I have a little storage, not much. I must say I don't like the idea of all this money on a shelf...I have given up thinking I should buye in bulks or many of a sort because low prices...I do not want my money to sleep in cupboards!

It is another way to deal with my money. I do not want to invest in things I do not need at the moment. After many years of dealing with a very small budget and doing wonders with it, I came to that conclusion.

I'm a Survivalist.

That doesn't mean I'm crazy. It means that there are more tornadoes this year than average by triple. It means that there are more food shortages in the world than normal by six times. It means there are already more forest fires and heat waves in the states than normal. It means that foreclosures are the highest they've ever been, unemployment is the highest in three decades, that the gas prices are more than double what they were a year ago, and that the hurricane season is starting and is forecasted to be really bad. The hurricane in Myanmar and the earthquake in China have left millions without homes and food, and have claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Being a survivalist means that you see what's happening and you adjust to it. FEMA used to say that every family should have three days stores of food. Now they've upped that to 6 months, at least - a year would be better. Did you know that yesterday a report was released that the US food stores have been sold to other nations to the point where, all that's left would give each American family a half a loaf of bread... PERIOD? That's not good!

And that's not all. If you're a Bible believing person, you know that things are prophesied to take place in the future, and that Yah doesn't tell us these things so that we can blow them off. It says "he who endures to the end will be blessed". You can't endure to the end without being smart, without preparing for what you know will come.

We have a responsibility to our family, ourselves, our Creator, and our country to NOT be a burden that the taxpayers will have to shoulder. To take care of the land, to not waste, to be resourceful. It's not being chicken-little to set aside for lean times, it's being prudent and smart.

If, indeed, there is coming a time of trouble (whether merely an economic depression or a Great Tribulation), it would be foolish NOT to prepare for it.

Personally, I see Solana's 7-year ENPI as the covenant with many, and that we're already in the Tribulation, which is why we're seeing a global increase in quakes, disease, wars, and financial upheaval (not to mention food shortage), but I know others have their opinions (or lack thereof)... but for me and my house, we are Josephs. Taking stores from the prosperous times to have for the promised lean and troublesome times.

Why do I store some food products basically because my dh is a commercial roofer and we live in Ohio, we get snow it is hard to roof in snow. So for about two to three months in the winter he is unemployed (unemployment payments only go so far, barely paying for our utilities) so I stockpile some food items for winter usage during that time period (if the winter is mild they will work and since he is the only person on the crews that is near the town that is reliable he gets calls to go fix leaks during that time too but that is not always steady income). I tend to stockpile flour, sugar, meat (frozen), toilet paper, dog food, butter (because when our stores have a sale it is a big sale I stock pile enough to get to the next sale), coffee and personal supplies (deodorant, feminine hygiene, etc). We use our tax refund to make up the difference during this time for food, gas, etc. And I try to plan our medical reimbursement for November ans we use that for Christmas presents (we have already spent the money for the drs, scripts, etc already anyway so the reimbursement goes for Christmas stuff) Since we home-educate our children we do not have to get fancy stuff for their lunches just to keep up with the others in school. ;) Dh takes his lunch to work too and we eat leftovers for lunches around here.
My pantry is well stocked and so are my freezers. We have a deep freeze that dh picked up from the road and fixed for us (love having a handy hubby!) Our church recently started doing something close to an angel food ministries type of thing (not through angel food though) and the food is great I ordered the basic box and two other ones and it will fill the freezers again and feed us for a month or so (with stuff we will eat!) I do splurge on organic milk, eggs and some organic veggies but I balance it with my own garden for produce (made alot bigger this year!) and the food connection at our church (their only qualification for the food connection is that you have to be someone who eats food no other qualifications!) As with anything balance is necessary!

I had a very well stocked pantry. It can really come in handy!

In April, my husband lost his job very suddenly and unexpectedly. He was fired after whistleblowing about supervisors using drugs on site. Then, he got a job- several states away. Suddenly we had to move across country with no income! (Thank goodness for that stimulus check).

In all the turmoil, my pantry was my friend. It had an abundance of food (dried beans, several kinds of flours, etc.), and now we HAD to eat it since we were moving! It really helped to cut our grocery bills down, and helped our spirits to still be able to eat things like cake.

We had so much that we ended up giving THREE boxes of food to our church's food pantry when we left town.

Prudence is a virtue, also, and it is prudent to have enough food so your family won't starve if you can't make it to the store one week!

BTW - lentils and rice makes a GREAT shelf stable protein rich substitute for ground beef in almost all recipes (except meatballs)!

http://milehimama.blogspot.com

Pretty much all of our food in Alaska is shipped up here. At the moment, we eat lots of food from the store. There are no local sources for flour, that I know of, or beans. We can salmon every year, and we have a garden, and we buy at the farmers market every week-when they have it. This is the first week we will have greens there, and they will cost 5-8 dollars a bunch. It was 10 dollars for a gallon ziplock of salad mix. I just got an email saying we will have local lettuce for 5 dollars a head. So, it's very hard to be frugal and eat locally. I know Alaska is a different situation than down in the lower 48, though. I'm off track though. Yes, I think it's important to store food, though I am never sure what the appropriate amount is, and what that really looks like. I know we wouldn't starve if we were to have no access to food. We know how to make a pop can and rubbing alcohol stove, we could boil water, and eat rice and whatever we have in the pantry. We have a few cases of canned salmon. It wouldn't be fancy, but we wouldn't starve.

