What is inflated or hard to find in your area?

[fraidycat]

7 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

That’s the kind of idea I’ve been looking into, too.  Wood back decks are so standard here that it took my brain a while to even consider that other options might exist, lol.  Now that I have, I’m realizing how much more flexibility there is when not tied to a basic 10x12, or even the permitting needs (here) of a deck in general, compared to on-ground options!

Our deck needs to be gone. We were discussing patio vs. deck from the start, but I think the lumber prices have gone ahead and made the decision for us.

[frogger]

32 minutes ago, fraidycat said:

Our deck needs to be gone. We were discussing patio vs. deck from the start, but I think the lumber prices have gone ahead and made the decision for us.

I have had to walk across joists for a year. I guess I will continue to do so.

Son will have to wait on a bike. 

Haven't had an oven except the convection microwave for some time but will have to order and wait for who knows how long.

[alisoncooks]

6 hours ago, pinball said:

Is 409 an all purpose cleaner? Or does it have a specific use?

i remember we had it when I was growing up but I’ve never got it for my own home.

I use Simple Green and I really like it. You can use it for anything.

Yes, all purpose. 

For those looking, I recently bought some at Lowes, so don't forget to check places like that. 

[Elfknitter.#]

Bicycles. Still. Bought one as a gift for ds last month. It was 1 of 2 in that price range and style. Shopkeeper said his next ones wouldn't be available until late summer or fall.

I read in the news today that lumber supplies are dwindling, which doesn't surprise me since construction costs have gone up around here. Also, not too long ago I read that the tapioca starch used to make the balls in boba teas would soon not be available for purchase and that coffee/ tea shop merchants would soon be out.

[Ausmumof3]

On 5/4/2021 at 5:49 AM, Storygirl said:

Used cars. We will have two new teen drivers this summer and were planning to add a car, so that I won't have to transport all of the kids to their summer jobs and sports practices. DH has been looking online and has found that the prices are much higher than they were three years ago, the last time we needed a vehicle. He may end up passing his car down to the kids and getting himself a new one, even though he was not planning to do that (his car is only three years old), because buying a new car looks like a better bargain, believe it or not.

Yep.  We know people who just bought a new car for the first time because of this.  We also had a really hard time finding one.

[Arcadia]

7 minutes ago, Elfknitter.# said:

. Also, not too long ago I read that the tapioca starch used to make the balls in boba teas would soon not be available for purchase and that coffee/ tea shop merchants would soon be out.

Chinese and Korean supermarkets carry tapioca starch because it is commonly used in cooking. 

[TexasProud]

Add paint. My husband got the last 2 cans of the the type we needed at Sherwon Williams. They are down to only a few cans of some other types.  When they run out, they said it will be 2 months or more before they can get more.  How are they supposed to stay in business?  

[Annie G]

8 minutes ago, TexasProud said:

Add paint. My husband got the last 2 cans of the the type we needed at Sherwon Williams. They are down to only a few cans of some other types.  When they run out, they said it will be 2 months or more before they can get more.  How are they supposed to stay in business?  

I know, right???!! We went to 2  SW stores recently and they were So bare. It was crazy. Our Bed, Bath and Beyond store looks like they’re going out of business- no merchandise at all. The Kohl’s near us has almost zero dressy clothes. I couldn’t find anything to wear to a wedding- I don’t mean I couldn’t find what I like- I couldn’t find anything.  The only area that was normally stocked was bras and undies and that looked so bizarre next to the nearly empty racks of women’s clothing.

[mommyoffive]

Brace Yourself for Price Hikes on Household Essentials & Stock Up While You Can w/ These Deals - Hip2Save

 

[Elfknitter.#]

34 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

Chinese and Korean supermarkets carry tapioca starch because it is commonly used in cooking. 

