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What have you bought specifically for/because of quarantine?


mommyoffive
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Stocked up on food, OTCs, cleaning supplies late Feb/early March.  I bought buy a pulse ox machine spur of the moment on my last trip to Walmart.

For me for fun, I just placed a last big order of cross-stitch supplies to get me through awhile 😁.  It shipped today.  

I bought Easter basket stuff.

I ordered some literature books from  Amazon to finish out our school year.

We have unopened Lego sets we never got to and plan to do those together.

 

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I have 350 little Coffee Mate creamers for my tea in order to extend the fresh milk supply for cereal which we also have a great deal of!

I have a new washing machine sitting in the garage for when my elderly machine dies.......naturally it’s working really well now.

 

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Some canned fruit, which we don't typically buy.

Several different vitamins to send to my parents. I don't know that they will actually help, but I can't do anything else for their health. I bought a puzzle book for my Dad to work on. He is going to be active. He farms and has cattle, so he isn't just going to be cooped up. But he will get restless when he is in the house. We can work through the puzzles together over the phone.

That makes my parents sound a bit old and feeble. The are in their 70's, but young for 70. Dad had Rocky Mountain spotted fever last summer and has a bum knee, but he is both stronger and more active than many 40 year olds. Mom is 5 years older than he is, but her blood work is better than many people's in their 20's. Both are busy, hardworking, and mentally sharp. I just wish I could take care of them a bit through this, even if they don't need it.

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A Curiosity Stream subscription and Sambucol. We were pretty well stocked up before SHTF, so we've only needed to do small runs to replaced what we've used.  

I did reactivate my Imperfect Produce delivery, to reduce the need to go to the store. I'll have to get milk and prescription refills periodically, but I'm hoping we can have most of what we need delivered. 

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extra groceries, toiletries, and medical stuff for 2 households, since my 15 yo and I both have asthma, and my ex is staying in a new place and did not have even a thermometer. I asked him to check his temp regularly if he wants to keep sharing custody during this extended stay at home time frame

a fresh bottle of insulin and extra testing supplies for our diabetic kitty

several spools of thread for some quarantine sewing projects

peri bottles

I got the car oil changed the day before our city announced the shelter in place guidelines. it needed it anyway, but I made sure to get it done asap in case i couldn't later

 

 

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Way more snacks than usual.

I did buy a pulse oximeter and blood pressure cuff in mid-February, but convinced myself it was mostly just for my EMT student to practice at home. (Both kids already had stethoscopes.)

I replaced our ear thermometer with a combination thermometer. Ours was really old (somewhere between 5 and 10 years) so I’d been thinking about replacing it, but hadn’t found it important enough to bother until February.

I did stock up on all sorts of regular use items over January/February, and only very few things that we don’t normally use (like shelf stable milks, which I do keep in smaller quantities for general emergencies.) If the world were to go back to normal tomorrow, I just wouldn’t need to spend much money for a while.

I ordered Easter stuff and birthday stuff early.

I love to do puzzles, but don’t want to add more boxes to the shelf, so I got a free puzzle app for my iPad, lol. It’s actually pretty cool.

I wish I had gotten more gardening supplies. I’ve found myself frozen on how to tackle that. 

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9 hours ago, MissLemon said:

A Curiosity Stream subscription and Sambucol. We were pretty well stocked up before SHTF, so we've only needed to do small runs to replaced what we've used.  

I did reactivate my Imperfect Produce delivery, to reduce the need to go to the store. I'll have to get milk and prescription refills periodically, but I'm hoping we can have most of what we need delivered. 

 

Can you tell me more about this?  Are you happy with the food?  

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3 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Way more snacks than usual.

I did buy a pulse oximeter and blood pressure cuff in mid-February, but convinced myself it was mostly just for my EMT student to practice at home. (Both kids already had stethoscopes.)

I replaced our ear thermometer with a combination thermometer. Ours was really old (somewhere between 5 and 10 years) so I’d been thinking about replacing it, but hadn’t found it important enough to bother until February.

I did stock up on all sorts of regular use items over January/February, and only very few things that we don’t normally use (like shelf stable milks, which I do keep in smaller quantities for general emergencies.) If the world were to go back to normal tomorrow, I just wouldn’t need to spend much money for a while.

I ordered Easter stuff and birthday stuff early.

