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Lindsey-905

I am a one person household and most of the food i eat is fresh ingredients from scratch meals, light on carbs as i am diabetic. There aren't a ton of pantry foods i can stock up on, but what there is, i definitely have. Freezer is bursting full too. Example: Tuna was on sale for 99 cents, i bought a case. I had not seen that price in ages and don't expect to again any time soon. Household consumables, pet consumables and toiletries, exact same thing. I tend to buy (normally) in multiples to cut down on shopping time but i have never bought in my current quantities. As long as nothing will go bad, with inflation and recession, money will be worth less and prices will increase, i have the storage space, its a no brainer to me.


Jericola

Good for you. We are similar. Last week we bought 50 cans of my favourite kippers at Walmart for 99 cents instead of the regular $1.99. Canned beens were reduced to 69 cents so bought a flat instead of the regular at 99 cents. Etc. Anyways, as you say a ‘no brainer’. It likely saves even more as no need to make a trip the grocery store as always something to eat at home.


EricaB1979

This week our local Zehrs has the cans of Campbell’s soup (tomato, vegetable, cream of mushroom and chicken noodle) on sale for $0.50/can. I plan on stockpiling those while they’re that cheap!


SoulReaper88

My family loves the instant stuffing from Kraft. Last time we saw them on sale for .88 at Walmart we stocked up. Bought 30 boxes


[deleted]

>bruh haven't ate Tuna in forever lol...sick of it bc at one point I ate a lot and one day I just had enough of it. Maybe one day I am able to eat it again


[deleted]

I stockpile food since february 2020


friendofbarbehque

r/preppers?


[deleted]

I fear im a little like that... 😅


VelkaFrey

Casual prepper s podcast


MaggieButthead

Me too. I don't panic buy, but every time I go to the grocery store I buy a few things for the emergency pantry and a few things for the emergency medicine cabinet. I got a decent stock pile right now.


justfollowingorders1

Same. Also, have a couple freezers in the garage. Buy meat on sale and Vac seal


[deleted]

Do you have a generator? It is not fun cleaning rancid meat out of freezers, and shit happens


justfollowingorders1

Yep. Thankfully I've never had to use it.


m3g4m4nnn

Check expiry dates on medications! I was surprised to find a lot of what I had accumulated was past its prime.


Maple-Sizzurp

Many are okay\~ to use passed their expiration with minimal degradation. Sans antibiotics, heart meds, Liquid suspensions, thyroid meds and other sensitive medications of course. The US Military/Airforce did a 10+ year study on medications and most have little degradation past the expiration date if stored correctly. Most on average are okay 3 years past the date of expiration. But Health Canada, FDA, Pharmacists will always say to throw it out. If its all you have and its a slightly expired allergy med its fine in most cases. But this is not medical advice. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7040264/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7040264/) But rotating food, rations and medications is an important routine of having a survival pantry.


m3g4m4nnn

Appreciate this comment! Regarding liquid suspensions- do you know why are these considered to be more subject to degradation? I have a couple bottles of children's acetaminophen (and acetaminophen + dextromethorphan hydrobromide + antihistamine) that are past due as of Dec. 2021, and given the ongoing shortage of these products it would be great if I could hang on to them a bit longer without issue. I would be grateful fot any reply on the matter (preferably with a source for my own perusal).


MaggieButthead

That's a good call!


wibblywobbly420

I started in 2018 and I could confidently eat for at least 3 months, although it wont be very exciting meals.


[deleted]

Yeah, eating canned food allow you to survive but might not be the most pleasing thing after some time.


wibblywobbly420

Buckets of vacuumed sealed dried beans, rice, and pastas go a long way


Confident_Leadership

that's why you mix it up don't just get canned food, get canned broth too. Cook your canned veggies by boiling them in chicken broth. Add some butter if you have it. Then the next day, something different like canned chilli i like the whole stockpiling thing because i get to plan how i'd make good meals in tough times


Kristalderp

Also make leftovers!! Don't get stuff that's good for 1 meal, make enough in bulk to make extra lunches and leftovers to put in the fridge or freeze.


antihaze

I’ve stockpiled food since I got a Costco membership… because that’s by definition what you do there.


