Friday, May 29, 2020

Free Kindle Books for Today 5/29/20 Plus Stocking Up Again!

Free Kindle Books and deals for today 5/29/20!  Make sure you check the price before you buy, Amazon prices can change frequently. If you don’t have a Kindle you can download your favorite Kindle Book on any tablet or smartphone with a free Kindle app

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Stocking Up Again!

I glad to say that I didn't worry about the toilet paper when the virus started, in fact I was able to give 1/2 of my stockpile to my daughter.  I'm not bragging or anything and I admit that I had a few holes in my pantry but overall I did pretty well.  

But...like I said there were holes in my pantry and I had to get a few grocery pickups and make a few runs for meat.  Here is what I found myself mostly getting pick up orders for:  

1. I crave fresh fruit and vegetables and that is a problem that I need to find a solution for in the winter. There is nothing like fresh!  

2.  Fresh milk:  I need a cow because unless it's a dire situation no one will drink dry milk.  Dry milk is good to have on hand and use in recipes though. 

3.  Junk food- there is a craving for the sweet things.  Although you need healthy food to keep your immune system running great until you get a grip on things, you will be needing some comfort food.  

4.  We still like meat and I found out that my freezer was not as full as it should have been.  We worked it out though.  

How did I learn about stockpiling?  I always had extra but without a rhyme or reason.  Oh, I might have a lot of shampoo but I'm pretty sure a couple of years ago that I wouldn't have enough food to last us for at least 6 months.

My first thought, that brought me on this journey of stockpiling was with the wild weather, that we would have a food shortage and I needed to be prepared (I had no idea what was coming my way).  So, with that foreboding thought,  I found myself searching and  finding out what I needed to build my pantry from a variety of people and places. One of my favorites was the community I found at Patsy's classroom.  She is having another class soon so that more people can learn how to stock pile what's important.  She will guide you through the steps to building up your pantry a little at a time.  The best part is that it is free!  You can find out more and sign up here.  

So, yes I'm stockpiling again when I'm able to find things.  I'm replenishing things that we used more of..just in case.  If your not ready, you should too!


Please leave a comment and let me know how it's going in your neck of the woods.
Racing Destiny: Whispers in Wyoming by [Danni Roan]


Hannah Claire's Wilderness (The Revivalist Trilogy Book 2) by [Caryl McAdoo]

Farming Grace: A Memoir of Life, Love, and a Harvest of Faith by [Paula Scott]

Return of the Old Fashioned Housewife: Advice on homemaking, urban homesteading, and a simpler life by [Kate Singh]


101 Games To Play Whilst Socially Distancing: For Children Aged 3-7 by [Martin Williams]


Willy the Dinosaur & the Magic Cake: Children's book about a dinosaur who learns that sharing is caring by [Robert B. Grand, Anna Shvets]


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12 comments:

Kathy said...

Glad you had a good pantry and that you were able to help your family.
I had deepened my pantry, and my son thought it was funny that I had cases of tomatoes and canned veggies and toilet paper, but I think he was glad a few months ago. But we have been eating down the pantry since I didn't want to go in the store, and I need to stock up again. There are still shortages and limits in my area, so it is harder to get some things. But I want to be more prepared if there is a second wave this fall.
We put a deposit on a quarter of a cow, and are getting veggie boxes from misfits market but I don't know how we could get fresh milk. Hubby says we need dairy goats but not me. ;)
Hope you have a good weekend.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

I'm glad your were stocked up to Kathy. We made orders at the farmers markets for Our fresh veggies..I'll look up misfits. A dairy goat sounds great!

Debbie V. said...

Vickie- thank you for the book links - I have already downloaded three of them and today I had to see what that old fashioned homemaker book had to say :)
I don't know if I would call what I do "stockpiling" but I have stepped up my diligence in keeping "backups" of the items I don't want to run out of within a week. The toilet paper fiasco was an eye opener. So I keep an extra of whatever I normally use - box of crackers, vegetable oil, mayonnaise, ketchup, bread (I started freezing a loaf), cat litter, etc. I think that is what you are doing too.
I do follow Patsi - and her class sounds fun - but I wonder how all this works with just two people - my husband and I? There is only so much we can use over time.

tealady said...

I have the same problem Vickie, I have to have fresh fruit and veggies I crave them all the time.I think I really only have about 3-4 months in my pantry, I know I need to stockpile a lot more. Right now we are looking for a small freezer well I guess so was everyone else, can't find one. I don't want to order one without seeing and feeling it. I don't eat a lot of meat but I do eat a lot of chicken and fish. Our local Piggly Wiggly had whole chickens for $.49 a pound, got 4 but really had to push them into our freezer.I need a freezer now,lol.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

That's true Debbie ..patsy does teach how much you will need to keep no matter how big your family is. If we do get this second wave it will be good not to have to get out there at all or at least make far fewer trips. We may not be able to get the things we need. We are already running into some of that.
I try to think of meals we often make and have enough of the ingredients to last for six months or more. So some people will have quite a bit to store.
I really need to step up my game though even more as much as I can.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Oh I hope you find a freezer. That chicken deal just can't be beat. I've never canned too much meat but I've been thinking of doing that. it seems like a lot of work so maybe after grandma's school is over.

Jenny said...

I'm doing weekly grocery pick ups just for fresh produce. I feel safe doing that. the only part I hate is the actual pick up. I've never been able to get the app to work. The # number you call in is computerized & will only accept voice commands...it won't let me click a # & I have a stutter so I cannot for the life of me get it to understand what I want. It's been a huge frustration.

