Anyone stockpiling food?

[amuse-bouche]

I have said it before and I will say it again, at some point all of this can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We have seen nothing happen yet that requires hoarding of food, water, paper products or medication. In my opinion those should be left for people who need them - not people who will never need them.

Secondly, it is almost like we are preparing for Armageddon. I am going to try to keep a level head and hope that we don't completely tank the economy for no reason and cause problems for years on end.

I get it, we don't know much about the virus. However, I am more afraid of some of the other things that are going on with relation to the virus than the virus itself.

Well said. I totally agree!

 

[RamblingMad]

Secondly, it is almost like we are preparing for Armageddon. I am going to try to keep a level head and hope that we don't completely tank the economy for no reason and cause problems for years on end.

Last I checked consumer spending is good for the economy. It's when consumers stop spending that you run into problems.

 

[morgan98]

How does a 2 weeks supply of mostly food equal hoarding and how does that amt of goods tank the economy for years to come? I can see short term problems with empty shelves but not the scenario you posted. Can you explain your thinking in more detail?

It is not just the stock piling of food. It is suspending life as we know it, cancelling trips to places where we don't even have proven cases, etc.

There are been enough damage to the travel sector done already and it is going to take companies that rely on parts from China awhile to rebound. It is the whole picture. The stockpiling is sort of the representation of the problem.

That is as far into my thoughts as I will go.

 

[Hikergirl]

I was going to BJs today for my normal shopping which includes a couple 5 gallon water bottles. I also need Clorox wipes (they are something I regularly use), paper towels, and milk, eggs and bread.
I decided to not go because I didn't want to look like I was a prepper

 

[NYCgrrl]

It is not just the stock piling of food. It is suspending life as we know it, cancelling trips to places where we don't even have proven cases, etc.

There are been enough damage to the travel sector done already and it is going to take companies that rely on parts from China awhile to rebound. It is the whole picture. The stockpiling is sort of the representation of the problem.

That is as far into my thoughts as I will go.

Big picture thinking that has nothing to do with maintaining a 2 week supply of food or even hoarding. Maybe you meant to post your economic philosophy on a different thread and accidentally posted it here.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

We did our regular marketing today, but I did do an inventory of our cleaning supplies, over the counter meds, and paper products before we went. We were down to one roll of tp and one roll of paper towels, so we bought big packs. I also replenished meds where needed. We were good on cleaning supplies and wipes, so I didn’t get those. I also bought a little extra meat, frozen veggies and tuna packets just to have on hand. We did not buy any water.

I’m down to 2 weeks left on my prescription meds, so I’ll be calling my dr tomorrow to get that filled. Other than that, we are good.

 

[morgan98]

Big picture thinking that has nothing to do with maintaining a 2 week supply of food or even hoarding. Maybe you meant to post your economic philosophy on a different thread and accidentally posted it here.

Whatever, buying pallets of water and clearing out stores of medication is more than buying a two week supply of food.

 

[L_MD]

I live in a 1 bedroom apartment...no place to stockpile food!

So instead of 2 weeks of food I've gone with this mindset: if I had the regular cold/flu and didn't want to go out and be gross and infect people, what should I have? So I bought my favorite sick foods (saltines, rice, applesauce), some OTC meds and coughdrops, and a few things it would suck to be without (TP, cleaning wipes, etc). Worked pretty well so far. Will buy a few more things when they go on sale.

Only thing I've reallly stocked up on is hand sanitizer!

 

[NYCgrrl]

Last I checked consumer spending is good for the economy. It's when consumers stop spending that you run into problems.

Basically my understanding of Economics 101 as well but there are of course times when that doesn't apply. To my way of thinking no need to go past the basics as per the food recommendations.

 

[OKW8297]

I ordered a case of mini hand sanitizers for the 4 of us to have enough to carry with us

 

[DisLiss]

Other than a natural disaster where the physical building is destroyed, I can't think of one instance where a bank with FDIC and other government backing would close.