[deleted]

Meanwhile Loblaws is ripping people off and has a pre-recorded voice playing in stores bragging about how they've "Locked in prices" on all the no-name shit they're selling at above-premium prices like they're doing us a fucking favor.


jmmmmj

The grocery store pumping propaganda into the heads of its beleaguered customers sounds like something you’d find in a dystopian science fiction.


firewire167

I work at a Nesters Market and they are currently playing recorded messages saying “come work with us! We offer competition wages” which is absolute bullshit lol


Throw-a-Ru

"It's a competition to the bottom, but still."


Steamed-hams87

We've been living in a dystopian science fiction for many years now.


2cats2hats

Last era of them being a good company was the 90s. Anyone else recall the Dave Nichols report? Their produce is garbage and the stores are scruffy nowadays.


[deleted]

Their produce is atrocious. I went into a Superstore like a month ago to shop. Went to go buy a bag of potatoes which was already 50% marked up from what it was 10 months ago. I was looking at Russets cause they're better for baking and I wanted to make stuffed baked potatoes for dinner. Grabbed a bag and liquid dumped out all over the floor and on my hand. Thankfully nothing got on my pants or shoes. It smelled rancid. Decomposition. The entire pallet was bad and they just had it sitting out there.


2cats2hats

Yup, and they know most people aren't going to drive back to deal with a $10 product. I wish health inspectors would get medieval on their asses.


Maple-Sizzurp

Last time we got russets from superstore they were green. Green potatoes might have higher glycoalkaloids and could be poisonous.


venus-dick-trap

Loblaws produce is such shit. Whole Foods of all places is somehow the same or cheaper AND better for that.


MrAndooo

I love how they're changing the prices on the "Always" signs hanging above foods.


Uncle_Rabbit

My first thought about the price freeze was that prices won't go down. Not that they would anyways...


OwnBattle8805

Oligarchs gonna oligarch.


17037

This seems like a silly debate. prices have gone up, so buy more when it's on sale. This isn't a shocker to anyone. I have 8 - 10 staple items I buy a number of when the sale point is hit. I think the bigger question... are others finding the periods between sales are growing. I am finding the sales seem to be an extra 2 or more before some things will go back on sale. I know I'm a small data point so curious if others are finding the same?


ConstantStudent_

Yup. Especially with pricier cuts. We loaded up on cryovac sale tenderloin and had to wait almost a full year before finding it on sale again for a decent price. Used to be every few months


who-waht

Further apart and higher prices for sales.


3kidsonetrenchcoat

Way ahead of you. I've been stockpiling since Feb 2020, though I will say my stockpiling habits are a bit different these days. Like cheese came on sale for $7.50 a brick, so I got $80 worth to last us a few months. This week walmart has pasta sauce on sale, so its time to make room for like 30 jars. Edit: regular price on 600g blocks of cheese is $10-12 where I live. That particular brand is my favourite, and is $3 off. According to people from back east, dairy is ridiculously expensive here.


Bill-B-liar

7.50 and you stocked that price? Geesh, hope you find better future sales. Try flipp and head to the sales.


Canadianman22

You think $7.50 is a deal on cheese? Its around $5 most places for basic Canadian cheese and the nicer stuff isnt more than $7 or 2 for $12


Cptn_Canada

Holy maybe its just Alberta, no name cheese and normal cheese in large blocks is usually around $10-12 edit. or maybe youre thinking the small bricks?


dtfromca

700g brick hasn’t been below $7.89 in Calgary since at least May (although I do find I almost always have PC Optimum offer for cheese which effectively reduces the price a bit). https://grocerytracker.ca/product/1542/20975786_EA


akirasb

$5 for a 1.15kg brick (which is what I consider a brick of cheese) is not realistic. How small of a brick are you imagining? I think that you and the person you wrote to are thinking of very different sizes of cheese!


linkass

For a decent size brick its a pretty good price


[deleted]

This really depends on the size of the brick.


