Stocking up?

I've been stocked up with pretty much everything since mid 2019 due to Brexit worries.
I've got a bit of a thing about pet food.
I also started reading the Prepping board on Mumsnet. It is very interesting, and prepping can ease anxiety during uncertain times.
Before anyone jumps down my throat - prepping is very different to 'panic buying'.

I cant stock up because we dont know if we are moving or not but under normal circumstance (what are they) I usually have a fairly full freezer and cupboard so I am very twitched because I am having to run them both down. I have bought one hair colour and may buy another.

I have been stocking up since March and now have a load of storage boxes under the bed with essential items. I don't think I would stock up on anything else as you can always get it online.

I am doing nothing at all and do not intend to shop until Thursday morning when my reasoning is the shops will be nearly empty (of customers) because everyone will be running round like headless chickens between now and Wednesday evening. I will then stroll around a well stocked supermarket with hardly anyone there, thus reducing my chances of getting COVID.

I have always shopped on a monthly basis anyway, shopping is such a boring occupation and a 5 week shop and weekly top-up, reduces it to a minimum. However since the last shutdown I have just topped up every week to the 5 week level.

What I am doing is trying to rake up as much as I can of the autumn leaves to get them to the tip before it closes. much more fun and good exercise.

I agree. I’m not doing the leaves as it’s raining here! I also agree about stocking up. I’m not going to do this. We will eat what we can get. It was fine in the Spring and will be fine again this time. Almost everything we wanted was available.

I’m not stocking up either. We do our weekly shop and what they don’t have or run out of we do without. There is no need to stock up or panic buy.We managed in the first wave and we’ll manage again.

I’m not stocking up on anything I think these people rushing out to stock up on loo roll etc are ridiculous and selfish do they think they are going to go to the loo more because of lock down

If you think of yourselves as the CEO of your household(company), would you be behaving responsibly if you allowed stock in hand to go dangerously low?
I take the view that we should be professional about our roles.
A clean , calm, well organized home impacts positively on the mental health of the people living there and (when allowed) any visitors. I don't mean be perfect but just be the best version of yourself.

I started with a brexit box , which then went to the first lock down boxes . I carried on squirrelling things each week with the shopping away because I could see this coming . My stock is mainly of tinned food , long life milk , toiletries , cereals anything with a long shelf life . The freezer has been kept fully stocked and it's a case of sit back and ride it out . O and forgot to mention the toilet rolls .

I won't stock up on food or toilet rolls as that causes panic buying. I have stocked up on charity shop books as I'd hate to run out.

I'm very well stocked up with wool for my knitting. The freezers however are fairly low on stock, maybe I'll do something about that soon. I'm sure I'm unlikely to starve.

When you live on a steep hill and get snowed in albeit usually only for a few days you make sure you have enough provisions. No need to overstock however. When you open your last pack of anything you order another.

I agree with those who have been stocked up for months, sensibly realising that we may be living in uncertain times. Those people who are intelligently aware of human history and that the privileged life that many of us have had in recent decades in the west is unprecedented. Those people who are not sticking their heads in the sand. What is selfish is not stocking up before an emergency if you have the means to do so. As other posters have commented, it is efficient and caring. And I don't like being preached at by lynch mob idiots.

We have a small stash of tinned goods - which are "normal for us" levels. The thing we have most of is my decaff coffee because we always buy lots of that when its in half price offer anyway. Tbh I think we probably have slightly less than normal due to changes shopping habits. We're fine for loo rolls as last time I wanted some I had to buy a giant pack as that was all they had - I mean the store had plenty of stock but seemed to have gone over to just selling big packs . In the unlikely event that we run out we have soap and water!!

I am a natural hoarder so it really makes no difference to me. I have so much cleaning stuff for the house I could probably ell some of it back to stores. I am trying desperately not to do it but it is the habit of a lifetime. I was worse at work.

Why would you?
All the way through we have just bought what we needed. If it's not in stock (usually due to some selfish stock piler) we went without or found an alternative.
The most frustrating thing last time was the lack of gluten free items available due to idiots buying up things like bread , just because it was bread! My son , who is GF, went without bread for 6 weeks at one point because it was out of stock and no flour either !
We do have a pack of 96 loo rolls being delivered later today but that is how we usually buy them from Amazon and have done for some time.

If everyone 'stocked up' there would be empty shelves again.
I have just continued doing my normal shop all the way through this madness & I have never been low on anything essential.
A big thank you to the staff at Sainsburys (Warlingham) who are cheerful all the time & keep shelves fully stocked.
The only good thing about these last few months is I have had loads of time to bake. The bad thing is I think we may need to diet soon!!

nipsmum

I'm very well stocked up with wool for my knitting. The freezers however are fairly low on stock, maybe I'll do something about that soon. I'm sure I'm unlikely to starve.

I couldn't help but laugh at you being 'well stocked up with wool' ....................... that's me too, nipsmum .

Earlier this year, I soon discovered that crochet/knitting were my personal way to keeping my sanity. My OH groans when he looks at my 'Wool Hoard'.

Went early to Sainsburys this morning 8 am ish seemed a bit busier than usual, maybe because it's a Monday and that's some peoples stocking up for the week day. I tend to shop early week and then again Thursday or Friday for the week end, I hope to continue in that mode, I always go fairly early to avoid the crowds. I've loads of non perishables from my Brexit stash and when the initial lockdown nonsense was over, flour, sugar and baking ingredients, rice and pasta became readily available so plenty of those now. I do hope lessons have been learned from the manic over buying of certain products from early lockdown days, no need to overbuy just top up with an item or two every week.

Please don’t stock up this is what causes so many problems
There will always be food and toiletries in the shops if people don’t get silly and dare I say greedy If you are worried about getting out although even in the deepest lockdown you can go to the supermarket then get set up for deliveries but please don’t start emptying the shelves again
None of us will starve do your normal shop

I just keep cupboards and freezers well stocked as I always do and rely on my fortnightly on-line shop to keep everything topped up. They didn't let me down in the first lockdown. My only concession to stockpiling is cat food as my cat is a very fussy eater and likes variety. If the worst came to the worst I could always open a packet of Whiskas for my lunch!

I didn’t have a car for three weeks before the first lockdown. When I finally man to get to supermarket, the shelves for almost everything were empty, from loo paper to blueberries, wine to sugar, baked beans to flour. I sat down and cried.
I always try to keep a reasonably stocked larder, with a replacement for everything I use. So this time, at every shop, I bought two instead of one... well prepared for a siege, barring fruit and veg!

Shopping on Thursday after the rush is a good idea M0nica. Hadn't thought of that

Last year we started a "Brexit Box"; this was just one extra tin, jar, or packet, purchased week after week, until we now have a full cardboard box. We keep this going (rotating items as we check the "use-by" dates) but haven't added to it. It's simply enough to keep us going if we ran short or had to self-isolate. (No loo rolls in it, though!)