Grocery shopping during Coronavirus?

[Beautifulwaters]

I’m sorry for bringing this topic to the budget board but this is uncharted territory and I really don’t know what to do.

My husband criticized me today for going to the grocery store for the second time in a week. I went Thursday to BJ’s and picked up enough to last us about a week and a half while being careful to leave enough for others. I usually only go once a week and try to budget shop as much as I can however the current circumstances have drastically changed how I normally shop. I went at 7:30 this morning and many shelves were empty. I was glad to be able to pick up a few frozen meals even though it’s not something I would ever buy because they are so processed. I’m only attempting to have two weeks of food on hand. I don’t think I’m being extreme but I’m trying to stay slightly ahead of things. Husband thinks we should just continue as normal. Do others out there agree? Am I being paranoid?

We are fortunate that it is only the two of us, my heart goes out to all of you will kids and extended family that you may be caring for.

 

[tileman]

I don’t believe your paranoid at all
I myself keep 3 weeks of food on hand for me and my poodle you never know what life will bring and trust me I know.

I just keep rotating the stock it probably took me 3-4 weeks to build it all up. Plus I live about 25 miles from any town
I find it crazy here in Florida a hurricane builds up people have a few days and at the last moment it’s crazy how they run around.

My grandparents also told me not to depend on anyone to help you out always be peppered
That’s how I live

 

[afan]

We've got enough food we could do 2 weeks if we had to but I plan to continue my weekly trips on sunday mornings. I need lettuce, cucumbers, apples, milk and bread, stuff we go through each week that I just can't buy 2 weeks worth at a time. Bread's dates don't always go out that far, not enough room for 2 gallons of milk, I'm lucky to get the lettuce to last for 3 lunches etc. Could we change some of our eating habits if we had to, yes, but for now I'm continuing as normal and shopping the sales to stock up like normal. There weren't many people shopping at 630 am this past sunday and if the hours change to later I'll just go when they open to avoid the crowds again hopefully. I'm also doing all the shopping now so that my mom who's older shouldn't be out. I'll switch to online ordering through amazon if I feel it's necessary but I'd rather someone else not pick out my produce or not pay attention to expiration dates when they pull bread and milk.

 

[Ben E N]

I bought $300 worth of groceries yesterday and came home and told my wife that I hoped I was wasting $50. I bought things like frozen turkey breast that can last a couple of meals if needed.
Weird times we are living in right now.

 

[only hope]

It's a good idea to always have a few weeks worth of food in canned goods and dry goods just in case, plus frozen foods in addition to that. What if someone gets the flu or some other illness and it's better for the entire household to go out as little as possible? What if there's a sudden natural disaster and there are no groceries available? However, stockpiling huge amounts of food doesn't help anybody. I work at a wholesale club and we are completely out of at least 30% of our dry goods, and we can't keep produce and meat in stock. We literally had almost nothing today as we didn't get a truck last night. Our bread is selling out by early afternoon every day. Our milk and egg vendors are having trouble meeting demand. If everyone was just replenishing their 2-week stockpile there would be enough to go around for everyone, but as it is, many don't have the opportunity to get what they actually need. The only people who need to seriously stockpile are those who are immuno-compromised and/or old, because they really should isolate themselves as much as possible til after we hit the peak- which is many weeks away. Hopefully those people have someone that can resupply their perishables for them so they don't have to go out.

 

[bearzabout]

I think there will be shortages in the future. I can’t imagine that out of season fruit and vegetables will be shipped in from South America once stock is depleted from warehouses. I bought some canned and frozen while it is still available just in case fresh produce is no longer available.

I think a reasonable stockpile is a good idea so if the virus becomes more widespread in your area, you won’t need to go out on weekly supply runs.

We set up delivery from Whole Foods for our 92 year old mother. Check out delivery from Krogers also as options if things get worse.

Refrigerate or freeze bread. We will bake our own in a bread machine eventually.

 

[elaine amj]

We purchased enough for a couple of weeks. DH likes to get groceries every 2-3 days. Even after doing a big shop yesterday morning, he was still tempted to go out again today to pick up a couple of things he missed. Funny since he's been preparing for a quarantine for weeks. But still didn't get absolutely everything.

Our entire family is in hunker down mode now and we are not even letting our teens out. I told him he could go at best 1x a week. We will just start a list and do without until we need enough stuff to go again. We have a ton of food. Maybe we'll just need to get more creative. He started saying maybe we could challenge ourselves to empty our freezer. Sounds good to me!

Wish we had some cheese though DS17 made pizza dough from scratch for the first time and it was soooo good! But no more pizza until the next grocery run because we are out of cheese.

Time to get him to bake bread lol

 

[TwoMisfits]

I’m sorry for bringing this topic to the budget board but this is uncharted territory and I really don’t know what to do.