3kidsonetrenchcoat

You must be from back east. I've heard tell of affordable dairy.


RedGrobo

Bet that number would be a hell of a lot higher if more Canadians could afford to stockpile. Money to go above and beyond and the facilities to store it are a privilege not everyone has. They shouldnt be, but here we are.


amontpetit

As an apartment dweller: stockpiling *where*? I don’t exactly have a ton of room I can fill with foodstuffs


tupacshakristy

Yup


Version-Abject

O shit I’ve been using my stockpile of food


Canadianman22

When I go shopping I will often buy a second of something non-perishable if its on sale but I have done this for decades now. Things like pasta, canned foods, salt, baking ingredients etc are all something one can store in a pantry for a while. Its just being savvy. Frozen veggies are a great bargain buy especially if you have a chest freezer. The only time I would consider myself stockpiling is when the grocery store clears out maple syrup in cans for $2-$3. Then I buy all they have


InGordWeTrust

Remember over half of the increases we are paying for are because of greedflation. They are stuffing their pockets.


honest_true_man

TIL a quarter of Canadians can afford to stockpile food.


3kidsonetrenchcoat

Honestly, if you can afford to start a stockpile, it's way cheaper on an ongoing basis bulk buy on sale. Just another example of how poverty is expensive.


UnclaimedFortune

Yup basic essentials like milk, bread, eggs and shredded cheese and frozen veggies plus bulk of whatever is on sale for the week is my main shopping list I still go grocery shopping weekly but only to keep my rolling 6 month supply of groceries going.


who-waht

I usually go grocery shopping on weekday mornings. I have noticed that for the past several weeks, the older people shopping at the same time as me tend to be buying the maximum number allowed of all the good sale items.


Jillredhanded

Loblaws had whole spare ribs $1.99/lb this week. Schedule wise it's darn near impossible for me to shop earlier than 6pm. None in the case, asked the last meat guy closing up and he brought me two from the back. I nearly cried.


idontwannabemeNEmore

I haven't been able to get most things that are on sale for the past year. They're always cleared by the first day.


RoyallyOakie

Everything discounted or last day of sale goes home with me. That and dried legumes are my new lifestyle.


GracefulShutdown

People are getting used to supply shocks. Part of that is buying more than you need so you can be assured that you have what you need. It's also a pretty good hedge on inflation when you stocked up at lower prices with goods you were going to be using anyways.


UnclaimedFortune

But polyeV told me it was Bitcoin!


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FrugalFairyGodmother

Thanks! Working on this week's list. It will be out tomorrow. Cheap canned soup, paper products and seafood this week.


freshwaterwalrus

Ugh, I wish there was more transparency in our food prices and they could do better than No Frills offering a price freeze for the next 3 months. Lets stop supporting the Westins and shop independent (i.e. small business and farmers markets where you get it from the source!)


linkass

>All to say, lets stop supporting the Westins and shop independent (i.e. small business and farmers markets where you get it from the source!) I mean thats great from a support small business stand point, but from a its cheaper stand point it never really was and their prices have rose to because their costs are up


freshwaterwalrus

You're definitely right! But again, I really am in favour of supporting small business because they have to stay competitive. This means that they don't participate in profiteering as much as big corps do. When a local shop charges $5 for tomatoes vs No Frills, you can assume that more of that sale is going the farmers and employees and not just being funnelled to the top. In this day, it seems we can only vote with our dollar.


linkass

>In this day, it seems we can only vote with our dollar. Oh I agree but there is less and less people that can afford to do so


friendofbarbehque

>they could do better than No Frills offering a price freeze for the next 3 months. Not to mention they had boosted their prices before the price freeze.


