Going to the grocery store

[namasteak]

How often are you planning on going?

[namasteak]

We will be good on lunch/dinner/snacks for about a month but will be hard as we usually have eggs And all dislike cereal.

Would a quick once a week trip be ok? Based on my inventory we would just need eggs & fresh fruit.

[redheadk]

We are going to do our best to eat at home until I must go but I'll go when we do, without DD. I doubt that will be more than once/week.

To stretch out the time between trips to the grocery store and minimize my time IN the large store, I'm going to utilize my CSA which is still delivering once/week. I can order fresh eggs from them. I'm going to purchase our meat from a local, small meat market. They need the business and I feel like my risk of exposure is lessened since not as many people frequent it and I won't be in there nearly as long.

What I'm really going to need from the grocery store (what will motivate me to go) are coffee creamer, toilet paper (eventually), and kid snacks. I can order TP and kid snacks but the cold stuff pretty much requires a trip. Our curbside is scheduling a week out at this point so I don't think it will be an option.

[leeloo]

We decided only one of us will be going to high traffic areas. DH works so lucky him gets to go to the grocery store. Our current plan is see what restrictions develop in the next 2 days and evaluate. We have enough lunch and dinners for 25-30 days. Produce is going to be the hard one. Costco is a mess or I’d have him go get some frozen vegetables and fruit.
Thankfully our milk is delivered and they offer eggs, cheese, and yogurt.

We also have enough TP for about 2 weeks if the kids aren’t wasteful. I found some online, but have debated if I should really order or leave it for someone who needs it now.

[jennybee1018]

Not often if I can help it! I had to go last night for more cleaning supplies and a few other things, and I made sure to take some disinfecting wipes for the cart and all other surfaces, as well as lots of hand sanitizer.

I have bought a lot of canned goods, rice, etc, but I'm sure we'll still need to go out for some items (dairy mostly), but if we can do it no more than once a week, that'd be ideal.

A friend of mine is in Seattle, and she said when they do go out, when they get home, aside from washing their hands, they also shower and change clothes, which I hadn't thought about, so I made sure to do that last night and will continue to do so when I do go out.

[sandandsea]

I went on Friday and am getting a delivery on Wednesday (they didn’t have everything I needed when I placed the order Thursday so I had to go Friday). We will try to limit to once every other week if we can. We have been running out of milk quickly though so may just have to buy double next time.

[booky]

I’ll probably venture out to Costco this coming Friday to restock my house. I expect to be out of fresh fruit, veggies, bread, cheese, chicken, dreaded toilet paper, and a bunch of other stuff. With four kids (17,15,13,11) on spring break and no help for me from their father (exhusband) I’m sure to be happy to stand in line for hours alone

[nellgirl]

We’re in pretty good shape for the next 3-4 weeks (I stocked up on frozen veggies, dog food, bread, etc.). I have a lot of canned goods and dry foods like oatmeal and pasta on hand at all times as we live in an earthquake zone.
If we have to, we’ll go, but I’m hoping we can get by with what we have.

[vamoose]

We are planning to go once per week. We live in the SF Bay Area, so definitely plenty of cases around. We plan to go first thing in the morning when the store opens, just send one adult with a sanitizing wipe and hand sanitizer, and then wash hands when the person gets home and then again after unloading groceries. This plan could change. Right now we will need more milk, yogurt and vegetables by next weekend. We could probably get by without those things, except the dairy for my 14 month old. We may do grocery delivery if times become available (it has been totally booked for a few days), though that also has some germ exposure from the shopper touching the food.

[nsl]

Once a week is my goal, mostly for fresh fruit/veggies, meat, and dairy. We could go longer than that by dipping into our freezer stash, but I’m trying to save that stuff in case we get sick and have to quarantine.

[dreamcrisp1]

Goal is my H will go 1 time per week for fresh fruit/veggies and meat. Clothes immediately into the wash and jacket stays outside. We can only store so much in our European fridge.

[RoxMonster]

Our goal is once a week. Prior to all of this, we would decide what we wanted for dinner daily and DH was going to the store daily, so this is still a big change for us.

[sapphireblue]

I don't even know. I got a huge grocery delivery yesterday but they canceled all of my chicken breasts from it so I suddenly don't have nearly as much protein as I had planned on (I had ordered a few packs).

So I'm debating venturing over there today--thinking if I stock up now maybe I won't have to go back? I don't know--I'm not happy about it. I have to go to work today too though so it isn't like I'm staying home anyway.

I'll use wipes and all but the information about how it can stay in the air for about 3 hours adds a whole other dimension to my concern over going out in public.

[sapphireblue]

Mar 16, 2020 5:06:54 GMT -5 dreamcrisp1 said:

Goal is my H will go 1 time per week for fresh fruit/veggies and meat. Clothes immediately into the wash and jacket stays outside. We can only store so much in our European fridge.

I hadn't thought about this--I think we will do this now too. It's a good idea.

[dirtyred]

Mar 16, 2020 5:41:38 GMT -5 sapphireblue said:

I'll use wipes and all but the information about how it can stay in the air for about 3 hours adds a whole other dimension to my concern over going out in public.

Where are you seeing this?  

[VillainV]

We probably have almost enough for two weeks, except I’ll want to buy some more fresh fruit and veggies in a week or so. We do pickup so we don’t have to go into the store.

We also are keeping our weekly meal delivery (Home
Chef) for as long as they remain open.

[sapphireblue]

Mar 16, 2020 5:53:33 GMT -5 dirtyred said:

Mar 16, 2020 5:41:38 GMT -5 sapphireblue said:

I'll use wipes and all but the information about how it can stay in the air for about 3 hours adds a whole other dimension to my concern over going out in public.

Where are you seeing this?  

