So this was the bulk grains section at Winco two days ago:
This was it today:
Make of it what you will.
Because there’s no point in not erring on the side of caution, I’ve been gilding the lily a bit in terms of adding to the already large amount of things packed away. In today’s case: meat. Bought some of those two foot long pork loins at CostCo, cut them to length, vacuum sealed them, and set them off for a cryo-nap. Animal protein at $1.98/#. A pork loin roast outta the freezer, some insant potatoes, a can of corn, some butter and salt, and you’ve got a relatively cheap dinner while the rest of the world has to choose between paying the electric bill or letting the kids eat meat at dinner.
I swung (Swinged? Swang? Swung?) by the restaurant supply place today to check out their prices and availability on a few things as well. They were pretty good on 10# torpedos of 80/20 ground beef at $3.09/#, and they had some decent prices on other cuts as well. But, sadly, I am out of room in the freezer and I really don’t want to have to buy another one.
Between the freezer, whats in the freezer in the refrigerator, canned meats, and the freeze drieds, I feel like I’ve a good chunk of the protein angle nailed down for the better part of a year. Rice and chicken, beef with noodles, spaghetti with bolognese, etc, etc, will all be on the menu. And I genuinely don’t believe that anyone in this country is going to starve, but I do believe a lot of people are going to have to make some choices…..plebian milk instead of organic, fair trade, free range milk, generic mac and cheese instead of the Trader joe’s stuff, store brand crushed tomatoes rather than the Hunt’s or Contadina, the generic ‘puffed rice cereal’ instead of Rice Krispies, etc, etc. Fortunately, I’m a snob only when it comes to ice cream, cola beverages, corn flakes. I can adjust to the rest. But…thats the beauty about stockpiling. I won’t have to…at least not to the extent the sheeple will. And, more importantly, if ‘supply chain issues’ become an even bigger thing I’ll be in an even better position since I’ll have it stacked on wire shelves in my basement while they’re standing in line at Walmart for rationed Spaghetti-O’s.
And, in an even greater Sign O’ The Times, I topped off the tank while I was at CostCo….even though the gauge was 7/8th full. Why? Because the three gallons of gas I put it in at almost $12 is gonna cost more by the time my tank was down to 1/4. So…try to stay ahead by keeping it topped off. Thanks Brandon!
Trader Joe’s is the definition of “generic” 😉 That’s just a fancy name for Aldi Nord.
Times have changed, most people don’t know what it is to be without food. As a military family back in the early 60’s Dad got paid once a month. We were usually out of money on the 25th. I knew we were out of money because dinner was a 10 cent box of cornbread mix from the commissary and a can of lima beans. My young body rejected lima beans, couldn’t get them to go down and what really sucked is the dog wouldn’t even eat them so I would take a whipping for not eating my dinner.
When Dad left us and Mom disappeared for a few weeks I would have given an eyetooth for a pound of hamburger to eat and feed my little brother but we didn’t have 60 cents to our names. One gets used to not eating after a few days.
Still had it better than a lot of other people in this world but like Scarlett O’hara vowed ‘…I will never be hungry again.’
That’s a rough tale, Jimbo. Sorry you had to go through that.
Respectfully Commander I have too many friends in the Warehouse business.
The Just in Time lean mean and above all Profitable supply system is running on fumes in too many areas. Notice the lack of frozen potato products lately? Cheap ass frozen French fries, ok? Not critical just as a minor fever isn’t critical, just a symptom.
Those stories about Russians standing in line hoping their will be bread are going to be an American story just like in the Great Depression before we sanitized the history.
Jimbo’s story isn’t that uncommon as pride kept us from admitting we was POOR. I remember a few times in the 70’s when the kindness of an old lady allowing me to dig potatoes from her garden fed myself and my sisters. I raked her lawn forever for that kindness. I got nothing for free, Ok?
But OUR Great Depression 2.0 STORIES will have the added spice of a large population with little impulse control (Skin color irrelevant here a lot of social cross over) so beat downs and robbery’s will occur WITH POLICE SUPPORT (or lack of Police Concern, same, same). AKA BLM-Antifa.
Michael Yon has been pretty on target with a lot lately. PanFamWar is playing out as we talk.
A scary but given the DEFLECT nature of the shitweasels all too likely little story is over at Yon’s titled:
https://michaelyon.locals.com/post/1834900/famines-of-aggression-global-holodomor
That’s why I as an older retired, semi-crippled up old man spend so much time building up my little place for efficient permaculture. It’s not just for me. It’s for those kids that work with me. Dirt Farming is the worst example of “Think Poor, Live Poor” there is. The kids ask me why I choose thorny blackberries to make cuttings from and propagate as property borders, instead of the more modern thornless ones. I tell them the partial truth that they are tougher and need almost no spraying for a decent harvest.