Our bank closed when the whole town was without power. The building was still there. But I guess they needed power to operate. Or maybe it had more to do with letting staff off to deal with the storm. I don't know. I just know that they, along with *nearly* every other business in town, were closed. (There was one Mom & Pop store who said that since everything they had was going to go bad, people might as well have it, and they stayed open to distribute what they could before it went bad. )

 

[DisLiss]

Actually washing your hands with soap and water is a better choice than hand sanitizer if at all possible. I understand people may want to use it in a pinch, but if there's a sink available, I'd go for that.

 

[Coffee66]

How does a 2 weeks supply of mostly food equal hoarding and how does that amt of goods tank the economy for years to come? I can see short term problems with empty shelves but not the scenario you posted. Can you explain your thinking in more detail?

Great response. Two week supply is what most people have. Keeping can goods of fruits and veggies is done as a necessity. Keeping a 3 month supply of your meds is what the insurance companies like. Toilet paper could go short. I drink a lot of coffee so having 10 lbs of coffee on hand is not a lot.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Whatever, buying pallets of water and clearing out stores of medication is more than buying a two week supply of food.

That has the ring of truth and works for my lifestyle but not necessarily for others. I'm ignoring the water suggestion since it isn't relevant to my life. Did take a look at our regular OTC and toiletry products and found we needed toothpaste so I'm thanking the CDC even though it's not on their list, LOL. The man's prescription meds are shipped every 90 days and he just received his supplies about 10 days ago so no concern there either.

 

[kirstenb1]

Other than a natural disaster where the physical building is destroyed, I can't think of one instance where a bank with FDIC and other government backing would close.

It's not that the bank closes. We live in rural Virginia. This winter was so mild, we haven't lost power. But we often get ice storms, that cause power loss. I try to keep some cash on hand for gas for the generator. In small towns, you can lose power for days, and I want to have heat, hence the generator. Our local gas station has enough of a generator they can run the gas pumps. But with no power, they can't accept credit cards.

 

[Coffee66]

Our bank closed when the whole town was without power. The building was still there. But I guess they needed power to operate. Or maybe it had more to do with letting staff off to deal with the storm. I don't know. I just know that they, along with *nearly* every other business in town, were closed. (There was one Mom & Pop store who said that since everything they had was going to go bad, people might as well have it, and they stayed open to distribute what they could before it went bad. )

Oh I would keep a stash of cash if power gets interrupted. These are general rules of thumb. This is a new territory. Didn't panic but eyes opened wide when I looked at 401k but left alone.

 

[DisLiss]

What I don't understand is why this health threat specifically has people stockpiling large amounts of bottled water. I can't think of any scenario where a virus is going to disrupt the clean, safe water that flows freely from my faucets.

I think this assumes that everyone has safe, clean drinking water flowing from their faucets. Some people don't feel that's necessary the case for their communities. So if they regularly buy drinking water and now they want to create a situation where they wouldn't need to go out shopping for awhile, it's totally logical that water would be an item that they would stockpile since it's one of the more important items that they typically buy.

 

[AustinTink]

The news just reported that our local grocery chain, HEB, is limiting sales on hand sanitizers, wipes, and other items because of the hoarding. Shoppers are limited to 4 each of those types of items.

 

[AustinTink]

I think this assumes that everyone has safe, clean drinking water flowing from their faucets. Some people don't feel that's necessary the case for their communities. So if they regularly buy drinking water and now they want to create a situation where they wouldn't need to go out shopping for awhile, it's totally logical that water would be an item that they would stockpile since it's one of the more important items that they typically buy.

That's the case with us. Our water supply has been infested with Zebra Mussels for some time now. It tastes disgusting and smells fishy. We drink bottled water for the taste as well as the risk to me for my shellfish allergy. I know the risk is very minimal, but i prefer not to risk it. We have about 2 weeks worth of water in the house right now.

 

[Imzadi]

I just found out what people are supposed to be doing with those bottles of water! Why didn't the CDC tell us about this when they told us to stock up on bottled water?

Seen at Vancouver International Airport back on Jan 28 & posted on someone's Facebook page and reprinted on:
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/

From the back, it appears that the person has cut a hole into the container in order to make room for her ponytail. Why doesn't the CDC provide directions for this?

For those who buy a pallet, you can protect your whole family:

The one problem I see is that the top of the jug should have a face mask over the opening too.