As mentioned in our earlier 101 news post on the coronavirus outbreak, as of the day this article was written, there were already 54,905 confirmed cases across the United States. That article also mentioned a very useful community-built tool: US and Canada Coronavirus Tracker: Real-Time Updates (supports both Chinese and English) — from 1Point3Acres. I highly recommend checking it for real-time updates on the outbreak in the US.
Here I want to share what I bought during the pandemic, grouped into 4 major categories: food, hygiene (and basic home medical) supplies, fitness equipment, safety supplies, and where I bought them.
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Food
What I Recommend
Staples: rice, dried noodles, instant noodles, oatmeal
Water: large jugs of water or a case of bottled water from Costco (if you do not drink boiled water), or just get an electric kettle
Vegetables: frozen vegetables and fruit, longer-lasting vegetables such as potatoes and carrots, plus a small amount of fresh vegetables
Meat: frozen meat; I recommend Costco’s large meat packs—one pack really lasts a long time
Canned foods, salt, oil, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, flour, starch, cornstarch, etc. (stock up based on your own cooking needs)
Snacks: buy whatever you like, and buy extra! Stocking up is never a bad idea! You can snack while watching TV shows at home later.
Where to Buy
- I bought rice, seasonings, large water jugs, and fresh vegetables from the supermarket before the outbreak got serious, and basically filled up my trunk.
- I could not find dried noodles at the supermarket at the time. Since meat and vegetables are consumables and I did not want to keep going to the store afterward, I used Instacart instead. If you do not have an account, remember to use our or a friend’s refer link when signing up for $10 off your first order. I had someone shop at the supermarket for me and deliver everything to my door. For safety, when the delivery person arrived, I called and asked them to leave everything at the door. Then I put on disposable gloves, brought the groceries inside, sprayed them with alcohol spray, and let them sit for 20-30 minutes before opening them.
- Instacart: Use a Refer link to sign up!Get $10 off your first order! Or use our code directly: ZSHEN17F159
- Of course, you can also try Amazon Fresh. If you are a Prime member, delivery is also free. You can also follow Amazon’s Recent Promotions Roundup (great for stocking up).
- I previously bought my kettle on Amazon. A basic Electric Hot Water Kettle is good enough.
- If you want to buy in bulk, you can shop on the Costco website. Orders over $75 ship free; if your order is under $75, there is a $3 shipping fee. But if you need fresh items delivered right away, you will still need Instacart to handle the delivery.
- For snacks, I usually shop at Yamibuy. Yamibuy: sign-up link. Use our refer link to register as a Yamibuy member and get 500 points ($5) right away.
Takeout
If you do not want to cook, you can also order takeout. During the pandemic, many food delivery apps launched promotions or support programs for local restaurants.
- For a roundup of delivery deals, see: Dining App Promotions Roundup
- When ordering takeout, I recommend asking the driver to leave the food at your door, washing your hands carefully before and after picking it up, and reheating the food in the microwave before eating.
Grubhub/Seamless
We have opened up refer links for the Grubhub/Seamless food delivery app, a great companion to AMEX Gold. If you need one, you can leave your invite link in the original post comments:
DoorDash
DoorDash has recently added many local restaurants to DashPass free-delivery service. See:
Uber Eats
Uber Eats usually has the most codes, but they are limited in quantity. We will try to post them on 101 Express as soon as possible. In addition, Drop recently has 5% back on Uber Eats. See:
- Uber Eats | Drop currently offers 40 points/$ (through 04/07) [now 50 points/$]
- Drop | Recent refer bonus increased to $10 for both sides
Hygiene (and Basic Home Medical) Supplies
What I Recommend
Paper products: toilet paper (if stores in your area are sold out, you can buy baby wipes instead), paper towels
Bags and wraps: food storage bags/plastic wrap, trash bags, aluminum foil
Personal care: laundry detergent, dryer sheets, toothbrushes (if you use an electric toothbrush, stock up on replacement heads), toothpaste
Skincare: hydrating serums, moisturizers, sheet masks, and other skincare products
For women: pads and other feminine products
If you live with your partner, remember to stock up on condoms too. During a special time like this, the cost of having to go to the hospital for an unplanned pregnancy would be too high...
Disinfection: alcohol / alcohol spray (if you do not have alcohol spray, you can buy a small perfume bottle, empty and wash it, then fill it with alcohol to make a small spray bottle), hand soap
Essentials for going out: medical masks (N95 if you can find them), medical gloves, goggles
Common medicines: cold medicine, gastrointestinal medicine, allergy medicine, Band-Aids
Where to Buy
- I normally keep two large packs of toilet paper, paper towels, and trash bags at home already, so this part of the pandemic did not affect me much.
- If you did not get a chance to buy toilet paper before the outbreak, you can try the following websites. Sometimes they still come back in stock:
- walmart.com When I was writing this post, both delivery and pickup were still available
- Target.com When I was writing this post, it showed “Due to high demand, item may be unavailable or delayed on select items”
- homedepot When I was writing this post, it showed “Delivery unavailable,” and my nearby store also showed “Out of stock at your store”
- Staples When I was writing this post, it showed “Out of stock”
- Walgreens was showing “Out of stock online” when I was writing this article.
- CVS was mostly showing “only in stores” when I was writing this article, though two toilet paper listings were available for delivery.
- Of course, if you’re willing to go out instead, stores usually restock right when the supermarket opens in the morning, and that’s when toilet paper is most likely to be available. That said, I recently saw people urging others to keep in mind that many older Americans, especially seniors living alone in small rural towns, tend to shop early in the morning and often do not shop online. So if you have the option, I’d still recommend ordering online and leaving in-store inventory for those seniors.