Yup. Personally, not a big deal to me because I don't like boba pearls in my tea. It just struck me as an odd thing to be running short of, but made sense logistically given the past year's supply issues. Here's an NPR article: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/24/990353928/boba-shortage-could-stretch-into-summer-leave-businesses-in-a-bind

[Terabith]

A friend of mine recently posted that he'd been thinking about doing some woodworking but that while he doesn't know what going rates are, he thinks it would be cheaper for him to take up doing drugs than woodworking.  

[Annie G]

4 minutes ago, Terabith said:

A friend of mine recently posted that he'd been thinking about doing some woodworking but that while he doesn't know what going rates are, he thinks it would be cheaper for him to take up doing drugs than woodworking.  

He’s probably right. We’re just finishing a construction project and need some baseboard. Our usual baseboard trim used to be 60 cents per linear foot and today it’s $2.44 so we priced just buying the stock and routing our own. Buying stock is even more than $2.44/foot here.  We talked to a contractor friend and he has some extra baseboard and we have some extra 2 by 8 stock and we’re working out a deal.  It feels so crazy to be doing this. 

[Melissa in Australia]

13 hours ago, historically accurate said:

I drive by a Jeep plant every day. They've been closed for a few weeks (2 or 3?), and they're not expected to return to work until the 10th because of the microchip problem. There are absolutely no cars in the lots where they hold them before shipping them out. I haven't seen it that bare in years. Sometimes they'll close for a week to re-tool or whatever, but there isn't 1 car in the lot left to ship. 

The microchip shortage is a worldwide problem 😞

[prairiewindmomma]

We live where there are huge Douglas fir trees. The landscaping companies used to charge to haul away the wood after tree removal (they take the trees out in 4' chunks from the top down).  Now they give discounts because they can sell it as firewood...not even split. It's just "bring your own trailer" and people are willing now to buy it that way. It's crazy.

[mommyoffive]

The news just said there is a pet food shortage.

[Laura Corin]

Dogs. We'd love to adopt a second dog to join our old lady, but dogs are as rare as hen's teeth. I visit the shelter websites regularly  but I  need to make that daily. In-person visits aren't happening at present. There have been news reports of lockdown puppies being given up as people go back to work, but I haven't seen that.  Dog theft is reported to be a problem.

Eta reputable breeders' puppies are booked for the next year or more.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Laura Corin

[Tanaqui]

Like somebody said upthread, contractors. Not so much that we have a backlog, but apparently everybody who's been stuck at home the past year said "We're not spending anything this year, so let's finally get those home repairs done!" and consequently it's impossible to get anybody and if you do, the prices are through the roof.

[Pawz4me]

7 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

The news just said there is a pet food shortage.

The pet food stock in the stores I shop at has definitely been less than normal. The subscribe and save order I have with Amazon often goes partially unfilled.

[Laura Corin]

5 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Dogs. We'd love to adopt a second dog to join our old lady, but dogs are as rare as hen's teeth. I visit the shelter websites regularly  but I  need to make that daily. In-person visits aren't happening at present. There have been news reports of lockdown puppies being given up as people go back to work, but I haven't seen that.  Dog theft is reported to be a problem.

Eta reputable breeders' puppies are booked for the next year or more.

Woohoo! We just put down a deposit on a dog. Next is virtual home check, then meeting sweet Evie.

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

The pet food stock in the stores I shop at has definitely been less than normal. The subscribe and save order I have with Amazon often goes partially unfilled.

Yikes. I haven't noticed this but I'm well stocked. I had to cancel my S&S b/c I was accidentally buying the big bags (for our small dog)

[mommyoffive]

These companies are jacking up prices because of exploding inflation (msn.com)

[Carrie12345]

Another hard to find: enough mortgage processing people. 😛 

We went into final underwriting *last Monday.  Our closing was intended to be by tomorrow.  I was given a list of docs to send (all but one of which were already sent, and that’s on the builder’s end) today, for hopeful final loan approval tomorrow or Monday. And THEN get a closing scheduled for... someday.
None of it is on our end. They’re just inundated.

I’ve heard other states are extra months vs. my extra days to weeks.

