Author Topic: Pandemic hoarding  (Read 262130 times)

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #50 on: July 18, 2020, 05:42:48 PM »
I have generally kept a well stocked pantry, because I don’t drive and I had 3 kids. I’ve lived I. Hurricane country and blizzard country. On a tight budget it’s better to stock up when a staple goes on sale.

It’s only been the last few years with no kids at home that I’ve let my pantry shrink, and I deeply regretted it this spring.

centwise

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #51 on: July 18, 2020, 06:53:38 PM »
A couple weeks sure, but is keeping multiple months of food normally a prudent thing to do?  It has never been necessary in my life prior to covid, so wasn't really something I had ever seriously considered.

Keeping multiple months of basics is completely normal for me. It's much cheaper to buy in bulk and on sale. I have room for it, but to be honest, it doesn't even take up that much space. And more importantly, it simplifies my life enormously if I only have to buy certain items 2-3 times/ year. That would include rice, flour, sugar, dried beans, jam, canned goods, as well as TP and cleaning supplies. If meat is on sale then I stock up on that too.

It means that I don't have to think about those things AT ALL during my regular small shopping trips for fresh items. It makes regular shopping simple and fun. I never have to rack my brain to remember to pick up TP or a jar of jam because I know I already have those things.

None of that was something I've ever had to spend time thinking about either though.  If we were cooking/eating and saw that something was running low, we just write it down on the grocery list that's on a magnet on the fridge.  Same if TP or any other thing was running out.  I never had to rack my brain for anything, it just went on the list.  When you're keeping vast quantities of perishables, you've got to make sure it's not going bad.  Flour goes bad in a couple years, canned stuff goes bad, oats go off in flavour after 6-8 months, etc.  Seems like much more of a pain in the ass way to have to live.

You are totally right about the list thing. I'm remembering back to my disorganized past, when I had little kids and was completely frazzled, sick and sleep-deprived. I was always stopping by the grocery store on my way home from work trying to think of what we might need!

I eventually got myself organized -- and part of that was keeping the pantry stocked. It's not vast quantities -- it's a very narrow pantry closet. Things definitely keep for 2-6 months without loss of flavour or quality, and I assure you nothing ever goes bad (or gets thrown out). And I make a lot fewer shopping trips. It's the exact opposite of a "pain in the ass". This works better for me.
« Last Edit: July 18, 2020, 06:55:10 PM by centwise »

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #52 on: July 19, 2020, 05:10:34 AM »
For me, the hardest thing to keep on hand is dairy products and produce. We have done curbside and have had Peapod delivery and I did go to the store a few times. I also signed up for Imperfect Foods which is a hodge podge every week of choices. They may offer meat, fish, cheese, vegetables but it doesn't seem abundant. Kind of like first come, first served. A year ago I was getting Misfits which is another vegetable delivery service but you had no choice. You got what they sent which is great if you like what you get. I am not a big fan of zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant which was sent in almost every box. I was constantly trying to find recipes to use up the stuff. So,  I finally gave Misfits up. The next spring I bought into a CNA which is a local farm on my street. It was very good but kind of ran into the same issues of too many vegetables that I really didn't want. So, did not sign up this year.

It is just the two of us and we are not big milk drinkers. But we do use it to make some recipes and need milk on hand. I decided to buy a case of the 8 oz. tetra pack boxes of milk. It has worked out fabulously! It is always fresh because I only open what I need and nothing goes bad!

I have a small garden and tomatoes is my favorite thing to grow. I have discovered that next year I need to grow cherry tomatoes so I can have tomatoes for my salads before the larger variety of tomatoes becomes ripe. Cherry tomatoes are usually abundant and come early. I have some lettuce growing but started it late. I need to investigate more about growing lettuce and different varieties.

I wish I could find an online service that mailed out yogurt, cheese, cream cheese and other dairy choices.

It is about time I do another Peapod order and when I do, I do order a lot to keep stocked up and also to avoid too many delivery charges. The drawback of Peapod is that during the first months of the virus they were also short of items. You would place your order and when it arrived you were missing tons of things. You weren't charged of course but it stinks when you thoughtfully shop on line and plan for meals then the items are not available. Some of the missing items were the very reason I ordered from Peapod, dairy, cheese, some produce missing!

Poundwise

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #53 on: July 19, 2020, 07:11:08 AM »
It's probably not hoarding, but opportunism, but a friend of mine is very bitter on the subject of people buying up the kiddie pools at Walmart and Target, and then reselling them at huge markups on ebay.

A good place to go if you're trying to stock up is restaurant supply stores.

