Question of the Day, Friday, June 19

[Winchester]

Good morning!

I've been taking stock of our pantries, both in the kitchen and in the basement. And i am starting to get seriously low or have been even running out of items. I told Rick that I need to start figuring out how I'm going to stock back up on things. The stores still don't have a lot of canned soups or canned tuna or Spam. Same with frozen vegetables; I haven't been able to find a package of frozen lima beans for several weeks now! But I am going to start stocking up on tomato products again, canned meats when I can find them, some canned vegetables, pasta, dried beans, etc. When things are on sale, I'm going to start buying a bit in bulk. I need to get the freezers stocked up again, too. And get our bottled water supply stocked back up for the cats. I buy toilet paper and paper towels every time we go for groceries; we're only going once every three or four weeks now. Why? Well, we keep hearing about a "second wave" of Covid-19. That it may become worse than the first one, simply because of the lack of social distancing by many people. And food and supplies will be increasing in price. So my question today is:

Are you going to try to stock up on some food and supplies in case we have a second wave of virus? What will you be doing? Anything?

 

[GaryT]

I want to get a chest freezer to store more frozen things in. I need a 5cu.ft. chest freezer and cannot find one! My fridge that I have owned for 21 years died a week ago and my new fridge came yesterday. Need more freezer space! Especially when I order Theo's raw beef (30 pounds in fifteen 2 pound tubes). I want to stock up while I can still afford meat! (not for much longer with the prices gone up!). No place that I check has any chest freezers in stock unless you want 10cu.ft. or larger. I already have lots of canned veggies.

I have already seen a HUGE jump in beef prices. Also eggs and chicken have gone up. With the major changes in the food inductry in past 5 months, this will go on for a while. They made permanent changes for a temporary situation. Smashed egg at hatcheries and slaughtered hogs and beef. It will take a while to go back to the way things were. All because restaurants weren't buying...so now we all suffer the consequences.

 

[neely]

I buy toilet paper and paper towels every time we go for groceries

We do the same, as well as kleenex, soap and cleaning products. I try to have enough food for at least two weeks but only have so much room, i.e. one refrigerator w/freezer, no additional appliances to store cold or frozen items. However, I do keep a supply of some canned goods in the cabinets. I watch the news to be aware but only once a day to stay on top of things or else I'll go bonkers. I can only worry about so much but if there is a second wave as they have discussed I will be better prepared than I was at the beginning of the lockdown here.

 

[jcat]

We didn't have a tremendous amount of trouble getting things around here when the first wave started, with the exception of hand sanitizer, disinfectant, and surgical masks. Toilet paper, pasta, canned tomatoes, and flour weren't available all the time, but if you couldn't get something one week, you could the next. We'll probably just make sure we usually have a plentiful supply of all those things, plus lots of canned cat food and cat litter again. We're planning on canning more tomatoes and freezing more vegetables and fruit from the garden than usual this year. I doubt we'll stock up on meat, since that's easy to do without. I expect meat prices to continue to climb due to the infection rates at meat processing plants.

I doubt people will hoard as much as they did in spring. Many presumably still have at least a 6-month supply of toilet paper and flour!

 

[Roxabelle]

I didn't panic-buy first thing round, and I won't be doing it next time either. The thought of people buying more than they need and clearing the shelves, only for someone in a more vulnerable situation getting to the shop and find it empty makes me so cross.

Instead of panic buying anything, how about being more inventive with food? Finding creative ways to use leftovers, controlling portion size and weighing out ingredients, making sure you don't waste any food etc.

 

[artiemom]

Since I have a very tiny apartment with only 2 small closets, it is difficult to keep as much in stock as I want to. When I moved in here, I had to cut back down on my thinking about extras. Now I am trying to get the necessities, in extra stock. I had the ability to go out and pick up what I needed, but after being fully quarantined, in my apartment for 7 weeks; I am thinking differently.

