Anyone else worried about fall supplies?

[hereyago]

I’m sorry you’re having a rough day. I feel for you and anyone else stuck in that mess.

Thank you, I miss my work well the people I work with and the guests.(And it is true about Canadians y’all are really friendly ) And I am tried if stupid people lol.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Costco had a 2 package limit on fresh chicken items yesterday. That was the only limit sign I saw in the store.

a few weeks ago when we finally needed to get more toilet paper they had a 1 package limit as well as meat, poultry limits. I'm going there tomorrow so I'll see if they still have limits or not.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Soap at least at Walmart is mostly not in, been able to see refill bottles for the clear soap and another scent but other than that nope. Walmart also had small hand sanitizer bottles (bigger than travel). We had ordered back in May two refill bottles of hand sanitizer from Office Depot when it was preordered and they came last Friday so we'll be good for a while as we still have another bottle. Wipes haven't really seen those in stock but the one we have will last us for a while.

For fall I think we'll have to get a few things more than we would at once but not too too many. I think we'll probably get a new Kleenex package from Costco sooner than waiting til we only have a few boxes left, that's at least something I'm thinking about.

One thing I have been surprised on I places here were short on Swiffers. We have the wet jet but it's old and kinda falling apart so I wanted to get the regular swiffer (we have engineered hardwoods so we don't use the wet jet on that and tiled floor I can just spray down some cleaner and dry cloth that). Well getting the swiffer was a bit of a challenge as multiple places were out. People be cleaning their houses more being at home I guess lol

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Wipes are just getting back on the shelves here, disinfecting spray is not to be found anywhere still.

I saw it today at dollar tree, I thought i would never see that again. ( DT brand) now if I could find hand sanitizer thats not $5 or more.

 

[mousefan73]

doubke

 

[mousefan73]

Were there any shortages of goods in Germany?

Food wise really nothing by us. You did see news reports of empty shelves but if you drove around or went somewhere else you would find What you needed. Pasta was the hit item that was being hoarded and sometimes sold out. I know in the states people were complaining of meat shortages but that was never the case by us. Toilet paper was also “sold out” but then a day or two later you would find some, or the expensive brands were always available. There were a few crazy people buying cart full of single items in the stores;
That’s why things were sometimes so down.. Then stores put put signs saying that they would restrict number of items if it was obvious that you were hoarding ( Buying 4 boxes of pass is OK but not 10) .The only item that was annoyingly sold out for a few weeks or actually months was disinfectant stuff. Or least at the chain I always go to. Just last week they were fully stocked up and had removed the restriction signs, before it was two per person, so I bought about four items thinking I might as well start to stock up for the fall.
In the news they were constantly reminding people that there was no threat to the food supply chains the people should shop like normal. And there was never really anything that was never available The news though would report of empty store shelves but in reality they were stocked a day or two later or if you drove for 10 minutes you would find your stuff at a different store. And it was always the 50 Cent pasta so that was sold out from Aldi, not the more expensive name brand.

 

[mousefan73]

Where there is a supply chain problem right now is anything that is bike related. We are now waiting almost 8 weeks for a part to repair my son’s mountain bike. But this is everywhere, a friend of mine owns a shop in California and he had a shut for two or three days just to focus on repairs. They were overwhelmed with her new repairs as people were bringing in old bikes. By us only the super expensive bikes are available to buy the rest are sold out.
My poor son is getting really pissed right now.
It is starting to get ridiculous how long we’ve been waiting for a part. . The shop owner said it has to do with China supply chain.

 

[barkley]

Which places still have shortages? Looking at internet posts over the past three months I am surprised how many parts of the country never had a shortage of anything.

you are in the sacramento area-correct? well, i have family and friends in stockton, lodi, vacaville, redding , napa, vallejo and various areas of northern california that have not seen disinfecting wipes or spray for months. i'm in washington state-nothing since february in the way of wipes (and very limited paper products). we also shop in the pan-handle of idaho-no wipes as well.

i've yet to read of any part of the u.s. that has not experienced some aspect of shortages-please share the internet postings you speak of that purport to have no shortages of any products what so ever.