Since we're on the subject, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing how you organize your pantry (with pictures, please)? I am in need of some good guidelines here, as my pantry is a complete mess! Everything is just put where there is room, and then it is hard to find later. I have seen many nicely organized pantries, but no practical how to's.

Thanks!

I grew up in a family that kept an extra pantry down cellar on shelves. We also had a 25 cubic foot chest freezer for good deals, we gardened and home canned. Fast forward and I do the same. I even converted the linen shelf of my first 2 room appartment into a pantry closet. Using cpns and stockpiling when items are on sale saves and does provide a sense of security. Should one of us lose a job, we'd at least eat well-that's $450/month right there,for our family of 6, and this is including cleaning, paper and personal products. I easily have 6 months worth of food on hand.Its an edge against inflation, it reduces required gas trips out to the store. Why pay $1.99/18 oz jar of p butter when it goes on sale at least 2X's /year for 99 cents? Stockpile what you will use until the next sale comes around-record prices paid and the date in a price book and you'll soon see when the sales come around. This affords me greater variety in our meals: if I only have $40/week out of $100 to spend towards meat, I'd hate to spend it on regularly priced meats: 1 9 lb roaster chicken at $1.69/lb ($15.21), 1 lb ground 85% lean beef @ $4.49/lb ($4.49), 1 lb ground turkey @ $3.99/lb ($3.99), one 4 lb bottom round roast @ $3.89 ($15.56)=total of $$39.25! I'd much rather pull the following from my freezer: roaster @ $0.79/lb, ground beef @ $2.19, fround turkey @ $1.49, roast @ $1.79. MY prices are $18 spent on meat! THis allows me to further stock up, and later, to incorporate a more varied diet. I am certain that I will ALWAYS stock up when I hit a deal, it just makes sense. If something is outrageously priced, we use our stockpile, or substitute until it goes down. My kitchen is gutted for a remodel (do it yourself) and I have a "kitchen area" set up in the dinette. I have a shelving unit set up, but am also using a hall linen closet for regular dry goods. Canned and jarred goods are down cellar. With few exceptions, I do not have to grocery shop until at least Sept. Sure, we'll run out of fresh milk, juices, produce, but the berries, and garden is coming along. : )

Yes, I do have extra food. I live in an earthquake prone area with one bridge out. Also, when I find a good price on something I stock up. I do try to keep it in balance though and give away all that seems "too" much extra. I trust in God to fulfill all my needs so I try to walk that middle ground between smart and hoarding. I do remember what my mom said about the middle though. Your likely to be squashed!

My friend Kim always jokes that when the world ends she's coming to my house, because she knows there will be plenty to eat. : )

I'm not a survivalist, just frugal. If I can combine a sale with a coupon and get a good deal, I'll stockpile some extras. No point in paying full price if I don't have to! Once the pantry, freezer, and my extra cubbyholes are overflowing I'll skip the grocery store for a few weeks and put that money into savings instead.

I have price caps on what I'm willing to pay for certain groceries, and stock up when the price drops below that cap. For example, I won't pay more than $1 for a box of cereal, and after this week's CVS sale I added 13 boxes to the pantry. That will last us until the next good sale.

I discovered years ago that without good organization I don't know what I have on hand, and waste money buying what we already have. Creative use of storage space helps.

-Laundry room cabinets store extra cleaning supplies, cereal, coffee and soft drinks.

-Bathroom has plenty of storage for towels, so the hall linen closet holds toiletries and feminine hygiene products, sorted into open boxes by type.

-Under the double sink in the master bathroom holds toilet paper, paper towels, and ziploc bags.

I've begun storing food within the last 6 months or so. It's the smart thing to do. With a hubby and two children to feed, I want to know I have enough food to sustain us should there be any food shortages, natural disasters (we live in an area with hurricanes) etc. Being prepared is a GOOD thing. I grew up poor, so I like a bargain. Whenever there are good sales, I will stock up on things we eat (soups, mac n cheese, water, cereal, you name it). I have a big pantry, tons of cabinets and also have begun adding to the shelving I have in my laundry area. We have about 12 gallons of bottled water on hand (American Red Cross suggests storing 1 gallon per person per day). I keep a gallon of bleach beside it as well (read how to clean the water should it become necessary with a TBS of bleach).

Sometimes the hubby will joke with me, but in reality he knows it is smart to be prepared. We have an extra fridge and freezer in the basement and plan to get a generator (in case we were to lose power, we could still run the heat and those with the generator). This past winter out in the western part of our state they had really bad ice storms. People lost power for weeks (burst pipes in their homes, had to live out of hotels etc because they were not prepared). Not to mention the prices of generators sky rocketed out there (and they sold out quickly too). I wouldn't want to be put in that situation and so I store!