How To Survive The Current Season

I can't help but notice that of late there are a great number of headlines.  They are everywhere.  I don't watch news programs but I see and hear a few news items that slip through on search engines or ads on the side of a blog.  Equally as bad are Instagram post headers, vlog episode titles and blogger post headings.  I do realize that some are more interested in getting a view and so their headlines are meant to be clickbait, a lure to draw you in.   I say they are fear mongering.

I admit that after the past two years  we have good reason to be watchful at stores for outages.  Lana and I both noted fewer trains coming through our communities.  I don't live near a seaport as Lana does but I do live near a major portion of railroad line and multiple trains daily travel that line.   In winter especially, though I live 3 miles out of town, I can easily hear the train whistles.  I've heard far fewer of late than I normally have been hearing.  This tells me that shipping has slowed down.

I've heard all sorts of explanations for why we're seeing a few outages and shortages.   My favorite which makes me scoff mightily is that we, as consumers are simply buying too much!  Phooey on that.  I can say for sure that for my household and my family we are not buying more...spending more, why yes we are, but not because we're buying more.    Another was that so many truck drivers were arrested or let go for DUI or substance abuses or 'retired' at age 45 that there were no longer enough truck drivers to meet the demands of supply chains...seriously?  I've known many truck drivers in recent years and I'll tell you quite honestly that those of my acquaintance were not substance abusers nor drunkards and not one of them was anywhere near ready to retire at age 45.   I won't even mention the number of truck driving schools nearby and the number of graduates they've turned out in the last few years.

But I do see a problem here and I'll share with you that the bulk of the problem is that all sources seem to be bent on driving the public to be fearful.  I am not saying there haven't been supply delays, low stock, lack of transports, or even rising costs.  I am saying that because I shop so little, rarely going into a store even once a week, I see the headlines, read the titles, hear the news and often worry that when I do go out to shop I'm going to find prices are through the roof, shelves will be empty and I'll be left scratching my head trying to figure out what we do now...

Might I just add that every.single.time, when I've gone out to a store, I've generally found what I required.  Yes, the price might have increased slightly.  Yes, there might have been less on the shelf.  Yes, there might be a complete outage of a few items but it's seldom a lasting outage.  What isn't in today usually arrives in another day or two.

All that said to say this: there are ways to survive this season of supplies not always meeting demands.

#1.  Don't believe headlines.   Everyone wants you to click on their post/article/vlog to see what is happening.  It drives up their numbers, increases the odds that their piece will move up in the line of most seen.  Go to the store and see for yourself what is in your area.   I have a dollar store in my town, and to the east and west of me, there are three groceries, and six dollar stores.   We generally shop on the west side of Warner Robins.  There are within 5 miles no less than 3 major grocery stores.  That's just in one area.  I can name two other areas within another 5 mile radius that has two groceries each. I can go the same distance into Perry and find 3 major grocery stores.  Without fail, what one store doesn't have another one does.  It's all a matter of warehouse and distribution inventory centers (some supply more than one store) that serve the store/area.  Go SEE what is in stock.  I'll wager that nine times out of ten you don't have to look too hard to find the item or two that you're missing on your list and you won't have to visit more than two stores to find it.

Just today while searching for a recipe I found just such a claim from a large news agency online.  It's totally misleading and, at least for my area, appears to be a complete lie.

#2. Don't always believe your eyes.  Lana shared a conversation she had last month with a store clerk in a popular chain here in the South.  She'd asked about turkeys.  There were none in the freezer cases and she was curious, having heard/read that turkeys might be hard to find and that we should buy them early.   However, upon asking the store clerk she discovered they simply were holding them to put out nearer the Thanksgiving sales season.  There was no shortage at all!

I can say quite sincerely that in my shopping a bit over a week ago, I went into three different grocery stores.  There was no shortages of turkey anywhere I'd been.

What I am having a hard time finding: turkey breakfast or Italian sausage.  This has been an issue for me now for nearly two years.  I can find smoked sausages made of turkey, even hot dogs, but breakfast sausage has been few and far between.  You'll recall that for nearly a year I couldn't buy turkey Spam either.  I adapt.  I miss eating turkey sausage but I can buy ground turkey and make my own.  

#3.  Consider what you can actually use.  Buy what you'd normally purchase.  Go ahead and buy an extra one or two if there are no limits on the item and ample stock, especially if you're a little low in your pantry but for goodness sake don't just buy things because you see them there to be bought.  I will remind you that during the pandemic when rice was no where to be found, a well known vlogger was making a video of her store shelves.  She wandered into the store and found bags of rice.  Although she had 50 pounds of rice at home, she picked up two more bags.  She allowed the fear of not having rice cloud her reasoning.  Truth was she had an average sized family who ate rice no more than twice a week.  That 50 pounds at home was more than enough to see them through the pandemic.   That leads to my next tip.

#4.  Don't become a hoarder.  I am all for keeping a well stocked pantry.  How stocked you are is really up to you.  Because we don't live near stores and have experienced many seasons of fear of job loss, high medical bills, or more limited than usual income, not to mention inclement weather, I've learned to keep at least 3-6 months of food on hand.   That pantry carried us just fine during the pandemic when shelves were pretty empty and purchases limited to one or two per customer.  I could often bypass items because I knew what I had on hand at home.  My thinking was that I could leave those limited items for someone who hadn't any at all.   I'm not touting my own virtuousness.  I'm trying to say that if you walk into a store and buy cases of unlimited items even though your family normally doesn't eat or use the item...that's hoarding.  Buy what your family uses and needs in reasonable amounts.

#5.  Brush up on your frugal skills.   Stretch a meal a bit further.  Pick up the mending basket and mend your items.  Refresh your memory on how to stretch a dollar.  I'm not saying to go back to a poverty mindset but let's face facts.  It's a whole lot easier to manage temporary difficulties if we remember how well we've managed them in the past.  

Use all of your food items at home.  Preserve food items to prevent spoilage.  Use the means you have at hand.  Read bloggers like JES at Strangers and Pilgrims or Anabelle at The Bluebirds are Nesting on the Farm.   Pull our your Cheapskate Gazettes, refresh your memory with old tried and true recipes from your most frugal days.  

And one last final reminder: #6. This is only a season.  I'm not trying to downplay legitimate concerns about rising costs nor empty shelves.  I do realize that because I'm not seeing big  price increases or outages doesn't mean that you mightn't be seeing them in your area.   But please remember that as with all things in life, this is just a season.   All seasons come to an end eventually.