With the world going bonkers and people freaking out, now is a time to assess your needs. This can include yourself, your spouse, your family and your pets. Some of us have grown kids and grandchildren so we should also include them. Why? Because when we pass they can be prepared and protected.
While everyone’s needs are different; for instance, I’m allergic to milk, yeast, corn, wheat & whey, you should have basics. What you should “stock” up on or “prep” is one item at a time. Hubby is a milk fanatic. We have a 5-gal bucket of powdered milk (Average is $30 for 5#bag). I have a 5-gal bucket of powdered coconut milk! Another of sealed raw almonds for making my own almond milk!
I get my BPA-Free 5-gal buckets from Wal-Mart and my lids from eBay this company charges $7 Gamma Seal Lids for $60 w/ship. Why the Gamma Seal lids? A Gamma Lid is re-sealable, screw-top lid for storage buckets. Fits most 3.5 to 7.0 gallon buckets (including 20 liter). Now it is easy to get in and out of your storage buckets without breaking fingernails or pinching fingers! The Gamma Seal Lid permanently transforms your 12″ diameter bucket into an airtight/leak proof storage container. The company listed allows you to choose all in ONE color. You will need a rubber mallet to bang the lid on. I used a regular hammer and broke it!
Why is that good? I use white lids for basics (flour, sugar, oats, etc), blue for herbs (dried elderberry, nettle, chamomile, etc), red for non-edibles like borax, clays and the like.
Everything in moderation, don’t go into debt. Choose one item and get that monthly. I know right now it’s difficult, but things will go back to normal, everything did after WWI & WWII! We just need to ride it out.
Use your time wisely, if you’re quarrantined, why not clean out your closest? The attic? The garage? Now is the PERFECT time. You can also donate what you aren’t using! The Battered Women’s shelters are filling because of domestic violence is rising due to short tempers and people not getting along. Vietnam Veterans are also accepting donations, they can always use the help!!
By now you’ve surely heard that store shelves have been emptied of toilet paper and hand sanitizer—and we totally get that that stuff is very necessary in a quarantine. But those aren’t the only things you’ll need to settle in for a few weeks (or more) at home.
So what else do you need? With the number of U.S. states issuing “shelter in place” orders growing, we wanted to put together a definitive quarantine supply guide—before the panic buying gets any worse.
After speaking with several medical and shopping experts, we rounded up the must-have items you’ll need for an extended stay at home—much of which you can buy online (amen!).
Canned foods
While fresh is always best, it might not always be possible in the coming weeks, with many grocery shelves cleared out of fresh produce and other perishables. That’s where having a good-size stash of canned food comes in handy.
“All food items—canned food, dry goods, frozen food—are obviously must-haves for quarantine,” says shopping expert Tiara Rea-Palmer of CouponFollow.
She recommends having enough canned goods to feed your family for a week.
“This is more because consumers are overstocking and buying everything in sight than anything else,” she explains. “Odds are, you will still be able to pick up some canned, frozen, and dry items at local grocery stores. But in case people are panic buying, try to have a week’s worth on hand.”
Shop for a selection of canned goods you can use to make quick meals at home, like soups, beans, and other nutrient-rich vegetables.
Dry foods
While you’re shopping for canned goods, don’t forget to pick up a few other nonperishable food items as well.
“Non-perishables don’t just mean canned goods,” says Dr. Steve Hertzler, nutrition scientist and registered dietitian with Abbott. “While it’s important to stock up on a mix of dry goods like rice and pasta, and liquid canned goods like tomatoes, beans, tuna, and soups, don’t forget non-perishables like nuts and seeds.”
“Sunflower seeds and oil, almonds, hazelnuts, and peanut butter are sources of Vitamin E and zinc, which can help support immune health,” he adds.
Vitamin-rich supplements
With your diet becoming less predictable in the coming weeks and months, it’s also not a bad idea to stock up on a few vitamin and electrolyte-rich formulas that will help you stay healthy or recover if you do become sick.
(Vitamin D3 is excellent to add plus Vitamin C)
“Electrolytes are critical to bodily functions, and you can help prevent mild to moderate dehydration with rehydration solutions, like Pedialyte,” Hertzler says. “Other options to add variety to your general fluid intake include teas and flavored waters, or even Ensure.”
Ensure—which has protein, vitamin A, zinc, and antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium—can help provide the calories and nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy, or help you recover if you become ill.
“All of these options will keep in your pantry, so feel free to stock up,” he says.
Why not get Gatorade, it comes in liquid or powder. For kids, I would cut it in half with water because it’s too sweet and too strong.
Frozen foods
When it comes to having the variety you need to cook healthy meals, don’t forget to make good use of your freezer. Store fresh veggies, freeze meat, and snag some bags of easy-prep meals or ingredients.