Poundwise

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #54 on: July 19, 2020, 07:19:14 AM »
I'm also  somebody who always buys in bulk anyway. So I didn't change my life much. The only annoying thing is we happened to be a little low on TP when the lockdown began, so we were living a square at a time for a while.

We also donate excess to the food pantry, so the food stays fresh.

When our area began to reopen, I had to restock, which meant taking my husband to Costco and doing a couple of two cart runs.

Dicey

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #55 on: July 19, 2020, 07:48:03 AM »
25lb bags of rice are completely normal in Asian households :)

I stocked up on cereal, because our local Wegmans ran out of my favorite (Fall Harvest) at one point, so now I have maybe a couple of months worth in the house.

Nothing else, really. We went to Costco a couple of months ago, and next time we go I'll buy more toilet paper and paper towels, but I always do that. We have plenty of room to store paper products, so we usually have a six-month supply sitting around.

One thing I stopped buying is chocolate, and candy in general. I've lost 28lbs in the past twelve weeks, and I need to keep it off!
Congratulations!

Sibley

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #56 on: July 19, 2020, 07:55:55 AM »
I think we should ask the folks in say Detroit who encountered stripped shelves in their stores for weeks on end how much of a supply of staples at home would be “prudence” versus hoarding.

My parents are in the Detroit area, and they are highest of high risk for covid. They've been doing grocery delivery or pickups for months now. I've advised them to do a couple big orders and build up some stock. The memory of not being able to get basics is very fresh in their minds. I had to ship them cat food in March. They will be visiting me this week, and there's a few things that I've already set aside for them to take home because it's just not available in their stores, pandemic or not.

partgypsy

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #57 on: July 19, 2020, 08:09:17 AM »
For me, other than a few staples (flour, rice, some canned goods) it doesn't work well for me to have a lot of extra food, bc it's hard to keep track of and I don't want to waste food. I did make some larger groc trips at the beginning including shelf stable plant milk because I thought we may have to stay at home up to 4 weeks. And that first month after stocking up maybe went shopping 2 times. Anyways ive been stretching out going yo groc store, no more than once a week. Might mean we run out of fresh produce, bread and or milk, but not a big deal if it's just a couple days. We are eating pretty well actually (doing more cooking/baking). As far as tp I order a box of the more environmentally friendly to every few months from Amazon. I had ordered before covid hit, and the next time I ordered (April) no shortage. Maybe it's not people's favorite or something.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2020, 08:15:42 AM by partgypsy »

OtherJen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #58 on: July 19, 2020, 08:10:42 AM »
We were among the luckier people in the Detroit area. No kids (so milk shortages weren't an issue), we don't eat normal bread, and we had access to warehouse clubs and independent stores, plus I have the schedule freedom to shop at off hours. I was never able to get everything on my list (and still can't always), but I was always able to get enough.

Still, it was very sobering to see empty shelves and cases, but often one or two things would be gone at a time: one week, there would be no chicken but a full case of ground turkey, another week the chicken would be stocked but there were no pork products, and then all of the meat would be stocked but there would be no dairy products. Some weeks there were pallets of canned beans, other weeks: nothing. I could only get yogurt, dried beans, and canned tomatoes at a small independent store for several weeks. It was about 5 or 6 weeks before I could get toilet paper of any kind, and by that point we had split our bulk pack with my parents and I needed to restock both houses. So yeah, I'm stocking up on various things because I fully expect another panic and more shortages this fall.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #59 on: July 19, 2020, 09:18:38 AM »
Milk freezes quite well. Use wide mouth canning jars and don’t fill them all the way up. Cheeses also freezes well. Blocks of cheese are a little crumbly, but bags of shredded cheese are absolutely fine.

Dicey

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #60 on: July 19, 2020, 09:33:37 AM »
Milk freezes quite well. Use wide mouth canning jars and don’t fill them all the way up. Cheeses also freezes well. Blocks of cheese are a little crumbly, but bags of shredded cheese are absolutely fine.
For milk, plastic is more forgiving. Just pour a little off and freeze in the original container. For cheese, grate, then spread out on a cookie sheet and flash freeze. Once it's frozen, pour into a zippy bag and put it back in the freezer. Easy peasy. No need to defrost before use, just take out what you want.

Oh, and be sure to defrost the frozen milk completely and shake furiously before using.

