What are you buying now to avoid upcoming price increases?
What are you buying now to avoid upcoming price increases?
This seems pretty important to crowdsource and talk about, so I'm gonna go ahead and risk violating the no politics rule from a few days ago, because I don't see a better community to ask this. My defense for it not "being politics" is, I'm asking you to keep it to purchasing decisions and how the details of how the tariffs are likely to work, as opposed to who did what. This thread has the potential to save people lots of money if it gets big!
Tariffs are gonna make things more expensive for Americans; what are you planning on buying now instead of later, or stockpiling a little of?
To prepare for food shortages/price increases: I'm buying seeds for things I know I can grow in our garden, and stocking up on one or two of each of the fungicides, pesticides, and soil amendments that we regularly use. I bought 30 pound sacks of rice and beans, two large boxes of shelf stable nutrition shakes, and shelf stable vacuum sealed bread. We're considering buying half a cow with the neighbors, who have a deep freezer. I want to buy a pot plant, it'll probably depend on how much they cost. I already have a good supply of sunflower lecithin so I can make my own edibles.
To prepare for the EPA being gutted or other impacts of climate change: we bought AA and AAA batteries and refilled everything in our bug out bags, including first aid stuff and emergency high calorie food (in case of natural disasters.) We're installing a reverse osmosis filter in the kitchen sink (we're concerned about water safety as there have already been problems in our area due to old infrastructure) and it comes with a storage tank. Made sure we had plenty of candles, matches, flashlights, charcoal, lighters and lighter fluid, and a small grill for outside. Have an adapter for the car so we can plug things in if the power goes out.
To prepare for FDA/insurance/medical issues: We bought extra vitamins, and we're asking our doctors to prescribe as much of our necessary drugs as they are allowed to. I learned how to do all my physical therapy at home and have been collecting home exercise equipment for a while, unrelated to this but I'm grateful to have it all now. We also bought a few large bottles of rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. We already have a massive collection of OTC meds because I'm chronically ill and use them often. We plan to add a couple extra boxes of the most important stuff the next few grocery trips. Most important for us: painkillers, epi pens, allergy meds, inhalers, hydrocortisone, and diaper rash cream. No baby but it's useful for a lot of skin irritations.
For general preparation: I looked at the labels on all our personal care products (lotion, face wash, etc) and if it's made outside of the U.S. we ordered as much as we could afford, usually 1-2 of each. We're low maintenance so thankfully it wasn't too expensive. New undies for everyone, filters for everything that needs them (furnace, vents, pet fountains, etc.) Made sure we had needles, thread, super glue, duct tape, white vinegar, borax, and a couple things of Dr. Bronner's soap. We're also saving all our glass jars, packaging, etc (thank God we have a garage...) My grandparents lived through the depression and taught me how to make do and mend. That's my mindset right now.
We have a bidet and already buy TP in bulk so I'm not super worried about paper products. All our pets got checkups and boosters. We made appointments to get all our boosters as well (tetanus, covid, flu shot, etc.) We got a pet first aid kit and book. I got some general house stuff like wood filler, wood conditioner, nails, screws, and cleaning supplies. We shop at costco so honestly it's not much more than we usually have in the house.
I might be over prepared but I don't care. We've only spent ~$500 and decided to skip Christmas gifts so thankfully we can afford it. I'm considering a few more things but as it stands I'm feeling prepared.
My personal desktop machine is a Linux box I assembled from $500 worth of parts about 14 years ago. I've increased RAM and added about 8TB of storage for an Emby instance.
It still manages to get the job done, but it is obviously way, way, WAY overdue for replacement. We've been struggling financially for about 25 years.
Now I'm thinking I need to finally pull the trigger and get it done before January.
Got some kitchen appliances I've been putting off upgrading, buying a new TV now, new PC. Basically if theres electronics that probably won't make it for four years, buy it now.
Get your garden going too. Been extremely poor, it helps a ton.
Oh just fyi, of you have to buy from a big box store, Lowe's donate the most to Democrats and last to Republicans. Fuck home Depot.
Nothing. These companies don't deserve it, I'll do without today and continue into tomorrow.
I predicted this. I said if we ever tried to block politics it would devolve into nitpicking what is and isn't political.
But to answer the question: If your computer shit is about due for a upgrade, don't wait.
Grocery prices would probably keep going up no matter who got elected, so gardening supplies would be a good investment over time. Along with gardening comes the peripheral skills of cooking and preserving when it'll hurt your soul to see any of your sweet baby tomatoes go to waste.
I'm American.
