ECON Report food and grocery price increases/shortages here - UPDATE, new runs on the stores

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summerthyme

Administrator
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Why would one use gauze today rather than moleskin? Curious.
You can't wrap a limb in moleskin. Sometimes, due to allergies, using tape or adhesives to cover an injury just isn't practical. And while "co-adhesive" wraps (vet wrap) work really well, with open wounds or even weepy skin issues, you need the absorbency of gauze type bandages.

The old type gauze wraps were woven with little stretch or "give" (think muslin fabric, but thinner), but they now sell knit type flexible stuff that conforms to contours and works really well. I go through all this stuff by the case.

And speaking of the "unavailability" issue, apparently cotton growing regions outside the US have been hit hard by locusts and weather issues... all cotton products are going to be affected.

Summerthyme
 

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
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You can't wrap a limb in moleskin. Sometimes, due to allergies, using tape or adhesives to cover an injury just isn't practical. And while "co-adhesive" wraps (vet wrap) work really well, with open wounds or even weepy skin issues, you need the absorbency of gauze type bandages.
I have to disagree. Moleskin (“vet wrap”) works fine for wrapping limbs. Second, I don’t see the need for the “absorbency of gauze type” bandages. Certainly the pad over the wound must be absorbant, but the wrap doesn’t need that quality IMO.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
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You haven't been unlucky enough to have to deal with a really *nasty* wound. That's a blessing.

I've been currently helping friends try to save a calf whose ankle was destroyed from the pressure put on it by the calving chains over a SIX HOUR calving struggle. I have no clue how either the cow or the calf survived.

But at a week old, the tissue destruction became apparent... developed gangrene. We've been going through 4 rolls of Kerlix gauze *a day*, just to absorb the quarts of yuck draining from the mess...

Incredibly, he's healing and is able to walk, nurse and even play, although the extensor tendon is severed. If it was a horse, it would have been put down already... it's never going to walk sound. But it's a bull, destined to be a steer and beef.. he only needs to be able to be pain free and able to walk and graze, and barring a new disaster, it looks like he'll do that just fine.

When I had the MRSA bone infection in my foot, I went through SIX CASES of Kerlix...

A couple of Telfa pads and some vet wrap would have needed replacing every 10 minutes.

Summerthyme
 

Jackpine Savage

Veteran Member
Moleskin:
iu
 

Marseydoats

Veteran Member

summerthyme

Administrator
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I hear you! You're welcome...

Oh, and speaking of "unavailable" ESSENTIALS... tetanus antitoxin is out of stock everywhere in the country. Plenty of tetanus toxoid, (thankfully), but the antitoxin is what is needed when an animal sustains a wound and is either unvaccinated or the vaccine status is unknown. I found that out when a moron neighbor (who "forgot" to vaccinate his nice draft mare) had a foal with tetanus... we wasted all the antitoxin I had, (because once they start showing symptoms, it's generally futile, but he wanted to try) and then I discovered I couldn't get any more. Grrr!

Summerthyme
 
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John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
Amazon is out of quite a few items on our subscribe and save list. Toilet bowl cleaner, pickles, relish, peanut butter, paper towels. I'm going to look at Kroger later today.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We're going to be making a stock run tomorrow. I sure hope I'm not disappointed. I haven't been in two weeks. I finally found a nice grocery store that isn't owned and operated by any organization. We're gonna try it out.

IIRC, someone mentioned a while back that treated lumber was in short supply? Found out, yesterday, while walking across our deck, that we had a rotten board that needs to be replaced. I almost fell through the darn thing. After checking out the whole deck, there are a few more boards that could stand to be replaced as well. I hope we can find some.
 

cwr

Senior Member
Every time I get stuff at Wal Mart there is now always several items not available. It is ongoing. Seems to be getting worse not better. No use listing because so much I have to just use something else or do without.
 