 

[sweetpeama]

I was not able to get some Sol-U-Guard biogradable wipes with my order from the company that makes them (I have a membership and have to order so much each month) as they were temporarily out of stock. Those will be saved for cleaning the kids IPAD but not at the frequency the occupational therapist would like (It will be clean for therapy days and the rest as needed. The rest of the time if it has some finger smudges from a finger that happened to have something on it like a tiny bit of cracker dust as long as my kid can use it and is fine with it I don't give a rats hind end).
I was not able to get a package of either 12 or 18 mega rolls (equal to 48 or 72 regular rolls) of toilet paper so had to go with a 12 pack of jumbo rolls. (equal to 26 regular rolls) I will get more on my next order to that store which if I don't do one this week will have one the first part of next week. After that we should be stocked back up to what I like to have just in general for the winter in case roads stop shipments due to shut downs (this is normal so I am just getting what I normally have to keep on hand from late Oct/early Nov thru early/mid Mar) I can last if I can't get a new package when the last one is down to 1/3-1/2 depending on when the next payday comes.
Produce of certain kinds are next to impossible to find and the stores can't even order it so I have no idea when I can get some starfruit. I did find out that my favorite store for produce has plans to order some as soon as they get the go ahead-helps that the ordering manager for my usual location loves it as well.
All beef corn dogs at more than one store and in a package bigger than 8 I am tired of having to get 2 boxes and having DH pitch a fit about how the freezer is full again (We have some beef and pork coming the later part of August and will put a deer in the freezer sometime in October-November) because I got those, a 10 pound bag of chicken breasts, 10 pounds of burger in 1 pound packages, 1 box of ice cream sandwiches, 2 10 count boxes of waffles, and 1 family size box of waffles plus 2 5 count packages of brats-most of the stuff will be used in the next couple of weeks. He is we have other meat we need to use (mainly some roasts but some other cuts as well) but when I ask him to go down the 2 flights of stairs and get some he puts it off and doesn't do it (those are all items that have to defrost in the fridge so what I take out tonight I will not be able to prepare until Tuesday at the earliest) so needless to say the stuff that gets uses is the stuff that I can defrost in the microwave or can just start from frozen in the crockpot. When I run out of those items and they are on sale I purchase. I have plans for 5 pounds of the burger between now and the 4th and then other half will be for the next week and beyond.
Wheat flour is hard to find especially a good hard red spring wheat flour though the hard white spring wheat is difficult. Luckily I don't use too much of those and I can substitute the hard white spring variety for the hard red spring variety in the brand I use (I don't know about the other brands in my local stores as they just say wheat flour) and just get a lighter gold product instead of a more dark wheat product.

 

[tvguy]

you are in the sacramento area-correct? well, i have family and friends in stockton, lodi, vacaville, redding , napa, vallejo and various areas of northern california that have not seen disinfecting wipes or spray for months. i'm in washington state-nothing since february in the way of wipes (and very limited paper products). we also shop in the pan-handle of idaho-no wipes as well.

i've yet to read of any part of the u.s. that has not experienced some aspect of shortages-please share the internet postings you speak of that purport to have no shortages of any products what so ever.

Yes Sacramento. Interesting on Redding. My wife's best friend is office manager for a company up there and claims never to have an issue finding disinfecting wipes at Costco. Just do a Google search in News on product shortages, most of the articles talk about product shortages being resolved by mid-May in most parts of the country

 

[ronandannette]

Where there is a supply chain problem right now is anything that is bike related. We are now waiting almost 8 weeks for a part to repair my son’s mountain bike. But this is everywhere, a friend of mine owns a shop in California and he had a shut for two or three days just to focus on repairs. They were overwhelmed with her new repairs as people were bringing in old bikes. By us only the super expensive bikes are available to buy the rest are sold out.
My poor son is getting really pissed right now.
It is starting to get ridiculous how long we’ve been waiting for a part. . The shop owner said it has to do with China supply chain.

Interesting! There’s little demand for bikes in northern Canada in the winter but as spring rolled around they became impossible to find, even through Amazon. Used ones were selling for more than they cost new and when repair shops re-opened in early June they immediately had wait-lists for service that will stretch well into summer.

 

[aprilchem]

There are still shortages of some things in my area so I've been trying to find and stockpile a bit when I can, especially since I'm going back to work in the fall. One thing we've had a really hard time finding is Clorox Wipes, but I've been able to find 10 of them (which included a 5-pack at Sam's Club) this week. My estimation is that we will need at least 2 per month in my office at work, so that gets us through the fall semester. My employer is not providing them, and since I work with college students (and our office is in a freshman dorm) I'm really going to need them!

 

[barkley]

There are still shortages of some things in my area so I've been trying to find and stockpile a bit when I can, especially since I'm going back to work in the fall. One thing we've had a really hard time finding is Clorox Wipes, but I've been able to find 10 of them (which included a 5-pack at Sam's Club) this week. My estimation is that we will need at least 2 per month in my office at work, so that gets us through the fall semester. My employer is not providing them, and since I work with college students (and our office is in a freshman dorm) I'm really going to need them!

perhaps we'll see a new trend w/college students wherein they will be given mandatory supply lists to 'donate' to their institutions akin to the ones elementary school kids have for their classrooms (wipes, tissues...).

