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REPLY TO THREAD
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Fresh thoughts on keeping a fully stocked pantry of food and supplies: Emergency Preparedness and ready for good times too
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Original Message
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I have been thinking about all the aspects of keeping extra food, water, and supplies in the house since I started stockpiling on a small scale late last year.
It has already served me well to have extra on hand because I have had a drop in income, and another drop coming up shortly. I have flexibility with my cash that I didn't have before, because I have some basics on hand and don't have to run out to the store and spend money because I am out of something essential.
So, one first benefit to keeping extra food and supplies on hand is that it is like having money in the bank. For instance, if you found a really good deal on clothes that you need, or if something broke and you needed to replace it, or if you wanted to take some days off and lose income, you wouldn't automatically run into a grocery crunch, you could live off your stores for a week with no problem and feel free to spend the money where it is needed most, or feel free to take time off without compromising your budget too much.
Another thing about storing food for an emergency, is that it seems sensible to store foods that don't need a lot of cooking, at least for the first, beginner's round of basic food storage, trying to get a few weeks of normal nonperishable food supplies together. The emergency could well be a power outage, and cause problems with normal cooking. So if you think you might need alternative cooking fuel, you might only want things you can eat cold if you have to, or that just need heating up , or just a short cooking time, like oatmeal or pasta.
The neat thing about the kind of foods that don't need a lot of cooking, is that they are great for camping and picnics! So, by having a lot of things around like olives, pickled beets, pickled vegetables, instant oat meal, instant mashed potatoes, artichoke hearts, rice, pasta, canned vegetables, boullion, granola bars, protien bars, powdered milk, cereal, etc, you are not only prepared for an emergency, you are
also prepared for unexpected guests, spontaneous picnic lunches, hikes, camping trips, and bag lunches.
There is more than one way to think about emergency survival rations. I know a lot of people just want to get started with the idea, and regular grocery items are a good place to begin.
I think if something really went wrong, I would be glad I had a lot of rice and beans and pasta, but I would regret it if I didn't also have fun foods to eat along with those things, and plenty of condiments to liven things up.
When I first started to buy extra food, I was keeping it in boxes in the closet. When my income dropped, I rearranged my cupboards and put it in the kitchen with everything else. I am rotating stock and have kept buying things when they are on sale. I think you can save money this way, taking advantage of sales and buying more than you normally would at one time, even if it means only buying two instead of one.
It is getting to be less of an "emergency preparedness" thing for me, and more a way to manage money and give myself flexibility. I am also able to have more choices for what to eat on a daily basis, instead of being limited to what I bought that week.
Okay this is long enough. Have also been putting money into vitamins and supplements, and personal care products.
Would love to hear other's opinions and experiences. I realize there are tiers of involvement with this, a lot of us are not prepared to get a whole six months or a year's worth of food all at once, and have to work into this gradually and at a level we are comfortable with. Also, it isn't very realistic to get large quantities of foods you aren't familiar with and don't normally eat, or things that will make a depressing situation even more depressing. Mmmm spam and baked beans. I don't think so.
I had an inventory of what I had on hand, I might type that out later if people seem interested. Right now I'm sorry this got so long! Thanks for reading this far if you did!
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