Profiteering from the CV outbreak: a tale of greed

Shell, I’m glad I’m not the only one who contemplated buying a freezer LOL!

Book—freezing chocolate milk is genius! I am gonna try that for the kids. During my Costco run, my son our chocolate syrup in the cart and i thought why the hell not? And being that it was Costco, it was a pack of 2 large bottles of hersheys syrup! Then I got a gallon of milk that expired on the 31st.....now is not the time to be wasteful! And yes this will be a learning lesson for sure. I saw a brilliant suggestion on Facebook earlier to give each kid a small basket or box and every night you put their snacks for the day in the box. When it’s gone, it’s gone. If they want to eat it all at once, so be it. I am going to have to do that. We don’t have any baby carrots, celery or peanut butter unfortunately. I could really go for a PB&J sandwich too :(
I shoulda got a big jar of skippy at Costco. My hubby is off work tomorrow so I might go back on my word and go to Safeway tomorrow. I need my coffee creamer (their store brand Lucerne is the absolute best. Try it!! I love the Belgian chocolate toffee flavor) and have enough for 2-3 cups of coffee.

Is everyone else having trouble finding ANY paper products? No one here has toilet paper, Kleenex OR napkins! We have enough TP for at least 10 days and same with paper towels and napkins but I could use a box of Kleenex, I’ve been using napkins.

on the subject of price gouging. Same store that had the expensive chicken breasts....i bought a marinated tri tip, the store marinated it themselves and it was behind the butchers counter. It’s on the Traeger cooking now and I shocked!!! Shocked at the price! $9.99 a pound. That is what I pay per pound for prime rib at Costco! Is that normal for tri tip? I’ve honestly never paid attention to the price per pound, we always get a 2 pack at Costco and I think we pay $35-ish? This tri tip was 2.93lbs, nearly $30! Don’t know if this is price gouging or not.

NeedHelp, they didn't have the oreo cookies with strawberry cream that I've been craving. So I went to check if they have the Nestea Ice Tea mix. Nope. I ended up buying Tang. It's going to be my go-to for any 'sweet' cravings. These things sure do bring up memories, doesn't it? =)

Book,

Oh my gosh! Tang! The memories...

Geeeez, I only wanted to drink it because the astronauts drank it! I so wanted to be an astronaut.

I used to sit in my grandpa’s recliner with my legs stretched out along the backside of the chair reaching up towards space! I was pretending that I was in a spaceship.

Hahaha, then I would find all of my grandpa’s change that fell out of his pockets! He would let me keep it.

That was big money back then. I would buy the ‘penny’ candy, bubble gum, wax lips, those little bottles filled with colored liquids, tootsie rolls, etc.

Worried,

I thought for a very brief minute to by another freezer and then I thought--nope not going there! Both my freezers are full with meat and my mothers T.V. dinners that she can get when I make something she doesn't like. I have plenty of canned goods!


NHWM,
My sig other always eats the leftovers when he gets out of work at 9 a.m.! Whatever he doesn't eat then I make it into something else, sometimes it's good and other times it's well...okay!

I love soup and salads, but I like big meals to, so, I do some light meals and some heavy meals depending on what I am in the mood for! Just think how much money you save!

Cwilly, Can I freeze half & half?

WorriedinCal, I totally agree with you about the consequences if the kids don't proportion out their snacking. It'll also be a learning experience for them. Worse case scenario, there's the healthy snacking - carrots w dip, celery with dip or peanut butter, etc... When we were young, we would put our chocolate milk in the freezer. Tada! We had 'homemade' chocolate 'ice cream.' … We did that also with Tang - but we froze it enough to be able to break it into pieces - and had our own crunchy 'ice slurpee'...

Cwillie, I checked the link. That's truly really nice of Sunwing. Now that's an airline that cares about people.