Dave1442397

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #61 on: July 19, 2020, 09:49:40 AM »

Christof

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #62 on: July 19, 2020, 01:49:10 PM »
We stocked dried milk powder. It‘s not the same as fresh, organic milk, but good enough as a backup. Bonus is we can store it for over a year.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #63 on: July 19, 2020, 03:58:15 PM »
Milk freezes quite well. Use wide mouth canning jars and don’t fill them all the way up. Cheeses also freezes well. Blocks of cheese are a little crumbly, but bags of shredded cheese are absolutely fine.
For milk, plastic is more forgiving. Just pour a little off and freeze in the original container. For cheese, grate, then spread out on a cookie sheet and flash freeze. Once it's frozen, pour into a zippy bag and put it back in the freezer. Easy peasy. No need to defrost before use, just take out what you want.

Oh, and be sure to defrost the frozen milk completely and shake furiously before using.

We don't go through milk very fast - it's cheapest if I buy a gallon and freeze it in two or three cup jars (I have tons of them.)

Trudie

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #64 on: July 19, 2020, 05:42:46 PM »
We’re pretty well stocked, but not hoarding.  We live in a Covid hotspot, so I am in no hurry to go out to the stores.  It’s also a university town, so I expect things to get way worse before they get better...especially this fall when students return and we start seeing flu on top of everything else.  So, I’m starting to be strategic with purchases and am getting a few extras here and there.  I need to peruse our drug cabinet and make sure we’re set.  I’ve been able to get everything except lemon ammonia, which I use to deodorize workout clothes.

Part of it for me is that I just find going out way more stressful than I used to.  I prefer to avoid the experience.  I also think it’s more difficult for families with children, so I am happy to stay out of the mix.  I think behavior will get more frantic with the return to school.  There is a lot of planning and anxiety for families.  Oddly enough, I think it may lead to some panic at the stores.

LaineyAZ

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #65 on: July 19, 2020, 05:50:37 PM »
….
What unique things have some of you stocked up on?

Items I'm looking to stock up on now before Fall include
a) over-the-counter medicines for cold and flu.  I think when regular flu season hits it's going to be a panic to figure out whether it's regular flu or Covid-19, so everyone who is even slightly sick will be buying all of the OTC meds; 

b)  some gardening seeds and starter plants.  Here in metro Phoenix that will be our growing season so I'd like to plant a few things like tomatoes and green onions.  Wish I had more space and some decent desert gardening knowledge, but that will be a 2021 goal.

The other aspect we haven't talked about much is job loss.  Tens of millions have lost their jobs, and a well-stocked pantry can at least be a buffer for some of that immediate need. 
What's the expression - our society is 9 missed meals away from chaos?

Dicey

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #66 on: July 19, 2020, 07:35:41 PM »
Milk freezes quite well. Use wide mouth canning jars and don’t fill them all the way up. Cheeses also freezes well. Blocks of cheese are a little crumbly, but bags of shredded cheese are absolutely fine.
For milk, plastic is more forgiving. Just pour a little off and freeze in the original container. For cheese, grate, then spread out on a cookie sheet and flash freeze. Once it's frozen, pour into a zippy bag and put it back in the freezer. Easy peasy. No need to defrost before use, just take out what you want.

Oh, and be sure to defrost the frozen milk completely and shake furiously before using.

We don't go through milk very fast - it's cheapest if I buy a gallon and freeze it in two or three cup jars (I have tons of them.)
When I was single, it drove me nuts to waste milk, so I used to buy quarts, even though they were more expensive. If I had to leave for a trip, I just tossed the container in the freezer. Now we blow through Costco 2-half gallon packs with ease, and bonus kid doesn't like the taste of powdered milk/won't drink it, even though I am a fan for its shelf stability.

Blah, blah, blah...all of that was preamble to one of my favorite frugal things. I started buying quarts of milk in plastic jugs with handles and screw tops. I wash them thoroughly, refill with water and freeze. I've found four of them fit across the bottom of my travel cooler and will keep food cold for 8-10 hours, which is awesome! I throw a couple of them into lined freezer bags when I do my regular grocery shopping as well. They store really neatly in the freezer. I guess I got my money's worth out of those more expensive quarts of milk after all.

Cgbg

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #67 on: July 19, 2020, 08:38:13 PM »
I assume that the fall will be bad. I’m all good on shelf stable items for the rest of 2020, including holiday baking.

I created a dinner meal plan for every day of every week between now and January. I went to Costco last week for the last time until 2021. Lunch is always leftovers and we are both pretty set on breakfast rotations and none of that involves cereal. I just made sure my pantry and freezers have enough to carry us through 2020. I’m done going into grocery stores for the year.

Now, to be sure, I don’t have a holiday ham or turkey in my chest freezer but that’s ok because I still intend to have a small curbside order each week to 2 weeks.  It’s just the two of us so we have plenty of storage room. If the college aged kids come home, I think I’ll still have enough since we will be more into soups, stews and chili for the fall and I can never really make a small batch.

