Stocking Up

Pantry Stock Up

I've been thinking a lot about stocking up, recently, especially since the pandemic began.

I have always tried to maintain a minimum of two weeks' worth of emergency food items and other needed supplies on hand since I live in an earthquake prone area (we had another reminder of that, very early this morning, at 4:30 a.m., in the form of a 4.2 earthquake and several aftershocks measuring at least 3.0, which I felt)!  It's what we are urged to have.  The presumption being that, if there was a major earthquake, outside help might not arrive for at least two weeks due to damaged infrastructure and one should be prepared to manage on ones own until then.  According to the news, based on this morning's earthquake, there is a 10% chance of an even greater magnitude earthquake happening in the next month, as a result (sometimes, the first earthquake is a "pre-quake" of a bigger earthquake).

When the request came in mid-March to shelter in place for two weeks, I wasn't too worried.  I had plenty of food and other supplies to see me through the two weeks and a bit longer.  Nevertheless, I picked up a few additional items on my last grocery shopping trip before the shelter in place went into effect, anyway, because I wanted to have enough on hand for at least a month.  I knew I wouldn't want to go shopping at the end of the two weeks; I was going to wait for about a month or so before I went shopping again.

What I didn't anticipate was just how long the risk of infection would continue to remain as high as it continues to be!  The plan was for most people to stay at home for two weeks until the circuit of spreading was broken due to a lack of direct contact.  That initial period of self quarantining was supposed to limit the spread of the virus and bring it more under control and make things safer for everyone.  Instead, four months later, the rate of spread is just as high, if not higher, in my area, at least.  As a result, I am still unwilling to risk grocery shopping in person!  Instead, I am ordering groceries online and either picking them up curb side or having them delivered and, occasionally, asking others, who do grocery shop in person, to pick up some items for me!  Plus dealing with limited availability of certain items, concerns about disruptions in supplies, and rising costs, of course.

Which brings me to pondering about stocking up!  I've been stocking up, again, slowly, as a result of the pandemic.   Partly because I am not grocery shopping as frequently and partly because some items are not always available for purchase, as and when I want them, these days. 

Many years ago, one of my friends spoke about her pantry and how she tried to keep one year's worth of supplies (not just food, but also other household items, garden seeds, etc.) in accordance with the teachings of her Church.  I was very intrigued and she was very helpful, sending me lists of recommended food items and amounts, per person, etc.  For a time, I stocked up a little more than usual, but, then, I found I wasn't eating everything I stocked and some items, such as crackers and cereal, turned rancid before I could eat them (I don't have the recommended cool storage/pantry for long term storage; I store my pantry items in the kitchen cabinets and my un-air conditioned house gets pretty warm in our summers), and that was a waste of both money and food.  So, I cut back on stocking up. 

Also, around that same period, minimalism was being advocated.  Eating down the pantry and freezer became a popular thing to do.  I almost felt guilty if I had more than one or two items of anything other than tuna, because Dancer kitty liked his twice daily tuna (which I stocked up on whenever it went on sale for $.50 per can, buying 24 cans of it, unless there was a limit on the number of cans one could purchase at a time).

My stocking up strategy used to be fairly simple.  I stocked up on most items when there was a good sale and in amounts I knew I could use in a reasonable period of time.  I also did a quarterly stock up of household supplies, such as toilet paper, dish washing liquid, etc., buying enough at a time to last until the next stock up.  This strategy worked well when I could shop at least weekly, varying the stores I shopped at each week, in order to take advantage of the sales.

All that strategy flew out the window when faced with the constraints of online shopping, delivery slots and fees, availability of items, etc.!  Now, I am stocking up the pantry, as and when things are available, with an eye towards having enough on hand, not just until the next shopping order, but, also to see me through possible future shortages due to disruptions in supplies and deliveries.  Often, this means 6 each of cans of vegetables, fruit, and coconut milk (when available), at least 6 cans of condensed milk at a time (I use it in my tea and a can will last me about 10 days), and as many as 10 or 12 cans of tuna.  I  have been shopping according to what I want to have on hand as opposed to what is on sale at the time of shopping.  Very often, there is very little that is on sale at the time of ordering.  I generally order the lowest priced items, but, I am realizing that stocking up during a pandemic is not very budget friendly!

I didn't have a very big grocery budget, to begin with.  Prior to this, my grocery budget was $75 per month.  I have more than doubled my monthly grocery shopping budget during the pandemic as I stock up.  I am grateful that I can do so.

Part of the extra money for the stocking up is coming from what I'm saving on eating out (budgeted at $25 per month; so far, I've not eaten out or bought any take out since early March when we celebrated daughter's birthday), gas for the car (budgeted at $50 per month; so far, after I filled the tank on March 17, I've spent $23 in July to top up the tank), and the $50 I budget each month for "miscellaneous", which is how I've always padded the monthly budget for any unexpected expense or the occasional "going over budget" in any given category.  Most months, this has given me an additional $125 to spend on stocking up.    On the months in which I didn't buy any new clothing items, I've had an extra $10 (which is my monthly clothing budget) to add to the stocking up budget, as well (I haven't bought any clothes, recently, but, I did buy a package each of undies and socks as they were needed).  

Household Supplies

Stocking up on cat food, kitty litter, household products, sanitizers, etc., has been expensive.  But, I wanted to build up a stock of them for my own peace of mind.  End of March would have been when I would have done my regularly scheduled quarterly stock up of things such as dish washing detergent, toilet bowl cleaner, etc.  So, I was already getting rather low on those items when we went into sheltering at home.  I went ahead and stocked up on those items, even if it meant going over budget. Again, I am grateful I am able to do so.  

I think I now have a pretty well stocked pantry.  I will try to replenish items as they get used up in order to keep a certain minimum amount in the pantry at all times.  But, starting in August, I will be going back to a monthly grocery budget of $75 (or, maybe, I'll add the $25 eating out budget to it, because I am not planning to eat out or buy take out foods in August, and make it an even $100).  

What are your thoughts about stocking up and keeping a well-stocked pantry?