I love to do puzzles, but don’t want to add more boxes to the shelf, so I got a free puzzle app for my iPad, lol. It’s actually pretty cool.

I wish I had gotten more gardening supplies. I’ve found myself frozen on how to tackle that. 

We have a local nursery that lets customers call ahead and place and order and pay. Then when you arrive you call in and they deliver it to your car. They also have free delivery on orders over $100.

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notably: gardening supplies, Zoom paid subscription (chatting with a dozen of my besties!), some craft supplies for the girls--clay, stitching kits, rock painting kits, etc.  I had pretty much cleaned the house out of crafting things but I need to keep my whirlwind of a 7 year old occupied while I work with her older siblings. I am apparently willing to pay good money to do that.

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I "may" have impulse purchased a bidet attachment for my toilet at 2 a.m. last night.  Now I can stop constantly evaluating my stash and doing toilet paper math. I'm out of that game.

Also, I 'may' have impulsively acquired a community garden plot because I don't get full sun at my house.  I also 'might' be treating said plot as a she shed of sorts and bringing a book when I go there to work.

Edited by KungFuPanda
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I bought a small electric mower. It was delivered today. I can handle my own yard with the reel mower, but now that I need to do my neighbor's yard as well, I am either going to need LOTS more calories or a new mower! 😅 

We have also declared Saturday nights to be movie rental nights. So far, we have rented Forrest Gump, Big, and Finding Dory. Any suggestions for us for this coming Saturday? 

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DS24 mentioned today that his friends were looking for formula for their baby, born premature in January. He drinks a specific type of formula, and the local stores have been cleaned out, just like toilet paper and water bottles. They are on WIC and food stamps. I went to Amazon and ordered them a 3-pack of powdered formula and a 3-pack of diapers to go along with it. When DS24 was sick as an infant, he needed formula by prescription that I had to order at the pharmacy counter with my WIC checks, so I have been in a similar situation. I hope that it gives them some peace of mind.

(I did not include my info on the shipment. The baby's father is my son's best friend, baby's mother is the sister of son's girlfriend, they all live together with girlfriend's mother (who I haven't met yet) and grandmother, and I don't want them to feel weird. Did that make any sense?)

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4 minutes ago, Noreen Claire said:

DS24 mentioned today that his friends were looking for formula for their baby, born premature in January. He drinks a specific type of formula, and the local stores have been cleaned out, just like toilet paper and water bottles. They are on WIC and food stamps. I went to Amazon and ordered them a 3-pack of powdered formula and a 3-pack of diapers to go along with it. When DS24 was sick as an infant, he needed formula by prescription that I had to order at the pharmacy counter with my WIC checks, so I have been in a similar situation. I hope that it gives them some peace of mind.

(I did not include my info on the shipment. The baby's father is my son's best friend, baby's mother is the sister of son's girlfriend, they all live together with girlfriend's mother (who I haven't met yet) and grandmother, and I don't want them to feel weird. Did that make any sense?)

 

How sweet of you.  

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1 hour ago, BlsdMama said:

Thought of this thread as we await the delivery of three bows and arrows for the ten and under crew. Apparently we have now entered The Hunger Games phase of quarantine. 

LOL. We had so much fun with our bows and arrows when we were kids. 

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I stocked much higher on food and household supplies than normal (and it was normal  before for me to have at least a month or 2 of non perishable things around).  Things new for this, 25 pound of white basmati rice.  Normally I buy brown basmati in 25 pound bags through a food co-op but since I didn't know when the next order might happen, I went ahead and picked up the white from the grocery store.  My kids are thrilled because they prefer white anyways.  Also right before our state went on full lockdown, I tried to buy produce and nearly everything was gone so I bought a sprouting lid and a seed sampler pack.  Our first batch was ready yesterday and even some of my pickiest veggie eaters really liked them.  We got our first order delivery this week (after trying for 2 1/2 weeks we finally got an opening) so it's not as critical this week but it's nice to know that I can grow some fresh veggies if we can't get any from the store.  We still have freezing temps overnight so it will be quite a while before we can do any growing outside.  Otherwise, I just bought some clothes and shoes in early March for the kids for summer because I was concerned that the overseas products would be delayed, at the time I hadn't really considered that we would be in full lockdown so taking them out to try things on wasn't going to happen. I'm really glad i got them all set up for summer before this started.

