Anyone else worried about fall supplies?

[cmrdgrs]

Dh wants me to work on a three to six month pantry in preparation for a potential second wave. We are a family of five and go through a lot of food. When things were bad here in March, April, May we couldn’t get grocery delivery or pick up times. That meant heading out to the store which we didn’t want to do (high risk group). Once at the store, shelves were empty. Trying to plan ahead so we won’t run into trouble this winter. I have a very large Walmart order for next week. Stocking the pantry will take some time. I’ll start with three months. Six months is a bit overwhelming.

DH and I talked about doing this as well. A three month supply feels way more manageable to me too. During the pandemic, because of all the frozen meat we were buying we decided to install a backup generator w/a transfer switch to power our refrigerator & freezer. We live in Phoenix and I can honestly say that in 20 years I can't think of a time we've lost power that caused us to loose our food, but DH is a bit of a prepper and came up with a solution that wasn't too expensive. We can't power A/Cs but we can power some appliances and have lights. To power the A/Cs too would be crazy expensive.

I think we will be doing the same soon, for specific shelf stable items we rely on due to our dietary restrictions. It was scary when we could not find these items anywhere in stores the first time around.

At the beginning of the pandemic the scariest thing that happened for me was I was unable to get my dog the food he eats. My dog has Pancreatic flareups some have been life threatening in the past. One of the main issues is that he is allergic to Chicken (pretty much every dog food has chicken products in it). We finally found a low fat, non-chicken based food that works for him, but the food is made by a small "boutique" dog food company and is sort-of a specialty item. I was flipping out! I finally contacted the manufacturer of the food and they helped me get the food I needed for him. I now am keeping 6 - 9 months of food on hand for him too!

 

[Frozen Canuck]

DH and I talked about doing this as well. A three month supply feels way more manageable to me too. During the pandemic, because of all the frozen meat we were buying we decided to install a backup generator w/a transfer switch to power our refrigerator & freezer. We live in Phoenix and I can honestly say that in 20 years I can't think of a time we've lost power that caused us to loose our food, but DH is a bit of a prepper and came up with a solution that wasn't too expensive. We can't power A/Cs but we can power some appliances and have lights. To power the A/Cs too would be crazy expensive.

This was us. We had never been in a power outage that lasted more than six hours, yet about 10 years ago, my husband decided that we should buy a generator and have the proper connections installed so that we could power our two refrigerators, freezer, a couple of outlets for charging phones, hot water, lights in one bathroom, and our stove/microwave. That generator has sat in our garage all this time, not once gassed up or run at all. That is, until a couple of weeks ago, when we lost power for 26 hours during a heat wave. Every hour that the outage dragged on (with no word from the power company as to when it would be back on), we debated whether we should fire it up, as once you put gas and oil in it, you need to maintain it by running it monthly, etc. We finally gave in and decided to get it going and it saved us hundreds of dollars in food as the hours dragged on and the heat in the house increased. Sleeping was practically unbearable, but at least our food was safe and we didn't lose any of the major amenities.

 

[nicolita3]

DH and I talked about doing this as well. A three month supply feels way more manageable to me too. During the pandemic, because of all the frozen meat we were buying we decided to install a backup generator w/a transfer switch to power our refrigerator & freezer. We live in Phoenix and I can honestly say that in 20 years I can't think of a time we've lost power that caused us to loose our food, but DH is a bit of a prepper and came up with a solution that wasn't too expensive. We can't power A/Cs but we can power some appliances and have lights. To power the A/Cs too would be crazy expensive.



At the beginning of the pandemic the scariest thing that happened for me was I was unable to get my dog the food he eats. My dog has Pancreatic flareups some have been life threatening in the past. One of the main issues is that he is allergic to Chicken (pretty much every dog food has chicken products in it). We finally found a low fat, non-chicken based food that works for him, but the food is made by a small "boutique" dog food company and is sort-of a specialty item. I was flipping out! I finally contacted the manufacturer of the food and they helped me get the food I needed for him. I now am keeping 6 - 9 months of food on hand for him too!

Costco has a dog food that they sell (costco brand) that doesn't have chicken. My dog is also allergic to chicken. But I don't know if your dog has other restrictions. It's about $30 for a large bag.