In contrast to the previous story about Air Canada is this:
"Sunwing Airlines Ltd. is offering vacant seats on its repatriation flights free of charge to any Canadians stranded"
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/sunwing-offers-free-seats-on-repatriation-flights-to-stranded-canadians-1.4860045

needhelp, I see no harm in having a lot of non-perishables! Like cwillie said. We can’t all live off soup and a sandwich. I am really the only one who eats veggies so I do end up throwing out some because I can’t always eat what I’ve bought for the week before it goes bad. If the same things are going bad over and over, buy smaller quantities or freeze it!

My freezer and pantry are full because we are a family 4 and unfortunately for my wallet, my kids eat A LOT. Being stuck in the house for weeks.....we are gonna go through a lot of food. My kids have been home for 4 days and eaten so much! I am actually kind of annoyed by it at the moment. So that is why I shopped for food 4 times over a 5 day period. Better to stock up now and get what I could get, rather than have to go out multiple times over the next few weeks. I don’t think the panic shopping is going to die down here any time soon. I think we have enough food to last at least 2 weeks. And if the kids want to eat all the snacks up in a matter of days and not ration it.....they can eat whatever is left in the house or go hungry. I don’t plan to go to the grocery store until at least 3/31. Well unless I find out that at least one store in this damn city finally has toilet paper LOL!!!

Yeah, families need to buy more food. My husband and I are not big eaters.

I might try freezing bread. That’s a good idea to stick it in the fridge or freezer.

cwille, me too. I will use up what I have when I can. I am fanatical about expiration dates! I refuse drinking milk near the expiration. Guess I am too picky about certain things but I have NEVER had food poisoning, EVER! Hahaha

Who needs that much of anything? Well you have already admitted you are not typical, most of us could not live on half of a sandwich and a bowl of soup.
I'm only one person but it is pretty rare that I throw out anything, I keep my bread in the fridge and rather than standard loaves I buy naan, tortillas, english muffins or occasionally rolls that are easily frozen and reheat well. I plan my meals around what I have to use up - I would have transformed that turkey, milk and cheese into a pasta casserole.
And although I am mystified about some of the things people are stocking up on lets don't forget that there are people out there who have larger families, especially those with teens, that need more than the average of everything.

Who needs that much of anything? If I buy a lot of food it would get thrown out. I can’t eat that much food. People are hoarding and being gluttons.

If I don’t freeze food it goes to waste. I can’t finish eating the food before it goes bad. Just yesterday I threw out sliced cheese, sliced turkey and milk. I guess I will have to start buying a quarter of a lb instead of a half of a lb for sandwiches. It goes to waste.

Bread gets moldy before I can finish it too. I guess I don’t eat as much as I should. I never eat an entire sandwich. I started making one half of a sandwich. Why waste it? If I make a whole sandwich I throw half of it away.

I do like soup! I can eat a bowl of soup. I can eat salad too. I like chicken or seafood, not too much meat. I hate heavy meals. I would feel weighed down and sluggish if I ate like most people.

Sometimes I think something is wrong with me because I don’t get strong hunger pangs. I can skip eating for days and not be hungry. I will force myself to take a few bites here and there. I think it’s mental as well. My mom criticized me so much. I was afraid to gain any weight.

I have never weighed much more than 100 lbs. I used to hover under a hundred pounds. My husband complained that I needed to eat a bit more.

Gracie...I must confess that as my local grocery stores continue to have empty shelves, I did contemplate buying another freezer chest from Costco. I am lucky to say that our freezer in the kitchen and the box freezer in the garage are packed at the moment. But I have had moments where I’ve thought I better buy what I can when I see it, the way people are acting here. Hypocritical thinking on my part because a lot of people here are buying food for that very reason—get it while you can! But I can’t buy any more food that will need to be frozen because the freezers are packed.

Shell your neighbor sounds out of her damn mind!! Serves her right going to those lengths to copy you! I would have done the same thing with my hair, that was great!!!