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4 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

 

Can you tell me more about this?  Are you happy with the food?  

In the past, yes, I was happy with it.  We stopped only because of price.  It is more expensive than the grocery store, but the quality is a little better than the grocery.  I can get some meats and dairy products delivered, too. 

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Way too much overpriced Easter candy, and two overpriced Animal Crossing tees from Hot Topic for DD's Easter basket. Normally, I'd wait for good sales on the candy, but I just wanted to get it done so we could stay home. I bought the tees for pretty much the same reason. Overall, I'm finding I'm having to spend more on food and essentials on brands I don't normally buy and prices I typically would laugh at just so we can hurry up and get home. I hate it.

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A case of allergy safe cookies for the kids.  We never have them around, but this was one time I wanted to have easy goodies on hand.  
 

We mostly just bought some extras of things we normally have.  Topped off the Rx meds.  Made sure we have vitamins and OTC meds.  We already had pulse ox and thermometers, and a BP monitor.
 

I did buy an OTC UTI test kit, because my elderly mom is prone to them, and I’d rather be able to check here and call the doc than take my almost 80 yr old mom to a doc right now.  And while I was at it, I bought a strep test kit, too, because we’ve had strep twice this year.  Probably silly, but whatever.

I sorted our art supplies and made a stack of projects the kids can grab.

We were planning on this anyway - but we started a veggie garden area.  Now I just can’t find seeds or plants!  Aaaagh.

And we have a rope obstacle course to hang up, for some different exercise options.
 

Books, and arts and crafts and school stuff - we buy all the time, I can’t call it pandemic purchasing.

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So, in some ways I feel I benefit - Lowe's is doing a load out for us.  With DH being home, he has figured out why my wheelchair bangs up our doorway too much --- because it's too narrow. 😉 There is a difference between hearing it and witnessing it several times.  So I guess we can chalk the purchase of a bigger bedroom door and lumber and drywall to quarantine? I'm not sure it would have happened so soon without it.  Placed the order online, gave the store a call, and they will have it ready by the building materials door - he walks in with a printout, they load up, he comes back home.

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On 3/30/2020 at 5:06 PM, 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 found some on Amazon for my kids earlier this week but they're gone  now. The company is still listing them at their website. https://facelake.com/products/fl400-pulse-oximeter-white

Prices have gone way up. The first one I ordered (different brand) was $14.95. 

 

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I bought toaster strudel today  - I kept seeing ads for them online and then DH and I started talking about fond memories of having toaster strudel in the 90's. Pandemic snacks! 

I also bought a box of mucinex to have on hand in case we get sick and my friend gave me a cloth mask she got on Etsy to wear out. 

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My husband bought a used PS3 and some games.  I bought pantry stuff I don't normally have on hand (lentils, some spices, more meat, etc).  I also bought an ear thermometer because my younger kid can't really do the under the tongue one and a pulse oximeter.

Edited by Terabith
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16 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

So, in some ways I feel I benefit - Lowe's is doing a load out for us.  With DH being home, he has figured out why my wheelchair bangs up our doorway too much --- because it's too narrow. 😉 There is a difference between hearing it and witnessing it several times.  So I guess we can chalk the purchase of a bigger bedroom door and lumber and drywall to quarantine? I'm not sure it would have happened so soon without it.  Placed the order online, gave the store a call, and they will have it ready by the building materials door - he walks in with a printout, they load up, he comes back home.


have you ever used swing -away hinges? It adds a few inches to your current door if you have any more doorways that are just a smidge to tight. 

14 hours ago, Terabith said:

My husband bought a used PS3 and some games.  I bought pantry stuff I don't normally have on hand (lentils, some spices, more meat, etc).  I also bought an ear thermometer because my younger kid can't really do the under the tongue one and a pulse oximeter.


I thought you said “party stuff” instead of “pantry stuff” and I was thinking that you’re a REALLY boring party planner. 🤣

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Mostly the same stuff. I upped my Amazon Subscribe-and-Save so that I have extra dog food and some the things I can't buy locally on an ongoing basis.

In February I had the foresight to order some emergency supplies that are gradually arriving now. Not a lot, just a little more than I would usually have around. 

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GI bought a thermometer because I don’t have one in the house & haven’t since I had babies.  Of course you couldn’t find a cool one around here for love or money, so I just got a cheap digital one.

