Before y2k I started reading a forum that advocated restraint and buying just what you would eat/use in an emergency. Somehow I managed not to lose too much, but only because someone wiser gave the advice otherwise we'd still have stuff we didn't use. Not saying I darn near paniced or anything ! Dh and I were very poor and frugal when we were younger luckily so we have that experience to draw from. What happened for me though, was not having enough of a few things that we luckily didn't need.