[LucyStoner]

For awhile there, I couldn't seem to beg, borrow or steal oven cleaner of all things. 

It's also very hard to lay your hands on a new bike unless you are paying top dollar for high end bikes.  I heard that the bike store near me was getting retail price on older model bikes that they previously had on clearance.  

[ktgrok]

On 5/3/2021 at 2:37 PM, mommyoffive said:

I was watching the news this morning and it was saying there is going to be a Chlorine shortage this summer.  Last week it was that there is going to be a gas shortage because there are not enough drivers.  A few weeks they said there was going to be a ketchup shortage.  Pools are already out of stock everywhere near me.

What are you noticing near you that is hard to find or inflated in price? 

Yup - as of right now i can't find Chlorine Tablets for my pool anywhere. That is going to be a problem. Like - mosquito breeding ground problem. In a climate with mosquito borne illnesses. 

Going to call around tomorrow to specialty pool stores, but normally I just get them at walmart, or target, or the grocery store even. Or off amazon, last few times. Now, none of those places have them. 

[ktgrok]

Oh, right now I can't find pate style canned cat food to save my life. 

[ktgrok]

On 5/4/2021 at 8:18 PM, TexasProud said:

Add paint. My husband got the last 2 cans of the the type we needed at Sherwon Williams. They are down to only a few cans of some other types.  When they run out, they said it will be 2 months or more before they can get more.  How are they supposed to stay in business?  

Good to know! We need to pain in the next month or so - just cheapish stuff from Lowes, but we will stock up now!

[Faith-manor]

Propane fuel for our camp stove! Good grief. It took a lot of searching for it, and so am surprised they did not ask me to give them my first born in addition to an unholy amount of money.

[CindyH in NC]

20 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

The news just said there is a pet food shortage.

My cats (all 5) are on prescription food because it is just so much easier than keeping the one who has to have it from eating regular food.  It's on backorder.  I spoke to the vet's office again today, but didn't dream that there was a shortage.  I'd assumed that we were dealing with a shortage of driver's or something to do with the logjam in the canal.  I need to call again tomorrow and see what the vet wants me to feed them now.  I only have enough for another week or so.  

[Pawz4me]

36 minutes ago, CindyH in NC said:

My cats (all 5) are on prescription food because it is just so much easier than keeping the one who has to have it from eating regular food.  It's on backorder.  I spoke to the vet's office again today, but didn't dream that there was a shortage.  I'd assumed that we were dealing with a shortage of driver's or something to do with the logjam in the canal.  I need to call again tomorrow and see what the vet wants me to feed them now.  I only have enough for another week or so.  

Sometimes other vets in the area will honor another vet's "prescription" for food. And Petsmart used to--all you needed was a receipt showing you'd purchased a particular food from your vet and they'd sell it to you. I don't know if they still do that or not.

[prairiewindmomma]

54 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Yup - as of right now i can't find Chlorine Tablets for my pool anywhere. That is going to be a problem. Like - mosquito breeding ground problem. In a climate with mosquito borne illnesses. 

Going to call around tomorrow to specialty pool stores, but normally I just get them at walmart, or target, or the grocery store even. Or off amazon, last few times. Now, none of those places have them. 

Home Depot still has one brand for ordering online, as of right now, limit 2.  Lowe's also has a limited amount.

https://lesliespool.com/chlorine/  You will probably cry at the pricing.

I'm going through similar woes with bromine. Everyone is switching over from chlorine to bromine.  

 

[Selkie]

45 minutes ago, CindyH in NC said:

My cats (all 5) are on prescription food because it is just so much easier than keeping the one who has to have it from eating regular food.  It's on backorder.  I spoke to the vet's office again today, but didn't dream that there was a shortage.  I'd assumed that we were dealing with a shortage of driver's or something to do with the logjam in the canal.  I need to call again tomorrow and see what the vet wants me to feed them now.  I only have enough for another week or so.  

Have you checked if Chewy has it? I have found that they often have prescription foods that are on backorder elsewhere.