Realistically my meal plan will last for longer as we tend to have one to two leftover dinner nights each week. I’m still trying to scale down meals from when we had two teenage boys living here.

I also bought a couple of day old chicks about 10 days ago. They’ll be ready to lay eggs in November so I shouldn’t run out of those either. My excuse was that I had two broody hens so naturally baby chicks made sense. But the bonus is that I’ll have a steady supply of eggs when my older hens and my younger hens take a break.

MyAlterEgoIsTaller

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #68 on: July 20, 2020, 01:22:07 PM »
I have a friend who is convinced there will be no food, gasoline, heating fuel, or electricity by winter.  He and his wife bought a giant freezer and filled it full of meat, and bought a generator to keep the freezer going, and solar panels to keep the generator going...  As a mostly-vegetarian I'm not too impressed with this - though I guess if things devolve to the level he's predicting, I know where to find some meat.

I live where there are big snow storms and long power outages, and I'm not close to stores so I was already in the habit of infrequent stock-ups of large-ish quantities.  Back when stay-home started it was winter and I was already prepared with a good 2 to 4 week supply of most everything.  The only thing I went a little crazy on was cat food - I saw it out of stock most places online, so when I found some I bought a couple huge bags.  That was irrational hoarder panic, since half the time my cat turns her nose up at what I offer and catches herself a chipmunk for breakfast.

Now my grocery stores are still out of disinfecting wipes, but I'm a one-person household, working at home, and going virtually nowhere since March, so I have no pressing need to disinfect much. Everything else that disappeared for a time is back now in my usual stores - paper products, baking supplies, rice and beans.  But seeing what happened in the spring has made me want to stockpile just a little more of those things than usual for the fall and winter.

Runrooster

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #69 on: July 20, 2020, 07:36:53 PM »
I can't even think about hoarding yet, I'm still using up the supplies I bought during the empty grocery stores in March!
I bought/have left:
1. 6 frozen pizzas/2 left - I thought I'd be needing junk food once a week at least.
2. 4 pints haagen dazs /4 left - I ate 3, was given 3 more.
3. 6 boxes cereal/6 left - My Mom used to eat Cheerios like popcorn, with salt added.  Plus I think 3 were free and 3 were really cheap. Turns out she has a food sensitivity to oatmeal.  I started eating it for dessert yesterday.
4.lots of toilet paper/ lots of toilet paper - I think we have a 6 month supply, assuming no one else in our family needs it.
5. 20 pounds rice/ 15 pounds left - this is just normal shopping for us, usually lasts a year
6. various beans- this one I might could stock up on, as my Mom is only eating 4 of the many beans we have, but the stores didn't run low last time.
7. 15 cans beans/8 can beans - I actually would stock up on these if I saw good prices but I haven't.  Before they would come down to 33 cents a can, now they're 89 cents.  If the worst happens, I'll be out of work and will have time to pressure cook beans anyway.
8. yeast flour plenty- didnt use this as no one felt like baking and found good deals on sourdough bread
9. eggs /4dozen- so these have gotten cheap at times but I have no interest in freezing eggs, guess we'll have to eat the cost
10 various soup, pasta, frozen veg-I didnt buy extra nor did I use more. we eat mostly fresh fruit and veg and there wasnt a shortage yet.
11. ETA 30 granola bars, 3 bags chocolate - have about a 6 month supply at the rate I usually eat them

I probably forgot something but what else should I stockpile?
« Last Edit: July 21, 2020, 06:02:16 AM by Runrooster »

MonkeyJenga

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #70 on: July 20, 2020, 08:24:17 PM »
I usually never keep much food on hand. Anything that's too snacky, I'll eat immediately, and anything too ingredient-y, I may never get around to turning into food. But now I'm stocking up on enough food and hygiene supplies to last through winter, in case fall harvests are interrupted or supply chains fail. The freezer is small, so everything's gotta be shelf-stable. Thankfully most things will keep for at least a year. For things like milk and eggs, I'm looking into vegan alternatives.

I'm not buying out the entire store, but I'm adding extras to my weekly grocery order. Bf and I are also preparing for winter gardening, so we can grow some fresh greens. We're kinda sorta preparing to dehydrate large amounts of gleaned fruit, but ugh it's such a pain... Avoiding scurvy would be real nice, though. Plus, free food!

