As most here know, current shortages are a result of government interference -- directly or indirectly -- into the free exchange of goods and services with consumers. Labor shortages are in the same category. As it affects my life, I'm wondering if any of these affect others. I live in rural NYS south of Rochester. A couple of months ago I was in a Walmart Superstore and they had NO BAGS. I had to take all the loose items in the cart out to my car and transfer them. The same thing happened a few weeks ago at a small local supermarket (and no, I'm not interested in a "work-around" like having my own bags). I have also noticed a shortage of flavored coffee creamers -- particularly raspberry, which is about the only one I use. At the above supermarket, the guy there told me the big stores like Walmart get the shipments first and they take what is left over. And now I can't find calendars. For the past 10+ years I've gotten them at Dollar General. They've always had a good selection with nice scenery and they were only a couple of bucks. The two closest to me have not gotten them in yet. Nor does the above-mentioned Walmart superstore have any. Amazon has them but the cheapest is around $9 and not scenic (I ordered one anyway). They go up in price from there. Anyone else have trouble finding certain coffee creamers or calendars? If so, where are you located?
Don't buy coffee creamer or calendars (I get a couple free every year), but it is said there is a shortage of paper at the moment. Many don't notice since so much is done online, but the widespread use of paper has declined in the shortage. That may be part of the calendar problem. I have noticed empty shelves in the supermarket, and some things like canned dog food is short here.
We do not get flavored coffee creamers, and they seem to have the plain ones at our walmart neighborhood market. Since we use the calendar on the iPad, we have not bought colanders in quite a few years. What I have noticed is that they seem to be out of many common items, and they have been completely out of cranberry sauce since before Thanksgiving. I use it a lot, so I try to stock up when it is on sale, but now I can’t even get it at regular cost. We have had produce shortages, too, like pears and even bananas. If there is a paper shortage, then we need to get extra TP, it sounds like.
I have Coffeemate creamers on auto-delivery from Amazon and no problem yet. Like Don, we get free calendars every year so I don't buy 'em.
Surprisingly eggs are the most we are missing. My chickies don't lay as much in the winter. Can't blame Biden for that. When the 'pandemic' first hit, being a prepper, I thought we were covered for a long time. I found out that we needed medical supplies like cold medicines and bandages to stay out of the stores. When we were in San Francisco years ago, they did not provide bags unless you paid for them. I thought that would work across the country but Wisconsin still offers them. Hopefully heating fuel and electricity will be available all winter for everyone.
Usually, when I walk into a grocery store, over the past couple of years, there will be empty shelves somewhere, and that was almost never the case until the government's overreaction to a virus gave the excuse for shortages. Other than the craziness of shortages of toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning solutions that we saw a year ago, I have not yet seen shortages that were particularly uncomfortable, and, even then, I had bought enough of these items that I was never without. My wife uses coffee creamers, while I don't, but I can't recall hearing her mention shortages.
I've noticed spaces in the shelves at my local Walmart and Kroeger, but they've not yet been anything I've wanted or needed.
I have not seen any free large calendars in years. Way back when I remember they were everywhere: Lumber yards, insurance agents, auto parts stores, etc. always had stacks of them for anyone who wanted one. I don't mind paying for them, but I can't get any at all locally. Interesting about a possible paper shortage. I hadn't heard that. Being old, cranky, and unwilling to change, I need a REAL calendar to hang on the wall, with the blocks large enough to write stuff in, and some kind of nice scenery above. I don't use creamers all the time, but once in a while I buy some. I'm sure I'll survive without raspberry creamer.
There has been a constant shortage of fat free half-and-half in both our Walmart and Publix supermarket. When it comes to coffee mate creamer‘s they usually have them in stock my favorite is sugar-free peppermint mocha. They’ve also been out of spray paint which I don’t buy but I’ve noticed consistently that the shelves are empty I have no idea why.
That's funny you should mention that, Laura. I was looking for a can of high-heat spray paint just the other day, and my local Walmart had maybe 10% or less of the spray paint shelves stocked. I went across the street to Lowes, who had plenty of spray paint.
I'm glad you posted this. I just added a calendar to my shopping list. I keep one just as you describe affixed with magnets to my refrigerator, in addition to the myriad other ways I keep track of my schedule (cellphone calendar, spreadsheet, email reminders.) It was so much easier when I was working and knew where I was gonna be and what I was gonna do every day. Now life is random.
John, I need a big wall calendar so I can write all my doc appointments on them. Well, a few other things too. But I don’t miss the days of writing when bills were due on them. Everybody just takes what they need out of my bank account now.
Try Dollar Tree for calendars. I bought two with scenic views at $1 each. My grocery is still giving them away which I got last trip and plastic bags too. I am finding only a few items in short supply but I’ve been able to find substitutes. I usually tend to overbuy so I have extra if on the next trip they are out.
While our grocery shelves are maybe 25% emptier than pre covid, everything is usually available but prices have increased drastically. I don't use creamers and take my coffee as brewed so no idea about creamers. My favorite hot chocolate is hard to find but I was lucky to be on hand when they restocked it. Luckily a very tall middle-aged man was on hand to help this old lady reach the 3 cases they hid on the top shelf. I got several nasty looks as I checked out. Fair-priced scenic calendars have been hard to get here for the past few years. My favorite is Lighthouses and I ordered one last year from Amazon. It is made from cheap glossed paper and is hard to write on. It is that time of year, thanks for the reminder.