Grocery Shopping

[John Galt III]

I have recently noticed signs at several stores and restaurants around here that are asking for correct change or credit cards due to the national coin shortage.... I didn't know anything about it until earlier this week.

They're gonna love me then, because I'm always trying to get rid of my spare change, which builds up in my pocket, over time, if I don't.

 

[W2R]

I have recently noticed signs at several stores and restaurants around here that are asking for correct change or credit cards due to the national coin shortage.... I didn't know anything about it until earlier this week.

Our restaurant required credit cards from the beginning of the pandemic back in March, until recently. Last week they finally started accepting cash again! What a nice surprise to have more options.

I am not sure of the reason why they wouldn't take cash; maybe they felt that money was more likely to have been touched by many people and to be more of a coronavirus hazard for that reason? Or maybe there was some other reason.

 

[Sunset]

They're not lying about it. Back in mid-June, the Federal Reserve said:

https://www.frbservices.org/news/communications/061120-strategic-allocation-of-coin-inventories.html

This Forbes article is also pretty interesting: https://www.forbes.com/sites/advisor/2020/07/20/is-there-really-a-coin-shortage/#264d5cd1f0a3

Interesting, and it really makes sense the mint employees worked less.

The radio show I listened to blamed the entire coin shortage on less cash being used. No mention of the Mint producing less. (that was why I felt it was deceitful).
Now I see it was just Lazy reporting.

 

[Sunset]

Our restaurant required credit cards from the beginning of the pandemic back in March, until recently. Last week they finally started accepting cash again! What a nice surprise to have more options.

I am not sure of the reason why they wouldn't take cash; maybe they felt that money was more likely to have been touched by many people and to be more of a coronavirus hazard for that reason? Or maybe there was some other reason.

Absolutely money is DIRTY... has lots of germs/bacteria on it already.
Plus when handing money over, especially the coins, I often touch the person receiving the money as dropping the coins from a height or putting them on the counter is a pain for everyone.

Dirty Money - Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Money - TIME

Using CC, means no contact and is safer all the time.

 

[ivinsfan]

Absolutely money is DIRTY... has lots of germs/bacteria on it already.
Plus when handing money over, especially the coins, I often touch the person receiving the money as dropping the coins from a height or putting them on the counter is a pain for everyone.

Dirty Money - Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Money - TIME

Using CC, means no contact and is safer all the time.

Yes I never handle cash especially at fast food drive thru..haven't for years..

 

[6miths]

Interesting on the coin shortage. We're very lucky here in that some years ago we transitioned to PIN and chip credit cards and then to contactless payment with RFID cards. During COVID most merchants have increased their limits on contactless so one very infrequently has to use a keypad anymore. Local Costco is up to $500 so I can usually get out of there without having to touch anything but the merchandise.

 

[John Galt III]

Interesting on the coin shortage. We're very lucky here in that some years ago we transitioned to PIN and chip credit cards and then to contactless payment with RFID cards. During COVID most merchants have increased their limits on contactless so one very infrequently has to use a keypad anymore. Local Costco is up to $500 so I can usually get out of there without having to touch anything but the merchandise.

Maybe I'm wrong, but aren't you slightly more likely to have your credit card number hacked each time you use it, and your cc number is flying around cyberspace? I know the hackers already have all our cc numbers, ss numbers, birthday, mother's maiden name, etc, but still. Hmmm.

 

[harllee]

I am only using credit cards now. Money (both coins and paper) is nasty-- full of viruses and other germs. I remember early on in the pandemic China burned alot of its paper money in the Wuhan area and issued new clean paper money because they found Covid-19 on the paper money. I am sure there is some chance of getting my credit card hacked--but I think the chance of getting the virus off the money is a worse risk for me.

 

[Sunset]

Maybe I'm wrong, but aren't you slightly more likely to have your credit card number hacked each time you use it, and your cc number is flying around cyberspace? I know the hackers already have all our cc numbers, ss numbers, birthday, mother's maiden name, etc, but still. Hmmm.

So what, there is zero financial liability, just notify your CC company and they will replace it free, and remove the charges.

It's safer than money in many ways beside Covid-19.

I know a guy that just bought a fridge, HD dropped off the fridge, it's not there !! . They say they dropped it off.
With a CC he can dispute as they don't have proof of delivery, with cash it's tough cookies..