 

[hsmamato2]

This was us. We had never been in a power outage that lasted more than six hours, yet about 10 years ago, my husband decided that we should buy a generator and have the proper connections installed so that we could power our two refrigerators, freezer, a couple of outlets for charging phones, hot water, lights in one bathroom, and our stove/microwave. That generator has sat in our garage all this time, not once gassed up or run at all. That is, until a couple of weeks ago, when we lost power for 26 hours during a heat wave. Every hour that the outage dragged on (with no word from the power company as to when it would be back on), we debated whether we should fire it up, as once you put gas and oil in it, you need to maintain it by running it monthly, etc. We finally gave in and decided to get it going and it saved us hundreds of dollars in food as the hours dragged on and the heat in the house increased. Sleeping was practically unbearable, but at least our food was safe and we didn't lose any of the major amenities.

This. in our area two weeks back I had friends without power for a week. (800k outages within 2 hours) I ordered a generator (we only lost power for one night) b/c of our freezer and fridge. I call it an inexpensive insurance policy.

 

[hsmamato2]

in Answer to thread title....YES. 3-6 months of basics on hand. Continuing regular weekly shopping now That I've stocked properly. Will use stock as needed. Worst case scenario from stocking is I have a low grocery bill this winter. I'm not hoarding, just stocking

 

[cmrdgrs]

Costco has a dog food that they sell (costco brand) that doesn't have chicken. My dog is also allergic to chicken. But I don't know if your dog has other restrictions. It's about $30 for a large bag.

I'll look at that! Thank you. Due to his pancreatic flair-ups the food has to be low fat and it can't be grain free either, but yes I need to have an alternative food in case this happens again.

 

[cmrdgrs]

This was us. We had never been in a power outage that lasted more than six hours, yet about 10 years ago, my husband decided that we should buy a generator and have the proper connections installed so that we could power our two refrigerators, freezer, a couple of outlets for charging phones, hot water, lights in one bathroom, and our stove/microwave. That generator has sat in our garage all this time, not once gassed up or run at all. That is, until a couple of weeks ago, when we lost power for 26 hours during a heat wave. Every hour that the outage dragged on (with no word from the power company as to when it would be back on), we debated whether we should fire it up, as once you put gas and oil in it, you need to maintain it by running it monthly, etc. We finally gave in and decided to get it going and it saved us hundreds of dollars in food as the hours dragged on and the heat in the house increased. Sleeping was practically unbearable, but at least our food was safe and we didn't lose any of the major amenities.

Glad to hear that after 10 years your "insurance" paid off and your food didn't spoil. Must have been a relief!

This is exactly what we can power -- refrig, freezer, a few outlets in the kitchen, a few lights around the house, DH office computer & internet (assuming it's working). DH decided to get a LPG (propane) generator so that we didn't have to deal with gasoline or diesel, plus the LPG doesn't go bad (the upside). The downside is that now I have four 30 lb propane tanks to store. Oy vey! It's always something, right?

As a PP said, I guess the generator/transfer switch is a form of insurance. I think DH spent right around $2,000 for the setup (generator, transfer switch, electrician to wire the transfer switch to the main electric panel), let's hope we never need it.

Worst case scenario if it was really, really hot, we could sleep in our camper, it has an A/C unit -- but, then I need a second generator to power the camper!

 

[cmrdgrs]

in Answer to thread title....YES. 3-6 months of basics on hand. Continuing regular weekly shopping now That I've stocked properly. Will use stock as needed. Worst case scenario from stocking is I have a low grocery bill this winter. I'm not hoarding, just stocking

Totally agree. I see no need to hoard, plus I don't like doing that to my "neighbor" but I am staying "stocked" as I use chicken, I replace chicken. As I finish pasta I'm replacing pasta, etc. I'm now more carefully rotating things I have and using them up to keep items fresh. As I see things on sale that we use and have a shelf life, I'm picking them up. I figure this virus is here to stay and have little faith in a vaccine. I happen to feel that we'll see a lot of peaks, dips and uncertainty for a while.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just back from Sam's Club - no wipes, no spray, LOTS of sanitizer (that's really not a problem here, everyone has it), only masks were Crayola re-usable masks for kids to decorate, $25 for 5 masks. Limit on soda (one case per customer). No limits on meat/chicken.

