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What have you bought specifically for/because of quarantine?


mommyoffive
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Have you bought anything because of the quarantine?    I haven't bought anything other than stock up things.  Oh I lied, we got Netflix.      I am about to get some things to keep the kids busy and hopefully happy during this time. 

 

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Supplies to make things for my grandson due in June and, specifically because of the virus, I bought cold and flu medication and Tylenol. We never keep over the counter medication on hand because it usually expires before it's ever needed. We are rarely sick enough to require intervention but, I didn't want to find us sick and unable to go out for any. Hopefully it will expire unused as well. 🤞

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Before it started, I bought two cases of shelf stable milk boxes (chocolate and strawberry, to entice picky DS7). We have local milk delivered every Tuesday, but sometimes have to run out to get another gallon before the next delivery...this keeps us from having to run to the store. I just put the first 4 boxes into the fridge for tonight.

Just the other night, I ordered an oximeter (asthmatics in the house) and a blood pressure cuff (to keep DH from going to CVS to use the blood pressure machine).

I was going to buy jigsaw puzzles to keep the younger boys busy, but they are suddenly hard to find online!

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I ordered Hello Fresh for the first two weeks I was off work (teacher). We have a lot of food in the house now, so I am taking a couple of weeks off before I order another Hello Fresh.

I like the meal kits, but I find that the meals take more time prep work than I want to put into a meal on a work day, so ordering a kit is “special” for us.

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nothing.   we keep months worth of supplies on hand, and generally stock up when there are sales.  very handy when I'm making something and run out, and I know there's more in the basement.  just do normal perishable items, and some frozen things we only keep one or two weeks worth stocked.

dh did by a case of 15 dozen eggs instead of his usual five.  but that was mostly because they were sold out of cases of five dozen.  (among places he shops, is a restaurant supply store.).  I will not feel guilty making lots of greek food because my recipes are generally quite . . . . laden?  with the eggs.

 

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1 minute ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

If you have a Sears somewhat local and aren’t picky on the chest freezer might check there. They had plenty in stock and we had it within 48 hours while all the big box stores were sold out for weeks. 

Thanks, but I'm not in any rush for it.

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Mostly just extra food for humans and kitties, and extra litter.  But other responses reminded me that I did finally buy an oximeter for my son with asthma and otc meds I don’t normally have on hand because we don’t usually use them (Tylenol flu etc). I’ve stocked up on DS's inhalers too; his doctor keeps prescribing them so I guess she’s trying to make sure her patients have what they need in case of shortages.

Also I bought a new book for me and some freezer bins to save my sanity. 

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I bought some extra food, but very little I wouldn't have bought anyway. The one exception was that two weeks ago when I went to the store, they only had a few options for frozen veggies and I was like, well, I guess I'll get something and I ended up with shredded cabbage and carrots. I figure it can go in a stir fry or maybe into some ramen. It was a desperation buy. I really just wanted peas.

I ordered two new pairs of lounge pants.

I'm replacing ds's computer sooner. It needs to be replaced and we're all feeling more on edge about the supply chain and all and I was like, let's just order it.

Animal crossing.

Dh bought a Zoom membership. He now runs an online theater company. There was no plan. That was just a weird thing that has happened. 

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57 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Supplies to make things for my grandson due in June and, specifically because of the virus, I bought cold and flu medication and Tylenol. We never keep over the counter medication on hand because it usually expires before it's ever needed. We are rarely sick enough to require intervention but, I didn't want to find us sick and unable to go out for any. Hopefully it will expire unused as well. 🤞

So, I expected personal quarantine earlier--DH is in healthcare, and I had no idea our state would be so proactive (OH), so I did start a bit earlier than most people here.

The above.

Stayed on top of Rx meds, etc.

A little more of the normal stuff than usual, but I do already stock up when I go to certain stores (like Trader Joe's since it's not in town).

Paper products--we do very few outside of toilet paper, and I thought it would make cleaning easier if we get to an actual quarantine situation. I even bought paper Bona pads for the floors. We're not using much of any of it yet since we're healthy.

A few more tornado supplies than typical. It's the season, and our stock was really low because we'd been using things that were near date. 

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I bought a pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid (I've been wanting one anyway), a badminton set for the backyard and a volleyball. I bought extra cleaning supplies, gloves, medicines, and commercial masks but that was mostly to send to friends and family. I also bought fabric and notions to make masks...ETA: and a scale to weigh packages. I'm re-using Amazon boxes for mailing. Everything else is normal food stuff, just early so fewer trips to the store.