TKO

Veteran Member
Every time I get stuff at Wal Mart there is now always several items not available. It is ongoing. Seems to be getting worse not better. No use listing because so much I have to just use something else or do without.
I haven't seen TP at my Sam's in quite sometime. So, the shortages still persist. Kroger seems stocked OK...but expensive on many things.
 

anna43

Veteran Member
While I agree that we should be topping off our pantries while items are available or at least semi-available, I also think we should also be thinking about substitutes or work arounds. I hesitate to take the last item(s) from a shelf when I still have some of that item in my pantry. Don't want to leave someone without a pantry hungry.

Other than ground beef, I'm not buying beef. Mostly chicken and pork. Chicken especially can be made into numerous and varied dishes.

I have allergies and traditionally went through several boxes of tissues each month. When I could only buy one box at Aldi, I decided it was time to dig out my late dh's handkerchiefs that I'd saved for such a time. I seldom use paper towels so a roll lasts three to four months. I use rags that can be washed and reused or thrown away. Haven't bought paper napkins in 15 to 20 years having stocked up on cloth napkins at thrift stores. Not buying these items frees up money to purchase food and other necessities. While I hope never to have to use them, I have a bag of soft (t-shirt's cutup) wipes that could replace toilet paper and be washed and reused. I washed cloth diapers for 7 babies so think I could manage wipes for one adult.

When I prepare meals, I'm not more careful about what I'm using. With a full pantry its easy to use more than is needed for nutrition. By simplifying meals food goes further. Pay attention to serving size especially with meat. Stretch meat. I recently bought a 5# whole chicken and got around 18 meals for one person from it. A pound of ground beef six or seven meals. A can of tuna made into a casserole is minimum of 6 servings.

I am having trouble filling my shopping list because I try to shop no more than every three to four weeks. My list consists of what I've used from my pantry. I'd prefer to go to one store, quickly shop and get out, but I'm finding it necessary to go to three or four stores to fill my list. If I lived in the town where I shop, I could go every other day and buy the limit and quickly fill my pantry. However, I have to drive 25 miles to nearest grocery stores in another county.

It is odd the items that are missing as they seem to have no rhyme or reason.
 

beowulf

Contributing Member
While I agree that we should be topping off our pantries while items are available or at least semi-available, I also think we should also be thinking about substitutes or work arounds. I hesitate to take the last item(s) from a shelf when I still have some of that item in my pantry. Don't want to leave someone without a pantry hungry.

Other than ground beef, I'm not buying beef. Mostly chicken and pork. Chicken especially can be made into numerous and varied dishes.

I have allergies and traditionally went through several boxes of tissues each month. When I could only buy one box at Aldi, I decided it was time to dig out my late dh's handkerchiefs that I'd saved for such a time. I seldom use paper towels so a roll lasts three to four months. I use rags that can be washed and reused or thrown away. Haven't bought paper napkins in 15 to 20 years having stocked up on cloth napkins at thrift stores. Not buying these items frees up money to purchase food and other necessities. While I hope never to have to use them, I have a bag of soft (t-shirt's cutup) wipes that could replace toilet paper and be washed and reused. I washed cloth diapers for 7 babies so think I could manage wipes for one adult.

When I prepare meals, I'm not more careful about what I'm using. With a full pantry its easy to use more than is needed for nutrition. By simplifying meals food goes further. Pay attention to serving size especially with meat. Stretch meat. I recently bought a 5# whole chicken and got around 18 meals for one person from it. A pound of ground beef six or seven meals. A can of tuna made into a casserole is minimum of 6 servings.

I am having trouble filling my shopping list because I try to shop no more than every three to four weeks. My list consists of what I've used from my pantry. I'd prefer to go to one store, quickly shop and get out, but I'm finding it necessary to go to three or four stores to fill my list. If I lived in the town where I shop, I could go every other day and buy the limit and quickly fill my pantry. However, I have to drive 25 miles to nearest grocery stores in another county.

It is odd the items that are missing as they seem to have no rhyme or reason.
You have given a lot of good advice in your post. Glad to think about more things I can do to stretch my budget! Thank you!!
 

Walkin' Away

Senior Member
Making my shopping list...have not been to the grocery in 2 weeks. It is always an adventure.

We want everything topped off before the weekend. Cases are creeping back up all over and our brilliant "gov-na" in Michigan is probably itching to lock us down again!

