This is correct
ETA: you, by yourself, cannot cause a shortage. You can, however, do your best to position yourself for if shortages do happen.
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Hereās some discussion for the commercial v consumer demand stuff for TP. I wouldnāt be surprised if similar things were happening with commercial v consumer demand for things like cleaners as well.
I think that thereās a big long gradient between āstocking upā and āpanic buying.ā
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Thatās probably true. Historically, I have only ever kept the bare minimum of anything in my house (to the point that I sometimes didnāt feel like an adult when visiting othersā homes and saw their pantries, guest bathroom toiletry stash, etc). So buying something when I have not run out of it still feels DEEPLY weird to me. This is the new normal, though, apparently, so Iāll have to get over it. I do feel more secure with a full pantry and fridge, Iāve discovered.
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And Walmartās servers are down, have been intermittently all weekend it turns out. This does not make me feel more secure. Our food choices are the Walmart north of us, the Walmart south of us, or drive 45 miles.
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Longer than your average news article, but worth reading:
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Well, this is not likely to ever cure me of my food storage (some might say āhoardingā) tendencies. Iāve always been like this, and credit/blame rural life. In my first studio apartment With a mini fridge, I had a small chest freezer, lol.
Anyway, what Iāve done:
-got my family to go in on me with a whole cow to be butchered in July. We normally do 1/4s ourselves, but all the quarter shares were sold out. Sourcing my own collective to buy a whole means I still get my quarter.
-signed up for a local veggie CSA.
Iāve continued my tendency to buy and use large stock of grain and protein. We usually buy rice in 25lb increments, and oats in 10lb. These are our main grains we use. In general, I maintain a 1-4 deep supply of condiments etc and rotate through them, depending on the speed we use them.
Baby awake ttfn.
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Oh my gosh what a dream! Not the mini fridge, but Iāve been wanting a chest freezer for ages so I could buy meet at better prices and batch cook and freeze more meals.
Congrats on the cow and the CSA! My retired woodsman uncle always buys half a cow annually and doesnāt understand why more folks donāt. Iām slowly learning from him and my from my aunt on long-term continual prep and weathering this kind of crisis.
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It was a furnished apartment, and the only thing I bought for it was the freezer 
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Thatās amazing! When we bought our house, we ordered a chest freezer before we bought a couch. Chest freezers are the best.
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My chest freezer is the only appliance Iāve ever bought new.
ETA: just realized I lied- hot water heater was new, too.
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Iāve managed to get
- 4 lbs quick oats
- 14 lbs black beans
- 25 lbs white rice.
- 16 oz salt
- 27 oz MSG
Holy fuck price gouging! That all cost $135. Iām obviously willing to pay it, though.
AND, when I hauled down the 5 gallon food storage bucket, I found 3 packages of butt wipes! Chucked in there months ago, discovered at just the right moment.
Now, if only I could find some motherfucking bleach.
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I was able to order from Walmart. Not my first choice, but I wanted to disinfect food packaging without weird residues.
ETA: I realize availability changes daily so thisay not help 
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We have a big storm coming tomorrow, second one for autumn. We did a good job of tidying up last time. This time Iāve got paper and pen to make notes on what we are doing about our baby veggie plants and potted trees. If they donāt survive we know we have to do more next time.
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During the 2 weeks of wildfire smoke that blanketed Portland, mr krmit and I reviewed and updated our go bags and emergency plans. Iād been stalling on updating and reprinting our binder of family contacts and emergency plans, but finally sat down and did it yesterday.
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I finally created a Go Bag, thanks to the influence of the lovely forumers here!
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I have my list for āyou have 5 minutes to GTFOā at the ready, I need to rewrite it and pin it on the fridge.
I have an empty backpack that needs to be filled with sentimental items that donāt have to come off the wall.
I have three gallons of drinking water in my car (two of which need to be refreshed), and added a bag of dry cat food, three lightweight cat dishes, a litter box, bag of litter and scoop. Need to relocate puppy pads from apartment to car as well as poo bags.
My MIL gave me a narrow, upright cabinet, and Iāve filled the bottom half with mostly emergency food stores. I have dried beans, lentils, rice, canned vegetables and fruit. I should also reassess what I have, need, and what meals can be made. I also need emergency GTFO food.
Iāll put together a change of clothes today, too, to go in GTFO bags.
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Be sure to consider what can be prepared under what circumstances. Ex if your probable disasters have you trapped at home without power, no-cook meals (particularly fat and protein sources) are a really good idea. Canned fish and PB are common choices. (Sorry if this is a repeat of something you already know! Just common to see dried beans and no way to cook them in emergency stores)
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Thank you! Thatās definitely part of the reassessment. I ate down my stores of canned meat before I moved, and definitely need to replenish my no-prep options.
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I have a working home printer now, so Iāll be making copies of all our important documents/ contact lists and adding them to the go-bag shortly.
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@PAWG, given the recent murmurings of the likelihood of a civil war is, well, higher than it was a year ago or ten years ago, is there any actionable things we civvies should do thatās different from weather-related disaster preparedness? I figure youāre most likely of anyone on this forum to have sane advice and I dare not wander the internet looking for advice. That way doomsday preppers lay.
I have kept up an extra stock of food, some is hurricane stuff and some is non-hurricane (meaning it assumes weāll have electricity and can boil water). I have no idea how useful this is, it was just something that was in my circle of control.
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