Not a profiteering comment, but interesting. My clothes dryer died, and my husband looked at it but couldn't fix it; it was old and looking at most of the parts and service prices, just decided to go ahead an buy new one. Went to pick it up at Lowes, and sign on door said No Freezers. Guess all the people hoarding food supplies needed more freezer space

Cwillie, hard to say. It could be that all the discounted advance purchase one-way airfares was sold out or because they miss the advance purchase requirement (e.g. $1500 if purchase at least 3 days prior to departure). It could be that the last minute discounted one-way airfare (e.g. $2000) is sold out. And what's left is the last minute full economy airfare (e.g. $3000)... Some airlines are more expensive than other airlines on certain routes. And then there's the ones who actually zero out availability of the lower fares - so all you can buy is the more expensive fares. It's really hard to say. But if the border is closing....

P.S..one way airfares are usually higher fares. Most people think a one-way airfare is half of a roundtrip ticket. Nope! It starts about 2/3 of a roundtrip ticket and up (e.g. advance purchase roundtrip is $1800 but a one-way can be $1100-$1200) depending on the destinations.

CBC is reporting that people booking flights and flying home are being charged hugely higher fees by the airlines - Air Canada was mentioned but no doubt the others are just as bad.... but then that's the normal business model so maybe it doesn't really count gouging.

Last week, when I was at fave sis's house, we sat discussing the upcoming island-wide shutdown. We were discussing the TP situation, I told her that we should look for a portable bidet. She never heard of it. Googled it. We tried to order it in Amazon - 'seller does not ship to your location' - over and over. I finally realized that the sellers from China. There's a ban for imported China products... I told sis - we can try for the wash bottles used by medical techs. It's sold in the US and not from China. After much YouTube research, I think a bidet sounds great because everyone says you feel so much cleaner than just using only TP when doing #2.

Worried, you reminded me that over the years I've seen large packages of toilet paper and other personal supplies at Office Depot or Office Max, in their business supply sections.   

One of my gardening friends reminded me of what used to be used years and years ago, after the Sears Roebuck catalogues were used in outhouses:   rags.    You can still use toilet paper for solid waste but rags that can be washed out easily for the liquid waste.    It would save a lot of toilet paper.

Basic needs come first. Hoarding is greedy and to me a crime that deprives others.

This is not related to hoarding. Thought I got it posted in another category but is still good advice. If you can find ground meat, go for the lowest fat content possible. If ground meat is not possible, buy the leanest possible meat and grind it yourself during your stay at home.

I am on a low fat diet, so I buy turkey, chicken and canned salmon for protein. I make ground turkey and ground beef meatloaf every week. Use spaghetti sauce, etc to keep moist and store extras in the freezer. It is good at breakfast, sandwiches or alone.

Worried,

I had a neighbor who lived next to me years ago who would do the same thing. If I dyed my hair blond she did too. If I dyed my hair red well she did too. She started dressing like me. Having her hair cut like mine. So I went to a hair store and bought pieces of hair that are on clips that you just clip into your own hair, however, they were blue, pink, and purple. Yes, I wore them as if I had my hair dyed those colors. And yes, my neighbor went out and had her hair dyed those colors. So guess what I did...when my neighbor was outside, I went outside in my yard and made sure she was looking at me then I unclip all my colored hair. You want to talk about someone being mad. Wow, was she mad! She stormed into her house to tell her kids using very colorful words!

Did she learn anything-nope! When I bought my jeep she went out and bought some big SUV that she couldn't afford nor knew how to drive!! She lost her SUV a year later because she couldn't make the payments!!

Some people!!!😱

I have out of-state-family who told me may find what I may not and ship it online directly to my area. Can we shop online at out-of-state places less affected by COVAD? Supplied might better be found, but do not hoard, only buy just enough for your immediate needs.

Please do not buy anything from an unknown store or website, especially if is overpriced. If able to, report it!! Unfortunately, greed and profits prioritize from such business over vital need and safety, especially in these times when the buyers are taken advantage of.

Cali,

That is funny! Talk about, “Keeping up with the Joneses!”

