Put away your purse & become debt-averse

DawnW

I always keep plenty of supplies in - we have been both very hard up, and also lived in out of the way places some distance from shops, often with no car (and before the days of internet shopping). And I was brought up by my mother and grandmother to 'keep a good pantry' against hard times. I did get in limited extra stocks of some items before the first no potential deal Br*xit date, whenever that was (remember that?).  But not a great deal extra, due to not wanting to have stuff all over the house (food lives only in my little pantry, for example, or in the fridge or freezers, none of which are particularly large, so I only ever buy what I can fit in. I certainly don't want boxes of it stacked all over the house).  And I only really buy ingredients, not being a fan of ready meal type convenience things. Now, I tend to stock up on things when they are on offer, but only up to a point. For example, if the coffee I like is on offer I will buy 2. Recently, I have run stocks down a bit. In the last week I have just done a normal shop at Lidl and got the few bits I coulnd't get there in Waitrose - we had family round for lunch today, so I needed a bit more than usual.  Definitely not been out buying trollies full of loo rolls though, and feel inclined to keep away from the shops altogether if people are being daft. I will think about going next Thursday or Friday to top up, it will be interesting to see if it has all died down by then!

Baileys_Babe

We are a 4 person household (2  adults & 2 children), we talked about the possibility of all of us being ill at the same time or being ill one after the other or being in quarantine as we may have been exposed.

We have checked the medicine cupboard and made a very small list.
We have checked toiletries and household cleaners, we have an ample supply.
Our fridge, freezer and cupboards have our usual level of supplies, but we have decided to do some batch cooking of meals that we regularly eat that freeze well. These will be made over the next few weeks. Some will be complete meals others will be building blocks for meal ie pie filling.

With OH's existing health problems we are highly likely to need to go into isolation.

I would also like to get in the materials for some of the DIY jobs we would like to do, which we could then tackle if we are in isolation but not ill. To keep us occupied in addition to normal lessons (children are home educated), books, games, TV, internet. Any other ideas welcome.

Dottles1

I haven't given much thought to stocking up but I do always have enough for a week's meals in and then store cupboard items that could if needed make something other other, I have eaten some weird and wonderful concoctions in the past when money has been tight.  My eldest DD and her partner are in self isolation at present having returned from Italy but they are fine and it is precautionary so I'm not worried.  It seems that boredom is the worst part of it.
So I'm not planning to stock up other than making sure that I have paracetamol and flu type medication in.  As someone else said on here, I can shop online if necessary.

crazy_cat_lady

Even my ds who is 11 moans about media bias... I hate the spin that the media have put on the coronavirus. Fear and panic. I bought loo roll this week because I actually needed it, but it wasn't straightforward to get hold of at all... I think it's sensible to be a bit prepared - enough dry goods etc, but not to the extent that people are madly flapping about at the moment.

foxgloves

Thanks for all your comments. It sounds as though we are all broadly on the same page regarding preparations. I think some items are clearly being over-bought through panic, but I'm sure some of the shortages will be from people doubling up on certain things. I don't condone mad levels of panic buying, but the government advice is to self-isolate if symptoms are present. Obviously if people are going to be confined to their homes, they will need extra supplies. I'm sure that if everyone who normally buys 2 cans of beans a week decided to buy 4 cans instead, it would soon have an impact on shelf stocks, yet this is hardly panic buying, is it?
Ah well, I feel better in myself for having done a bit of preparation on the practical home front because there's nothing else I CAN do. 
Useful day in which I DIDN'T buy a 'not quite right for me' dress in 'M*nsoon', but I DID get enough meat off yesterday's roast chicken for three more main meals & a lunch, as well as stock. I also mixed up a sourdough to bake tomorrow, did all my usual Monday morning budget updates & banking, two loads of laundry, phoned to book in a quote for some new paving, took the glass recycling & dropped a bag of decluttering off at the charity shop. Mr F is off this week & cracked on with a bonfire (until rain stopped play) to shift more of our felled tree.
Am glad to be by the fire now, as it's sounding pretty wild outside, rain lashing the windows & very windy again.
Stay cosy, 
F x

DawnW

Similar weather here Foxgloves, even though we are almost at opposite ends of the country. Had a couple of hours sunshine this morning though.

foxgloves

It's very mixed, Dawn. We've had rain & sunshine so far today, but there's a cold wind. Not that I've ventured outside. Mr F has driven over to the nearest Swedish Emporium to buy his new storage unit & I'm having a proper 'old-style' kitchen day, listening to my audio book, adding a few paragraphs to a letter to a friend every now & again, but mostly cooking for the freezer. 
I'll aim to pop back later with today's post. 
F

HairyHandofDartmoor

I think you're being very sensible with a measured response Foxgloves. As you say buying two extra tins of beans is hardly panic buying but of course it would make an impact upon supplies if everyone does that. I've read that they are expecting supply problems to be short term as shops will restock and there is a limit to how many toilet rolls people can store (unless they're prepared to rent a warehouse 🤣). 

My T order yesterday didn't include the pasta we ordered but our rice came. We didn't order toilet roll so I've no idea if that would have come . We have plenty of tinned tomates, tinned chickpeas, tinned beans, pasta sauces and a freezer full of stuff so I'm not worried. As long as I can source cheap loo roll in the next few days 😱.

foxgloves

Yes, I wouldn't want to run out of that, HHoD. There are plenty of tabloid newspapers which would do the job in an emergency, but I wouldn't want to be seen buying one. 
F x

HairyHandofDartmoor

foxgloves said:

Yes, I wouldn't want to run out of that, HHoD. There are plenty of tabloid newspapers which would do the job in an emergency, but I wouldn't want to be seen buying one. 
F x

Eek no 😱.