Just a side note, when I could not find chlorox wipes, I bought plain baby wipes and a bottle of 71%
or greater rubbing alcohol and made my own. Always try to have a back up plan.

Take Care All,
W. A.
 

Granana

Deceased
Our garden this year has been beyond belief. The Lord had really blessed us. I told my husband yesterday it is like He put Joseph in the middle of our living room.
At 82 I would normally just can what we need and give the rest away and feed it to the chickens. We have 25 more chickens coming tomorrow and that gives us 100 chickens. We have to turn away egg customers every week with only 75 hens.

But this year with the garden is very different. I am canning and freezing everything the garden produces. So far I have frozen 10 rows of corn, canned red and golden beets, pickled beets, canned 10 quarts of spaghetti sauce. 40 jars of tomato sauce and am now starting on canning tomatos. I still have another 12 rows of corn that will be coming off, butter beans, Italian green beans, and pinto beans that are still to come off. I figure whatever we don't need to eat we can sell or give away because i am certain there are going to be shortages this year and some hungry people who will need food.

This garden is like it is on steroids and we are richly Blessed. I don't want to waste one bit of Gods Bounty.
 

abby normal

insert appropriate adjective here
Walmart Super Center (central Ohio) has been out of frozen burgers for about 3 weeks now. When the shortages began, it was impossible to find pasta. Seems like everyone who doesn't cook switched from making spaghetti to cooking frozen burgers on the grill.

I appreciate the reminders to not become complacent. We all know things are going to get messy again. I need to get some more dry soup mix. I prefer to make soup from scratch but the dry mixes are nice to have as well- easy to doctor up with some of this and a little of that.

When we were sick over the winter, soups were a lifesaver. I was too sick to cook and had some extra homemade soup in the freezer, hubby could warm it up without any effort. Plus when we're sick it's about the only thing that's appetizing. Even canned soups are worth their weight in gold.
 

TxGal

Day by day
I did a run this morning to a Dollar General out here in the country. They are out of hand sanitizer (not surprised), TP and paper towels very low, most cleaning items very low.

There was a guy starting to load up his car when I pulled in. He had two separate shopping carts, one filled with paper towels, one filled with laundry detergent. Kinda wondered if he was buying for a shelter or food bank or something.
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
It is odd the items that are missing as they seem to have no rhyme or reason.

I've got back to once per week shopping for that reason. I do a quick in and out late in the day when the supply trucks come - or - first thing the next morning.

I, too, am thinking ahead about substitutions and work-arounds, but one still needs to have items in the pantry that can be used that way. I certainly don't buy a cart load at a time, but I take 2 - 3 of an item, unless there are limits. The faster I get my pantry rebuilt, the sooner I can quit shopping in stores and just go to the farmers market.
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
He had two separate shopping carts, one filled with paper towels, one filled with laundry detergent. Kinda wondered if he was buying for a shelter or food bank or something.

That wouldn't fly here, unless he was a buyer for a shelter and had advance permission from a manger. All of my local stores have signs: "We Reserve the Right to Limit Quantities of Popular Items" (something like that). That stops the people from out of state from coming in and totally wiping us out.

For me, most of the limits are reasonable. I can almost always buy 2 - 3 boxes/packs of an item. I think hamburger is limited to ten pounds per customer. Given the high prices, I wouldn't buy that much.
 

nchomemaker

Veteran Member
Our garden this year has been beyond belief. The Lord had really blessed us. I told my husband yesterday it is like He put Joseph in the middle of our living room.
At 82 I would normally just can what we need and give the rest away and feed it to the chickens. We have 25 more chickens coming tomorrow and that gives us 100 chickens. We have to turn away egg customers every week with only 75 hens.

But this year with the garden is very different. I am canning and freezing everything the garden produces. So far I have frozen 10 rows of corn, canned red and golden beets, pickled beets, canned 10 quarts of spaghetti sauce. 40 jars of tomato sauce and am now starting on canning tomatos. I still have another 12 rows of corn that will be coming off, butter beans, Italian green beans, and pinto beans that are still to come off. I figure whatever we don't need to eat we can sell or give away because i am certain there are going to be shortages this year and some hungry people who will need food.