Edited by Sneezyone
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One of the boys has been saving up for ages to buy an Occulus Quest (VR Headset thing) and so we gave him the go-ahead to purchase it once it was in stock locally, and then we bought one of the games for it that everyone can play. 

DH and I bought the Chromecast needed to make what's on the OQ show up on the TV so we can "watch" him play (and we'll all share it/take turns/etc). It's a thing he was planning to buy anyway, and his $$, but now with everyone home, seemed like a good time. 

I bought gobs of envelopes, so I can mail craft kits (little sets of supplies I'mputting togehter) to my K and 1st kiddos (I teach at a once/week homeschool co-op place thing), and a few extra supplies. 

We did order (still have not received, but it says it finally shipped) extra dog food, and we did go ahead and buy veggies/herbs to plant this year, but that's something we do most years, with varied success. Hopefully we've learned enough to be semi-successful this year. 

Nothing else quarantine-specific. Oh, ha, well, we did buy the digital version of Onward when it was released. We'll probably buy a few more as they come out. Stuff we would have seen in theaters, but can't now. It's cheaper to buy them this way than take all 5 of us to the theater, so that's kind of a win for us. 

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3 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

I mean, a bit of extra food and what not, sure.

But as for fun stuff:  we bought this DIY, mini book shop kit. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G2MT9FQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_title

That's awesome! I want to make that. Hmmm, my mother just retired from working for the library system 47 years so maybe she would like one too.

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Just now, stephanier.1765 said:

That's awesome! I want to make that. Hmmm, my mother just retired from working for the library system 47 years so maybe she would like one too.

I know, right?! I'm sure I bought it more for myself than the kids. 😉 It just arrived today - I hope it's a fun project!

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5 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

I mean, a bit of extra food and what not, sure.

But as for fun stuff:  we bought this DIY, mini book shop kit. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G2MT9FQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_title

That is adorable! I have enough minis to get me through the quarantine (and several years onward), but I may have to put that on my "Needed" list.

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17 minutes ago, Medicmom2.0 said:

Alcohol.

Even my husband, who has never drank alcohol in his life, is enjoying some Electric Lemonade.

Oh, ha! Yes, this too. -ahem- 

We are pacing ourselves and all, one drink/night, shared between us. But we're having fun varying things up, now that liquor stores are "essential" and allowed to be open when nothing else is. 

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We bought some canned foods we wouldn't normally get when we went to BJs.  Soups, canned raviolis.  Stuff we would normally eat but maybe no normally buy at this time of year (we tend to get soup in the winter more). 

Tylenol since we always use Advil.  Stocked up on Benedryl.   Children's versions of Tylenol and Benedryl since ds can't swallow pills.  

I bought an oximeter after seeing it recommended on here.   I have asthma and probably should have had one in the house anyway. 

We bought Animal Crossing for ds, but he may have wanted that regardless of the quarantine, and we would have gotten it for him.

I"m using a really nice drawing tablet that we bought for dd one Christmas to teach online Algebra.   She didn't like it and really didn't want to even try and use it when we bought it so we had given it to my mom to play around with.  Now that I have it back and it's out and set up to use for Algebra, she's been giving it a try.  She doesn't love it and still prefers to draw on her Kindle Fire but since she's willing to try it now we may be getting her a new computer.   She currently has an old one of my mother's while I'm using the one we bought to go with the tablet because it was better than a cheap one I had bought after mine stopped working.   The tablet won't work on the computer she's currently using and I"m not really willing to give up my computer every time she wants to play with the drawing tablet.  Plus laptops are a lot cheaper and I'm going to need more for the science center for classes in September so I'll take the one she's using now, and possibly borrow her new one if I need it.   So, not a quarantine purchase but being purchased because of a chain of events due to the quarantine. 

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Pretty much just the basics.

In January, I started stocking up on food, paper products, and cleaning supplies.

In February, I bought several months of food, meds, and supplies for my dogs and cats. Got both our haysheds filled to the brim and bought 1000 lbs. of grain for my horses and stocked up on their meds.

Got all routine vet & farrier appointments done.

Dd and I got our hair cut at the beginning of March, before our state had any confirmed cases.

