Food and Gas prices

[jpmcgrew]

Food prices still seem to be some what stable but I believe they will get much higher in the near future like in two to three months especially since diesel is so high I believe the truckers are going to cut back or quit. Has any one thought about stockpiling a bit of extra stables for survival? I have.
I also live 45 miles from the smallest town I have always only gone every two weeks but may need to go less as my truck only gets about 17 miles per gallon. Been trying to get the women on the ranch to car pool for shopping and yet they seem to not care I know I can afford it better than most of them but I still do not want to pay that much for gas the cheapest at this point $ 4.00 a gallon it's $4.10 to $ 4.20 at all the other places. Today I went to town and another 20 miles further I bought every thing that is non perishible on sale from beans to canned vegetables, fruit, dry beans, salt, sugar, powdered milk plus frozen items that was on sale. You can buy most canned stuff with at least a 2010 exp date so why not buy a few extra things and make a small stock pile. I also intend to stock up on dried onions, garlic,herbs and spices and what ever else I can think of. I dont feel like I'm being an freaky or anything but feel like I should be prepared. If I'm wrong no big deal we will just use what we have. Am I crazy? Or do some of the folks here feel the same?

 

[Maverick2272]

I feel the same way, we are stocking up on what we can, conserving as much as possible. Today we washed clothes in the bathtub and have been hanging them out to dry for the last couple of months as well.
It kills me every time I see these ridiculous little women driving these big honking SUV's with no one else in them except maybe one baby. Seriously, that's what they need to get to the grocery store and back? Or most likely the beauty shop and back... and then what do you see in the store parking lot but seven or eight of them, hoping out of seven or eight big honkin SUV's, and going into the store to shop together.
Ugggggggggg.

 

[VeraBlue]

While I don't agree it's time to build bunkers or anything like that, I do see the sense of buying a few staples to keep around.

When I was involved in campus dining we had to keep three days supply of food and water on hand at all times. In corporate, we need to only have some dry goods in the event of an emergency (I'm one block from the previous site of the World Trade Center).

Stocking up on items that will lose potency within 3-4 months seems like a waste of money. Rices can become rancid, dried food gets stale. Flour and sugar are both susceptible to bugs, over time. Nothing wrong with some extra canned goods, including canned fruit juices.

While the cost of food is surely on the rise all over the country, I don't believe it's necessary to buy any more than you require for normal day to day living, at this time. All you are doing is pushing your already extended budgeted dollars further away from you.

If the country were in such dire straits as to have to horde food for survival, the days of discussing it on a cooking board would have long since passed.

 

[Maverick2272]

If I buy enough groceries this month to last thru next month as well, and next month groceries go up by 15%, well I saved 15%. Seems pretty cut and dried to me, and makes perfect sense.
Makes even more sense for those that live in the country and have to travel long distances to go grocery shopping. The less frequently they go, the less gas they use, the more they save.
Seems pretty straight forward to me. No body is advocating building bunkers or buying two years supplies of MRI's, just advocating planning ahead and being prepared, and practicing gas conservation.
Although I do have to admit that while some seem to view these as radical new ideas, they are nothing new to me, we grew up practicing most of these conservation habits.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Stockpiling ad items, that you normally would buy anyway makes perfectly good sense...including some meat items....Planning meals, and needs further out (up to two weeks) makes good sense as well...less trips...less gas....I make a list of things to do while I am out...Why make two trips when one will do....Especially when some of us travel 30-40 miles one way to buy groceries etc......

 

[Andy M.]

jp, if you want to cut down on gas by shopping less frequently, say once every three or four weeks instead of every two weeks, you have to be able to deal with perishables such as greens and dairy. It's not a bad idea to stock up on cans and dried foods, but if you have to go out to get milk or salad ingredients, you don't gain anything. Do you have a freezer?

 

[Maverick2272]

That is a good point, I forgot all about that. We usually try to shop for two weeks at a time, and have just enough room to accommodate the perishables so we can make it. Stretching past that is difficult but we have done it before.
Of course for us in the city it just isn't as big a deal to run out for something as it is in the country. I can always walk down to the local carniceria if need be and not even use the car.