My husband criticized me today for going to the grocery store for the second time in a week. I went Thursday to BJ’s and picked up enough to last us about a week and a half while being careful to leave enough for others. I usually only go once a week and try to budget shop as much as I can however the current circumstances have drastically changed how I normally shop. I went at 7:30 this morning and many shelves were empty. I was glad to be able to pick up a few frozen meals even though it’s not something I would ever buy because they are so processed. I’m only attempting to have two weeks of food on hand. I don’t think I’m being extreme but I’m trying to stay slightly ahead of things. Husband thinks we should just continue as normal. Do others out there agree? Am I being paranoid?

We are fortunate that it is only the two of us, my heart goes out to all of you will kids and extended family that you may be caring for.

In mid-Feb, when I saw this coming, thanks to having a relative in China, I completely cleaned out my medicine cabinet and all the meds in the house, and then placed orders on Amazon to replace them (and purchased 6 months of the multi-vitamin and calcium pills I need every day due to my dairy allergy and lack of a gall bladder - the joys of getting old). Then, my spouse thought I was out to lunch...now, he thinks I didn't buy enough...

Give it a week, and your spouse may be singing a totally different tune...he may be very glad you don't have to make a trip out one week if the outbreak is really bad in your area or truckers have a sick out or something else crazy happens, b/c that's been happening every day lately...

PS - My spouse was also kept up to date by my relative, but there's knowing a thing, and KNOWING a thing...

 

[Traveling on cc points]

It is better to be a little over prepared than a little under prepared.
I was very late to this particular stock piling party as I thought this was way overblown when it started.
luckily, we are Costco shoppers and had just bought a pack of paper towels, toilet paper and a case of bottled water a few days before they started disappearing from the shelves.
since then, I have bought a few back up items on my regular grocery trips that I wouldn’t usually buy as much of like an extra 2 pounds of coffee and a few extra boxes of pasta and cereal.

 

[Dole_whip_doll]

Luckily, earlier this year was a rib glitch at a grocery store and I made a haul there. Then after Christmas Walmart had crazy markdowns on frozen turkeys and hams, and I crazily bought those. Family thought I was nuts then, but they are coming in handy now. 2 weeks ago we started a big list and bought some but then thought it was us being ridiculous and paranoid so stopped. I got home from a Disney trip Friday with orders ready to pick up, and went to the stores Saturday, stayed home sunday, but went out again today. I went to SO many places to buy what I thought I needed. My main worry was cat food and litter for my cats. They can’t use the toilet or understand “hey we gotta eat ketchup sandwiches to get by”. Now my aunt is hounding us because there’s 4 grown people in her house (male cousins are 23 and 25 working but still living at home) but NONE of the men will even think about doing anything for themselves. So now she’s calling us wanting spare TP- she’s down to 2 rolls and all stores are out. Or “ remember when you bought those ribs/hams/turkeys, can I have some? “

 

[unrequited23]

My main worry was cat food and litter for my cats.

I totally get worrying about your pets. I've had luck in the past ordering online from Amazon, Petco and Chewy. You can price compare and it's delivered right to your door. I started doing this when I was 7 months pregnant and didn't feel comfortable hauling 40 lb bags of dog food.

I feel weird holding off on buying things like Gatorade, juice boxes, jello and popsicles that would come in handy if one of us were to get sick because I know my family would probably go through it before we needed it. It's harder to hide things with everyone home all the time.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We're trying to find a balance between your and your husband's point of views. As much as possible, we'd like to carry on as normal, without panic or caving in to the media frenzy. But we also realize that this is a serious situation which requires serious response -- so we are stocking up on certain basic supplies without stockpiling or depriving others. But I think DH didn't quite see things the same way I did (he was more in line with your husband's view) unitl I sent him on a grocery run this past weekend. He was shocked (!) at the empty shelves and came home with barely one bag of items he had scraped together. One of the store employees told him that the store was restocked every morning and by early afternoon, the shelves were mostly empty. Every day. So he went back the next morning and had more success, but still couldn't believe what he was seeing. So now he believes me about planning ahead, but not panic buying. And about picking up any necessities for our older neighbors when he stops at the store.

 

[tzeitel]

We have gone to the stores the last couple of days and stocked up on certain things we usually buy - rice, beans, canned veggies, pasta. We got an extra loaf of bread, chicken, burgers, and steaks and froze them. It was more like padding our pantry since we usually have a good amount of food on hand (we have odd work schedules) Where we live there are not many shopping options and people are going a bit crazy so we thought better safe than sorry.

