. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We got an ocado delivery last night with nothing missing, and we popped into Aldi today to get a few things and the shelves looked as normal to me. Where was your friend shopping OP? If it was one of those small Tescos or similar, they always look like that on a Sunday!

They are selfish and do not consider the mothers and children of the poor.

Beneath contempt. Supported by MN.

They are selfish and do not consider the mothers and children of the poor.

Eh?

At the supermarket yesterday evening when I was chatting to the cashier she said it had been much more busy than usual for a Saturday. So not just the usual payday/end of the month thing.
I have bought pasta and sauces and toilet rolls so we could last 2 weeks if we had to self isolate. I don't see the issue with that at all.

It’s the people profiteering on eBay that has made my blood boil. The people selling Aldi hand gel at 10 times what they paid for it when I can’t get hold of any and just want a couple to protect my family as we are down to our last one.

@Porcupineinwaiting That's only my Sunday shop. I make bread twice a week as well in the bread maker. I just refuse to start a Monday running manic with us trying to make bread for lunches.

Also bought extra pet food today.
I think having 2 weeks worth of food sounds normal to some people on here, but it isn't to me. So did have to buy more to get this.

BunsyGirl

Can you get some rubbing alcohol/surgical spirits and aloe Vera gel, such as after sun gel? You can easily make your own and it’s much cheaper.

My local waitrose was out of flour and yeast - which I have never seen before. It was not very busy either, which is unusual for Sunday.

Friends have been messaging me saying there is a confirmed coronavirus case in our town, so maybe that’s why.

@nonsensicalmess Interesting about the petrol. We filled up this evening as we needed some more to get to work. But there was a bit of a queue. I would never have thought of worrying about petrol tbh.

Brexit, a particularly nasty Coronovirus and a possible world recession. What fucking brilliant next couple of years we are going to have

Yes, and then the Queen will snuff it so there won't even be anything decent on the telly.