Friday already?

This week passed in a blur. I can't believe it's already Friday. It's been a crazy busy week, although I wasn't as productive as I would've liked and I'm dealing with a pita customer who's costing me money.

I went to Walmart on Monday, because we were out of milk. The Meijer milk went sour before the expiration date. This feels like deja vu. I know it's not our fridge, because the Kroger and Walmart milk are still good for at least a week after it's expiration date. Meijer used to be the same, so I was upset because I couldn't eat my cereal. I just took an iron supplement instead. 

We didn't really need anything at Walmart other than spinach and frozen broccoli. I decided to just get some more canned goods, since the supply chain is broken and things aren't looking great in store. I start checking out and had a WTH moment. The gallon milk that I paid $1.25 for last month is now $3!!! I knew that the eggs prices have increased, but I didn't expect the milk to more than double. The artichokes price has also increased by 36c!! So I stood cussing softly at self checkout, because I couldn't believe this craziness.

About a week ago, I read an article where the Kroger CEO said that grocery prices will increase by another 3% before year end. Are you kidding me? Prices are already through the roof. 

Here's the kicker though. The comments section of the article were full of everyone blaming the government for this. I'm not saying that the government didn't play a role in this, but I wish that people would look at the bigger picture. We are STILL in the middle of a pandemic. Actually, the whole world is still in the middle of a pandemic. We rely heavily on imports - think of all that chinese crap we constantly buy. Imports also include parts that are used for items made in USA. So with the world struggling to recuperate, production is down due to lack of employees. Heck, we even see employee shortages right here. Even if the parts or products are manufactured, we still need to get them loaded into containers, then load containers onto vessels, then need a captain and crew to transport those goods. Same goes for land transportation. If there's a lack of crew or truck drivers, there's no way things can get to the stores. 

There's been huge fires out west. There's also been drought out west. So ranchers are forced to downsize their herds, because there's not enough water and feed for all their cattle. This leads to increased meat prices. Same goes for produce. With drought, farmers can't grow crops. Without crops, we don't have food to eat. So why are people blaming it all on the government again? Didn't I write a post about this before? It's okay if people don't listen to me or think that I'm nuts. DH thinks the same thing. I'm not even offended by it, because I realised just how spoiled my family is. I do everything. I plan & prepare for everything. They're not even aware of all the stress I deal with when it comes to food etc. If they need something, they just go to the pantry and voila, it's there. It's like the magic grocery fairy fills our pantry with goods. They have no idea of how I study things and do all the running around so that our needs are more than met. 

I know that we've always been behind the UK curve, since the pandemic started. I've been following the pandemic since news of it broke it China. My gut told me to pay attention and I'm so glad I did. It ensured that we were well prepared for lockdowns. In the same way, I've learned of food shortages in the UK, due to lack of employees. So what did I do, I stocked up. I'm not stocking up for fear of us running out of things. We have a very good stockpile. I'm stocking up, because the prices of everything keep increasing. I know that we will financially benefit from this too, by buying things now. After all, it looks like prices are increasing on a monthly basis. 

Walmart was once again out of bread flour. Their site showed it as being in stock. I especially checked online before I went shopping. I just keep adding AP flour, because I can still bake with that too. 

I also stopped at Sams and filled in the rest of the gaps. I feel a lot better knowing that we have everything we need & more. Sams is now even limiting bottled water to 3 per membership. I always keep a case of water in the basement, but I've decided to just keep 3 cases. Hello, Texas! Y'all taught us that bottled water is a necessary evil. 

I also bought a big bag of French's onions at Sams. I do this every year, because it costs just under $8, compared to paying $4 + for a small container at the grocery store. My Sams no longer has store made cakes. They always had a large section of sheet cakes & cupcakes. Nothing. You now have to go pre-order your cake at the bakery counter. Their cafe also no longer sells whole pizzas. I'm bummed, because I love Sams pizza. I might have to get some at Costco next time. 

I also stopped at CVS today, because my EBs are expiring tomorrow. Yikes. How is it a month since my last trip already? I had no game plan. I didn't feel like making a long list and clipping coupons. I just don't have the energy to chase deals. I just wanted to roll my EBs into new ones, so I decided on moisturiser that I need anyway.

2 x Loreal moisturiser $38.98

2 x Garnier shampoo 7.00

Less Loreal q (2.00)

Less Loreal DQ (2.00)

Less Loreal moisturiser DQ (6.00)

Less Loreal moisturiser DQ (6.00)

Less Garnier DQ (1.00)

Less EBs (21.01)

Tax 1.86

OOP $9.83

Earned $15 EB (wys $40 select items) and should get another $6 Beauty EB. 

My plan was to just purchase the moisturiser. I got to checkout and realised that I needed to spend $40 to earn $15, otherwise I would just earn $10. I thought of adding a Loreal cleanser (which I really need), but didn't want to spend $8 on it when it costs less at WAGS. So I grabbed an ad, saw the Garnier with a $3 Q advertised and figured it was a DQ. Wrong! It looks like it was a paper Q, because I always clip all my DQs. Boy was I upset at spending so much OOP. Then I reminded myself that I got my 2 moisturisers that I need & 2 shampoo for $9, so I felt a little better...lol

My moisturiser DQs are for the Age Perfect ones only, that's why I couldn't just buy a higher priced moisturiser to help reach my $40 total. 

I'm now going to attack that huge pile of ironing, my favorite (sarcasm) chore. 

Have a great weekend everyone!