Stocking Up?

[james.hendrickson]

All,

It seems like between inflation and supply chain issues, food costs are going to go up in the next 10 to 12 months.

Are you guys worried about food shortages or inflation related food cost issues at all? Anyone stocking up?

[Jluke]

Feels more like price gouging

[disneysteve]

I think you’re quite late with this post. The supply chain issues have been going on for two years now. The inflation started a long time ago too.

No, we aren’t buying anything extra. We have occasionally had to skip getting something or switch brands when our usual brand wasn’t available, but that’s about it.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

We are stocking up less now than in the past. We really cut back our shopping through this pandemic, so good opportunities to stock up have been infrequent. We're still staying out of public to a large degree, so no leisurely shopping looking for bargains.

There are some one-time only type purchases that I have been making earlier than I think I will need them. So that is not exactly stocking up, but I do see that I have beat inflation by having bought early. For example, the chicken wire is now 20% more than when I bought it. But my reason to buy early has been in order to not get caught waiting on that deteriorated supply chain at a time when I really needed the product. The commercial garden cart I ordered took 2.5 months longer than expected because the maker had an issue with tires and could not get proper ones as instantly as in the past. Glad I ordered well before I needed it.

I am worried about food prices. But I am worried on behalf of the people who are poorly employed or at low wages. In my household, we'll be okay, but not everyone will.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I wish that I could do more "prepping" but I live in a 400 sq ft apartment and I don't have the space. Canned goods maybe a week's supply (I would be more at ease with a month's supply). I keep about $5000 in cash in mostly $1, $5, $10's, etc. Never know when there might be a run on the banks. Lots ammo and a small caliber semi auto pistol. I have some MREs but those things are nasty.

[rob62521]

Even before the Pandemic, we stocked up. I try to keep things on hand. I agree with Joan of the Arch...we might not like the prices, but so far, we can pay for what we buy. But I don't think that is always the case and it is getting scary. I did read an article that over 700 railroaders have quit working for the railways due to some companies being crazy in their new policies. I believe that will also hurt the supply chains.

[Fishindude77]

We live on a rural, raise a big garden, butcher meat, etc. Keeping a well stocked food supply is how many of us rural folks have always operated.

[ua_guy]

All,

It seems like between inflation and supply chain issues, food costs are going to go up in the next 10 to 12 months.

Are you guys worried about food shortages or inflation related food cost issues at all? Anyone stocking up?

No, and nope.

[bjl584]

We tend to stock up when we shop.
It has nothing to do with fear or the pandemic.
We've always shopped this way.
We are members of Sam's and Costco, so we typically buy in bulk.
Both non perishable and perishable items
I have an extra freezer in the basement and my GF does a lot of canning

[rennigade]

I guess we're stocking up on vehicles. My car I drove for the past 14 years died so we purchased a new suv. Month later a family member wanted to get rid of a sedan so we also bought that. Instead of selling it for over blue book nada value, they sold it to me $7k under. Hard to pass up a deal like that. Now we're a 4 car family for 2 people, lol. My daily commuter car is a 2006 so im not entirely sure how long that will last.

[ua_guy]

The one that scares me is natural disasters. Living in the Northwest, the threat of a big earthquake or volcanic eruption is real. We have thought through a few scenarios and most of them look like up to several weeks of being self-sufficient before any significant help might arrive. We've thought through a few different scenarios and try to stay prepared.

I have to laugh. My husband's paternal grandparents got into some weird stuff later in life and went through a lot of "prepping" with their "church", and their property was the designated supply store. They eventually became distanced from that group, but many of the supplies remained. When we had to move them out of their place in 2017 or so, it took us 2 full days to go through their barn, which had the supplies in it. I remember the corner of 55-gallon plastic barrels, sealed, which were full of packages of toilet paper. The jokes were flying all day between the three of us guys, it just seemed so silly to have, literally, truckloads of TP stored up.

Sorry for the wild tangent...it's just interesting to me to hear what other people fear, and what they think they need to be prepared.

[bjl584]

The one that scares me is natural disasters. Living in the Northwest, the threat of a big earthquake or volcanic eruption is real. We have thought through a few scenarios and most of them look like up to several weeks of being self-sufficient before any significant help might arrive. We've thought through a few different scenarios and try to stay prepared.

I have to laugh. My husband's paternal grandparents got into some weird stuff later in life and went through a lot of "prepping" with their "church", and their property was the designated supply store. They eventually became distanced from that group, but many of the supplies remained. When we had to move them out of their place in 2017 or so, it took us 2 full days to go through their barn, which had the supplies in it. I remember the corner of 55-gallon plastic barrels, sealed, which were full of packages of toilet paper. The jokes were flying all day between the three of us guys, it just seemed so silly to have, literally, truckloads of TP stored up.

Sorry for the wild tangent...it's just interesting to me to hear what other people fear, and what they think they need to be prepared.

I'm not a prepper, but I am prepared for an unforeseen event to an extent.
I live in the Northeast, so a winter storm followed by several days without power is not unheard of.
I have a generator, at least 15 gallons of gasoline on hand, a kerosene heater, 5 gallons of kerosene, oil lamps, and a lot canned and dry good foods on hand at all times.

[myrdale]

There are two halves to this conversation. Stocking up for emergency, and stocking up for price increases.

Honestly, trying to stock up because of price increases doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I tend to buy only what I need when I need it, and somehow I still have food spoil / reach exp date on a regular basis. I am afraid that savings of buying extra now will be replaced by the cost of throwing out unused food.

Towards stocking up for emergencies, there are a few separate time frame to look at. Short term (say 48 hours), intermediate (up to 4 weeks), and long term (up to a year).

Everyone should be prepared for 48 hours. Tornadoes, snow storms, heck we even had a snake get in a transformer station and knock the power out for the entire city of Auburn back around 2002 for three days.

With the aftermath of covid, an actual lock down of 4 weeks isn't impossible (it'd be pointless but hey it could happen).

If there was an actual nuclear attack, 4 weeks would be OK depending on how far you are away from the target. I would suggest keeping a flat or two of bottled water on hand. If the power grid fails, so do the city's pumps and thus your water.

Much longer than 4 weeks, preparing for months or years gets exponentially harder and more expensive. Also having 6 months of food on hand for your family gets interesting when you're the only one in the neighborhood that has prepared.

[bjl584]

Much longer than 4 weeks, preparing for months or years gets exponentially harder and more expensive. Also having 6 months of food on hand for your family gets interesting when you're the only one in the neighborhood that has prepared.

I suppose that's where stockpiling weapons comes into play........

[james.hendrickson]

Dang guys - I was just thinking about buying a couple of cases of soup or chili to get ahead of price increases, now we're talking about stockpiling weapons.