Are you a panic buyer?

[Insideimsprinting]

Just that really. I would Just like to know why. There are lots of threads about people finding it ridiculous and not being able to get their normal shop, we're being told there is no need so why have you done it? Can you explain your panic, fear? Especially since its not happening across the board with all food stuffs andjust certain items.
Why toilet roll and not washing up liquid, shower gel etc, why pasta but not pasta sauces c why beans but not tinned soup etc

I’ve bought extra because I’m worried that everyone else is panic buying and the shelves will be empty. Also I’m aware I might need to fully isolate for 7-14 days, and quite frankly if it gets bad I don’t want to have to risk my life going to Asda.

Where are you? It's Sunday. Late opening here

Scotland.

24/7 opening.

I did buy the last four bags of salt and vinegar chipsticks from Waitrose because they were marked down for clearance. And I panicked while buying them that this might mean Waitrose are going to stop selling them. They're my favourite crisps and I don't want to live in a world without them. That was a completely non-coronavirus related panic buy though (and tbh I usually buy 4-5 packets of them when I get them, but this time I'd have bought the whole shelf if they'd had more. I am still panicked about the idea that they may stop selling them. I hope not).

We had a reasonable stash from Brexit prepping anyway so have not contributed to the shortages; we've not bought loo roll/cleaning spray/pain killers/tinned toms/rice/long life milk etc. We did go shopping yesterday as we had been away and had no food but we bought perfectly normal amounts of fruit and veg, fresh meat etc. We did stock up on lickelix as it's the only way my elderly cat will take her medicine and we bought two packs of spaghetti, if that constitutes panic buying.

I am batch cooking for the freezer (mostly from stuff we already had though not the veg, but there was no shortage of that) in case we get sick and don't feel up to cooking and also to ensure we have some nutritious food - I will not be able to work from home and work in an industry which will almost certainly not be shut down so I will still be going out to work, exposed to lots of people due to the nature of the industry, and want to give myself the best chance of fighting the virus if I catch it. I hope that the stuff we already have in will mean I don't need to compound this exposure by going to the supermarket too often.

I feel utterly vindicated about the Brexit prepping and think long term people will move back towards having a bit more in their cupboards than perhaps is common these days.

@EmmaBridgewater20 Haha! They were the only ones left and we had one day left in prime.Will last us a year tbh

My daughter has cerebral palsy and as a result she has 1 bottle of calpol and nurofen because she cant swallow tablets without choking, she needs her pain relief which we normally go in to boots to get. My husband went through to a busy big northern town where there are many chemist etc and struggled to get a single bottle of liquid paracetamol so I've went online and orderd 2 bottles of calpol and 2 neurphen to last my dd whilst this panic buying goes on, somebody suggests why dont I get it from our doctors for free? I could and will only do this if desperate but 1 bottle of generic paracetamol will cost the nhs £9 ? If anyone accused me of panic buying I'm not as dd school needs there very own labels bottle separate from home if calpol and nurofen so that's why I purchased 2 of each.

We just went and did a usual top up shop. I generally keep pasta and rice in stock but don't need any now. I did however buy more guinea pig pellets as they are noisy as hell when they have no food and if I were to be stuck in the house with them id rather they were not screaming bloody murder every time I stood up!

I bought some extra bits when we did our food shop this morning. There was one bag of pasta left so I grabbed that and a couple of jars of pesto. Also cans of beans/spaghetti/tomatoes as they were some left which there hasn’t been on my last few visits. Would normally only buy one loaf of bread and pint of milk but bought two of each to freeze the spare. Bought enough frozen veg, quorn products etc to fill the freezer as well.

My logic being that if we get ill and can’t go out we won’t go hungry. It can’t hurt to have some extra and if it ends up not being necessary it won’t go to waste.

I don’t want to be a ‘panic buyer’ and I was rolling my eyes at everyone doing it this time last week, but it’s gotten to the point now where I was worried about not being to buy things and thought better safe than sorry.

Scotland.
24/7 opening.

Aw maaaan. Do you have extra large free range eggs in Asda? If yes, I am coming

I went to Waitrose just to get Baby wipes today as they do the type I like. There were none. There were 4 packs left of a random brand - ALL THE REST WERE GONE. But, like with the loo, roll, I am just taking a deep breath and realising that I have water and I have flannels when the cotton wool runs out. Wiping my baby’s bottom with a flannel isn’t the end of the world. Running out of loo roll isn’t the end of the world.

Running out of actual food would be a disaster but it’s highly unlikely to come to that.

If more people were organised and had a stock of food there would not be so much panic buying.

I bought a few bits this week but not any of the things that are being bought in bulk apart from 1 pack of loo rolls.

Most people I know have not had to panic buy as they all have a reasonable amount of food in. My parents haven't shopped at all for 2 weeks and neither has one of my siblings.

If no one had stocks then the panic buying would be even worse

I had to laugh as an older gentleman looked at my trolley in Aldi on Thursday and said ' I see you're stocking up'. You should have seen his face when I said ' No, this is my normal shop, I have 3 boys- 2 who are teenagers- and an OH who eats for Scotland '. I didn't get anything extra- perhaps one jar of red pesto as a change- but did have a conversation with another man who pointed in my trolley and asked what he would do with the gnocchi since he couldn't get pasta! He went happily on his way, delighted he'd found a new dish to try- said he was telling all his mates!