 

[LilyWDW]

I have stocked up on:
Chicken breast
Steak
Salmon
Tilapia
"Canned" soup (the brand I buy is in jars lol)
Cream of... soups (there is one brand I can find that I can eat)
Pasta sauce
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Masks
Kleenex
Dish tabs

This is pretty much what I could fit at the moment. I do have a couple more things I want to grab like stocks, but I am feeling better about what I have. Wish I had more freezer space so I could get more bags of veggies, but you do what you can do.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wish I had more freezer space so I could get more bags of veggies,

Oh! I forgot, Sam's Club had small chest freezers. If I could figure out where to put it, I'd get one.

 

[RamblingMad]

Not worried.

Mask wearing, social distancing, and more likely more people getting the flu shot should make for a mild flu season. I do expect more outbreaks in colder states once summer ends and more people spend more time indoors. I’m not expecting supply chains issues other than on stay at home goods that are in higher demand than usual.

 

[Hikergirl]

I have been trying to get clorox/lysol wipes for months and am having no luck.
When I was scrolling through Yahoo's news stories this popped up
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/lysol-disinfectant-spray-wipes-153413868.html
Yes, Yahoo is actually advertising this combo for $50
they say "the price is inflated" and they don't expect it to be in stock long so "get it before you regret it"

So I guess my point is, if you've got loads of money you won't have to worry about supplies.

 

[cmrdgrs]

I have been trying to get clorox/lysol wipes for months and am having no luck.
When I was scrolling through Yahoo's news stories this popped up
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/lysol-disinfectant-spray-wipes-153413868.html
Yes, Yahoo is actually advertising this combo for $50
they say "the price is inflated" and they don't expect it to be in stock long so "get it before you regret it"

So I guess my point is, if you've got loads of money you won't have to worry about supplies.

This is ridiculous! What happened to Amazon's policy on price gouging? Hell no. Out of principle I just won't pay/support scalper prices.

 

[HeatherC]

Not worried.

Mask wearing, social distancing, and more likely more people getting the flu shot should make for a mild flu season. I do expect more outbreaks in colder states once summer ends and more people spend more time indoors. I’m not expecting supply chains issues other than on stay at home goods that are in higher demand than usual.

It’s funny cause I was actually wondering if the supply chain will be interrupted again now that we are hearing of cases rising in the heartland.

 

[RamblingMad]

It’s funny cause I was actually wondering if the supply chain will be interrupted again now that we are hearing of cases rising in the heartland.

I expect cases to go up in the midwest as the temperatures cool and folks stay indoors. It's the opposite of places like AZ and TX, where you spend more time outside later in the year and stay put in the summer months.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I expect cases to go up in the midwest as the temperatures cool and folks stay indoors. It's the opposite of places like AZ and TX, where you spend more time outside later in the year and stay put in the summer months.

I get the feeling people don't know what it's like living in the midwest. It's hot and humid where I'm at (presently is 85 at nearly 8:30pm but in years past it could be mid-90s feels like 100 even up to midnight or later) and people are doing indoor dining at least more because of the temps. I try to eat outdoors whenever I can but it is more difficult when it's hot hot hot. We'll get a brief cool down in the fall like spring time where it'll be nice outside more and then it'll get cold again November/December. People are doing things outside right now but seeking shelter in the a/c is done a lot in the summer; this year is unfortunate because of the virus where being inside for the a/c is not the best thing but a blessing is it's been actually a very mild year in terms of temps compared to average. You're already seeing cases increases and have already seen increasing in cases since June or so.

What they are hoping will happen is across the board less flu cases in the fall/winter at least due to measures being taken to combat COVID-19.

 

[HeatherC]

I have seen some reports where cases are already starting to rise in places like KY, KS, OK, ND, so I do wonder if we will see interruptions in the near future.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have seen some reports where cases are already starting to rise in places like KY, KS, OK, ND, so I do wonder if we will see interruptions in the near future.

I'm confused by your wording starting to rise? Where are you getting your information that it says "starting to rise" as opposed to already rising?

 

[Southernmiss]

I've been able to order disinfectant spray from a local business supply store for my place of work.

I asked and was told that I could order for my personal use, too.

Might be another place to try.