Just this week, I doubled our produce box so we'll be getting 40 lbs. a week instead of 20. I'm trying to avoid the grocery store as much as humanly possible. 

Oh, and I bought supplies for making tofu at home. That isn't strictly due to the quarantine, but also because it has often been sold out at our local stores in recent months.

Other than having our college kids home and not being able to run to the store at the drop of a hat, our lives are pretty much the same as pre-quarantine. Our businesses are still up and running and our days are packed full and very busy.

 

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Disney+ had thought about it to check out Mandalorian but being at home more sealed the deal.

We also bought some more fishing supplies, that wasn't strictly quarantine related as the girls have been begging to go fishing lately but again, the quarantine pushed it over the edge into go ahead and get since we have more time. We had some supplies but some things had gotten lost and broken since we last went in the summer, the girls are very excited about all that.

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  • Lots of groceries and cleaning supplies. We did a huge grocery stock-up a week or so before things got really bad and bought extra convenience foods and things we don't normally keep around, just so we'd have easy meals on hand.
  • New printer (for working at home and also to indulge a crafting idea I'm noodling around with).
  • New, larger computer monitor(s). I had one external monitor that I was hooking up to my personal laptop and also my work laptop when I work from here. I asked for a second, larger one so I could have three like I have at work. My husband decided I "needed" a matched pair, instead of just the one extra.
  • A small outdoor table/storage unit and an ottoman to combine with a couple of chairs we already had to create a little seating area in the front yard. (Our backyard is not really functional or pleasant for hanging out for a variety of reasons.)
  • A new tie-out doohicky and cable so I can keep the dog outside with me when I'm there. 
  • A table-top fire bowl to use in the screened room/patio I bullied my family into cleaning up yesterday. 

I'm still threatening to buy myself a yurt to install in the backyard so I have a quiet space to hang out all by myself and where I can breath real air and see stars. 

More realistically, I am planning to order a couple more pairs of leggings, since I am not dressing to leave the house for work every day. The problem I keep running into is that Target is no longer carrying the ones I know I like, and I am hesitant to purchase without being able to try things on. (I know I can always return them, but that requires more energy than I may be able to devote to this project.)

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Strawberry plants.

My first round, planted in fall, were damaged by something recently. I had promised myself, though, no new plant purchases. But, 2 weeks of being in this house, with these people, I need any and every excuse to be in the yard. I didn't realize how much I relied on my 1 day of going to the library to work for my sanity. They are all extroverts. How could I have never noticed?! 50 new strawberry plants coming this week.

I have no idea where I'm going to put half of them, but at least I can do it alone, quietly, outside. 

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Disney +. I also have paid for the pro version of Zoom so I can take my piano teaching online and bought a couple of studio licensed books that I can send parents digitally. It's a higher cost for me than individual print copies, but Amazon is estimating print versions will arrive in mid-May. 

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Just now, dmmetler said:

Disney +. I also have paid for the pro version of Zoom so I can take my piano teaching online and bought a couple of studio licensed books that I can send parents digitally. It's a higher cost for me than individual print copies, but Amazon is estimating print versions will arrive in mid-May. 

How is Zoom treating you? We did a piano masterclass this week with it and there were some issues with audio quality. One on one lessons we use FaceTime, but with masterclass of 4+ people we have been looking for a good solution. Do you have special settings or way to set up with Zoom so it works well enough? 

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3 hours ago, Noreen Claire said:

 

Just the other night, I ordered an oximeter (asthmatics in the house) and a blood pressure cuff (to keep DH from going to CVS to use the blood pressure machine).

I was going to buy jigsaw puzzles to keep the younger boys busy, but they are suddenly hard to find online!

 

Where did you buy the oximeter?  We bought one to prepare for quarantine, but I ended up shipping it to my son who has asthma and had Covid19 symptoms.  I couldn't find them online anywhere so now we don't have one for ourselves.  

I was just talking to DH about the shortage of jigsaw puzzles now!  

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8 minutes ago, Moonhawk said:

How is Zoom treating you? We did a piano masterclass this week with it and there were some issues with audio quality. One on one lessons we use FaceTime, but with masterclass of 4+ people we have been looking for a good solution. Do you have special settings or way to set up with Zoom so it works well enough? 