[Annie G]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

Good to know! We need to pain in the next month or so - just cheapish stuff from Lowes, but we will stock up now!

Our Lowe’s and Home Depot have plenty of paint. But the two SW stores are soooo bare. It’s weird. 

[prairiewindmomma]

FWIW, I'm find a lot of price volatility on amazon right now. I'm finding it helpful to use camelcamelcamel.  The bromine tabs I was looking at, as an example, are usually around $29 for 3#.  They recently jumped to $52, and just bumped down to $32.  Another brand I look at is normally $42-44 for 5#, it's currently at $63, and has been since mid-April.  I think the demand is going to remain high this summer because supply is low, but I'm hoping to catch a break here or there with the volatility of the algorithms on amazon.

I'm certainly finding flash price drops on other products. 🙂

[ktgrok]

35 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Home Depot still has one brand for ordering online, as of right now, limit 2.  Lowe's also has a limited amount.

https://lesliespool.com/chlorine/  You will probably cry at the pricing.

I'm going through similar woes with bromine. Everyone is switching over from chlorine to bromine.  

 

I saw bromine today at Walmart, if that helps! 

And yeah....I may end up having to bite the bullet on price..UGH!

[Ali in OR]

On the plus side, my grocery store had canning lids this week. I've checked a few times over the last couple of months and they had complete sets of jars and lids, but not just lids or lids with bands. So I got a box of lids and a box of lids with bands. I don't can much, but want to be able to!

[Pawz4me]

16 minutes ago, Plum said:

There may be a gas shortage on the east coast thanks to a cyberattack.

https://www.ajc.com/news/cyberattack-prompts-shutdown-of-major-us-pipeline-with-alpharetta-hq/J3GXXYXAKVCZDDPRM64KL4Z2NA/

I was out doing a quick errand this morning when I got an alert about that on my phone. I stopped and filled my tank, because history has taught me to do that anytime there's the slightest issue, or even a hint of an issue (like a potential hurricane) with that pipeline. Thankfully(?) we're driving so little now that a tank of gas lasts several weeks.

[saraha]

25 minutes ago, Ali in OR said:

On the plus side, my grocery store had canning lids this week. I've checked a few times over the last couple of months and they had complete sets of jars and lids, but not just lids or lids with bands. So I got a box of lids and a box of lids with bands. I don't can much, but want to be able to!

Lucky you!

[kbutton]

On 5/6/2021 at 7:11 PM, Faith-manor said:

Propane fuel for our camp stove! Good grief. It took a lot of searching for it, and so am surprised they did not ask me to give them my first born in addition to an unholy amount of money.

The little cans only? 

On 5/6/2021 at 8:21 PM, Annie G said:

Our Lowe’s and Home Depot have plenty of paint. But the two SW stores are soooo bare. It’s weird. 

I hope Lowe's supply holds--we need to get some paint and don't have all our ducks in a row yet. Quite happy with Valspar, and it's easier on my lungs than SW. 

[TechWife]

On 5/6/2021 at 7:16 PM, CindyH in NC said:

My cats (all 5) are on prescription food because it is just so much easier than keeping the one who has to have it from eating regular food.  It's on backorder.  I spoke to the vet's office again today, but didn't dream that there was a shortage.  I'd assumed that we were dealing with a shortage of driver's or something to do with the logjam in the canal.  I need to call again tomorrow and see what the vet wants me to feed them now.  I only have enough for another week or so.  

 

On 5/6/2021 at 7:55 PM, Pawz4me said:

Sometimes other vets in the area will honor another vet's "prescription" for food. And Petsmart used to--all you needed was a receipt showing you'd purchased a particular food from your vet and they'd sell it to you. I don't know if they still do that or not.

My cats are on a prescription diet as well. The manufacturer drop ships their  food to us. We didn’t get our recurring delivery in January or February due to a shortage - you know it’s bad when the manufacturer is out. We got the order in March and April. May isn’t due to be shipped yet, I wonder if we will get it. 
 

