I'm a believer in food storage. I have both the basics on hand (i.e. wheat, oil, salt, dry milk, beans, rice etc) as well as convenience foods (canned veggies & fruit, canned beans, chili, soups, canned meats and lots more). I have enough for 5 adults (and dogs) to last 2 years. Or had, I've been using my storage since February '07 to live on. I also store non-food items like TP, soaps, personal hygiene items, water, juices, sugars, pastas etc. The idea is to be prepared for whatever might cause one not to be able to go the grocery store. It makes me feel safe and has been a life saver during this time of no money.
Basically I follow the LDS plan for storage. I'm on a food-saver group list and one for general prepping. Initially all I stored was food and then from information I learned from the lists I branched out to the non-food items and water (how did I not think of water?!) The Mormons have it already thought out as to what one needs as basics and even how much generally. I started from their plans and then customized it to fit my needs. I've spent a lot of time and money on my storage and usually I add to it every month. Now I'm not able to add to it and it's driving me nuts. Now is the time many stores have their fall case lot sales. I was invited to go with a Mormon to their church cannery, something I've wanted to do forever, and I can't go. The price of wheat is skyrocketing. Actually the price of everything is skyrocketing. I read recently that within 5 years it is expected that food will increase by 50%. Now is the time to stock up. And I can't.
Everyone should have, at a minimum, some basic food and water storage for each person to last a month. The Red Cross even suggests this. Water is 1 gal per person a day. It's bulky and a pain to store. I keep drinking water plus washing water. It would be a huge same to pour a gallon of drinking water into the toilet for flushing or to use to wash dirty hands. Better dirty than thirsty. I wash used milk containers and fill with water for washing/flushing. Plastic soda bottles are better but I rarely drink soda. There's storage room under beds, behind bathroom doors, on the floors in closets - all kinds of places. One of my friends had no storage of any kind and her comment is "I don't have room." I'd find some. Another friend now has some storage, how much I don't know but started storing when I pointed out the empty room under beds. Winter storms with snow, floods or high winds, illness, job loss, a truck strike - whatever, a person will have food and water in the house. Ever see the pictures on the news with all the people lined up for grocery stores with empty shelves before a hurricane hits? With food and water storage you won't be one of them.
It's easy to get started with food storage. Keep a record of what your family typically eats in a month. When you go for groceries and you buy a can of tuna, buy two cans of tuna. If you normally would buy 2 cans of veggies, buy 4. It adds up pretty quickly. A big problem is that too many people eat out frequently or live out of boxes. Boxed pasta mixes are quick and easy (and tasty) but they don't store very well. Storing pasta and making your own sauce is better and I'm working on that myself. Learning to cook from scratch is really the way to go. I'm working myself on this and I'm finding it's not as time intensive and I'd thought. The internet is a wonderful source for recipes. I'm still struggling on bread making. I have wheat berries (whole wheat) and a grain grinder. I grind my own whole wheat flour which is SO much better for a body. My whole wheat bread has been dry, crumbly or a brick most of the time though. I need more practice. At least my goats eat the mistakes so there is no waste.
Frozen items are great and I keep stuff in the freezer too, but no electricity could cause one to lose a lot. Storms tend to cause power outages and sometimes those outages can last weeks. but I love frozen veggies much more than canned and there's allot of tasty things one can store in the freezer. Most of my storage is kept in food grade 5-gal plastic buckets with lids. These can be purchased but I've been able to get all of mine for free from bakeries. Food storage should be kept at low temperatures (the garage usually won't work) and in the dark for best quality. Rotate your storage so you are using the oldest first. And, above all else, do what the LDS say: "Store what you eat, eat what you store."
Food storage is a wonderful first step. Get your storage for at least a month, 3 months or more but don't forget the other things. I stock a lot of soap for washing bodies, hair, and dishes. I have toothbrushes, toothpaste, lotions, deodorant, first aid stuff, TP - everything that we use in our daily lives I try to have some in the storage. It does take up room and I've been lucky to have a place for it all. Once the house sells and I move it's going to be a problem. Moving it is going to be a pain! My husband built study shelves in the closet in one bedroom. Be creative. I've read that some people will take a bucket or two and cover them with a pretty cloth for a corner table.