This garden is like it is on steroids and we are richly Blessed. I don't want to waste one bit of Gods Bounty.
Can I ask where do you get egg cartons from? I have 47 chickens plus the adult rooster. 32 are young and not laying yet but when they do, I think I will have a problem with too many eggs and not enough cartons.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
You can't wrap a limb in moleskin. Sometimes, due to allergies, using tape or adhesives to cover an injury just isn't practical. And while "co-adhesive" wraps (vet wrap) work really well, with open wounds or even weepy skin issues, you need the absorbency of gauze type bandages.

The old type gauze wraps were woven with little stretch or "give" (think muslin fabric, but thinner), but they now sell knit type flexible stuff that conforms to contours and works really well. I go through all this stuff by the case.

And speaking of the "unavailability" issue, apparently cotton growing regions outside the US have been hit hard by locusts and weather issues... all cotton products are going to be affected.

Summerthyme

I hadn't thought about cotton gauze when I put the word out about future cotton shortages. What little India has they are not shipping out of the country... after all they have a billion plus people to keep clothed and to take care of themselves.
We're definitely living in interesting times.
 

Dafodil

Veteran Member
No trouble in my neck of the woods.....(I travel the SE USA). Toilet paper is short in supply but available. One weird thing I have noticed....… there is NO distilled water to be had anywhere I have travelled. Makes me question why...??
I saw some today in the CPAP supplies @CVS. Kroger usually has lots.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
I don't know what the deal is with bottled water shortages, but I went back to using a filter on my sink faucet.

Bottles is the issue, not the water. Same thing is happening with alcohol, aka booze, if it comes in a plastic bottle there's a shortage. I'm not sure where the US gets it's plastic for bottles from seems that something we should be making ourselves from recycled goods.
 

Dafodil

Veteran Member
Can I ask where do you get egg cartons from? I have 47 chickens plus the adult rooster. 32 are young and not laying yet but when they do, I think I will have a problem with too many eggs and not enough cartons.
You can get the plastic egg holders on Amazon. Dollar Tree may have them too. Get friends, family, and customers to donate theirs. Charge extra if they don't have an egg carton.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
No trouble in my neck of the woods.....(I travel the SE USA). Toilet paper is short in supply but available. One weird thing I have noticed....… there is NO distilled water to be had anywhere I have travelled. Makes me question why...??

Well thanks to the heads up about distilled water in this thread OC went to the store and bought me two more gallons, he said there wasn't much in stock. I have enough for my CPAP machine now to last through September. I'll keep the bottles the neighbors have a water filtration system that's actually approved for use with CPAP machines.
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
Thanks for the heads up about plastic bottles, Packy. I'll assume that applies to other plastic, as well. A trip to Fleet Farm on Errand Day is now on the list. I use plastic containers for freezer jam. I'll also get another box of pint jars and go back to canning jelly as a work around.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Thanks for the heads up about plastic bottles, Packy. I'll assume that applies to other plastic, as well. A trip to Fleet Farm on Errand Day is now on the list. I use plastic containers for freezer jam. I'll also get another box of pint jars and go back to canning jelly as a work around.

I'm assuming it'll affect all aspects of plastic goods from water, booze, and soda, to dishwashing liquid and even shampoo.
 

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Egg cartons:

Feed store, Fleet Farm, Tractor Supply. They are usually cheaper than online if you aren't buying them by the thousands. I'm using only new ones this year for people, because I don't want to risk transmission of the crud by re-using saved cartons given back by customers.
 

GingerN

Veteran Member
I did a run this morning to a Dollar General out here in the country. They are out of hand sanitizer (not surprised), TP and paper towels very low, most cleaning items very low.

There was a guy starting to load up his car when I pulled in. He had two separate shopping carts, one filled with paper towels, one filled with laundry detergent. Kinda wondered if he was buying for a shelter or food bank or something.
My hubby has been making our hand sanitizer. 2/3 aloe vera gel to 1/3 Everclear or Golden Grain liquor, add a few drops of an essential oil for smell. Or, he uses half Corn huskers Lotion and half of the liquor. That one you have to shake every time you use it but your hands feel better.
 
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