The materials (cables & switch) to run a hardline for the internet out to the garage for Dh’s work.

Some Easter toys for the kids next door because even though they are obnoxious little beasts, I am pretty sure it is their parents’ fault and now that they are home from school all day they could use some distractions.

 I looked over my food storage and bumped up buying a couple items to fill in some low spots.  I remember from the last time we lived off the food storage there were some things I used more of than expected.  We also have some relatively newly diagnosed food allergies & sensitivities so I stocked up on a couple speciality items.

Sent a prime pantry pkg to my pregnant daughter in another state where shelves have been cleared by panicked shoppers.

I woke up both snoozing sourdough starters.

started some micro greens so I don’t have to run out for salad mix

planted some green onions I had going in a glass on my kitchen window sill, and started the next group for next week.

and finally I bought Animal Crossing.  Usually the kids have to save up for their own games and they had 1/2 the cash for this one, but I went ahead and bought it because they play together and with their out of state sister and it is a nice way to keep them connected.

edited to add:  got extra of all my dds Rx including inhalers and an extra inhaler for Dh.  A bottle of Tylenol for the kid who can’t take ibuprofen.  

Amber in SJ

Edited by Amber in SJ
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We've just tried to get well-stocked on things we normally use. 

Apparently people are buying up baby chicks from feed stores at record speeds. We have a broody hen that is sitting on eggs so we decided to let her be a mom and put some babies under her. It took a while to track down any chicks because they sell out fast. One store got a bunch in today but they were already half gone by mid-morning. I find this really surprising. 

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Bidet attachment for my toilet!  I've always wanted one, but now seemed like a good time to finally pull the trigger.  I also bought a new diffuser for my hair dryer and more gardening stuff than I ordinarily do.  I'll be putting in more plants than ever this year.

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Dog food.

My pooch, a Vizsla, who will turn 6 on April 11 has never eaten kibble before (being raw fed his whole life).

But securing fresh meat and chicken to freeze is too worrisome, and all my freezer space is needed for his human family.

Fortunately I had a kibble formula that I'd picked out for emergencies and after a lot of phone calls I was able to score two big bags. He seems to like it. Harder for me than him.

Also a wheat grinder (Grain Mill) and a 50 lb bag of hard red wheat.

Harvesting (not buying) Dandelion Greens from the yard. Blessed with good rains this winter here in CA so we have a good crop of dandelions, which I'm treating like a crop, picking only a few leaves at a time son the plant will continue to produce.

Bill

 

 

 

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Small chest freezer.

Small fridge.

When China started sending drones outside to disinfect, I suspected the virus was lingering in the air. So, we bought an IQ Air air purifier from Switzerland to help reduce the numbers of viruses in the air if any of us might be shedding it.

Also bought 12 pounds of broccoli seeds for sprouting but I needed to get more anyway.

Edited by BeachGal
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On 4/2/2020 at 11:28 AM, Amber in SJ said:

edited to add:  got extra of all my dds Rx including inhalers and an extra inhaler for Dh.  

There is a shortage of albuterol inhalers so it’s good you manage to get extra 🙂

https://community.aafa.org/blog/albuterol-inhaler-shortage-due-to-covid-19-could-impact-people-with-asthma

We bought a new blender (old one was spoilt long ago), a bigger wok (since I am cooking for 4 for every meal), potting soil, new pots and some herbs. We like gardening but two of us have sensitive noses. If the herbs we bought survive our patio’s hot afternoon sunshine, we’ll go get some more other plants to try. 

I would probably get a bird feeder and bird seeds too for our patio the next time we go to Lowe’s. 

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Extra chicken feed, an oximeter, extra meds, and a grain mill and wheat berries. We cannot get flour here anymore or bread. I already had 30 lbs of flour, but it is nearly gone now. The kids are going through growth spurts and eating a lot of sandwiches. I am going through a loaf a day pretty much.

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Yesterday I broke down and ordered a new net for the trampoline.  I had planned to remove the thing, but this doesn’t feel like the time to get rid of it.

We ordered a rope obstacle course to put in the trees, too.  And I’m thinking of more outdoor items for the backyard. Looking for ideas - any ideas?  😊

Gardening supplies, also.  But alas - everything I ordered in March ended up canceled or backordered to infinity.  So we have just placed new orders, and will have a late start.

 

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