“Try getting a variety of different items—that way, you can cook a multitude of meals from limited ingredients,” Rea-Palmer says.
And don’t stop your meal planning just because you’re no longer packing to-go containers for office lunches. In fact, it might be more important now than ever.
“Even though you’re not on the go, preparing and portioning out meals and snacks can help your food supply last longer,” Hertzler says.
For instance, try cooking a batch of chicken breasts that you can slice and add to salads for lunch or serve with rice or pasta at dinner. If you make extra, just pop it in the freezer and pull out when you’re running low.
I invested in a larger freezer, it was $550, but I keep each shelf with a different meat we eat, one is for veggies and junk foods are in bottom basket. The door is for quick stuff; bread, butter, etc.
I have an old chest freezer which was $100 which I keep things I catch on sale plus I have an old milk crate with fishing stuff (worms, chicken livers, etc) another milk crate has bones and pieces. We can our own stock so ALL left over veggies get saved in a baggie; peel a carrot-save peels; clean on onion-peels go into baggie.
I’ll do another article on making stock for ya’ll!
Pet supplies
“Pet food and pet care items like cat litter, doggie pads, and medications are another necessity for pet owners,” Rea-Palmer says. “This is something many people forget about until it’s too late, but luckily you can usually get these from Amazon, Walmart, Target, and even pet food subscription services like Ollie or Grocery Pup.”
Call your veterinarian to stock up on any necessary medications, or use an online service like 1-800-PetMeds.
We use Chewy.com for our pet supplies as they have free shipping over $45 & when Dexter had emergency surgery after his urethra collapsed from the crappy commercial pet food they sent a bouquet of flowers FOR Dexter!! They made a customer for LIFE!!
Medication
Speaking of meds, don’t forget about your own. Having some fever-reducers like Tylenol can be helpful in the event that you become sick—but even more important, you should also plan on having a generous supply of the meds you take on a daily basis.
“Call your doctor or health care provider to ensure you can get at least one month’s worth of meds at your pharmacy,” Rea-Palmer says. “To limit going out, see if you can get your medications delivered.”
Hubby was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in October 2019, his Neurologist has helped with samples for surviving while waiting for pharmacy to fill his prescriptions! Most physicians HAVE sample sizes they can give you, ASK! It can’t hurt!
Batteries
With most of our favorite gadgets being rechargeable, it’s easy to forget about the ones that aren’t. And this is not exactly a convenient time to run out of ways to charge your stuff.
“One thing to stock up on for a few weeks at home are a few extra batteries and chargers for the devices you wouldn’t be OK without for any amount of time,” says shopping expert Stacy Caprio of Deals Scoop. “This means extra batteries for your fire alarm, a few flashlights, any lamps you use regularly, and any other items you depend on that use batteries.”
You should also consider an extra phone charger in case something happens to yours, she adds, and any other chargers you use often enough where it might be helpful to have a spare.
Personal hygiene products
Hand sanitizer is great, but you know what’s even better? Plain old hand soap. So don’t stress if your local supermarket ran out of the alcohol-based products. Just be sure to stock up on the personal hygiene products you normally need, and plenty of hand soap to keep germs from spreading in your home.
“Keep in mind: Any kind of soap will do,” Rea-Palmer says. “It’s washing your hands for 20 seconds under hot water that matters. Make sure you have deodorant, shampoo, and face cleansers as well as lotions since you’ll be washing your hands a lot.”
We offer soap on sale which is all natural, organic. Soap by nature is anti-bacterial. If you’re unsure about the “20 second” rule, wash your hands TWICE! That’s what we do with the grandchildren!
And while it probably goes without saying, grab some toilet paper and paper towels while you’re out—if you see them, that is.
EVERYONE is fighting for paper towels and TP. Why not get a bidet?At Lowe’s its $40 and you can attach under your seat! Have a stack of washcloths on back of tank for patting dry! Save the TP for, um, large removal. It also helps with children who use 5MILLION sheets for the tiny tushies!
Stop using papertowels! Use kitchen towels! You wash them! OR, I introduced hubby to cloth diapers! He LOVES them, he keeps 6 in his truck bucket he says after washing his truck they absorb without streaking or leaving lint and soak up more water than one realizes! They are also awesome for cat yack! How many times have you had to clean up cat yack after them coming inside from eating grass!
Things to keep busy
Amid the rush to get out and buy all the food and hygiene products, don’t forget about picking up a few things to help preserve your mental health as well.
“Quarantine can be hard on all of us for different reasons, so try to keep your mind sharp by doing puzzles, downloading math or brain teaser apps, doing crosswords, and even consider getting some Dead Sea Bath Teas and wine or a DIY Scrub Kit to treat yourself to some relaxation time,” Rea-Palmer says.
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