I dont have the money to stockpile anything.
as someone else said, plan for a long term(longer than four years). as for me I'm going to phase it out over three years to be reliant on the system as least as possible. the fourth year would hopefully be close to 80% self-reliant.
I'm planning on going all out on a garden next year. nothing fancy; potato, onion, carrot, tomato, squash (fall and winter), peas, string beans, misc herbs, sun flowers, maybe some corn(everybody grows it around here so bartering for some would be easy, besides corn is a pita to grow).
whatever I can't dry, I'll can.
my goal is to be at least 50-60% self sufficient after the first year. this should only require me to buy meat and seasonings mostly. then add on anything else I'll need.
consumables like TP and tissues can't really be stocked reliably as they degrade over time due to humidity.
I'll also be stocking up on common medications for my kids for at least the four years. the last time we went through this there were many product recalls. this time there's talk of defunding the FDA/CDC. I can only imagine the chaos parents will be in when a pandemic sweeps through again and you can't even trust the medicine anymore. common things like cold/flu, fever reducers, epi-pens. (if you plan on doing this, don't be a dick and buy everything at once. take a third so others can still get what they need and get more next week).
I also plan on stocking up on slingshot rubbers and maybe some more ammo. There's a lot of wildlife around me that could either be eaten and/or used a fertilizer. I hope I'll never need to resort to it, but would rather have it and hunt rather than not and starve. probably add some bow strings and arrows to the list for bigger game like deer.
I have kind of been planning for this for years so it's not my first time doing this. my best advice, do anything you feel you can accomplish successfully. don't waste time or resources growing food if you don't have space for a garden (don't experiment with hydroponics if you don't have the time or resources to fail multiple times).
Find other ways to contribute to your community like; cleaning and maintaining weapons, fixing tools, home repair, technology/PC repair. anything you can do successfully will give you an edge that gives you an opportunity to barter for what you need, this includes credit in the community.
I once did tech support and one day someone couldn't pay me. so they gave me some deer they had hunted recently. a year later that person called me and asked if I wanted a job making triple what I was making at my old job(not IT related). credit can't be eaten, but it goes a long way and is indispensable.
stay strong, be smart, we'll get through this yet.
Food, but not primarily for cost savings as most regular used things things don't last longer than a year, which cost wise won't bridge the gap.
55 lbs of 00 flour in the chest freezer, still have about 25lbs of AP flour in there. 1 30lb bag of Jasmine Rice, 1 25 lb basmati. I still have a ton of beans and and dry pasts in mylar/oxy absorb sitting in barens cans for long term storage. When covid started, I had 1 million calories in storage. I don't plan to go back to that, but I intend to be able to hunker down for a long time.
For work, I'm pushing to purchase more laptops before tariffs.
I've considered stowing fuel with a stabilizer but even if prices double on fuel, I don't use enough of it to make a difference.
It would be a good time to buy any lithium ion batteries and finish off those ali-express/temu orders.
Le Creuset.
Cast iron is imported from France.
Ceramics are imported from China.https://www.lecreuset.com/signature-oval-baker/20188US.html
https://www.lecreuset.com/classic-3-piece-oval-baking-dish-set-/ST00979.html
This is only tangentially related, but the best thing you can do is make stuff instead of buying it. Somewhat ironically, community building and self sufficiency will be more important than ever. Yeah everyone is going to say electronics but I feel like we all have enough of those already. Forbidden knowledge is far more valuable. Kind of doomer but... that's where I'm at lately.
Buy staff made in Taiwan.. So get that PC upgrade now and get the most RAM you can stick in it.
With Trump being Trump I guarantee that China will be putting that shiny new navy to use soon as Trump will simply do nothing for the prospect of a "good deal"(for a new Trump Tower in Beijing or something)
Computers
Espresso machine I've been wanting to buy.
Solar panel system for the house. (this one will get WAY more expensive)
Very thankful my girlfriend and I got ducks this spring. They'll be worth their weight in gold shortly enough.
Canadian here. I expect the supply of products that would otherwise have gone to the US to go up and the price here to go down. I'll just wait for the US tariff discounts to hit.
My big thing is a new TV. We have a 46” LCD from 2009 that often refuses to fully power on. I’ve been dragging my feet on replacing it, just cuz I know the research is gonna be demoralizing, with how dystopian a lot of the “smart TVs” are. But now there’s some real time pressure, so I guess I have to.
Coincidentally, I was already planning on upgrading my personal dev machine (to an M4 Mac Mini) and my retro handheld (to a Retroid Pocket 5), as well as my first dip into XR glasses with the Viture Pro. So I’m kinda ahead of the game there.