- I bought items like aluminum foil and plastic wrap from BOXED, but because order volume has gotten too high, everyone has basically overwhelmed BOXED. It is no longer accepting Online orders: “Due to unprecedented demand and product shortages, we are unable to accept orders at this time.” 23333
- BOXED is actually pretty convenient for everyday use, and its selection is quite comprehensive. You can find its introductory article here if you want to learn more.
- For skincare products, feminine products, and intimate products for couples, I’d suggest stocking up on about 2 months’ worth. Condoms in particular are especially important right now, because during a period like this, the cost of going to the hospital because of an unexpected pregnancy would be very high. Based on China’s experience fighting the pandemic, when both partners are stuck at home, intimacy can be one of the few ways to relieve anxiety. If you are not planning to have children, make sure you take protection seriously.
- I bought rubbing alcohol, hand soap, and masks at local supermarkets before the pandemic escalated.
- If you can’t find alcohol-based hand sanitizer anymore, regular hand soap works too. Every time I go to the supermarket now, it is still in stock.
- As for masks, it feels like there are basically two options now:
- Have them shipped from China. If it’s not a large quantity, use DHL. Based on a friend’s DP, it can arrive in as little as 3 days, and shipping costs around 400 RMB.
- AliExpress: there are plenty of masks available there, and if you sign up using my refer link, you can also get a $24 coupon! The prices are very reasonable too.
- For protective goggles, just search Amazon for goggles. There is plenty of inventory.
Fitness Equipment
During the pandemic, almost all gyms were closed. If you don’t feel comfortable going outside, then work out at home instead.
Personally, I bought a yoga mat, and Amazon has plenty in stock.
I also recently bought a Nintendo Switch. Games like Just Dance and Fitness Boxing are great for exercise. If you live with your partner, multiplayer games like Overcooked 2 are also fun to play together. During the pandemic, they can even help strengthen your relationship, as long as you don’t end up arguing. hhh
And of course, if you can get your hands on Ring Fit Adventure, that would be the most dedicated fitness option—but it’s basically sold out everywhere right now.
Safety Supplies
During the pandemic, if you are legally able to buy a gun and have firearms training, then keeping one at home may give you extra peace of mind. But if you have never handled a gun before, I would still recommend waiting until after the pandemic is over, taking a training course first, and then buying one later. Also, as international students, we probably would not be able to buy guns in the U.S. anyway. So aside from firearms, what other necessary safety measures can you prepare at home?
First, try to stay home as much as possible. Second, it is best to have a home security monitoring system. Third, your home should ideally have an emergency exit route so you do not get trapped. If you truly cannot get away, show your weapon first and try to scare the other person off. If the other person is determined to rob you and you really cannot escape, then you need to act decisively when they are not expecting it and use your weapon to subdue them, ideally ending the confrontation in one move. If the situation is truly dire and you are cornered with nowhere to go, then do your best to keep cover behind your back and fight with whatever weapon you have. If the other person has a gun, make sure it is not pointed at you.
Here are some “weapons” that I think are worth keeping at home:
- Security cameras ( purchase link ). Highly recommended. Install them in visible locations, facing outside the house or in the living room, so you can get a sense of what is happening and how many people are involved. They can also deter intruders.
- ADT security system（purchase link）. Highly recommended. Install it in a visible spot. I have heard from friends that this system’s alarm is extremely loud, and some versions can even contact the police for you, which makes it a very strong deterrent. Plus, whether you are away from home or fast asleep, it can stand guard for you 7/24!
- Pepper Spray （purchase link）. Highly recommended. It is non-lethal, does not require especially precise aim, and even a small amount can be very effective.
- A baseball bat or shovel（purchase link）. Recommended. Amazon has them. I bought this one. If you truly cannot escape, a bat or shovel of this length can be very helpful in close combat.
- Get a large dog. Recommended. If your situation allows for it—especially if you have a yard—you can consider getting a large breed dog. Many criminals would probably be scared off when they see one.
I hope everyone keeps these suggestions in mind, but never has to use them!
Saving Money When Shopping Online
Cash Back Portals
If you’ve made it this far, you’ve probably noticed that most of the options above involve online shopping. That makes using cash back websites especially important. You can compare the following portals and decide for yourself which one is the most reliable.
Comparison and Reviews of U.S. Cashback Sites
| Cashback Site | Sign-Up Bonus | Quick Take |
|---|---|---|
| Rakuten | $20-$40 sign-up bonus | Great customer service, reliable tracking, and in-store cashback; payouts take longer |
| Rebatesme | $20-$40 sign-up bonus | Chinese interface available, many payout options, and high cashback rates on beauty purchases |
| Topcashback | Up to $20 bonus | Fast tracking, quick payouts, highest-rate guarantee, and frequent promotions; customer service is average |
| ShopBack | $20 sign-up bonus | Offers cashback at Amazon, easy browser extension cashback, and very high rates at some merchants |
| GoCashBack | $5 sign-up bonus | Chinese interface available, gift card payout option, and exclusive discounts |
| Extrabux | $20 sign-up bonus | Chinese interface available, WeChat withdrawal option, and students get a VIP card |
| Mr. Rebates | $5 sign-up bonus | Accurate tracking and good customer service |
| SimplyBestCoupons | $5 sign-up bonus | Good for niche stores and has strong promo codes |
| Befrugal | $10-$20 sign-up bonus | Good customer service and fast payouts |
Credit Cards
If you have any of the credit cards below, don’t forget to use them for online shopping.
Summary
I hope this article gives you some ideas for stocking up during the pandemic. I also hope the pandemic ends soon and that peace returns to the world.
“When all disasters have passed, may the land remain unharmed and may everyone be safe.”