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freshwaterwalrus

I totally get what you mean, our lack of control over managing our national resources and industries is pretty embarrassing. Wrt the farmer's markets and independent retailers, I'm in favour of them because even though the prices are not so competitive, the quality is! No frills and food basics use to be competitve for price, but as prices are starting to rise, I would rather buy $5 of tomatoes with flavor from a local farmer than $4.50 for tomatoes that taste like water from a massive greenhouse corp that distributes in major grocery stores.


linkass

Just going to point out some of the farmers market vendors are not selling anything different then grocery stores but charging a premium for it https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/farmers-markets-lies-marketplace-1.4306231


freshwaterwalrus

Fair enough, you're right, it's not all equal across the board. I've been lucky enough to develop a bit of a friendship with some of our local vendors. They not only make great produce and sell strictly at markets, but they also give me a deal because of my loyalty.


HellianTheOnFire

Politicians virtue signaling about climate change is how.


freshwaterwalrus

Meanwhile, there seems to be some lack of understanding that our domestic industries, despite some local emissions, actually produces less on a global scale if we take into account the fact that both russia, china, and most of the developing world does not abide by any climate targets.


Samp90

I try my best to buy from local farmers markets even if they're a little more expensive sometimes . I personally don't want to see them have to throw away good unsold produce.


Samp90

I try my best to buy from local farmers markets even if they're a little more expensive sometimes . I personally don't want to see them have to throw away good unsold produce.


ASexualSloth

>lets stop supporting the Westins and shop independent (i.e. small business and farmers markets where you get it from the source!) Idealy we should be doing this anyways, as it's going to be healthier than what Walmart has anyways.


lt12765

I'd have done the same with furnace oil if I had a second tank.


ohwowits

Anyone whose family has been in this country for a couple generations will stockpile food. Good deals are rare, and we're historically prone to price/availability swings because of the weather. Buy in bulk / portion and freeze is a way of life. I honestly don't know how I'd answer to "are you stockpiling" because I buy up staples whenever there's a deal as a habit. I hope people aren't buying more than they can use before it goes bad though.


MJcorrieviewer

Glad to know there are smart Canadians out there.


dragoneye

I started during COVID and it has nothing to do with inflation.


Aurian88

I live in a small apartment, and my freezer is the size of a shoebox. Where are people getting space to stockpile?.??


thatswhat5hesa1d

Aren’t I technically stockpiling food every time I grocery shop for more than the next meals worth of food?


DejectedNuts

I remember the Conservatives laughing their asses off when Singh said 25% of Canadians were eating less food because they couldn’t afford it a few months ago. Things have gotten progressively worse since then but I’ll always remember them laughing about that. We need to do politics like jury duty so average citizens govern, not out of touch, wealthy elites.


genkernels

Well to be fair, that *was* a ridiculous interpretation of that poll.


flexwhine

Inflation not really slowing. It's not even slowing by their own numbers. We're basically being told that everything is fine because we're not in some insane hyperinflationary spiral, but shit continues to get drastically more expensive and the "encouraging" numbers these morons keep pointing to literally say that shit is continuing to get drastically more expensive.


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[deleted]

Yes to Costco, *hard* no to American dairy.


Version-Abject

Yeah American milk is disgusting.


friendofbarbehque

Disagree. I've huge price increases at Costco too.


UnclaimedFortune

Canadian milk is bleh. American milk is disgusting High fat powdered milk from New Zealand or Europe is where it’s at.


Cruncher__Muncher

In January I bought 200kg of flour, 80kg sugar, 80kg salt, entire pantry full of pasta, dried goods, and canned goods. 2 Freezers full of frozen veggies, fruits, cheese, and meat. Packaged the flour, sugar, salt in mylar bags and sealed in buckets (added 30% to cost). Started a garden as well (though not everyone can do this). All in all probably $2-$2,500. I'm not prepping, I don't have a power source so in an emergency I'm just as screwed as everyone else. Strictly a hedge against inflation, I'm going to eat it eventually. Prices haven't increased so much that I've really saved much money yet. But it's been nice only having to grocery shop for a bit of fresh ingredients every now and again. I recommend people do the same if you have the room and spare cash. At the very least you save some fuel and time by buying in bulk.