I’ve been (im)patiently waiting for the next version of the Orange Pi 800, but if tariffs hit before then I’ll probably just skip it. Analogue 3D is also likely to exit my wish list.
I’ll probably move up the timeline on adding storage to my home server if I can afford to. And some microSD cards, since I seem to always need yet another one.
I’ve got a few friends who were looking at upgrading their PCs this year, so I’ll probably be helping them shop and seal the deal before things get weird.
I wouldn’t expect many outrageous Cyber Monday deals this year. Most mfgs probably wanna stretch their inventory so they can delay price increases and stay competitive. That said, there’s also bound to be companies that are poised to strike early because they have already de-China-fied their supply chains. But even they are bound to be cautious.
Tap for spoiler
Also, imo, this is why a “no politics” rule is dumb. Policy ends up changing people’s lives, and dealing with a change in your life — especially one that others are also experiencing — is a big reason why people post on communities like this. “Superficial shit only” is a fine strategy for a massive site that can stand to prune meaningful user engagement for the sake of keeping things family-friendly for advertisers, but since Lemmy is not Reddit, wtf are we doing?
I definitely need to get a new car. I’ve kept mine running as well as I could and it’s almost old enough to vote but it’s reaching the end of its life. I’d do without one if I could but it’s a necessity and I try to drive as little as possible. I always go Subaru so that’s an import and I’m sure if I wait it’ll be wholly unaffordable. I need to replace some of my electronics repair kit so I can fix what I have when possible.
Replacing some small to mid size appliances. Mine are generally 7-10 years old and some of the cooking ones are becoming unsafe to use due to wear. New air fryer to replace the one that smokes when it runs and the toaster oven that has two burnt out coils. Potentially a new dryer of the motor replacement is cost prohibitive.
If I can't fix it and expect 3+more years of use it needs to be replaced in the next 6 months.
A portable SSD. I need a new external hard drive anyway, so adding that November sales have reduced prices currently and that announced tariffs are designed to raise them very soon, there really is no better logical time for me to get one other than now.
Stock
Probably a computer. I still don’t know if I want a laptop or a desktop. Still don’t know if I want to stay with Apple products or try something new. The frameworks laptops look cool but not the best bang for the buck. I also assume the tariff will kill the supply chain of spare parts which makes them attractive in the first place.
I’m mostly looking at whether I would have made any medium sized purchases in the next two yearsl. I might buy some little things in bulk, too, but if there’s any one time purchase where the price is going to jump $200, $300, $500, it’s time to make a decision.
For me that mostly means furniture. I already bought a pair of commodity IKEA bookshelves I’d been considering buying vs building. I might still build replacements, but I would still use what I just bought and domestic lumber won’t be directly subject to a tariff. I’m looking at buying a papasan chair and a mattress as well, probably in the next week or two.
I’ve also considered electronics, but there’s nothing I would buy in the next two years short of some PC components that I’m sure I’ll want. I bought a Quest 3 a while back and it’s been a great purchase.
I did go back through some of my online buying this year to see what I used. I’ll probably buy a few pairs of work shoes and some good soap.
My husband is going to have to upgrade his work computer because there’s no way it’s lasting four more years 😔
I have very little to do with the US and said tariffs, so I'm not affected directly.
In general though I try to be rational with big(ger) purchases - I research things for at least a week or two before buying (but more often it's months) and try to maximise my use of what I buy.
I don't believe in such consumption unless it is warrant by some sort of real need.
ie, if you use the product over years and you know you will need it going forward, sure stock pile. but maintaining a stock pile has its own cost.
Also, using what you got until is fail is a valid strategy too for durable goods, most people don't do this. We as society literally throwing money away.
I think one things anyone who has excess should be doing is buying US treasury bills or money markets, it seems people some people are still keeping their cash at boomer banks who won't give you good rate unless you shop around etc.
While threat of tariffs is real, I doubt federal government will start fucking peasants outright in already inflationary environment.
US is food and energy sufficient. Them targeting china made plastic trash sold on Temu and Shein is or a domestic retailers really too, should be fucked tariffed the fuck out. You don't need this plastic slop, sorry, not sorry.
Plus US can make all of these products home anyway, since some of these products do have strategic role within society. No joke, when Biden did his state aid package shit like trash bag manufacturing was covered. So US provided free money to corpo parasites to build or expand factories for this. While I don't support state aid usage, at least this state aid result in more national security and pandemic resilience along with jobs for some peasants in more rural areas.
Toilet paper so I can wipe your mouth.