Missy B

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #71 on: July 20, 2020, 11:58:06 PM »
Costco has been vewwy, vewwy quiet lately. Went from lineups all the time to no line at all, even though they haven't increased the numbers allowed in. I assume that people made multiple stocking-up trips and are feeling relaxed at the moment, because our cases are still low.
There's some things on sale I think I'll get this weekend. Cases have started climbing here, and while I'm not personally afraid to grocery shop I'm concerned the numbers may trigger more panic buying from people.

The key new difference in my province, like so many other places, is stupid 20-30 year olds having parties and spreading their COVID all around. Their stupidity and selfishness can easily destroy the livelihoods of millions of people in my province alone.
More taxes for them.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #72 on: July 21, 2020, 06:54:32 AM »
Costco has been vewwy, vewwy quiet lately. Went from lineups all the time to no line at all, even though they haven't increased the numbers allowed in. I assume that people made multiple stocking-up trips and are feeling relaxed at the moment, because our cases are still low.
There's some things on sale I think I'll get this weekend. Cases have started climbing here, and while I'm not personally afraid to grocery shop I'm concerned the numbers may trigger more panic buying from people.

The key new difference in my province, like so many other places, is stupid 20-30 year olds having parties and spreading their COVID all around. Their stupidity and selfishness can easily destroy the livelihoods of millions of people in my province alone.
More taxes for them.

So much this.  My province (Ontario)  has almost 90% of new cases under 60.  I'm  betting on Canada Day celebrations being a contributor, there were 2 big ones (unauthorized) in Ottawa, plus lots of neighbourhood ones.  And the usual, bars and restaurants.

I'm stockpiling a bit as I shop.  If I see something on sale that I normally eat, something that keeps, I am buying extra.  If nothing else it will cut down on the winter driving.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #73 on: July 21, 2020, 08:58:37 AM »
PDXTabs, I also have had a hard time finding Lysol wipes. Don't know if you are interested but what I did was buy baby wipes. I got the Walmart brand. Then I poured rubbing alcohol into the container. Maybe 6 ounces, enough to saturate all the wipes. I use that to wipe down things. Probably not approved by hospital standards but works for me!

Early on, I had to use cloth wipes with a spray bottle of water on my baby's butt for over a month because baby wipes were so impossible to find, since people were using them like lysol wipes.  I don't cloth diaper, so that was fun to deal with as laundry.

I've never used a sanitizing wipe.  If you are making your own anyway- why not use a rag? Or paper towels?  Why buy baby wipes that people need for babies?

the_fixer

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #74 on: July 21, 2020, 09:50:09 AM »
Count me in the group that has stocked up compared to the past.

Normally we would keep a weeks worth of food in the house, last winter we started batch cooking and vacuum packing portions so we would eat better so we have a good supply of precooked meals

Then late April / early March watching covid start I bought a little bit extra each trip so we would have a good base of 3+ months worth of rice, beans, nuts, oatmeal, coffee and the basics.

As things went on i had a hard time finding some basics that I needed to make our favorite batch meals such as crushed tomatoes or chicken stock and we just about ran out of precooked meals so now that things have simmered down a bit I have purchased extras of those items that we use regularly and we have been making more batch meals.

Isopropyl - we had one bottle, could not find any and ran out so now that it is popping up every once in a while I have bought a few extra bottles.

My laundry detergent ran out and went MIA on the shelves for a while and I breakout in horrible hives from most laundry detergent so when it came back in stock I grabbed a few extra bottles.

My goal is to avoid the store as much as possible and have a little extra of critical items to hold us over if things go out of stock.

Now if you asked the instacart delivery person that delivered my Costco order last month she would probably say I am a hoarder considering she thought she was delivering to a business :)

But hey, it’s once every month 1/2 to two months for my big order
Last month...
6 cases of lacroix (we go through one a week)
6 cases of coke
8 128 oz cans of crushed tomatoes (already half gone 2 weeks later)
60 eggs
2 flats of sunchips
2 cases of chicken stock
15 lbs of potatoes
22 evol breakfast burritos (We eat one for breakfat every other day)
Olive oil
16 lbs of mixed frozen fruit (daily smoothies for lunch)
2 large jars of peanut butter
3 64 oz almond milk
4 lbs of butter
Lots of cheese
Large container of chilli powder
Large container of cumin
Large container of bay leaves
Bag of onions
Bag of garlic
Bale of bounty select a size
Bale of toilet paper
2 whole chickens


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Captain Cactus

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #75 on: July 21, 2020, 10:15:08 AM »
I just went onto the Bob's Red Mill website to check out their bulk items (ie oat meal, musli, etc...) and was disappointed to see shipping was over $30+ for any bulk items...items not considered bulk had free shipping if over $50. 

