Panic buying or common sense stocking up?

Today, being stocked up is better for personal finance than decreasing worth of money in the bank. It goes hand in hand with value for money as well as forward planning ie is old style good housekeeping, which many of us have practised for decades

I have been through many situations of being thoroughly snowed in, lake district, north and south wales, even somerset. Periods ranged from 6 weeks to almost the whole of winter. I have never been unable to feed the family and pets throughout those times

Old ways die hard, I cannot face walking on dangerous slippery roads to my local shops. I had to turn back last year and last year I though I would try mentally to make the local shops my go-to for storage. It did not work so the accumulation re-started

I eat organic and tbf much is only available online and very much cheaper if I buy 12 of this or that. Organic meat gets free PnP if I get a good amount at one time and sometimes the cuts I want are not available, so I bulk buy at times. Then I divide and vac pack if needed, for the freezer.

I am at the stage of shoehorning items into my big and tall freezer. All my home grown berries take up a whole drawer, meat takes up another drawer. Nuts are best vac packed and frozen, if bought in bulk, which is very much cheaper, I also eat veggie and vegan foods, hence nuts. Another drawer for hm ready meals and soups. My garage storage is top secret btw

I probably have a bit too much but who cares, I won`t be out there scrabbling for things in supermarkets this winter and the stock I have is much better value wrt inflation than the paltry interest rate available at my bank

I agree Doodledog that if everyone carries on buying their normal shopping it doesn't constitute panic buying, or even hoarding, and the shops will cope with most things. People shop for the way that suits their lifestyle in general.

During lock down when loo rolls were getting scarce I remember being in Waitrose and a lady gleefully putting two big packs of loo rolls in her trolley. She told me the new stock had been put out and I had better grab some before they go. She looked absolutely amazed when I said we didn't need any. I asked her why she thought people needed to buy so many and she just looked confused and said 'Well, everybody is buying them'. She's the sort of person who causes shortages and panic. She probably already has dozens of packs of cornflour stashed away.

I bought a couple of 250gms packs of Lurpak butter from Asda yesterday for £2.25 and today whilst browsing in a local shop I noticed they were priced at £3.95 ... what is going on?

PS Loads of cornflour in our little Sainsbury this morning. No large eggs but plenty of medium ones.

I do tend to buy more than one of an item if it's on offer.
In fact, I try to buy most store cupboard items when they're on offer unless we are desperate.

It is prudent to stock up on items in a time of high inflation as the prices will rise.

My buying patterns have been a mix. Brought up by a mother who lived through the war, she always had spare things and also with limited budget slowly over time collected together christmas treats over the months. Then as a hard up student and then hard up wife I used to budget very carefully and used to allow myself 10 shillings -(50p!!) each week to buy anything that we used regularly when it was on offer or cheaper or better in some way. Never to be forgotten very good offer on tins of plums , that I was glad to have in so they made plum crumble when rugby players came or when it was a hard up week! Then living abroad in various places, special favourites would be bought whenever they were around. Then living on a hill in north yorkshire kept a reasonable amount in a freezer and every october time bought larger amounts of potatoes carrots etc etc so that I could make meals for a week if we were snowed in. Now living alone in a flat with a very small freezer part have had to change again and can only keep a small amount of stuff in but am living in a town so it is easier to get stuff but my health problems mean that I like to have a couple of days worth of ingredients for meals in case I am not up to going out shopping. So life itself changes When it gets near christmas and I see people with 2 trolleys filled to the brim, I do wonder why they feel they need to do that as these days we dont shut everything down for weeks , but each to their own. Think that the supermarkets and the press cause some of the panic buying bu telling us such and such is going to be scarce. Well unless you have an allergy to something there will no doubt be a suitable alternative you could buy.On the whole if you get things that you do use and eat regularly that seems a reasonable attitude. So long as people are not trying to buy every available thing there is where it means others have to go without then I think we just behave sensibly and dont let the flipping press lot stir it up!