 

[6miths]

Maybe I'm wrong, but aren't you slightly more likely to have your credit card number hacked each time you use it, and your cc number is flying around cyberspace? I know the hackers already have all our cc numbers, ss numbers, birthday, mother's maiden name, etc, but still. Hmmm.

I'm not sure but in all my years I have only experienced cc fraud once and that was from an old style card issued by a US bank. And yes as Sunset points out they were totally good for it. As much as I think CC companies and banks are totally not my friend, I do enjoy the perks and protections they provide. And yes paper money is gross... and it's worse here now because ours isn't even paper. I have a RFID proof metal sleeve for CCs - not because I need it but because it looks cool and I have never been one to carry a wallet.

To me contactless cards and ApplePay (and similar) are fabulous and represent a huge advance.

 

[harllee]

I have to give a shout out to Walmart Curbside for their strip steaks. I am in the mountains of NC now and my DH wants to grill out steaks on occasion. We tried the local supermarket and their steaks we awful. The Walmart is about 30 minutes away and I decided to get a curbside pick up from them and took a gamble and ordered some strip steaks. I can't believe it but those Walmart steaks were GREAT! Who would have guessed.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We tried a farmer's market for fresh produce since those are all outside. The prices were pretty high. Instead I started going to a produce market where all the bargains are outside - usually overstocks. The produce market had much better prices, items like blood oranges for 25 cents a pound and $1 a head for cauliflower. I only have to go inside to pay. The lines were short, they had a clerk wiping down all the carts after each use, and there was a plastic screen at the checkout. It seemed pretty safe so I will be making that market part of my pandemic shopping regular routine.

DH had been worried about me shopping there as it is in a lower income part of town, but the reality turned out to be that everyone was wearing their masks and the store was taking more precautions than some of the big chain stores closer to us.

 

[sengsational]

I have to give a shout out to Walmart Curbside for their strip steaks. I am in the mountains of NC now and my DH wants to grill out steaks on occasion. We tried the local supermarket and their steaks we awful. The Walmart is about 30 minutes away and I decided to get a curbside pick up from them and took a gamble and ordered some strip steaks. I can't believe it but those Walmart steaks were GREAT! Who would have guessed.

Thanks for the tip!

We have been getting the wild caught salmon, and I kind of like it, and it's healthy, it's not very filling and it costs a dang fortune! Every time we've had it, I've mentioned "For that price, I'd rather have a nice steak!" I think this time it worked. She usually buys rib-eye, but I'll suggest the strip steaks for the next curbside order.

 

[ivinsfan]

We are kind of picky about our hamburger and thought we have to just "make do" with Wal Mart ground beef. We've found it up to our standards, no issues at all.

 

[harllee]

We are kind of picky about our hamburger and thought we have to just "make do" with Wal Mart ground beef. We've found it up to our standards, no issues at all.

I have gotten the Walmart 80/20 hamburger and I have been pleased with it too. Also I like Walmart pork chops for grilling.

 

[sengsational]

Thin cut pork chops are back! (They've actually been back for quite some time, but were unavailable for months).

Got another Boston butt, going into the Orion cooker tomorrow. Tonight, doing the NY strips.

Today's groceries they substituted two regular hamburger bun packages for the special buns (Hawaiian bread or potato bread or some such... I don't pay attention since it's DW that still eats bread).

But all in all, not a bad haul from WalMart curbside.

I've noticed something about DW's having a list in the WalMart app...she's been buying "impulse items", which surprised me. I don't eat "snack items", but she still does, and she found saw bag of goofy non-food in the app and ordered it. I tried not to be judgemental, but I fear she saw through it.

 

[pacergal]

Second time Sweet pickle relish and black eyed beans has been unavailable curbside at Kroger!
I could mask up and go into another store, not a big issue, I just find it weird when certain things are not available. No rhyme or reason sometimes.

We are getting our meats and seafood from local meat and fish markets. More expensive, but much better quality. Buying less and eating plant based meals more often helps.

 

[Chuckanut]

Second time Sweet pickle relish and black eyed beans has been unavailable curbside at Kroger!
I could mask up and go into another store, not a big issue, I just find it weird when certain things are not available. No rhyme or reason sometimes.

We are getting our meats and seafood from local meat and fish markets. More expensive, but much better quality. Buying less and eating plant based meals more often helps.