You'll even save money in the long run. Yes, you are buying more now but at X price. By the time you eat it prices could be XX so you're eating at the X price. Oh, if money isn't a problem and you really want to get started on food storage there are places you can go and order from. They sell in boxes, bags, and buckets in small or large quantities. Things you can't find anywhere else often. Dried cheese, butter powder, cheese powder, sour cream powder, and so many more. Books on how to use them. Check out the internet. My favorite place is Walton Foods http://www.waltonfeed.com/. I think they have good prices but shipping is painful. Another place is Emergency Essentials. Their shipping is cheap but prices are higher. http://beprepared.com/Default.asp? These are just two and there are many out there. The Blue Chip Group http://www.bluechipgroup.net/ I've ordered several times from Waltons and EE. Find a place more in your area so shipping is not as much. Some people live close enough where they can pick up their items.
But, please, start putting some food and water away now. I don't think you'll regret it.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Light bulbs
I called this blog 'Changing the light bulbs' because I'm trying to make changes in my life. Each change is a lightbulb. Changing regular lightbulbs to CFs makes a more efficient running household. Hopefully I'll slowly change my personal lightbulbs to CF types and make my own life run a little more efficiently.
I'm continually surprised at how much I can cut money and still live. I am very saddened by this too as I'm managing to pay bills on X when we used to have XXX. Where did all that extra money go? Some went into my 401K, which I've just had to cancel. Some went monthly to my IRA and I paid extra each month on the mortgage. I saved each month for Christmas and I sent money each month to my brother, the missionary, in Peru. The 2 little dogs were groomed each month. All of these things have been stopped for now. Still, there was a lot of money going out that should/could have been going into savings.
There has been no offers on the house yet and not even any lookers in the last 2 weeks. I did check into refinancing and have decided to wait. It would cost around $5500 to refinance and it would be wasted if the house should sell. I've decided to keep the house for sale during the winter after all. A couple of co-workers helped change my mind as they both purchased their houses during winter. Can't hurt. I've starting bringing stuff back from the storage place, a few boxes each day. My plan is to have it empty by the end of the month and that will save me $100 each month. That and canceling my 401K will pay the bills for now. Not a dime extra though.
I'm hoping that as I watch my budget during these very lean times that I will learn something. Savings first. It needs to be treated like a bill. Good advice but I've never taken it. I think I will this time though. Stopping the 401K really hurt. I'm getting closer to retirement age every day. Cutting out lunches, snacks, teas, and casual buying was extremely difficult at first. I managed to hang on to $12, which was all I had, for over 2 weeks until my payday. I was very pleased with myself. I can do this. I want to do this for other reasons as well.
I believe that we rich First World countries need to cut back, to reuse, recycle, renew. Cutting back on my usage of gas, water, electricity, garbage, and other purchases is something I have been working on. There is a group called Riot for Austerity (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/90PercentReduction/) on the internet that I subscribe to. Their challenge is to cut by 90% our own individual usage. Wow, 90%. I'm not even close. Tracking things I found that I was already very close on the garbage, waaay off on the gasoline usage (I have a long commute), and not too far off on the electricity. The plan allows for natural gas usage but my area is all electric so while my electricity figures are higher than some I have 0 for natural gas. I figure it balances out a bit. If my husband didn't sit at home and watch TV all day the figures might be a bit lower. Most of the house lights have already been changed to CFs. We heat during winter with wood as much as possible (we have an efficient woodstove and we like it) and pretty mild summers. We haven't used AC but once this summer. My husband turned it on and I turned it off as soon as I returned home from work. At this time I cannot change jobs but I'm working to consolidate car trips and eliminate unneeded trips to save gas. Cutting out casual shopping has made a big difference in car trips. No fun trips to the mall saves money and gas.
Eating locally is another change I'm working on. It's hard because until recently I ate pretty much out of boxes and cans. I went to buy some more of the fish I like so well and found it came from Honduras! Ack. I bought local trout instead. There is a small farm that sells off the farm not too far from me. I've already purchased blueberries and raspberries from them. Potatoes should be available in a month or so and I'll want them too. Onions, garlic, salad stuff. When I bought such things last week I went to the grocery store because I forgot about the farm. The farm costs more but is fresher and definitely local. I did manage to buy spinach from the general area at the store though. It wasn't a part of the spinach recall, thank heavens.
