Back to stocking up

There's a few factors that made me go back into stock up mode again. Delta being the main one. I read international newspapers daily & have seen how Delta has crippled India & the UK. The UK is so bad with contact tracing (they have an app that they use to ping folks who need to quarantine), that they're predicting food shortages due to lack of employees, especially truck drivers who help keep the supply chain going. Australia (who's been doing so well) has been in lockdown again too. Same with my family & friends in South Africa. They're still currently in lockdown. In fact, I think their lockdown has been extended. 

Then there's the Suez Canal disaster. Yep, it happened a while ago. My sister in law has worked for a major shipping company for over 30 years, so I have a bit of an idea of how things work. I remember helping her when she had to work weekends. I remember typing up & sending Telex to their Swiss headquarters or maybe it was to different ports. I really can't remember, it was so long ago. Anyhoo, I know how she used to rush to work when a ship was late to arrive or depart or when containers weren't loaded on time. We lived in Cape Town (the reason for South Africa's existence. A little history lesson. Ships used to sail from Western Europe, all the way around South Africa (southernmost tip of Africa) to get to the east. This was way before the Suez Canal existed. So in 1652 the Dutch East India company decided to set up shop in Cape Town as a way station for ships who sailed to & from the east. You'll still find some original buildings, including the Castle of Good Hope that the Dutch built). So Cape Town (not South Africa's busiest port, that would be in Durban) is one of 2 SA ports for imports/exports. Hence SIL's job. I don't think people realise how one catastrophe like what happened recently, can set businesses back a long time. Add in the pandemic and it's even worse.

Then there's the rising food costs. Gosh, I can't keep up with price increases. I've seen many people blog about how packages are shrinking, while prices are increasing. This is nothing new though. It's been happening for years. However, we really feel the pain now that inflation's come to bite us in the behind. 

So I've decided to work hard towards filling in the gaps in my stockpile. I'm not going crazy like last year. We still have a really good stockpile. I've stocked up on paper products (Sams) and canned goods (Walmart). I need to remember to pick up another package of tissues/Kleenex at Sams. I only have 1 pack (12 boxes left) and that is too little to get us through winter. We keep tissues in all our vehicles (we have more than 2 vehicles) and in many rooms in the house. Same goes for disinfecting wipes and wet ones. There's a tub in each vehicle. 

I've made a standard list of things that I need to stockpile on each trip. There's only 10 items on that list. It's mainly canned goods, vinegar & bleach. I buy a bottle of bleach whenever I'm at Aldi. They have the large bottles for $2.50, whereas the grocery stores only have medium sized bottles for over $3. I'd like to have at least 6 bottles of each in my stockpile. I'm halfway there.

I'm hoping that we don't end up in lockdown again. I'm now over this darn pandemic. But if we do, we're fully stocked again. If things go well with this pandemic, then we'll at least be well stocked for winter. I'm not always in the mood to go shopping, especially after heavy snow. I just want to stay home & bake yummy treats. 

As for last month's shopping. I  hit Sams & the produce market as soon as the month started. Oh how I missed Sams. While Costco is nice, they just can't beat Sams. They don't have all the products I can find at Sams like ICBINB, drinking yogurt, muenster cheese (at least I couldn't find the cheese). I've also found that their packaged lunch meat is priced by the pound, whereas Sams has a fixed price. The big issue though is the Costco is pricier than Sams. I comparison shopped both stores and noticed that Costco was $1-2 more expensive on certain items, than Sams. The Costco membership also costs $15 more than Sams. I'll keep the Costco membership, but will mainly check the monthly instant savings deals. I just received an offer from Costco for a $30 gc if I sign up for auto renewal. That $30 is tempting, but I'm not even sure if I want to renew my membership next year. 

I went to Sams & the market 3 times last month. I didn't buy much at Sams the first time around, because I was waiting to see what good instant savings deals they'll have. I especially didn't buy DS's drinking yogurt, hoping that it will be on sale, but alas. No such luck. I had $75 gcs (thank you Ibotta) that helped pay for the membership & 10 lbs chicken breasts. I stocked up on meat and bought some drinking yogurt for DS & plain greek yogurt for myself. Then stocked up on some other items we needed.

I was so proud of myself for spending a less than I did in June at the produce market. That lasted until I had to go shop a 2nd time...lol . I only bought one $2 box of apples for juicing. The box had 17 kiwis too, which I peeled, sliced and froze for smoothies.  I also found pint blueberries for $1.19, so I bought 6. I froze 4 pints and we ate the rest fresh. Then we ran low on some fruit and beets, so I made another trip. I told myself that I was NOT gonna buy another box. That juicing takes work. So I walk into the store and see only 6oz blueberry containers for $0.69. No way. I just paid $1.19 for a pint on the first. This is way too expensive. Then I saw that the clearance ($2) section was loaded with boxes, so I just HAD TO go take a look....lol What do I see, a large amount of blueberry boxes. Shut the front door! Each box contained 12 6oz containers. Say no more! I picked up 3 boxes for $6 (36 containers). Sorted and washed it when I got home, then into the freezer. I got 3 full gallon bags out of those boxes. I'm so happy. It's my favourite berry. Last year I did the same thing and had 2 gallon bags in the freezer for winter use. 

This is why I've spent so much at Sams and the produce market last month.As long as I have meat & fresh produce, we have meals. The pantry is still well stocked. I added a few canned goods from Walmart. I'm adding little bits at a time, because I don't need much. I'm so glad I stocked up on those bonus size Rotel cans last year. You can't find the bonus size anymore. I'm having a hard time finding Walmart brand peas though. I love their 'no salt added' canned goods. I've never liked eating a lot of salt. You can give me tons of pepper any time, but not salt. I've also found that they're always low on store brand artichokes. I've been to 3 different Walmart stores and it's the same thing at each store. Is there an artichoke shortage that I don't know about? 

And just to make Kim & Sluggy jealous...lol. When I opened my car door at Walmart, I spotted a shiny penny right next to my car. I pulled a disinfectant wipe from the container and picked up that beauty. Then at checkout, I found another penny on the floor. I rarely find coins, but when I do, I always think of you ladies :)

Is anyone else stocking up or am I the only crazy one again?...lol