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Eat for $1.50 per Day – Layoffs, Coronavirus Quarantine, Food Shortages

efficiencyiseverything.com

41–50 of 289 posts

Re: Eat for $1.50 per Day – Layoffs, Coronavirus Quarantine, Food Shortages

#41

Eggs and milk are still perishables, especially if electricity is rationed.

Eggs don't need to be refrigerated. And they'll last a month or more after being laid.

_if_ the eggs are not washed, unfortunately all the eggs that's sold in the market is fully washed before packaging and has shorter shelf life.

Re: Eat for $1.50 per Day – Layoffs, Coronavirus Quarantine, Food Shortages

#42

Good list. The problem, at least here in the UK, is that these cheap foods/ingredients are exactly what we're seeing empty on the shelves now. Unfortunately for those who live cheaply, expensive things go last.

Does the UK also have price gouging laws in this crisis?

Those are what produce the empty shelves.

Re: Eat for $1.50 per Day – Layoffs, Coronavirus Quarantine, Food Shortages

#44
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eggs are only a problem in the US. In Europe they aren't cooled as they weren't washed after collecting.

Eggs aren't refrigerated in supermarkets, but even unwashed eggs keep better if refrigerated, so most people refrigerate them at home. Supermarkets have enough turnover that it's not worth the cost. Eggs can also be frozen if you remove the shells.

I've never been to a supermarket where the eggs weren't refrigerated. They're usually right next to the milk.

Re: Eat for $1.50 per Day – Layoffs, Coronavirus Quarantine, Food Shortages

#45

I hope this serves as a wake-up call for a lot more people to spend a modest amount of their income saving for a rainy day when this is all over. And not just in terms of cash, but in terms of enough staples and essentials for a few weeks of weeks of interrupted supply chains, a go-bag in case your residence needs to be evacuated suddenly, the ability to teach your own kids stuff. These sound paranoid to some. It's a…

This is good advice for people who make a living wage. But for many people, an emergency fund is a luxury. I remember not too long ago when I had to decide between paying utilities and buying food. Every single month. Saving just wasn't an option. Many of my friends and family are still in this position, and they've all lost their jobs simultaneously.

I'm not surprised that people are scared right now, because they're used to the anxiety of being one paycheck away from homeless for their entire lives. And now they don't have a paycheck.

Re: Eat for $1.50 per Day – Layoffs, Coronavirus Quarantine, Food Shortages

#46

Good list. The problem, at least here in the UK, is that these cheap foods/ingredients are exactly what we're seeing empty on the shelves now. Unfortunately for those who live cheaply, expensive things go last.

In that case, expensive things won’t be expensive for very long.

This seems like a misunderstanding of how supply and demand acts in the real world. I didn't say people weren't buying premium products at all - they very much so are. They're just not selling out at the insane rate everything else is. If anything this suggests that the inexpensive products would (assuming we were operating an idealised free market, which we're kind of not because stores are now attempting to limit purchases) become more expensive to match the premium products - but then of course the premium products would sell more (more utility for the same money) so things would balance out again.

Retail pricing logic suggests that brands would rather price relative to the baseline pricing anyway. It's more likely to be generally inflationary unless of course suppliers manage to meet the current demand and even if they do there's a big risk that demand will crash suddenly at some point which could cost the suppliers or retailers greatly as well as they overproduce items that never get bought and cost money to store. It's a big mess, really.

Re: Eat for $1.50 per Day – Layoffs, Coronavirus Quarantine, Food Shortages

#47

Good list. The problem, at least here in the UK, is that these cheap foods/ingredients are exactly what we're seeing empty on the shelves now. Unfortunately for those who live cheaply, expensive things go last.

Rice and beans have been gone here in the USA at my local stores.

Flour and Sugar are also gone here.

Bread is limited supply

Re: Eat for $1.50 per Day – Layoffs, Coronavirus Quarantine, Food Shortages

#48

Eggs and milk are still perishables, especially if electricity is rationed.

Maybe it’s just my area but I’m not seeing any rational panic buying anywhere. My stores have PLENTY of non-perishable items, but you know what’s missing for me? Russet potatoes, bottled water (which will last you like a week without a means to make more), frozen pizzas, bananas, bread, milk, eggs. I don’t get it.

Plenty of milk, eggs, water here. Oddly enough, bananas, bread and chicken are what disappeared. I went this morning though and chicken, fruit, bread, etc.. is fully stocked again. Just missing paper and cleaning products.

My goto 'cheap' meal is bacon, eggs, sautéed tomatoes/mushrooms. It's more than $1.50/day, but has good nutrition and tastes good. Potatoes have also not been an issue here. So another feed the family, reasonable meal is pot roast.

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