 

[jpmcgrew]

I live in a really dry climate (average 20 percent humidity have never had a problem with bugs in flour/corn meal etc. At this point my rice is in the freezer I have two large freezers. I am only talking non perishables all the canned items I got on sale have an exp all the way to 2010 so either way I lose nothing. I'm not talking a warehouse of food but a fair amount to save from going to town so often. I am quite good at keeping fresh stuff alive at least 3-4 weeks.

 

[MexicoKaren]

Mav, as a hedge against inflation, why not? When the rice you bought at $1.29 a pound goes to $1.89 a pound, then you won't have to pay the inflated price if you bought enough. Of course, when the rice you bought at $1.29 a pound runs out, it may have inflated to $2.29 a pound. You've still saved a little money. DH and I have talked about this quite alot, especially when we read not long ago that Costco in the US was restricting purchasers of their big (20 lb? 50 lb?) bags of rice to one per customer. Mexico, I think, is pretty self-sufficient when it comes to food, i.e., they don't import as much as the US. So when we went to the grocery store, we started looking at bags of rice. ALL of it was a product of the Estados Unidos Americanos (EUA/USA). Hmmm. Maybe we should start buying rice. Of course, storing it long term in this climate would be a challenge.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Well I guess we won't have to worry about any of it anymore. A self proclaimed prophet says the world is comming to an end this thursday or maybe even sooner.

 

[Maverick2272]

Um... I think he may have egg on his face cause we're still here!

 

[jpmcgrew]

Um... I think he may have egg on his face cause we're still here!

Actually he means next Thursday.So guess what? You don't need to fix all the stuff in your house. He says if you are not a member of his church you surely will perish. He has made predictions before and they did not happen. He made up his own religion crossing two religions together. Oh, and by the way his nick name is Buffalo Bill he was a former cop and trailer park manager. He is another one from Texas. Why do most cults seem to sprout in Texas one of the most conservative states in the country?

 

[Maverick2272]

You mean I have to wait it out all the way until next Thursday before I can laugh at him? Well, let's hope he doesn't pass out any cool-aid!

 

[jpmcgrew]

Mav, as a hedge against inflation, why not? When the rice you bought at $1.29 a pound goes to $1.89 a pound, then you won't have to pay the inflated price if you bought enough. Of course, when the rice you bought at $1.29 a pound runs out, it may have inflated to $2.29 a pound. You've still saved a little money. DH and I have talked about this quite alot, especially when we read not long ago that Costco in the US was restricting purchasers of their big (20 lb? 50 lb?) bags of rice to one per customer. Mexico, I think, is pretty self-sufficient when it comes to food, i.e., they don't import as much as the US. So when we went to the grocery store, we started looking at bags of rice. ALL of it was a product of the Estados Unidos Americanos (EUA/USA). Hmmm. Maybe we should start buying rice. Of course, storing it long term in this climate would be a challenge.

My reason is because we live so far from town and I am not hoarding but I'm just picking up a couple of extra of this and that when its on sale. So I am in no way making a dent in Americas food supply and if I make a good stock of food then good for me. I think people in the city might have a bigger problem if truckers decide to go on strike. The gas prices just seem to get higher every few days. In case no one has noticed it's not like the 1970s when then they changed speed limits to conserve gas and the lines at the gas station were long.

 

[Maverick2272]

We 'integrate' everything. We go to the bank when it is on the way from our house to one of her clients houses. Same with the grocery store, everything is planned out this way so we don't go out of our way for anything. And yea, if the truckers go on strike things are going to get pretty bad around here very quickly!

 

[jpmcgrew]

We 'integrate' everything. We go to the bank when it is on the way from our house to one of her clients houses. Same with the grocery store, everything is planned out this way so we don't go out of our way for anything. And yea, if the truckers go on strike things are going to get pretty bad around here very quickly!

Truckers are protesting all over the world because of gas prices so maybe we should be some what prepared.Just in case. Not only that but people are losing their jobs every day so a bit of groceries is not a bad thing to have.