I can't remember where I first saw it a few days ago, but I saw this most recently (I have been liking this site for coronavirus info daily):


www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-facts-infographic

[meowmaps]

We have a lot of non-perishables but we will still need to get milk and fruit at least 1-2 times a week. We plan for my husband to go at off-peak hours just as he bought a lot of stuff around 8:30pm on Saturday night. The store was practically cleaned out but he didn’t have to contend with crowds.

ETA: We normally do instacart but our order got messed up on Saturday (I assume the system was overwhelmed). This would definitely be our preference especially now.

[eddy]

Our grocery store will shop for you and then just bring the groceries out curbside. I plan to stick to my once a week trip. I figure that is better for the workers and for me.

I am slowly buying extra, but hopefully not too much to overwhelm the system. I easily have 2-3 weeks worth of meal stuff.

[sapphireblue]

dirtyred , It looks like there are still a lot of questions about the airborne aspect of it--the below article gives detail about the actual study and some of the remaining questions:

www.livescience.com/coronavirus-can-spread-as-an-aerosol.html

[Leeham Rimes]

Once a week. Thanks to all the hoarders, we only have enough food for maybe 10 days, so I don’t want to go through that “stash” unless we’re absolutely under quarantine vs optional social distancing. It’s the only time I’m going out (other than walks and open field parks) so I’m gonna hope for the best.

[lolalolalola]

Once a week. I’m going to try to order all non perishables and just go in for meat and produce.

My parents are just coming back from their winter snowbird time away so I’m
Going today for a big shop and will deliver to them. They are under quarantine because they came from outside the country.

Our province is trying to stop the hoarders by telling you it’s ok to go to the grocery store. I feel for the cashiers. They much have so ouch anxiety touching everyone’s stuff.

[wildrice]

I don't know. It seems a little silly that we all stocked up with non perishables if we're all going to keep going to the store every week, doesn't it? Why couldn't we just buy our pasta and TP at the weekly trip in that case?

I do feel like I didn't plan as well as I meant to. I'm realizing certain things didn't get picked up, and I had a grocery order delivered this weekend and they didn't include a few things. I got ingredients to make half a recipe but the rest didn't show up, so my leeks will be pointless unless I do another order or pick stuff up. So... idk. We could definitely survive without going to the store so we may just not.

Then again, I don't know if we're supposed to assume all is cool in 2 weeks and we should eat through our stash now, or we should keep holding onto it in case things get worse? Is the 2 week stockpile for when we're down sick or for when we're home and not supposed to go anywhere?

[lolalolalola]

Mar 16, 2020 7:00:11 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I don't know. It seems a little silly that we all stocked up with non perishables if we're all going to keep going to the store every week, doesn't it? Why couldn't we just buy our pasta and TP at the weekly trip in that case?

I do feel like I didn't plan as well as I meant to. I'm realizing certain things didn't get picked up, and I had a grocery order delivered this weekend and they didn't include a few things. I got ingredients to make half a recipe but the rest didn't show up, so my leeks will be pointless unless I do another order or pick stuff up. So... idk. We could definitely survive without going to the store so we may just not.

Then again, I don't know if we're supposed to assume all is cool in 2 weeks and we should eat through our stash now, or we should keep holding onto it in case things get worse? Is the 2 week stockpile for when we're down sick or for when we're home and not supposed to go anywhere?

For me, I consider the stockpile in case we are sick and have to self isolate. If I am well, I’ll practice good social distancing (as best I can) but will still buy groceries.

[konapoppy]

I am planning once a week. I have been going at 6 am (well, earlier than that at first but now no one is open 24/7).

[felicity]

Probably around once a week still. We are stocked up with freezer and pantry stuff that could last at least a couple of weeks, but I want to save it. I'm planning to put cold stuff and produce in the garage fridge and not use it for at least a couple of days to hopefully let any germs die, or if necessary we will disinfect the packaging if we need to use it sooner. Pantry things will stay in the trunk for a couple of days. I'll strip and take a shower immediately, being extra careful where I put my dirty clothes.

I'm also trying not to touch my phone at all when I'm out. I put it in the car, don't bring it in the store, don't touch it while driving, and only retrieve it from the car after I've gotten home and washed my hands really well, being mindful if I touch a door handle that may have gotten germs while I was out. I'm worried that Lysol wipes don't work that well on phones, because the instructions say that surfaces are supposed to stay wet for a certain amount of time to kill all the germs, and the water beads up and dries too quickly on the glass screen to do this.

[readyin07]

I can’t really figure out the right thing to do...seems to be a theme lately lol.

Normally I would say once a week and I would go at off peak hours which means right when they open at 7am or later at night. Unfortunately now at 7am there are already lines for people wanting what was stocked overnight and with everyone hoarding if you go late then you’re out of luck. I learned that at the hard way when I went at like 9am trying to find frozen veggies. I’d also like to go early and have h go into work a little late so I don’t have to take my kids.

[abs]

Once a week for fresh meat/veggies/fruit. I have the freezer stocked with easy to cook things like fish and sausage but I want to save those until I really need them. With the way things are going that will be by Thursday.

[orval]

I went to Sam's Club when it opened at 7 am this morning. Not too busy. They had staff loading shoppers up with one pack of toilet paper and one pack of paper towels(these are the large packs). I thought that was a good idea to limit and eliminate chaos!
Many of the sections had little or no food. Frozen was pretty empty along with fresh meat. They did have plenty of milk and eggs. Light on fresh produce. Not a lot of bread.
Charlotte, NC

[memenee]

I feel like some of these threads would be more helpful if people could indicate their location. I think there’s a difference between someone posting from somewhere that only has 1 reported case in their state and someone posting from a much harder hit area.