Any recommendations for ordering bulk organic items online?  I don't want to step foot into a Costco/BJs, etc...

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #76 on: July 21, 2020, 10:18:51 AM »
I just went onto the Bob's Red Mill website to check out their bulk items (ie oat meal, musli, etc...) and was disappointed to see shipping was over $30+ for any bulk items...items not considered bulk had free shipping if over $50. 

Any recommendations for ordering bulk organic items online?  I don't want to step foot into a Costco/BJs, etc...

Try this place:
https://pleasanthillgrain.com/buy-oat-groats-rolled-organic-superpail-sale-bulk

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #77 on: July 21, 2020, 12:16:35 PM »

I probably forgot something but what else should I stockpile?

I'm new to stockpiling anything other than grains and legumes.  One of our favorite new "stockpile" items is organic strawberry jam from Costco.  You can use it in the normal way on sandwiches and toast, add it to yogurt, make jam tarts (crostata) or homemade pop tarts, make flaky turnovers, put it on ice cream, flavor a smoothie, make thumbprint cookies, and more.  Mostly we add it to homemade yogurt.  I've been topping up the case I bought as we go through it, but on my next Costco trip I'll buy a second case.

We're trying to set ourselves up to need nothing other than perishables by the beginning of September, with 6 - 12 months worth of pantry and freezer foods stored, plus OTC medications, cleaning supplies, etc.  Call it hoarding if people must, but we plan on shopping this way well into the future -- it saves time and money, and we're done with replicating the once a week (or more often) shopping model.  If I can afford to buy a year's worth of jam in one go and have space to store it, why shop for it weekly/monthly?  It doesn't seem all that different from canning it myself for the year (except this jam is less expensive than starting with strawberries).

mountain mustache

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #78 on: July 21, 2020, 12:29:56 PM »

I probably forgot something but what else should I stockpile?

 One of our favorite new "stockpile" items is organic strawberry jam from Costco.  You can use it in the normal way on sandwiches and toast, add it to yogurt, make jam tarts (crostata) or homemade pop tarts, make flaky turnovers, put it on ice cream, flavor a smoothie, make thumbprint cookies, and more.  Mostly we add it to homemade yogurt.  I've been topping up the case I bought as we go through it, but on my next Costco trip I'll buy a second case.
.

This jam is so good! And SO affordable, and low(er) in sugar. I always buy two jars at a time. My pandemic "hoarding" list has 3x Costco strawberry jam jars haha.

mm1970

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #79 on: July 21, 2020, 01:07:08 PM »
You might think we are stockpiling cheese when we go to Costco, but no.  We just eat a lot of cheese.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #80 on: July 21, 2020, 01:31:34 PM »
I like how this thread turned pro-hoarding. LOL

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #81 on: July 21, 2020, 02:27:34 PM »
You might think we are stockpiling cheese when we go to Costco, but no.  We just eat a lot of cheese.

Same here.  I did stockpile Tillamook cheese when I finally went to Costco in mid-May after not having been since early March, but that's because most other cheddar cheeses are disappointing.  We like Tillamook so much I shred and freeze it so we have have the convenience of shredded cheese at the block Tillamook price.  But we also buy the sliced Tillamook at Costco.  I need to buy 2-3 of those a month (it seems my youngest is living on cheese these days, he polished off 2.5# of sliced cheese in 13 days earlier this month).  If I hadn't bought so much in May, my monthly cheese from Costco would easily be 12 - 15#.

mm1970

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #82 on: July 21, 2020, 02:30:53 PM »
You might think we are stockpiling cheese when we go to Costco, but no.  We just eat a lot of cheese.

Same here.  I did stockpile Tillamook cheese when I finally went to Costco in mid-May after not having been since early March, but that's because most other cheddar cheeses are disappointing.  We like Tillamook so much I shred and freeze it so we have have the convenience of shredded cheese at the block Tillamook price.  But we also buy the sliced Tillamook at Costco.  I need to buy 2-3 of those a month (it seems my youngest is living on cheese these days, he polished off 2.5# of sliced cheese in 13 days earlier this month).  If I hadn't bought so much in May, my monthly cheese from Costco would easily be 12 - 15#.
We buy the Costco brand block cheese, but accidentally got Tillamook once when someone put a block there and swapped.  Not that we don't like the good stuff, we just buy the regular. 

Right before we went on quarantine, we bought the shredded colby jack (what, 4 lbs ?  8 lbs?)  The two-pack.  I've lost count of how many we go through in a month now.  Quesadillas, nachos, mac and cheese, scrambled eggs, burritos...