.Now my aunt is hounding us because there’s 4 grown people in her house (male cousins are 23 and 25 working but still living at home) but NONE of the men will even think about doing anything for themselves. So now she’s calling us wanting spare TP- she’s down to 2 rolls and all stores are out. Or “ remember when you bought those ribs/hams/turkeys, can I have some? “

Tell your aunt and cousins to get to the stores right when they open - you should not be expected to be their pantry just because you planned ahead. This morning we went to our grocery store to check on meat (they were out yesterday) at 7AM and saw 3 pallets of TP sitting in the middle of the store waiting to be put away. Employees are working like crazy restocking what they can. The butcher was putting out meat as well.

 

[lanejudy]

My husband criticized me today for going to the grocery store for the second time in a week. ... Husband thinks we should just continue as normal.

I think you can probably find some middle ground that works for both of you, but first you really need to understand what is his complaint.

1. Is it simply that you shopped twice this week? Maybe he's concerned about you going out and possible exposure. Maybe it's not the extra groceries exactly but he would prefer that you consolidate errands rather than making 2 trips on different days.
2. Or does he not agree with the frozen meals? It sounds like these aren't part of your usual menu and maybe he doesn't really like the idea of prepackage frozen meals as back-up. Depending on what's available for you locally, maybe you can buy meat and freeze it; with just 2 of you, buy a "family pack" of chicken breasts and then divide into freezer bags for portions you would cook at one time. Or if you want ready-to-heat meals, consider making double and freezing the extra - like 2 pans of lasagna, etc.

Good luck and stay healthy!

 

[hsmamato2]

I've grocery shopped 3x in the past week and a half. I normally shop once a week,sometimes less often. Today was my last run...I felt like I needed some items to round out my supplies. I'm always in the 'be prepared for anything' camp anyway,but I needed to reassure myself that I could get thru this with the proper food etc we need. And it soothes my mind knowing I can also share some with family etc if needed. I figure,worst case, I prebought too much, but we will def. use all of this up,no matter what!

 

[scard192]

Lots of stores now have special hours for those over 60; I will be shopping a few of those: Whole Foods and Stop & Shop this weekend. don't need much and won't over buy.

 

[TwoMisfits]

So, my kids ate the one duck in my freezer this week...and loved it. And wanted it for Easter. And now, you can't buy duck anywhere.

So, my spouse approved buying FIVE online to split with 2 of our friends (we're gifting 2 for Easter - my friends already know - and keeping 3) for $99.99. I have NEVER spent that much for a single protein buy. I tell myself it was $40 for 1 duck, anyway (since you had to pay $20 to ship, but free shipping at $99) and it's for a holiday, and we should have something to celebrate...

But, I think all the "normal mental rules" go out the window right now. If you need 6 gallons of milk to feel safe, but no cheese...do that. If you need 10 cans of spam, do that.

I need fresh produce, so I signed up for a weekly box, that I also avoided doing til right now, b/c I love to pick my own...and that's a terrible idea right now...so I'm making due to make myself happy.

I know on Easter, I'll have a crockpot duck with orange sauce, duck fat roasted potatoes, and some sort of fresh fruit salad from the produce box. And that makes me happy...and my kids happy...so if it was $100 to get the duck and have a sense of normalcy on one of our big holidays...it was worth it.

I'd have kept all 5 ducks, but my friends are awesome, and my freezer is limited...so 3 it is...

 

[missnic]

There are just 2 of us, and we absolutely could eat out of our freezer/pantry for a couple weeks at least. But I still did my 'normal' shopping on Sunday. What little of it I could at least. Hardly any fresh produce or meats. Weirdly enough, they were well stocked with dairy and eggs. I'm hoping to be able to find produce sometime soon.
We are also thankfully a low risk category and are both working from home at this point, so I'm not too concerned with having to go out if needed.

 

[gottalovepluto]

There are just 2 of us, and we absolutely could eat out of our freezer/pantry for a couple weeks at least. But I still did my 'normal' shopping on Sunday. What little of it I could at least. Hardly any fresh produce or meats. Weirdly enough, they were well stocked with dairy and eggs. I'm hoping to be able to find produce sometime soon.
We are also thankfully a low risk category and are both working from home at this point, so I'm not too concerned with having to go out if needed.

I tell myself the chickens are gonna keep laying and the cows are gonna keep producing milk so those items I'm not terribly worried about.

I'm convinced I won't be able to buy a banana that isn't green for months though with how those are getting grabbed. What is with the sudden obsession with bananas?

 

[only hope]

There are just 2 of us, and we absolutely could eat out of our freezer/pantry for a couple weeks at least. But I still did my 'normal' shopping on Sunday. What little of it I could at least. Hardly any fresh produce or meats. Weirdly enough, they were well stocked with dairy and eggs. I'm hoping to be able to find produce sometime soon.
We are also thankfully a low risk category and are both working from home at this point, so I'm not too concerned with having to go out if needed.

You probably happened to walk by the dairy department right after it was restocked.