I am not waiting on the world to end or anything…

However, I have been feeling a little Notorious B.I.G circa 1997, as the possibility of another lockdown and possible curfews are publicly discussed by my city’s mayor.

In adopting and promoting my BreeziDeezi outlook and life approach, I have chosen to PLAN, not PANIC.

I am not waiting on the world to end or anything, but you should do this too:

• Budget separately for lockdown essentials. What items do you use often and would miss in the event of not being able to get to a grocery store for a week or longer? Everyone panics over buying tissue, but come on ... You can find tissue on Amazon or get creative with the napkins from takeout. For me, banana peppers are a lockdown essential. I love making salads and sometimes I eat banana peppers to curve oncoming panic attacks (spicy foods trick my brain to focus on that vs. anxiety). I love banana peppers. I need banana peppers !!!

• Once you have a lockdown essential budget and list, buy these same items every week. Every week? YES. In the event that stores become overcrowded again, understocked, or limits are placed on quantity, adopting this habit will ensure you have more than enough of the things that your household prefers. Does your daughter love Apple Juice? Buy it weekly, even if you already have some at home. Price-gouging was nearly criminal at the onset of COVID, would you rather pay $6 later or $2 now?

• Choose your store, carefully! Prices over brands, savings over convenience in my world… So, I can walk to the Krogers downstairs for convenience, with $40 every Thursday and use it towards my lockdown essentials. I have a Kroger card, but even with that, a $40 budget would probably only cover the items I buy weekly for my salads. Instead, I choose to drive 2.2 miles to the Aldi in another neighborhood every week for my lockdown essentials. With a budget as small as $40, I bought 3 cases of SPRING water, 10 cans of my favorite soup, 5 cans of baked beans, 2 large containers of spring mix for salad, tissue, garbage bags, seasonings, fruits and more. Aldi is so affordable because the store does not host popular brands and offers imitations that taste the same but cost less. I go to Kroger when I am cooking and realized, I forgot something. I go to Aldi, to stock up and save money.

I am not waiting on the world to end or anything… But you should do this too.