 

[abdmom]

I haven't seen disinfecting wipes since March. I've just been able to find name brand hand sanitizer within the past 2 weeks. Costco was very low on produce when I went on Friday.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

With the threat of "second wave"

We never left the first wave.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Yes Sacramento. Interesting on Redding. My wife's best friend is office manager for a company up there and claims never to have an issue finding disinfecting wipes at Costco. Just do a Google search in News on product shortages, most of the articles talk about product shortages being resolved by mid-May in most parts of the country

Funny how you always claim to “know someone” who backs up your inaccuracies.

 

[godisney14]

The Costcos around me apparently get the hard-to-find cleaning supplies only once a week, and they’re always gone within the first hour of opening. Never know which day that is (although, it seems to happen mostly between Tue and Thu from what I read on FB).
Pork ribs are at $3.99/lb. With more outbreaks affecting factories, I can see that going higher in the fall/winter, maybe pork will become as expensive as beef, which is a pretty crazy thought.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

I had bought a 4-pack of Kirkland sanitizing wipes about two weeks before all of the Covid-19 shopping frenzy happened. I figured that by the time I was getting low, things would be back to normal and I could find more on the shelves. After more than three months, I still can't find them. Sanitizing wipes and Clorox Anywhere Spray are the last two items on my Bingo card before I feel like I have what I need to continue forward safely and with few trips to the stores in the future.

I admit to keeping a fairly well-stocked pantry/freezer/personal care and household items supply normally. We almost always have an heir and a spare for many items like cleaning supplies and hygiene items, plus two refrigerators, one chest freezer, and a storage room for food items. I realize that we are fortunate to have these options available and that many do not have the space to commit to this amount of storage. For the most part, we have been using what we have on hand, but as items reappear in stores for a more reasonable cost, we have been replacing what has been used. I have learned not to take things for granted though. I know I can't always trust an item we need/want to be available (or at a reasonable price!!!), so I have tried to build in "levels" to our food supplies. For example:

milk: fresh jugs of milk in the refrigerator; milk frozen in jugs in the chest freezer; shelf stable milk; evaporated and powdered milk (good for baking, especially Saco Cultured Buttermilk Blend)

bread: fresh bread items; frozen bread items or frozen bread dough; ingredients on hand for making no-knead bread or quick bread items as necessary. Yeast will store for years past its expiration date if kept in the freezer.

potatoes: fresh potatoes; frozen potato items (I have successfully frozen home-made creamy mashed potatoes and twice-baked potatoes); dried potato flakes

You get the idea. Fresh, frozen, shelf-stable, repeat.

It even works for items like...

lemons: fresh; fresh juiced and frozen in ice cube trays; True Lemon powder (real dehydrated lemon...just add water. They have lime and orange as well.)

basil, garlic, and other herbs: fresh, preferably as plants, but I notoriously end up killing them; Dorot frozen basil (they also have ginger, garlic, cilantro) or freezing fresh herbs yourself; and then dried (which is usually my last resort)

It would take awhile for us to run completely out of food and other items; however, one of our biggest obstacles through all of this is that we far prefer to eat a lot of fresh food items...berries, salads, bananas, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus and broccoli, etc. We have really tried to keep our trips out for fresh items down to once every 10 to 14 days, but it is hard. Some things are just not as good frozen, dried, etc. or have no viable equivalent (like lettuce). After a shopping trip, it is like a "feast" to use up all of the fresh stuff before it spoils, vs. a "famine" towards the end, as we resort to our more long-term options for produce. We have learned things though, like that head lettuce keeps longer than mixed greens, and that asparagus lasts longer if stood upright in the fridge as opposed to laying down.

All of this to say, am I worried about fall supplies? Not so much personally...but I do think things are going to continue to be bad virus-wise, so we will be relying heavily upon what we can set aside now to greatly reduce our trips out (and our expenses, if costs rise again) in the upcoming months. At the beginning of the first wave, back in March, every week we were asking ourselves, "Is it still safe enough to run to the grocery store?" We finally reached a point that we decided to stretch our trips out as much as possible. We continue in that holding pattern and I don't see that changing before things potentially get bad again this fall. I am trying to take what I have learned of shortages during the first months of this pandemic, to fill in the holes based on our family's preferences, so that maybe subsequent waves will be less of an impact on us.