The numbers are up in my area so I'm hunkering down more. The good news...my yard looks better than it ever has!

Anonymous said...

Vicky thank you for your thoughts on the pandemic and how you fared personally with your pantry stockpiling :). I am glad you fared fairly well too.

I will agree I too crave fresh fruit and vegetables and we didn't have enough comfort food in stock either so we will work on rectifying this.

We were able to get fresh fruit from the supermarkets and we used a lot of tinned fruit we had in storage too so we shopped less. Vegetables we grow most of our own here and fortunately had frozen a lot from our gardens that got us through as frozen vegetables in the budget brand we keep for backups were restricted in numbers to buy and we simply could not find them as they were out of stock in the supermarkets. We did have a small supply of commercial frozen vegetables in the freezer and used tinned vegetables from our stockpile.

Here in Australia we were to some extent less affected compared to you in the States but still did have strict grocery purchase restrictions of 2 items of every grocery category eg 2 tins of tinned vegetables etc no matter what the variety. Toilet paper, soap, hand sanitiser, disinfectant, hand wipes and beef mince were all a limit of 1 per transaction.

I am pleased we are starting to come out the other side of the virus grocery restrictions here and all but a few items are now readily available in the supermarkets but we still have gaps.

As far as meat was concerned we did mostly fill up the freezer before the virus hit as we found a lot of good specials available. Thank goodness we did.

Now we are finding fantastic specials on meat and again have stocked up, replaced all the things we used in our stockpile that we couldn't buy before in quantity. Groceries we are now finding the half price specials are now back and I am also getting promotional codes like $25 off a $120 purchase which I have been taking advantage of coupling with half price specials to save more and build our stockpile with.

Like yourself toilet paper was one thing we had a good supply of prior to the virus so we were good there as well as personal care items. We even supplied toilet paper to 2 essential workers families who came to install our internet :) .

So glad I had built up our grocery stockpile up to nearly 12 months in advance taking advantage of specials, markdowns and promotional money off codes (over many months) before the pandemic hit as it put us in a good position.

It is indeed food for thought and I would say if anyone doesn't have a stockpile or at least a few spares of everything in stock to seriously consider starting.

Oh I like Patsy consider our stockpile to be everything our family uses too and recently found new skirts, shorts and pants on specials from $3, $5, $8 and $10 new and created a stockpile of those too. As we were saving for a home I had worn my clothing until it fell off me to save a good deposit so I desperately needed more good clothing :) .

Have a great week ahead :).


Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

We did those grocery pickups for quite awhile on the computer. I'm sorry the app didn't work but I'm glad you found something that will to a point. We are opening up slowly but I'm still afraid to go out too much but I guess that is as it should be.
Yep, my yard is my safe haven too. Have a great day Jenny.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

I'm so glad to hear from you Lorna and I'm glad you too came out alright with your stockpile. Wasn't it nice to have the toilet paper and not have to worry about that? I love that you are able to get some great deals again!
Like you, I've recently buying some shoes and clothing but it's been an order on line. Retail stores are open but you have to make an appointment and you can only be in there an hour. They have a limit of 10 people in the store at a time. I'm just not ready for that I guess but I may reconsider at some point.
I'm glad your finding meat again! Definitely time to stock back up. It's still sparse here with the meat processing plants closing. We almost didn't find our favorite bologna but the meat guy at the store found some in the back for us. We found a store that is not so busy and most everyone wore masks. I'm afraid it is a bit more expensive but next week I'll look at the
their ads better. Last week we kind of just tried this store out of the blue. We go every two weeks now and shop quickly.

Anonymous said...

Vickie it was really good we had toilet paper in stock as what was available in small quantities was super expensive from what I saw.

I bought most of my clothing online also as most of the dress shops shut during the pandemic and are only starting to open up now. The other clothing I got in a store but there was only 3 people in there including myself and 1 staff member. There is also no dressing rooms open in the clothing stores so I got DH to hold them up to my shoulders at the back to see if they would fit properly (I have very wide shoulders :) ).

From my experience here is that you may want to just stock minimally at the moment but buy what you use if you see it and need it at reasonable prices to replace what you have used.

Like here you will find the prices will come way back down again as there is a lot of job losses and people are spending from stats 20% less than what they were pre pandemic here in Australia. The stores will be left with a lot of stock they have ordered and need to get rid of it at discounted prices once things settle.

Yes we had a few meat plant shutdowns here due to major cluster outbreaks of the virus in their facilities too.

Hope our experience here helps you. Oh and with the China kerfuffle remember that paper goods, a lot of shoes, clothing, machinery and parts are mainly produced there so sometimes planning ahead is a good thing :).

I know that 92% of clothing here in Australia is imported into the country here, 72.9% is made in China. Worth looking up stats for the States too.

Sewingcreations15 (Lorna) .

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Yes your right Lorna about China making most of our goods. I bought one pair of new tennis shoes for that reason and need to buy another. Husband is all set as he bought his at garage sales over the last couple of years. Trying to find a size 9 for me that's not wore out never happened. I miss garage sales.
Oh I never thought about not being able to try on clothes..I bet that is happening here and I just don't know about it.

I tried to look up just how much we import from China but really couldn't find a direct answer. I know it's way up there in the clothing department.

Yes thanks for all your information. We have been running about 2 weeks from you. So it happens in your country first then makes its way here I have found. It's a great impact here when it happens.
Have a great day!