I want to learn to cook more from scratch. Eat less meat. Eat more veggies. I'm not very fond of all the good veggies, unfortunately. I'm doing pretty well on less meat though. I took a pack of 2 pork chops from the freezer and instead of eating them as 2 meals I made a delicious stew. It'll take me several meals to eat up the stew. I cooked some lentils that were tasty and will fix them again. I need to experiment on cooking to find out more things I like. I used to cook for the husband and now I'm cooking for me. It's a big difference. More lightbulbs.
I'm continually surprised at how much I can cut money and still live. I am very saddened by this too as I'm managing to pay bills on X when we used to have XXX. Where did all that extra money go? Some went into my 401K, which I've just had to cancel. Some went monthly to my IRA and I paid extra each month on the mortgage. I saved each month for Christmas and I sent money each month to my brother, the missionary, in Peru. The 2 little dogs were groomed each month. All of these things have been stopped for now. Still, there was a lot of money going out that should/could have been going into savings.
There has been no offers on the house yet and not even any lookers in the last 2 weeks. I did check into refinancing and have decided to wait. It would cost around $5500 to refinance and it would be wasted if the house should sell. I've decided to keep the house for sale during the winter after all. A couple of co-workers helped change my mind as they both purchased their houses during winter. Can't hurt. I've starting bringing stuff back from the storage place, a few boxes each day. My plan is to have it empty by the end of the month and that will save me $100 each month. That and canceling my 401K will pay the bills for now. Not a dime extra though.
I'm hoping that as I watch my budget during these very lean times that I will learn something. Savings first. It needs to be treated like a bill. Good advice but I've never taken it. I think I will this time though. Stopping the 401K really hurt. I'm getting closer to retirement age every day. Cutting out lunches, snacks, teas, and casual buying was extremely difficult at first. I managed to hang on to $12, which was all I had, for over 2 weeks until my payday. I was very pleased with myself. I can do this. I want to do this for other reasons as well.
I believe that we rich First World countries need to cut back, to reuse, recycle, renew. Cutting back on my usage of gas, water, electricity, garbage, and other purchases is something I have been working on. There is a group called Riot for Austerity (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/90PercentReduction/) on the internet that I subscribe to. Their challenge is to cut by 90% our own individual usage. Wow, 90%. I'm not even close. Tracking things I found that I was already very close on the garbage, waaay off on the gasoline usage (I have a long commute), and not too far off on the electricity. The plan allows for natural gas usage but my area is all electric so while my electricity figures are higher than some I have 0 for natural gas. I figure it balances out a bit. If my husband didn't sit at home and watch TV all day the figures might be a bit lower. Most of the house lights have already been changed to CFs. We heat during winter with wood as much as possible (we have an efficient woodstove and we like it) and pretty mild summers. We haven't used AC but once this summer. My husband turned it on and I turned it off as soon as I returned home from work. At this time I cannot change jobs but I'm working to consolidate car trips and eliminate unneeded trips to save gas. Cutting out casual shopping has made a big difference in car trips. No fun trips to the mall saves money and gas.
Eating locally is another change I'm working on. It's hard because until recently I ate pretty much out of boxes and cans. I went to buy some more of the fish I like so well and found it came from Honduras! Ack. I bought local trout instead. There is a small farm that sells off the farm not too far from me. I've already purchased blueberries and raspberries from them. Potatoes should be available in a month or so and I'll want them too. Onions, garlic, salad stuff. When I bought such things last week I went to the grocery store because I forgot about the farm. The farm costs more but is fresher and definitely local. I did manage to buy spinach from the general area at the store though. It wasn't a part of the spinach recall, thank heavens.
I want to learn to cook more from scratch. Eat less meat. Eat more veggies. I'm not very fond of all the good veggies, unfortunately. I'm doing pretty well on less meat though. I took a pack of 2 pork chops from the freezer and instead of eating them as 2 meals I made a delicious stew. It'll take me several meals to eat up the stew. I cooked some lentils that were tasty and will fix them again. I need to experiment on cooking to find out more things I like. I used to cook for the husband and now I'm cooking for me. It's a big difference. More lightbulbs.
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