 

[wenrob]

Yes Sacramento. Interesting on Redding. My wife's best friend is office manager for a company up there and claims never to have an issue finding disinfecting wipes at Costco. Just do a Google search in News on product shortages, most of the articles talk about product shortages being resolved by mid-May in most parts of the country

You are making the claim it’s on you to back it up.

I have not seen wipes since the first week of March. I save the ones I have for remotes, doorknobs, light switches etc. Of course I can use good old fashioned soap and water when push comes to shove but I would like them to be available for my kids if/when school resumes. I have been stocking up on BBW mini hand sanitizers for that purpose. I’d prefer they use soap and water but I get the distinct impression from proposals they’re not going to get much of a chance to utilize the sinks.

Am I worried? Slightly concerned but not worried. In normal times I tend to stock up. The issue for me is the opportunity is no longer there so we buy what we’re allowed when we can and hopefully that will be good enough.

 

[wenrob]

I had bought a 4-pack of Kirkland sanitizing wipes about two weeks before all of the Covid-19 shopping frenzy happened. I figured that by the time I was getting low, things would be back to normal and I could find more on the shelves. After more than three months, I still can't find them. Sanitizing wipes and Clorox Anywhere Spray are the last two items on my Bingo card before I feel like I have what I need to continue forward safely and with few trips to the stores in the future.

I admit to keeping a fairly well-stocked pantry/freezer/personal care and household items supply normally. We almost always have an heir and a spare for many items like cleaning supplies and hygiene items, plus two refrigerators, one chest freezer, and a storage room for food items. I realize that we are fortunate to have these options available and that many do not have the space to commit to this amount of storage. For the most part, we have been using what we have on hand, but as items reappear in stores for a more reasonable cost, we have been replacing what has been used. I have learned not to take things for granted though. I know I can't always trust an item we need/want to be available (or at a reasonable price!!!), so I have tried to build in "levels" to our food supplies. For example:

milk: fresh jugs of milk in the refrigerator; milk frozen in jugs in the chest freezer; shelf stable milk; evaporated and powdered milk (good for baking, especially Saco Cultured Buttermilk Blend)

bread: fresh bread items; frozen bread items or frozen bread dough; ingredients on hand for making no-knead bread or quick bread items as necessary. Yeast will store for years past its expiration date if kept in the freezer.

potatoes: fresh potatoes; frozen potato items (I have successfully frozen home-made creamy mashed potatoes and twice-baked potatoes); dried potato flakes

You get the idea. Fresh, frozen, shelf-stable, repeat.

It even works for items like...

lemons: fresh; fresh juiced and frozen in ice cube trays; True Lemon powder (real dehydrated lemon...just add water. They have lime and orange as well.)

basil, garlic, and other herbs: fresh, preferably as plants, but I notoriously end up killing them; Dorot frozen basil (they also have ginger, garlic, cilantro) or freezing fresh herbs yourself; and then dried (which is usually my last resort)

It would take awhile for us to run completely out of food and other items; however, one of our biggest obstacles through all of this is that we far prefer to eat a lot of fresh food items...berries, salads, bananas, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus and broccoli, etc. We have really tried to keep our trips out for fresh items down to once every 10 to 14 days, but it is hard. Some things are just not as good frozen, dried, etc. or have no viable equivalent (like lettuce). After a shopping trip, it is like a "feast" to use up all of the fresh stuff before it spoils, vs. a "famine" towards the end, as we resort to our more long-term options for produce. We have learned things though, like that head lettuce keeps longer than mixed greens, and that asparagus lasts longer if stood upright in the fridge as opposed to laying down.

All of this to say, am I worried about fall supplies? Not so much personally...but I do think things are going to continue to be bad virus-wise, so we will be relying heavily upon what we can set aside now to greatly reduce our trips out (and our expenses, if costs rise again) in the upcoming months. At the beginning of the first wave, back in March, every week we were asking ourselves, "Is it still safe enough to run to the grocery store?" We finally reached a point that we decided to stretch our trips out as much as possible. We continue in that holding pattern and I don't see that changing before things potentially get bad again this fall. I am trying to take what I have learned of shortages during the first months of this pandemic, to fill in the holes based on our family's preferences, so that maybe subsequent waves will be less of an impact on us.

You sound like my stock up soulmate. The last time my sister was here she joked about “shopping” in my pantry. Generally I have one in use and two back ups of just about everything. My DH has been doing the shopping and I didn’t want to overwhelm him so we aren’t at that level anymore but now that Walmart pick up has somewhat leveled out I’ll get us back there.