I did a ton of pre-pandemic shopping; only because of my 'Gut" feelings. I had a strong feeling something was about to happen.
Because of the lack of closet space, I had to resort to using the floor of my clothes closet for extra stuff. I hate doing this, but I do not have any room in here for a storage cabinet/armoire.

Right now, I am keeping a an extra supply of things in here. I did find Lysol Lemon Cleaner spray in my grocery store. I go to very early senior hours. I was there at 6:45 am.

I am still using my closet floor for the extra supplies. Not knowing what is going to happen with a 'second wave' is pretty frightening.
My building is still semi-closed. No visitors allowed. We are all getting Covid Testing, next week, before they will allow us to open up. They are just now, starting cut back on the necessities they have been providing us with: free daily meals, free laundry service, daily pick up of trash, etc.....

 

[Tik cat's mum]

Nope you could still buy everything you needed from the smaller shops when this hit even toilet rolls.

 

[catapault]

I started prepping in late February. I did bulk buy at Costco, a Walmart Superstore, Shoprite, Chewys. Himself set me up with an Excel spread sheet so I can keep track. Bulk shelf-stable purchases are stored in large plastic tubs in the basement. I bring items up as needed, e.g. refill container in pantry with sugar, 12 cans of cat food at a time, etc. There's an upright freezer in the basement, upstairs refrigerator has a separate door for top freezer, and we also have a small dorm-size refrigerator upstairs that we repossessed when daughter graduated college lo these many decades ago (they just don't make things like they used to do!)

As an aside - Chewys was out of Fancy Feast when I tried to order at the beginning of March, with no idea when they would have it in stock again. I switched to Tiny Tiger, bought twelve 24-can packs, transitioned Mr Poe and Domino with no problem. Need to place an order next week as supplies are getting low.

I have always made use of left-overs, even deliberately creating them when cooking. For example, when I made the red bean, black bean, Italian green bean, diced red onion with Ken's country French salad dressing for dinner leftovers became my lunch with cubes of cheddar cheese added. There's a small amount of chili with a small amount of the black bean and corn side dish from last night's dinner, which will become lunch for Himself with the addition of a flipped egg.

I don't consider the shopping I did as panic buying. Rather, it was prudent. We are both in the at-risk cohort because of age.

 

[denice]

I keep at least two weeks worth of everything. I got a small chest freezer about a year and a half ago so that really helps. I have plenty of paper products not because of hoarding but at the beginning of this when I found it it was only in those huge bulk packs so that I what I bought. There are probably people who have at least a year's supply of toilet paper. The only thing that is still hit or miss is disinfectants so I will try to get a bit ahead on those before the fall. The only thing that I have not seen since shortly after all this started is Lysol spray. My can is almost empty. If it ever gets back on the shelves and I am allowed I will buy two cans of that, that would last me a year.

 

[Willowy]

I live out in the country so I buy in bulk anyway. Never know when you'll get snowed in or the bridge will go out, etc. So I didn't have to do any special shopping. I did put together a "super emergency" food kit; I put a bag of rice and some canned chicken, tuna, and beans in a tote in the storage area. I still go shopping about every 2 weeks, as usual.

I always keep a Sam's Club pack of TP around; as soon as I break into that pack I buy a new one. My mother has passed down a deep anxiety about running out of TP, based on an experience from her youth, lol. After I moved to the country I found out I have to keep it in a tote; MICE like TP too!

The only thing that I have not seen since shortly after all this started is Lysol spray.

I managed to find a can of Walmart brand. Not as flashy of a label but it's the same stuff.

 

[Talien]

I buy in bulk anyway so almost nothing has changed for me. I haven't needed to buy TP, soap, cleaning wipes, paper towel, disinfectant, etc. at all since this thing started.

