Stocking up

[Floris]

Yeah, I've been trying to slowly get deals with companies, services, and cancel what I dont' need. Step by step. And bills are already going up since February. Inflation in the NL turns out to be 12% !!

I have kept an eye on the prices of some shops and things that I can buy in 6 / 12 / 24 packs, and I can keep out of fridge and for a few years, each time I have some money I have been trying to get that deal. But I am broke, so it goes slow.

April 1st, the heater is supposed to go off 100% just to cover cost, and of course, snow storm since yesterday haha.

Just due to the fact I am kinda broke, I have already started using any stock I've been building up, but i will try to be smarter moving forward. I have also looked at other shops to see if things i will always buy is a lot cheaper there or not, and then maybe order food there to save $10 a week, etc.

 

[Floris]

I think we also have to remember that we do have a stock, even if it is little. And to use that up. This saves money as well. Instead of letting things expire and go bad, because we forget about it. Having soup for a day and cheap rice with some veggies the next day, is a great diet, easy to make, easy cleaning, etc.

 

[Joan]

Current list of potential shortages I've heard about for this year:

Flour
Meat
Milk
Oil
Vegetables

 

[Floris]

I still have no freezer, so i am dumb, but now with the renovations, i dont really see the room in my kitchen to resolve that anyway. my dryer/washer will be in the kitchen until end of may

Milk and meat i can't store, but i can buy some extra powered milk for coffee, no meat? k .. ill just be vegitarian, ill manage.

vegetables also? uhm, im in the NL, i dunno if we will see that happen, we have loads of local produce here. maybe ill be okay there. same with meat probably.

oil is gonna be an issue yeh, i have a fav oil i use, and the cheap alternatives give me digestion problems, maybe ill go back to normal butter, what i cn do is invest in 2 bottles of that oil, since one bottle lasts me about half a year or more. And i will buy a few extra big-chunks of butter to bake in as well, so i should be good. and ill become more conservative with using it.

Flour is a good one, i have a bag or two now, but i think since nobody in the NL really wants to make their own bread we will be fine. i will however go buy a few more bags next time i have the money. it's affordable and just so easy to put aside. I just dunno if i should put it in something, vacuum seal it and store that in a container.. or if the paper-bags they come in are good enough for 2+ years storing in kitchen stock?

 

[Joan]

It's more about the cost of energy and fuel, than actual shortages, farmers can't afford to grow and then process and ship out the foods

 

[Floris]

It's more about the cost of energy and fuel, than actual shortages, farmers can't afford to grow and then process and ship out the foods

Yeah, good point.

I've filled up my grocery list, it's expensive already haha. I am going to look around other local stores i can bike to, to see if i can save big.

 

[Nix]

April 1st, the heater is supposed to go off 100% just to cover cost, and of course, snow storm since yesterday haha.

Yup... what's that all about???? LOL
Not Impressed!

 

[Joan]

Yup... what's that all about???? LOL
Not Impressed!

My heater has been off for a while anyway, barely used it this winter, lots of hot water bottles, oodie and hot drinks instead.

 

[Floris]

Yup... what's that all about???? LOL
Not Impressed!

Finally, snow in the 2021 winter, .. but, .. in spring 2022 O_o

 

[Joan]

And we're running out of sunflower oil, which is used in a lot of crisps

 

[Floris]

And we're running out of sunflower oil, which is used in a lot of crisps

Yeah, people seem to buy them in bulk at the stores now here. There's tiktoks of ppl showing complete empty spots in the shop where the crates used to be etc. What a world.

 

[Floris]

My grocery list is bigger, and boom, 100 euro O_o Crazy, the average of 1 to 1,5 is now an average of over 2 bucks per product.

Time to compare to some other stores and see if i can get more than 3 items without paying millions for it, haha

 

[Joan]

And the fuel crisis is on its way back, diesel is put in a lot of places already and petrol is low for many too

 

[Floris]

Unilever (the company behind Knorr, and Dove, etc) saysthey want to raise their prices due to the war.

 

[Joan]

Unilever (the company behind Knorr, and Dove, etc) saysthey want to raise their prices due to the war.

Stock on up tea!!! they also own a bunch of tea companies

 

[Floris]

Stock on up tea!!! they also own a bunch of tea companies

I still have quite a bit of tea myself and from nixxy and her friends

 

[Joan]

Well this has clearly been on my mind as last night I had a dream where everyone only had power one day a week, known as power day, and people were going hungry as they couldn't cook or get takeaways. The supermarket was open, but very limited as were on generators. Schools, hospitals etc weren't affected.

 

[Floris]

I keep trying to add to my stock and running out of regular ingredients, so I keep using my stock. I am failing hard this year.

 

[Joan]

I need to go through my stock, I know I'm low on sugar and possibly rice too

 

[Floris]

Same, but I have invested my non existing budget into apartment improvements. I won't be able to improve stock until probably after the Summer.

 

[Joan]

I managed to get a bag of rice for free, but did buy tea and sugar.

Potential rail strike that will affect supplies, so want to go through and make sure I have enough if things do run out I'll be fine

 

[Floris]

eeeeh free stuff! nice
I added a bag of sugar to my grocery list. I should have enough tea, but i am comparing shops to see where i can get the best deal for something that i can just put aside.
Honey is more rare in the nearby shops now, i am still waiting for a properly sealed couple of jars. they last forever, and they're a great trade item. ppl would love to trade honey for bags of rice ^_^ plus honey goes into everything, from breakfast to deserts, drinks and just making food taste better.

 

[Joan]

I think nows the time to look towards winter, before even more increases. Is there anything you know you need for winter, that might be cheaper now? Coats or boots?

 

[Floris]

I think nows the time to look towards winter, before even more increases. Is there anything you know you need for winter, that might be cheaper now? Coats or boots?

Good thinking, will keep an eye out.

Well, first things first: staying hydrated and staying warm. And when there's on electricity or gas due to some outage - we dont want a week to surprise us, what do we eat that we do dont need to store in a freezer/fridge?