My experience is that if the person who fills your order is not experienced you might not get much of the lesser used and know items. Pepperoncini is my example. They had jars of it on the shelf, but it was unavailable when the order was filled a few hours earlier. The same goes with Fontina cheese. The young folks who fill the orders are nice and well intentioned but their view of the world is limited to pizza with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.

 

[harllee]

I got a container of 35 Disinfectant Wipes in my Walmart curbside pick up!! I feel like I won the lottery. It doesn't take much to make me happy these days, any little good news helps. DH and I danced around the kitchen we were so happy.

 

[CardsFan]

I have been looking for whole beef tenderloins at Sam's. Every time I called, none in stock. Even visited a couple of times, when shopping for other things. Nothing.

Then DW was shopping at Aldi's the other day, and low and behold, they now carry whole tenderloins. They are smaller, weighing in at about 4.5 lbs, compared to 6 to 9 pounds at Sam's. AND they were $7.99/lb (compared to about $10/lb at Sam's). Now, the caveat is, I could not find a USDA grade (Prime, Choice, Select, etc). They ARE USDA inspected, and they ARE a product of the US.

So, we bought 2, and I broke them down and removed the silver skin. Very little waste. Cut into steaks and a couple of small roasts, and saved the small pieces for shish-kabob. Had the shish-kabob the other night. Yum.

I hope they continue to carry these, but you never know at Aldi's.

 

[timo2]

We've noticed a little slowing in the paper towel supply. They are still available, but first our Costco was out of kirkland for the last few weeks. Then we ordered some Target brand on-line for shipment from Target. We ordered 2 packages. What Target does is uses their stores as the supply hub, so we received on package, but the other one was out of stock all of a sudden from a different store, and I'm getting refunded for that. I just went and got another package from the curbside at our local target (that option was not available last week when I did the on-line order), but I could only order one package.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Picked up fairly hefty orders today from one of our go to grocery stores (regional grocer called Hannafords, part of Delhaise), a liquor order and fish market on the waterfront order. Not one substitution. First time since we began grocery pickup or delivery in March.

I do like this method. The drawbacks are outweighed by the advantages of this method of shopping. Apart from the health protection advantages, I can more easily price shop, as the prices of comparable items at the same store are clearly laid out vs my squinting at the options on each shelf. Also I routinely open several windows on my computer and price shop a single item on multiple websites(Whole Foods, Hannaford, Walmart, Sams and Shaws(Albertsons). Walmart almost always beats the competition, but I don't split orders. I tend to save the items that are cheaper at Walmart for one large order and other weeks I might use Whole Foods for special high quality/high cost items, etc. And a final advantage : I buy no impulse items.

We did all of this pick up today without getting out of the car.

We also have an Italian specialty market that we order curb side from once a month or so, as well as a butcher shop with premium meats that we also order from occasionally to stock the freezer.

One thing I am missing this summer season is farmers markets. We haven't ventured forth to them yet and miss the fresh local produce.

This month I plan to buy an Air Fryer Rotisserie. Looking forward to trying that method cooking. Any suggestions on models and/or recipes would be appreciated.

 

[tmm99]

This month I plan to buy an Air Fryer Rotisserie. Looking forward to trying that method cooking. Any suggestions on models and/or recipes would be appreciated.

Perhaps you will open a separate thread? I bet tons of people will respond.

 

[Telly]

I got a container of 35 Disinfectant Wipes in my Walmart curbside pick up!! I feel like I won the lottery. It doesn't take much to make me happy these days, any little good news helps. DH and I danced around the kitchen we were so happy.

Could you please check and tell us what the active ingredient is? I have not seen disinfectant wipes in Walmart at all around here. Even the space for them is gone. Wondering what the ingredient is, when they have them!

 

[RVplusDog]

Could you please check and tell us what the active ingredient is? I have not seen disinfectant wipes in Walmart at all around here. Even the space for them is gone. Wondering what the ingredient is, when they have them!

I’m not harlee, but:

Lysol Wipes Ingredients
Ethanol Alcohol acts as a sanitizer and adds fragrance.
Alkyl (C14 50%, C12 40%, C16 10%) Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride is the main active ingredient responsible for killing germs.
Alkyl Polyglucoside cuts through dirt and bad odors.
Propylene Glycol Butyl Ether acts as a solvent.