Scary Some Stores Limiting Amount of Rice and Flour People Buy

I read the Sam's Club news this morning in our local paper. Walmart isn't limiting it, though.

Apparently Glenn Beck was talking about it on his show. My husband came home and told me to buy extra flour. Of course I rolled my eyes at him. Like I haven't know about this for months. I refuse to hoard and make the problem worse.

I heard about this too. Really, the only reason they even need to make this rule is to -stop- people from hoarding. I only ever buy what I need at the time. Maybe I could save more money if I bought a bunch but I really don't see the point. It takes me at least a month to go through one bag of either.

Last night on our local news, they had a report on this. They had a guy with the commodities market and he said that stocks are going sky high, because of what they are afraid MIGHT happen.

I think what people don't understand is that the more you buy something, the higher the price is going to go because they know they can get it because the demand for it is high. A simple case of supply and demand.

The consumer regulates the demand for a product, and the supplier knows this. So makes you wonder if the supplier is leaking out the product is going to be in shortage, to drive up the cost of the item.

I am calling Sam's to complain. They are creating hysteria. There is not a shortage in this country. They had it on the news last night. Yes prices are hihg and they may go even higher but that is no reason to hoard.

There really is no rice shortage. Sam's club and Costco are limiting SELECT kinds of rice, not long grain rice, but speciality brands.

One of the reasons for this is that resturants are contiuning customers who need the product, so in a way they are guarenteeing them their SELECT types of rice, while average joes do not buy rice as consistantly as well, a resturant.

I heard the same thing on the news. And the limit they said on the news was FOUR 20 pounds bags at a time! I think that would feed my family for a lifetime!

Don't blame Sam's. They aren't creating the problem. Blame the media. That is where the hysteria is coming from.

My local grocery store last week had a shelf full of rice. Yesterday they were down to just a few bags and the price had nearly doubled. (I looked just for fun, not b/c I was in need of it.)

Something else to keep in mind. Prices are set partly on supply and demand, and right now the demand is high (thanks in part to the media blasting that rice is in short supply), but what happens in a few months when everyone has all the rice they need or it becomes so high in price that no one is buying it? The warehouses will be bulging and the price will come down in order to move the product.

And as for the statements by Glenn Beck to buy now, it was not said to cause a stampede at the stores. Beck is telling people to buy extra now while the prices are lower than what they will be as the months go on. Gas prices are going to continue to go up and so are food prices. By buying extra now, you are saving yourself money down the road when those prices go up. And this isn't a new statement by him. People who follow him know he has been saying this for months.

Right now a 5 lb bag of plain label flour goes for $1.54 at my local store. (this was yesterday) Three weeks ago when I bought it, I payed $1.27. When I bought it, I didn't buy just one bag, instead I took a quick count of how often I purchase flour for a year and also took into consideration the holiday baking I do, which may or may not be alot depending on who you are. At any rate, I wound up purchasing about 50 lbs of flour. That is enough to get me through the next year. I filled my flour canister and placed the rest in my freezer.

I don't call what I did hoarding. I call it being smart and frugal.

I fully agree with this. There is not shortage that we need to be fearful of. The media has blown this way out of proportion. It is sad that they need to sensationalize things in order to get high ratings.