PDXTabs

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #83 on: July 21, 2020, 02:31:05 PM »
Same here.  I did stockpile Tillamook cheese when I finally went to Costco in mid-May after not having been since early March, but that's because most other cheddar cheeses are disappointing.

You should try the Kerrygold (from Costco).

GuitarStv

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #84 on: July 21, 2020, 06:36:36 PM »
Huh.  I thought American cheeses all came in spreadable jar based form.  :P

Runrooster

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #85 on: July 21, 2020, 07:02:09 PM »

I'm new to stockpiling anything other than grains and legumes.  One of our favorite new "stockpile" items is organic strawberry jam from Costco.  You can use it in the normal way on sandwiches and toast, add it to yogurt, make jam tarts (crostata) or homemade pop tarts, make flaky turnovers, put it on ice cream, flavor a smoothie, make thumbprint cookies, and more.  Mostly we add it to homemade yogurt.  I've been topping up the case I bought as we go through it, but on my next Costco trip I'll buy a second case.

Thanks for the idea.  I see it gets rave reviews on the internet too.  Just not big jam eaters.  I buy yogurt pre-made, ditto turnovers.   I also don't eat bread too often and like it savory when I do.  I also eat a lot of fresh strawberries, my favorite fruit, so the jam seems superfluous.  I did buy 2 jars of fig jam 2 years ago; went through one.  Have to remember to pull out the second one for the rare bread eating. 

I did like the salsa idea; not sure if I'll buy some but I may stockpile canned tomatoes if I find the right kind.  I have 5 cans, I can easily go through double that.  Well, not easily - my Mom is allergic to the salt in there, and in canned spaghetti sauce of which I bought 4 bottles after cleaning out the 4 we had lying around.

Steeze

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #86 on: July 21, 2020, 07:05:49 PM »
I went to throw the trash out today and someone in my building threw out 4 giant sized cans of marinara sauce - unopened ... it was 100+ degrees out, think they are still good?

Seems like they were throwing out the hoard! Should at least donate it sheesh.

Poundwise

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #87 on: July 21, 2020, 08:14:58 PM »
Did you check the expiration date on the jars? Some people take those seriously.  I personally would eat marinara sauce past the sell by date, but wouldn't donate it because food pantries wouldn't take it and also it doesn't seem right to give old food.

Papa bear

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #88 on: July 21, 2020, 08:35:27 PM »
I just went onto the Bob's Red Mill website to check out their bulk items (ie oat meal, musli, etc...) and was disappointed to see shipping was over $30+ for any bulk items...items not considered bulk had free shipping if over $50. 

Any recommendations for ordering bulk organic items online?  I don't want to step foot into a Costco/BJs, etc...

Try this place:
https://pleasanthillgrain.com/buy-oat-groats-rolled-organic-superpail-sale-bulk
Has anyone bought from this place?

https://www.webstaurantstore.com

I’ve been looking at giant bags of oatmeal...


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PDXTabs

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #89 on: July 21, 2020, 08:58:50 PM »
I personally would eat marinara sauce past the sell by date, but wouldn't donate it because food pantries wouldn't take it and also it doesn't seem right to give old food.

Some will for sure, Boulder Food Rescue comes to mind.

the_fixer

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #90 on: July 21, 2020, 09:13:21 PM »
I just went onto the Bob's Red Mill website to check out their bulk items (ie oat meal, musli, etc...) and was disappointed to see shipping was over $30+ for any bulk items...items not considered bulk had free shipping if over $50. 

Any recommendations for ordering bulk organic items online?  I don't want to step foot into a Costco/BJs, etc...

Try this place:
https://pleasanthillgrain.com/buy-oat-groats-rolled-organic-superpail-sale-bulk
Has anyone bought from this place?

https://www.webstaurantstore.com

I’ve been looking at giant bags of oatmeal...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I purchased my vacuum packing machine and bags from them everything arrived in good order and timely.

No idea on food but I am happy with the equipment.


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Nickyd£g

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #91 on: July 22, 2020, 08:02:52 AM »
I had been prepping for Brexit for about a year when Covid hit and must say I was bloody delighted I had supplies in and didn't have to brave the screaming crowds or miss out on loo roll. I'm back to prepping for Brexit again, should have about 6 months worth of food, meds, toiletries and household goods by December.

Poundwise

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #92 on: July 22, 2020, 09:47:24 AM »
I like how this thread turned pro-hoarding. LOL

Ha ha, what do you expect! MMM is all about hoarding followed by controlled consumption. We are a group self selected to be pro-hoarding. Even more amusing is how many of us were food and supplies hoarders before the pandemic, so that it involved little change of lifestyle (myself also guilty as charged.)