Pet Smart here requires a Banfield prescription to buy from them. Your vet can either call the Banfield in the store you want to go to or they can give you a handwritten prescription to take to the Banfield. They will just put it in their computer and print a card for you to use at checkout. You only have to do that once, then it’s good for a year. I did that a few times with our previous cat. This last time, though, no one had the food in stock - no vet offices or pet supply stores. 

[Syllieann]

For people looking for bikes, I've had good luck with bikesdirect.  I bought a high end tri bike from them years ago (before kids,lol) and went back to them again for a hybrid last summer because of the shortage.  You need to put it together yourself and could possibly need to have the wheels trued, but overall still cheaper and a much shorter wait compared to going to the trek or schwinn store.

[mommyoffive]

1 minute ago, Syllieann said:

For people looking for bikes, I've had good luck with bikesdirect.  I bought a high end tri bike from them years ago (before kids,lol) and went back to them again for a hybrid last summer because of the shortage.  You need to put it together yourself and could possibly need to have the wheels trued, but overall still cheaper and a much shorter wait compared to going to the trek or schwinn store.

We used Bikesonline.com last year for new mountain bikes.   Dh is a bike nut so he did a lot of research and these bikes are rated high like Giant or Trek.   It took a long time to ship and we had to contact them a bunch, but the bikes are great.  And yes you have to put them together a bit, but my 12 year old did it easily.  No harder than putting together a bike from Walmart. 

[Laura Corin]

Pet equipment.  I spent the afternoon and went to five stores to buy a dog bed, strong lead, bowls and a couple of toys. All those lockdown puppies...

[*****]

Some clothing is crazy high, shopping at REI or other sport related store.  More than $50 for a t-shirt style shirt? I mean, really...where is a good old cotton t-shirt when you need it?  And it seems like the swim suit choices are down and the colors are pretty horrid for us over 50! I spent 2 days this weekend shopping, and came home with nothing. I won't pay those kinds of prices. I looked online for the same brands, on Amazon and whatever came up and the prices are about half to 3/4 the price.  I just hate shopping online, I really need to try things on...

 

Also, we need new blinds for our large picture windows. Just 1 of them was quoted as $600 for pleated shades, not full black out, but medium I would say.  I thought that was rather high.  Any thoughts?  This was not through Costco, but we will check there, but not sure about the quality.  

[mommyoffive]

East Coast Drivers Make Run on Gas Stations (msn.com)

[WildflowerMom]

Well, now we're short on gas.  Hoping some good comes from this major cluster****, though.  

[mommyoffive]

1 minute ago, WildflowerMom said:

Well, now we're short on gas.  Hoping some good comes from this major cluster****, though.  

Are you on the east coast?

[WildflowerMom]

1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

Are you on the east coast?

Yes, in SE Georgia.   Dh tried to get gas yesterday and lines were everywhere and he came home empty handed.   Ds and his gf have gas.  Dh has enough for now.  I'm fine and told ds and gf to use my car if needed. His roommate though is literally on empty, so I'm guessing ds or gf took him to work today.   Nothing much anyone can do if they run out.   Can't exactly call an Uber!  😱🤷🏻‍♀️  I guess employers will just have to be a little lenient this week.  

[2_girls_mommy]

On 5/3/2021 at 2:50 PM, vonfirmath said:

Dishwashers. And the one we just got already has problems (less than a week after installation)

So sorry about your new one with problems!  But yes, on dishwashers.  Mine died during the height of the pandemic.  Because we use a freestanding one, not an interior cabinet one like modern kitchens, and is a rarer kind anyway, it took MONTHS for us to finally get one.  That was fun to handwash for months during homeschooling... not. 

[Faith-manor]

Store brand chicken breast just went to $4.00 per lb. I need to see if young turkeys are going up. I don't mind roasting one of those every other week and having it for soups and sandwiches.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-12/us-petrol-supplies-dwindle-amid-pipeline-outage-darkside-cyber/100132902
 

just saw this - anyone having fuel issues?