Price increases and shortages

Artichoke Lover

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One of the biggest things you need to have is a stock of whatever prescription medications you have to have like heart medication or insulin. Most people only get a 1 month supply of meds but for a lot of medications you can ask your doctor and get a 3 month prescription. People don’t realize a lot of our medications are manufactured in other countries. A family member who is a transplant patient had a lot of trouble finding meds when COVID happened because they were manufactured in an Asian country. Obviously you can’t just stock up on these but you can give yourself a buffer if supplies are out for a few weeks.
 

Gardening with Rabbits

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I only take baby aspirin but I stocked up when the toilet paper thing happened. I do take a lot of vitamins and my chiropractor said he did not think I needed the thyroid vitamins I had been taking and boy that was not fun. I started getting freezing cold and tired. It 2 weeks to get back to normal so I am going to stock extra of that and when I see things on sale I buy extra and I watch the dates. My cat takes a prescription medicine and he has to have an annual checkup every year to get it renewed which will be next week and I am going to ask if I can have extra just in case something happens. I think it is the Mormons but maybe others and they are told to keep a year's worth of things and during Y2K they were told to have 2 years, I think having a year's supply of everything is smart if possible. I do not know what is going to happen, but nothing sounds good and there is no reason to live worrying and wondering when the next event will be. It could happen for 1 town, I state, or 1 family, job loss, weather things, or world wide chaos. I will be shopping this weekend and pay close attention to prices. Last week DS and I were shopping and noticed the trash bags we used went up in price,, the brand of foil we use and oatmeal.
 

Rhodie Ranch

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Good post about meds and OTC's. When Covid was starting, I stocked up on basics. Toothpaste, deodorant, fortified my first aid kit, couldn't find 90% alcohol anywhere so stocked up on peroxide; then when I found 90% a couple of months ago, bought two huge bottles at Wallys. Acetomyphen sp?, aspirin, I simply walked up and down the isles at Wally's and pulled things into my cart.

I was scrubbing old canning jars that I bought a few weeks ago, that were filed with food from '93 and '98. Jars were emptied into my compost pile, and then I soaked the jars for a few days. Anyhoo, I was standing at the sink and was bored so turned on the TV. A show popped up called "Alone" (they were Alaska). I've watched a few episodes and have learned alot!!!! Not that I'll be able to implement most of it, but the experience of watching them doing things could be helpful for this older gal.
 

Rhodie Ranch

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My surprise this year was that my thryoid was low. Never been a problem. So now I eat five brazil nuts a day, and eat a large leaf of dried seaweed (nori) to raise the levels of whatever was low.

Edited to add: how shall I keep my seeds? Old ones are in baby food jars in a tub and kept in the garage in winter and in the house during warm months. Howabout the seeds I bought last year when I was hoarding? I kept them in the freezer, pulled them out recently to start some, and then put them back. ??
 

Rhodie Ranch

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Kroger had Jennie-O turkey breasts for $1.29 a lb (digital deal). I got two. Thawing one to can.
Safeway had Foster Farms (no salt injections) bone in chicken thighs for 99 cents per lb. Three packages of those for processing too.

They also had clearance JO frozen turkeys for $0.49 a lb. Those did have a 5% salt injection. I got one. I'm going to spend the afternoon reorganizing my deep freeze to fit the new turkey in, and see if I have room for another one.

I got two pork loin roasts for $4.63 and $5.02 on clearance at Safeway. Gorgeous pieces of meat. Each one will provide a few meals for SO and I. I also bought two clearance packages of dry lima beans at Freddy's. $1.29 each. Everything got vac packed up when I got home.

Every penny saved is another penny that can be spent later when needed.
 

ducks4you

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Agreed with EVERYBODY!!
Last year I bought a 15 cu ft freezer in May, recd it in September, not filled it yet.
Went to replace my dual tray printer. Vendor couldn't ship bc of inventory. Called them and said the $435.00 printer was on Amazon for $750.00 She said, "scalpers." With everybody working from home, inventory is low.
Went to a local farm implement (read that "tractors and other equipment") store today, the one that sold me my Kubota compact tractor in 2019. I was looking for a replacement riding mower, i.e. mowing tractor.
They had NONE on hand, salesman will get back to me to see if their other stores can ship one.
I will probably be able to buy it within the next month, but they will deliver, and it will have a 4 year warranty, $3.600 OR LESS. The manager said I may be getting a discount.
It's also a Kubota, bottom end, but great for my needs. My used John Deere sometimes takes minutes to start, and I am NOT a small engine mechanic. Time to retire it, and my mechanic friend wants to buy it from me.
Everybody is staying home and working on their houses/yards now, so nobody can keep stock on hand.
 

ducks4you

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By the way, STOP buying from Amazon!!! Like I said above, it is filled with scalpers who buy up supplies, then mete out a few at a time, charging 2x-3x normal prices...kinda like a black market.
ALSO, Amazon sells a LOT of stuff from China.
Office supplies, go to Staples. They have kind of become a monopoly, but they are an American monopoly. They bought up Office Depot.
The more that you buy from them, the more coupons and discounts you get, and shipping is pretty fast.
They have had Daily Deals going on for nearly a decade now.
About 7 years ago, I had a rebate credit card from them, before they stamped the $amount on them. Didn't know how much was left, used it to buy $15.00 worth of office supplies (in store), and they asked me how I wanted to spend the $115.00 that was left on the card.
I ended up buying a wonderful leather office chair for $4.00 more than was on the card. It was 1/2 price that week.
 

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