I was careful to buy what we needed and kept replenishing earlier than usual, so our stockpile was never super large to start. I have been keeping a backup of single items like syrup, 2-3 items for things like chicken broth and spaghetti sauce, Costco package of tuna, but not like 5 or 10 of an item. I normally buy TP at Costco, but when things started going south I bought a package at our local grocery store. I still have that pack, even though I have bought and used a couple of Costco sized packages since then. That is my "emergency backup TP" and I plan to keep it until the end of the pandemic or until an actual emergency. Otherwise, I oopsie duplicated on antacids at Costco, so we have a lot of antacids. I just realized I was down to my last package of angel hair pasta, and that was a surprise.
This is how I have been doing it. At this point I have pretty much what we are using plus one in the pantry for things like toiletries, pancake syrup, sugar, mayo, olive oil. Couple cans each of different veggies & fruit, 2-3 jars each of 2 different spaghetti sauce, 2 extra cereals, & a couple boxes of different pastas. I do have extra paper products in large packages. I didn’t go crazy stockpiling at the beginning. But I have always been a buy as I need it person. I didn’t have much for backup as things got bad. So I have gradually picked up extras to have supplies on hand. Now I have 2 large packs of TP plus an opened one; 1 extra PT, several boxes of tissue & 2 packs of napkins. We did get a small freezer over the summer & I have some meat, frozen veggies & bread in there. We are in our 60‘s, DH has an underlying health issue & he will be retiring early next year. A few years ago, we got 6 feet of snow in 24 hours, & couldn’t get off our street for 3 days. Between that experience & the shortages this spring, I did get a little anxious. I’m hoping if we have a bad winter weather wise or the virus gets bad here again, I won’t need to get anything but milk & bread for long periods.
I rarely used antibacterial sprays, wipes or hand sanitizers before, so had zero on hand in March. I stalked online religiously until I found those & now have several tubs of wipes & a couple cans of Lysol spray. I still don’t use them much, but want them on hand in case either of us gets COVID & we need to isolate. I am an RN working in a large urban hospital, so I do have that risk. And I have supplied family members too.
The supply chains would be fine if it weren’t for the hoarders.
That’s not totally true. My DH is in management in a food production plant. Early on there were some supply issues even for them. And the some of the items that are missing aren’t always things people are hoarding. For example... about 6 weeks ago, I noticed the dental floss display was empty at the grocery I shop at. I buy 2 different brands since we have different preferences. My preferred brand was back after a few weeks, my DH’s was back last week but in a smaller package. Couldn’t find them at target then either. I haven’t heard of anyone hoarding dental floss.
Another example is packaged gravy mix.... totally gone from wegmans for weeks. Found it at another grocery & a limited amount back at wegmans last week. An relative in another city also had the same thing missing.
It might be our particular grocery chains, I don’t know. But the supply chains are not normal right now. I can say week to week, you never know what will be in or out of stock. I’ve heard the same thing from family & friends, even the cashiers have mentioned... you have to “get it when you see it”, because you never know next time you’ll see it. I won’t go running store to store looking for things, so my experience is with 2 different chains & national chains online .
(something I did not know before our bird landed on our back deck and decided to stay forever)
But I do need white bread for tuna or grilled cheese & milk for DH’s cereal. 