Waitrose had cornflour 🙂

I now have 2 unopened packs of cornflour - I am slightly embarrassed.

I just keep a spare of each store cupboard item.
I wonder how today’s housewives would manage as I had to just after the war when rationing .was more severe than during the war. We didn’t say we were going shopping but going to get the rations. One Christmas we were allowed a can of sliced peaches! However we were slimmer and healthier then. Just good plain food.

The twelve years (1970s and 1980s)we spent travelling around Europe in the caravan we shopped daily as there was no room for stores and the van had no fridge or freezer then.

When I start using a jar, packet, etc., I put that item on my shopping list though I might not actually replace it for several weeks, depending on what it is. But I also take advantage of BOGOF and such like offers. I don’t have a lot of storage space though, so have to be sensible. Loo rolls are bought in bulk, usually 32 at a time, works out considerably cheaper than the smaller packs. Keep them in my linen cupboard.

The prices of goods are very high because of inflation. It is a bad time to stock up. As things settle down, prices will come down. Also prices are the highest before Christmas. There is no shortage of cornflour that I have seen. There is plenty in the shops here.

Stocking up has a better return than savings interest. I buy Nescafé at £5.50 when i see it, use by date is 2024. Normal price would be £8.50. BTW how can Waitrose sell pasta at £1.75 a pack when Aldi can do it for 0.75p??? This has a long use by date., so good cupboard filler. Baked beans, Sainsburys or Morrisons great taste and good buy.

The Sainsbury’s Local down the road had plenty of cornflour this morning.

I stock up by bargain buying rather than panic buying. If something is on offer I'll buy a few. I'd always have a few packs of the basics like flour, rice, pasta and corn flakes. And biscuits!

Bucks

Stocking up has a better return than savings interest. I buy Nescafé at £5.50 when i see it, use by date is 2024. Normal price would be £8.50. BTW how can Waitrose sell pasta at £1.75 a pack when Aldi can do it for 0.75p??? This has a long use by date., so good cupboard filler. Baked beans, Sainsburys or Morrisons great taste and good buy.

I had never thought of it that way! I have stocked up on pasta (2 packets-gosh) and we but our loo rolls in bulk from a catering outlet. I think we have around one month’s worth of tinned goods etc . Occasionally I have a “cheap” week where I use up store cupboard goods but I do replace them.

When the Bodach’s dementia was kicking in, he would insist I bought toilet rolls in my online shop, and always remembered to check it was there. Upshot was, that when there was a shortage during Covid, I had plenty! In fact, it’s not that long since I began buying it again.

I’m hoping to live off what I have in the house for the next fortnight, and I’m sure I’ll manage it.

interested The prices of goods are very high because of inflation. It is a bad time to stock up. As things settle down, prices will come down.

I am glad you are so optimistic. In 2022 the annual inflation rate for the United Kingdom is expected to reach an annual rate of 9.1 percent before falling to 7.4 percent in 2023, and then 0.6 percent in 2024.

This does not mean that prices will fall just that the prices that will have gone up by nearly 10% this year, will 'only' increase again by 7.4 % in 2023.

So prices will go up by (100 + 10%) in 2022. Then in 2023, the 110% will increase by 7.4 % = 118%, or in other words, prices in January 2024 will be nearly 20% up on what hey were in January 2022.

Prices falling back? very very unlikely.

I used to buy toilet rolls from savers and I think they were £3.99 for 16, I went in the other day and they were £6.99!! I did say to the chap on the till about it and he said something about a factory in Poland not operating…..😳

I do buy when things are on offer. Coffee for DH usually £6.75 or £5.85 at B&M - no, but 2 for £10 yes!

there does appear to be a lot of empty shelves and things out of stock online, so i can understand why people may panic buy

I bought a box of atora the other day and felt positively ancient £2.10 it was!

JaneJudge

there does appear to be a lot of empty shelves and things out of stock online, so i can understand why people may panic buy

I bought a box of atora the other day and felt positively ancient £2.10 it was!

I think the last time I bought a Atora suet it was about 80p!