I have 11 rolls of loo paper - will do us about 10 days- after that I'll use the reusable baby wipes I still have somewhere- I knew they'd come in handy one day.

Am getting slated on the COVID threads about having bought two 32 roll packs of loo roll that were in Tesco on offer, and there were stacks there when I bought it. Virtue signalling on MN during this pandemic will be how little loo roll you can use and how you ration your family to half a sheet per shit.

I'm glad that I am not the only one who buys it when it's on offer and has a stash in the airing cupboard.

I'm not really getting the self isolating as an excuse. You can still get deliveries to your door.

You can still get deliveries to your door.

How’s that going to work if loads of people have to self isolate and retailers can’t support deliveries?

I’m pretty sure I just saw on the news that Italy have told EVERYONE to stay at home.

I did a full freezer shop at the beginning of the month just like I do every month.. So I have a months worth of meat mainly chicken in there. Today I went to Morrison’s and bought extra Rump steak as it is on offer and works out cheaper than buying Stewing steak. Bought 6 so one is cooking at the moment in a casserole for tomorrow and the other 5 will be a family meal maybe next Saturday.

Cleaning stuff I buy in bulk every few months and i bulk bought this in feb so won’t need to buy again until after Easter.

I have bought more than my usual shop of cat food as I have three fussy cats and I want to have in what I know they will east.

I would usually buy fresh pasta if I was cooking a pasta dish but to limit the need to go out if anyone gets infected I have bought dried. No extra rice bought as I have a box unopened. Don’t use tanned tomatoes or jar sauces so none bought and have my usual supply of three small tins of beans,

I did by two extra sliced loafs and two pint of milk for the freezer and an extra pack of kitchen roll. The kitchen roll is going fast as everyone is washing their hands as they come in and using the kitchen roll to dry.
No extra soap bought as I buy bar soap in multi packs so have loads and if I do run out I can use up some of the Christmas gift shower and bath sets I get every year.

Stocking up is different to panic buying.

Due to family intolerances we buy oat milk. I stock up before Christmas due to the longer interval between shops and increased time of family at home. When Veganuary began to catch on a couple of years ago, I found that I couldn't replace my depleted stocks in January because of all the temporary "vegans" increasing demand So I stock up over a longer period. We get through several litres per week. During low stock phases, I don't take more than we reasonably need, and if I'm buying multiples, I won't take every last one and will leave some for other shoppers who may also be in need.
Panic buying would be not managing stocks at all, and clearing out everything avaliable to the detriment of others. It's joining in with a herd mentality.

The same with the shortages that have emerged this week. Because I've got stocks of the depleted items at home anyway, I haven't deprived anyone else of the dwindling remnants of those items. By the time I need to top up again, the panic buyers will never want to eat pasta or wipe their backsides again and the shops stocks will have stabilised.

@Sleepingpup - deliveries are still being made - friends / family / neighbours will help as I would for them - self isolation would likely last a couple of weeks yet people are stockpiling for months - maybe once everyone has ‘stocked up’ the madness will end given that there are no supply issues at the moment - I doubt it though

I panic bought several bottles of calpol and infant nurofen because, well, I was panicking.

Not a panic buyer , they’re selfish idiots .
I did my normal shop yesterday and bought my usual amounts .. well ,of things I could actually get !

I've not long been in from shopping at Aldi then Waitrose, both depleted by the (what I thought were) 'stockpilers'. However, I think what's happened is, the 'panic buyers' encouraged 'ordinary' folk to stock up as the empty shelves looked scary.

I haven't succumbed to stockpiling/panic buying (whatever you want to call it) but I might be regretting it in a couple of weeks when I'm wiping my bum on the local rag, and trying to make my own pasta

Watch this space...

@Sleepingpup - deliveries are still being made - friends / family / neighbours will help as I would for them -

i'm glad you have that help. But There is no way I could dump food and meds shopping for 6 for poss 2 weeks onto someone else! Its a huge amount! I do use delivery but I wouldn't want to rely on it further down the line when many more people are expected to be ill.

I have yet to hear of someone with a good suggestion for how to cope with the possibility of 2 weeks isolation at a moments notice other than being prepared with extra supplies.

And I haven't even got a massive load more in but about a week plus. But my shopping will have had an effect like everyone else's on the demand.

It's convenient to blame shortages on 'evil panic buyers' but mostly I think it's lots of people buying a bit more.

@Amousetookastroll

reply bellow

MrsWolf2 I panic bought several bottles of calpol and infant nurofen because, well, I was panicking.

If you've got the receipt you could take your excess bottles back, so someone else could buy them. Or you could check with your friends and family if any of them are completely out.

Someone started a thread the other day about her child being in pain and being unable to buy calpol anywhere...

I admit to panic buying. We bought a couple of extra loo roll packs, some UHT milk, canned food, rice etc.

I don't have an iota of faith in the buffoon we've elected as prime minister and if he says not to worry, there's no need to panic buy, I will stock up because I'm 100% sure that the idiot will come back in a month or two, put his hands up and say 'sorry, I got it wrong'. Look at the shambles that is Brexit.

Having said that, I didn't go completely mental like some people I saw at the supermarket and buy boxes of handwash, loo roll, or pasta. Just a pack or two extra. Nothing more.