 

[Xraystyle]

I do get a little worried here, especially since we had an outbreak at a delivery warehouse, so even getting stuff delivered is not exactly the best option. I haven't cooked in a long time and have been relying on take out and delivery from restaurants out of stress and lack of time. I want to clean out my fridge and start again, but i have a very specific anxiety about getting rid of food trash! (I think I"ve mentioned it elsewhere)
I do have enough dry goods to survive for a bit if it comes to that (oats, chickpeas, pasta, peanut butter, quinoa). And I've got a couple big packs of frozen fruit in the freezer. I honestly don't see Korea ever going into full lockdown. They've been comparing Seoul and Beijing a lot recently because of the differences in how the cities are handling flare ups. Beijing locks down neighborhoods and takes all kids out of school. Seoul has just been contact tracing and only closing things directly affected. We've been hovering around 30-40 new cases a day, 90% are related to known clusters, but there are some that have been untraceable. It seems scary but when you put it in perspective, there are 20 million people in the Seoul urban area and only 1,500 are currently undergoing treatment. Of all the testing they've done, only 1% have tested positive. I sometimes find it unbelievable that it hasn't spread more. There's a theory that because other major coronaviruses have come from Asia throughout the millennia, that Asians do have some immunity to it even if it is a brand new strain. I have about 12 convenience stores in my little neighborhood and they all stock basic groceries and necessities, so I'd be okay in a pinch I think!

It's a little weird here to be honest, I'm starting to think we're all nihilists because no one seems to care about the virus OR about North Korea. I've overheard people talking about it--while those people are sitting in restaurants without masks on, lol. There's a song I've been listening to a lot lately with the chorus "I'm a liar, you're a liar, let's all die right here, right now." Seems apropos as I know so many people are "withholding the truth" about their activities these days.

 

[gilmargl]

The hoarders will probably clear the shelves of toilet paper, noodles, rice, disinfectant etc. again in Germany but I and my relations here will just carry on as usual. We are lucky to have houses with enough space for freezers and supplies. We buy the large packs of toilet and kitchen paper (but only one pack at a time!). We'll help each other if someone runs out. We had kept a couple of rolls of toilet paper in the car when we went shopping, in case we met somebody really desparate. There are many people with no space who only buy a couple of rolls at a time.

I won't be doing anything different if we have a second lockdown. Maybe I'll buy a couple of refills for the no-hands soap dispenser. My daughter needed my spare refill and stocks have only recently reappeared in the shops. I always have more than enough cat food and litter. We won't starve!

 

[MoochNNoodles]

No. I refuse to join the panic. I already keep my pantry decently stocked. We’ve been eating fresh veggies instead of frozen. I planted a lot of green beans this year because they freeze well. I planted corn that can be frozen also. Carrots too. My mother has freezer space to help. That’s the extent of it. And really that’s something I’d do anyway.

My stepsister is a nurse in NYC and has been on the frontlines with covid. Even she says they are much better prepared and educated to deal with other waves. My BFFs sister is RT. She’s also had positive things to say about improving treatment results.

 

[Lari]

I ended up getting really low on toilet paper when it started and had to buy some cheap individual rolls from 7-11 to get is through, so I probably should stock up on that just a bit...

 

[Jem]

I have always been and will continue to be a bulk/sale shopper. So inevitably, I will start the process of "stocking up" on the things that have dwindled down in my stash. But it has nothing to do with "in case we quarantine" again. I just buy lots when it's on sale, so I don't have to pay full price if I ever run low. It's all about the money for me. I'm not a "shelf clearer" though, I do let others have the products as well.

 

[sivyaleah]

I've been buying a little more than needed (but not hoarding, there's a difference) since this first started. I do not trust that we will be able to get back to "normal" any time this year.

 

[aliceneko]

No, I think panic buying is selfish.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Nope. I do buy (4) 12 packs of TP when I go shopping and wait til we're down to only 4 rolls before buying again. Yesterday I was in DG and asked what the limit on TP was and the manager said I could buy all of it if I wanted. But I didn't because I don't want to hoard.

 

[catapault]

I bought a 30-pack roll of toilet paper at Costco on February 26. That's the way Costco sells toilet paper. I still have a major amount left. Was that panic buying or was I prudent? Perhaps it was some of both.