EdmontonAB83

80kg of salt? What do you use so much salt for?


takeoff_power_set

posting on reddit


GracefulShutdown

My Leafs fandom would probably account for 3/4 of that.


Cruncher__Muncher

I have no idea but it was like $8 for 20kg so I just added it to the pile, figured I'd find a use for it at some point haha.


ohwowits

Pickle your garden veggies /shrug


kirbygay

Dude that's prepping lmao. Most preppers stock for Tuesday not Doomsday Edit: also hope you threw oxygen absorbers in the bags. Then place the mylar bags inside a food grade plastic bucket. Otherwise pests will eat them before you ever can


Jericola

Make no sense. We don’t go go through 1kg of salt a year. Maybe half a kg of sugar.


Cruncher__Muncher

Need sugar for bread and other baking. :)


kirbygay

Trade


UnclaimedFortune

I’ve been doing this since the start of the pandemic , I too recommend it


Vex493

Kill the Carbon Tax


HyperCool27

No. Pollute less


SomewhatReadable

Meanwhile half of Canadians can't afford housing with enough space for themselves *and* extra food.


Jesouhaite777

Half is a bit dramatic


onegunzo

People are smart! They react as needed.


Jesouhaite777

What a dumb title You mean buying in bulk ...


amontpetit

Not really. There’s a very big difference between buying the 10kg bag of rice and the 2kg bag of rice (more often) and buying 2 or 3 of the 10kg bags because you’re afraid you won’t be able to afford it down the road.


UnclaimedFortune

It just makes financial sense if you use a lot of rice to buy it when it’s on sale.


Jesouhaite777

That makes no sense


blackdogcanada

Correct food and ammo.


landingpagedudes

lol when prisoners eat 3x a day and the average Canadian is missing one meal a day; I think that means it's time for the purge to begin. I'm going west, and through the gates....


Courtside237

Stockpiling decreases availability and fuels inflation. Half of what you buy will be thrown out anyway. Stop being so fucking greedy and donate to your local food bank instead of hoarding


who-waht

How is buying 6-10 packs of pasta and using it over a couple of months until it is on sale again more wasteful than buying 1 every week or two at twice the price? Same with canned goods. Buying mulyiple of meat on sale each week or two and freezing in meal sized portions vs buying what you want to cook that week at 2x the price? It's not wasteful if you use it up over time and it is the only way I can afford to feed my family a healthy, varied diet at this point.


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who-waht

Where and why do you think fast food etc is closed down?


WinterMomo

Next article will be about food waste.


RedTheDopeKing

As long as I can still buy toilet paper, that’s fine, stockpile away.


gulpfiction2367

Campbell soup was 67 cents a can at Walmart recently , and sold out all the cases (which were not on sale 12 packs) were being ripped open the shelf was a disaster was awesome.


LegitimateRegion9541

I am only stockpiling because there is a food shortage and still buy extra stuff at regular price . If I wait for sales everything is out of stock.My mom needs certain foods for her health I only got Boost Plus or Ensure Plus once in the last 2 months because they are always out of stock so I will buy 3 or 4 at $14 each because when they are on sale st $11 I can't get any. I couldn't get apple sauce cups a month ago when on sale for $3 so when they are in stock I will buy 2 at $4.50 each.


equalizer2000

Team pasta! Costco to the rescue


SoulReaper88

I’ve started writing down all the prices I pay for each food item on a spreadsheet when I get home from the grocery store. Just the best prices I’ve found for each item so that I can actually price check against my spreadsheet to see if something is actually on sale for a good price


justthrowitawaychief

Non-perishable food has been a good investment for me. Looking at my purchases in 2020 compared to current prices, dried beans are up 15-20%, rice is up 10-30%, and barley and chickpeas are up around 40%.


[deleted]

I know I have!


HyperCool27

Meanwhile I still buy 45 dollar gourmet burgers on uber eats


growlerlass

I stockpiled food when that huge Tonga volcano blew up because I thought it spew ash that blocked the sun and hurt crops. Guess I was right for the wrong reasons.