On a lighthearted note because I finally have something to laugh about all thought it might sound ridiculous to everyone else......we seem to have a competition going with the neighbors across the street. They are quite snobbish and don’t associate with us. Anyway I’d noticed for a while that if we bought our a kids something, a few days later I would see their kids outside with something even better......then we got a new Tahoe in December and now they have gone and bought a new full size GMC truck. And now I am laughing to myself thinking they must think we are competing with them because.....there is now a brand new full full size Chevy truck in our driveway! But it’s not ours, it’s our loaner car from the Chevy dealer because we had to take the Tahoe in again this morning for the 3rd time, for the same problem with the fuel injector. But I’m pretty sure the neighbors are thinking we’ve gone and gotten ourselves a new truck in response to their new truck! LOL! wonder if they will go out and buy a fancy boat now?

I think the quarantine is making people stupider.....our local news stringer just posted footage of a man being arrested for DUI after crashing on the highway. First comment is from a woman wanting to know why there were cars on the highway and how is it possible he was drunk if all the bars are closed?

🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

do people really not know that.....a lot of folks sit and get drunk in the comfort of their own homes? Hell some even sit in parking lot of the liquor store and drink! I would bet $$$ a lot of folks will be drinking in order to get through this ordeal!
and as for cars on the highway.....thousands of people still have to go to work. Traffic should be expected to be lighter but people are still going to and from work. Not everyone has the luxury of working from home if their job isn’t shut down.

I remembered what it is was that Costco allowed one member to buy multiple pallets of.....LYSOL WIPES! 3 pallets worth! Don’t know if it’s true or not but there is a picture circulating on social media saying that it’s a man & wife in Vancouver Canada? Who bought up all the sanitizer at multiple Costco’s and made a $100k in 1 week!

It’s easy to tell when a Costco member is shopping for a small business. I can even tell when it’s an employee of a LTC facility shopping for the facility. Most don’t go in and buy a cart full of meat. They use those big flat carts and buy a lot of different products in bulk.

Let's not forget that Costco also sells to small businesses, thus if you see someone with a cart load of meat and vegetables, it's for a small restaurant. This especially happens if the regular service vendor has been delayed, and the restaurant is almost out of food/supplies.

My boss, when he had his own office building, would buy toilet paper, paper towels, and hand soaps for the restrooms. And bottle water for the office coffee maker. I never could convince him tap water would work because the water is being boiled... [sigh]. And we have excellent tasting tap water.

bookluvr, glad to see you back on-line :) I have missed you.

Here is another nice story to cheer us up, a letter in today's Times:

Sir,

Today I went to the supermarket to buy some rice but the shelf was bare. I spotted on the bottom shelf what looked like a last packet right at the back. As I stooped to inspect it a young lady was quicker than me and scooped up the packet; we stood up together. She then turned to look at me and when she saw that I was an old codger she offered me the packet of rice. It restores one's faith in one's fellow man.

Dr Klaus J Misch, FRCP, Epsom, Surrey.

I am basically considering everything to be in shortage. Have bought alot of toilet paper,not easily but if one arrives first thing in the morning to Target you can get a package. I plan to keep the gas tank at over half. Created our own version of wipes. Hope to order some out of print books online if possible. I found the best one at a used book store yesterday. Adult children dealing with their mother battling cancer and father developing ALS. The son manages to relay all this with humor. It may be a little dark at times but has had me laughing. I sent a care package to my oldest daughter who has a 6 and 4 year old home indefinitely. We truly are all in this together albeit at different stages. I just wish for the best possible survival. I took a decent walk today. That can make one feel a tiny bit better. Wishing all of you strength in whatever ways you find possible.

Meanwhile, according to news reports in Italy, the shelves are fully stocked at the grocery stores because people are buying only what they NEED, in spite of being hard-hit with this virus. Humanity at it's finest being practiced over there, huh?

I purchased toilet paper on Monday at Amazon.com where it was available to me in Denver.