If you are on a laptop, go into audio settings and make sure "Use Original Audio" is checked. Otherwise, the noise cancellation will attempt to cut out the background noise-which includes the piano! If you have a digital and can do a direct line into one of the devices, that's even better. I use my digital, take a line into my phone, and use a laptop with a headset mic for me speaking, so I come through pretty clealry to my kids (the laptop also provides a view of the keyboard. I use my phone for screen sharing of the music so I can mark it up and the student can see it). Since we just went to this, I'm not asking them to do anything special, and just dealing with it on my end. 

 

Edited by dmmetler
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15 minutes ago, Kassia said:

 

Where did you buy the oximeter?  We bought one to prepare for quarantine, but I ended up shipping it to my son who has asthma and had Covid19 symptoms.  I couldn't find them online anywhere so now we don't have one for ourselves.  

I was just talking to DH about the shortage of jigsaw puzzles now!  

I ordered a pink one on Amazon. It won't ship for a week or so.

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I didn't buy any foods we don't normally use but did make sure our pantry was stocked because we used to grocery shop a couple times a week. Now we are trying to go every two weeks (+) to limit contact with others. I purchased some Tylenol and cold medicines just in case because all ours were out of date.

DD bought a guitar and some sound recording equipment. She's teaching herself guitar (always wanted to but didn't have time before). Now that she's not on tour, she is working on a number of projects with various musician friends around the world to keep themselves busy...recording and posting videos on her/their Facebook pages and Instagram to keep people's spirits up. Kinda fun to see the different ensembles come together...friends and acquaintances who might never have had the opportunity to work together because they would otherwise be too busy doing their own touring and recording.

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I usually keep one roll of paper towels in the house and it lasts me about 6 months to a year. I bought a 12 pack at Costco, so we can go to disposable towels in the bathrooms. 

I bought enough Sambucol to last us a few months and we take it almost daily right now. I don't expect it to keep us from getting Covid, but hopefully it will help keep us all a bit healthier. 

I bought 2 games, a week apart, and sent them to dd and her husband.

I bought a few cough meds (and our prescription inhalers) to replenish our supply. I like to keep them on hand anyways, but usually aren't concerned about having more that a dose or two in a bottle at the end of the typical season. Just enough to last until I get to the store. This time, I bought 2 bottles, inhalers and some drops. We will likely use them in the fall anyways, so all it means is that if someone gets sick, I don't have to go to the store right away.

 

Edited by Tap
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Work-from-home stuff - a printer, more monitors, a new laptop for the younger kid, a new kindle for me (mine broke, and this was urgent), ink, more ink, still more ink, reams and reams of paper, snacks. So many snacks. We usually don't keep snack foods in the house - if we want chips or yodels or soda or whatever, we try to badger other people into going to the corner store to buy them for us, and now we have SO MUCH JUNK FOOD and we've been eating it in unprecedented quantities, though I expect this will level off as we get used to having the stuff around.

Also, a bidet seat, though I've been dragging my feet on installing it.

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Besides being fully stocked on food, paper products, and OTC meds, the big purchase was a sewing machine. This was to keep my college kid entertained since our old one was broken at Christmas time and she likes to sew. I'm really glad I got it--the day after I ordered it from Costco, a local group was organized to make masks for our hospital and other community groups. I've put the machine to good use already (and it's so much nicer than my 25+ year old Kenmore--fun to use!)

Other small purchases: books, colored pencil blender, clarinet reeds, thread. Thanks, Amazon.

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I should have bought stock in Amazon.

 

More groceries - not by plan, but because DH is the one going to the grocery store. 
 

It’s hard to differentiate between Covid and a very early spring. A tetherball, a kids microscope, a lot of craft supplies like yarn because I have seven girls who decided it nice weather for knitting currently. Then there were two orders of chicks, sigh. I bought a vintage GeoSafari today and an Oregon Trail CD from nostalgia.  Two Echo dots but it has been planned to start transitioning our house to smart features. 
Amazon has loved me this month. Sigh. 

Edited by BlsdMama
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I haven't really bought anything specifically for quarantine but...

I've been trying to clean out my chest freezer because it's 25 years old and we don't plan to take it with us when we move. I've been freezer cooking in order to use the stuff I had stocked up previously. And I was doing a pretty good job. Then the virus came and there were meat shortages at the grocery store so I gradually built my stock back up. We're closing on the new house May 12 (unless coronavirus changes that) so it's a delicate balance between enough and too much. If we weren't moving and getting rid of the freezer, I'd definitely have stocked it more.

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