Dicey

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #93 on: July 23, 2020, 08:35:42 AM »
I like how this thread turned pro-hoarding. LOL

Ha ha, what do you expect! MMM is all about hoarding followed by controlled consumption. We are a group self selected to be pro-hoarding. Even more amusing is how many of us were food and supplies hoarders before the pandemic, so that it involved little change of lifestyle (myself also guilty as charged.)
Ha! Nailed it. When my family used to tease me, I'd retort that I had what the Mormons would charitably call a "good start". No one's laughing at me now.

PoutineLover

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #94 on: July 23, 2020, 08:58:06 AM »
I wouldn't say that I hoard, but I do keep a good supply of food on hand at all times. I like to have stuff like meat in the freezer, flour, rice, canned goods and pasta. Generally it's just so that I never NEED to go shopping for any given meal, there's always something in the house to make. Since the pandemic started, it definitely made me want to keep more food available, especially when things are hard to find and I don't want to shop as often. Can't really qualify it as hoarding though, since my apartment is small and I don't have room for a big stash. I'm really annoyed at the people who bought tons of shit that they didn't need/wouldn't eat just because they were panicking.
Early on when shelves were almost empty I saw someone with an entire cart full of chicken that was on sale, leaving none for anyone else. I hope they were cooking for a group home other something, because otherwise it was an unreasonable amount.

OtherJen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #95 on: July 23, 2020, 09:50:33 AM »
I wouldn't say that I hoard, but I do keep a good supply of food on hand at all times. I like to have stuff like meat in the freezer, flour, rice, canned goods and pasta. Generally it's just so that I never NEED to go shopping for any given meal, there's always something in the house to make.

Yeah, I always kept a wide variety of items for versatility -as soon as I ran out of something, I replaced it- but never kept a deep stock of most food items. The pandemic has definitely changed that.

kanga1622

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #96 on: July 23, 2020, 10:56:39 AM »
This thread may have turned not pro-hoarding (as most of us would be willing to share with family/friends/neighbors in need) but pro-planning.

I grew up in a tiny town that had a grocery store for a good portion of my childhood. When that closed and it was a 25 mile drive to the nearest grocery store, we learned to keep bookshelves in the basement with our usual food supplies (canned soup, tomato sauce, pasta, baking supplies, etc.) and we had 2 upright freezers full of meat. Pretty normal for people in farm country. Not a lot different from my grandfather that had a prolific garden and would can hundreds of jars of tomato juice, chili starter, pickles, vegetable juice, whole tomatoes, salsa, etc.

I still have that mentality even though I can literally see Walmart from my backyard. I don't want to run to the store for 1-2 items. So we've always kept a decent pantry stock and our upright freezer is full of several ingredients but also leftovers in single serve portions for those nights I don't feel like cooking. The only COVID related switch for me is keeping a higher threshold on my stock level and shopping every 2 weeks rather than once per week.

Honestly, if I felt safe going to Costco right now, we'd probably have a lot more stockpiled. :)

OtherJen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #97 on: July 23, 2020, 11:06:21 AM »
Honestly, if I felt safe going to Costco right now, we'd probably have a lot more stockpiled. :)

If it eases your mind, Costco has been one of my safest and easiest shopping experiences since this began. They imposed a strict mask requirement at all stores back in April. It's worth a try if you can go at an off hour (I like weekday mornings).

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #98 on: July 23, 2020, 11:58:55 AM »
Honestly, if I felt safe going to Costco right now, we'd probably have a lot more stockpiled. :)

If it eases your mind, Costco has been one of my safest and easiest shopping experiences since this began. They imposed a strict mask requirement at all stores back in April. It's worth a try if you can go at an off hour (I like weekday mornings).

+1

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #99 on: July 23, 2020, 12:35:40 PM »
I am stocked up to the moon here but I just found out that I am out of a certain soup that I like. I am like, OMG, how did that happen! I actually ran out of something! So now I have to stock up on that. By the way, have any of you tried buying cans or jarred products at Walmart online? That is a disaster. They will throw glass jars of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the box. No packaging materials, no dividers, no cardboard/bubble wrap to protect the jars. Just all tossed in the bottom and shipped. I have received quite a few shipments of jars broken, lids popped off and a box full of sauce. I do not understand why they do this. I have called repeatedly to get refunds, complained of the condition of the broken jars, etc. They always say they will report it. They just don't care! The cans come extremely dented like they went thru a war zone. GRRRRR!!!