I want to be that old person that allows a decent kid to dig potatoes.
Right. There has developed a psychosis hobby for many folks concerning stockpiling and hording lately. As mentioned with covid drama, urban unrest, and media saturation of foreign wars, a percentage of the population is at least getting with the program of preparedness. Just like with all of those storage unit businesses along the roads renting space for pack rat people who have too much junk and can’t let go of things, many folks are going burt gummer and larding up on supplies. This is added competition to a tight just in time inventory economy. You should be prepared to do a hockey hip check bump to push some little old lady out of the way in the stores for the even more scarce goods. It will soon look like the annual black Friday sales fights for just groceries. Pre position those soylent green scoop trucks as well.
Frosty you *might* want to see if that little old lady is packing first.
That hockey move may remove you from the gene pool.
Just saying.
It’s thinking like that that has so many of my neighbors coming over for some cowboy action shooting training. Amazing how some friendly competition gets even old ladies to do a Saloon Girl Gun and Run, pull out a snubbie and drop three bad guys clean shoot run.
Those shoot-NO Shoot popups, windows and doors opening targets make for some good snap shooting with in 21 feet.
BTW I train them to EXPECT body armor so it’s lips and hips baby.
Funny how many of my senior friends have serious gardens, rabbits and chickens. We are working on a Co-Op Pig agreement this week.
I’m only a snob when it comes to coffee. Fresh roasted, locally, veteran owned. Though I suppose if I had to, I could go back to “army” coffee.
All flour products are ‘up’ at least 15% here in Maine, if you can find it at all.
Scarcity made sense during the plandemic, but this is something else.
Wheat futures have been “limit up” several times in the last few weeks,commodity traders aren’t known as stupid-25%+ of world supply cut off may do something to bidenville but the stimmys just keep coming. I cannot eat rice but 50# found its way into the cart($25+ pails=good price)
This shit is going to really come home by end of summer, with some grace due to home gardening holding the line up. Come harvest time when the unfertilized fields, cause it’s not only not affordable but not available hits the harvest totals, to say nothing about the cost of fuel inhibiting acres not planted due to cost. We’ll be looking at a much reduced crop availability and looking forward to going into winter with a much reduced food supply. Already countries are limiting, reducing, and even eliminating crop exports.
Might be advisable to stock up while you can without going into the hoarding mentality. I remember living on pancakes for weeks at a time because thats all I could afford, even though other foodstuffs were available, and gas was almost dirt cheap. I simply couldn’t afford more. Not relishing reliving any of those memories. But thanks to our esteemed overlords, here we are again.
Bill Gates gets crop land at bargin prices when the Farmers Bank forcloses. Listen to Melencamps “Scarecrow”.
I’ve read that any farmland or ranch land that he purchases stops producing food. He doesn’t need the income, and he hates humanity, and wants to see it MUCH reduced.
What kind of vacuum sealer do you have? Is it one you’ve had for a while and are you satisfied with it or is there something available that you would buy if you had the resources? I’ve been looking for a sealer, but I would like to know what features to look for in a top, consumer level vacuum sealer.
I went to get oil and a filter for my wife’s car yesterday. The shelves holding the oil had more holes in them than OJ’s alibi. The front counter guy said that it was like this everywhere, and that oil was the new unobtainium. I had just changed the oil in my Jeep a month ago, but since the oil and filter were there yesterday I cached my next oil change as well… If any of you folks’ vehicles are coming up on maintenance, you might want to gather your possibles right about now…
just picked up some synthetic motor oil at Costco, 10 qts. on sale for $30, seemed like a good deal. The auto parts store had only one filter for a Ford 5.0, one of the most common engines. Didn’t realize motor oil has a shelf life of 5 years.
https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signature-5w-20-full-synthetic-motor-oil-5-quart%2c-2-pack.product.100518854.html
Last week I spotted that a 5 qt. jug of name brand 5W30 was $10 cheaper on Amazon than the local WM.
Remember to watch online, might be cheaper than locally. Especially if you don’t need something right away.
Steelheart
I was reading an article recently where the grains were disappearing from the shelves at their local restaurant supply. Apparently she discovered people are purchasing and sending all the grains they could find and sending to their relatives in South America because they are unable to obtain a sufficient supply. Crazy times.