A question about stockpiling

[many houseapes]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this,but......I am interested in stockpiling a year's worth of food & toiletries,etc for my family. Does anyone here have a year's stockpile set aside? How long did it take you to achieve your goal and what is the most inexpensive way to go about doing this? I already have about 3 month's worth of items & wish to expand. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[Its_Donna]

Here is a great site that someone shared here at FV - I have enjoyed reading the topics :

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And there is a thread about stockpiling - Stockpiling; Everything You Need to Know:

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[Luv2BeFrugal]

Great stockpiling link, Donna! Thanks!

We've got about 4-6 months of pantry type food items built up...and about a years worth of beans, rice, grain (flour)...

[Brat]

When my kids was all at home we signed up with a company that brought all our grocerys to the door in a semi once a year...we Had 2 freezers, and a lot of storage space...put paper goods on skids in the shop. canned good was stacked all together so I could tell what was what...We had own milk from a friend. Potatoes was in a freezer below the ground to that they didn't freeze.made most of my own bread. It seemed like a lot at the time but when you took the amount that I would have to spend at the store each week or so and the trip to town because we lived out in the country..it was a really great saveing...

[dcompton]

I would like to stockpile more but just don't have the room. Yes, I know. Be creative. But even creativity has its limits in a small apartment. Paper goods expecially take up too much room to collect much -- though I do have plenty of TP!

Those of you with the space to do this are fortunate. It's a smart thing to do.

[sdrjeolsen]

For my stockpile, I try to cherry-pick the loss leaders/clearance items and stock up that way. I don't have a year's supply, but probably 4-6 months worth. For example at target tonight, Oscar Mayer Hotdogs are on sale for 1.14 and they have 1.00 off any OM product, so they cost me 14 cents. I bought a bunch and am probably going back tomorrow to buy more. Motts 100% Grape/apple juice 64 oz, clearanced for 1.32, 1.00 off any motts target coupon made it 32 cents. I just stock up when ever I run accross a good deal, and that is what we eat. My pantry is 6'x9' and it is pretty full. It took me several months to build up the initial supply. I am able to feed 5 people for under 200.00 pretty much every month this way.

[Odilia]

We keep a 1-2 year supply of most food, H&B, and cleaning/household products.

Except for a short period when I moved after college, I've always kept a pantry with enough food for 1-3 months. After an incident when our first baby was 6 mos. old and Hubby was out-of-state for business, I started to become more prepared in all areas. My first goal in regards to food storage was to have 3 months of foods that we would eat and enjoy and that didn't require refrigeration. I rely on the freezer a LOT (and still do), so it was a challenge creating a menu of meals using only shelf-stable meals. I also went through my pantry and got it really organized and started dating foods and learned to rotate foods so it gets used in a timely manner.

I shopped at the grocery store and built up our food storage at the best sale prices. I got ahold of 5 gallon food grade plastic buckets to hold flour, rice, sugar, powdered milk, oatmeal, and pasta. I got a couple 2 gallon plastic buckets from Dairy Queen and used those for cornmeal, popcorn, and brown sugar. We had this area in our kitchen that was sort of like a breakfast bar, and the buckets fit in that area, and the kitchen stools still worked there. I had the typical kitchen pantry -- a tall cupboard with deep shelves; and I put up a 4-shelf unit in the basement for canned goods.

Within 2 months of shopping sales, I'd built almost 6 months worth of food storage, and my grocery bill was dropping because I was eating foods from storage in between sales and building the storage back up with great sale-priced items. I still used the freezer a lot, but I always had shelf-stable meal ingredients to turn to, as well.

I continued building our food storage at the grocer's and also learned to can foods. I was terrified when I first used the pressure canner! (The first thing I canned was chicken broth -- I figured if I blew it all up, I wouldn't be out too much...LOL!) Once I could can meats and veggies, my food storage took a big leap forward. We've never been crazy about store-bought canned soups, but we love homemade. Being able to add home-made soup and meat to food storage was great!! I added more shelves to the basement.

By the time our oldest turned 5, we had a workable 1 year food storage program that was constantly being rotated into our menu, and I was spending under $200/month for food, H&B, cleaning supplies, paper products, etc.

This is when we moved from Omaha to our homestead out in the "boonies." We don't have easy access to big grocery chains and amazing sale prices. I've had to learn new ways of stocking our food storage that include growing/raising/preserving our own food, buying directly from farmers, and buying in bulk through food co-ops and distributors. I can get into all that if it's something that interests you.

In 2006, I raised our monthly budget from $200/month to $250/month, and that's where we still are. We're a family of seven (but the baby is 7mos and just starting to eat table food).

Food storage and preparedness are things that I'm pretty passionate about. Our preps have helped us keep our spending down and have been invaluable in times of trouble. For example, we went almost 2 weeks without power this winter when Nebraska was hit by a horrible ice storm. Our baby was just a few weeks old. It could have been really miserable, but we weathered that storm just fine, and our kids thought it was a great adventure!

[Odilia]

I just wanted to clarify something in my post. It sounds like it took us 4 years to get up to a year of food storage. (It actually took something like 6-8 months to get a year's worth of shelf-stable food on hand.)

What I was trying to say is that by the time our oldest was 5, we'd been living quite awhile with a food storage program that was comfortable and workable for us. Then, we moved and had to rework how we did things since we moved away from the chain stores with their good sales and big inventories. (The store in our nearest town would easily fit -- in it's entirety -- within the dairy section of most chain stores!)

[Libby]

Odilia - Im impressed! Great work! But a pressure canner? How does that work? Example if you made homemade soup, let it cool and put it into jars for canning....it would become shelf stable and not have to sit in the fridge?

[Dancing Lotus]

I have a years supply of anything that I could need thats not FOOD. I dont have to buy anything that I cant eat and I mean anything. But I only have about a three month supply of canned goods. Freexr/fridge stuff I only go month to month for the most part.

[Odilia]

Odilia - Im impressed! Great work! But a pressure canner? How does that work? Example if you made homemade soup, let it cool and put it into jars for canning....it would become shelf stable and not have to sit in the fridge?

Hi, shorty!
A pressure canner uses glass canning jars, rings, and lids like a water bath canner. A water bath canner is great for canning pickles, tomatoes, salsa, many fruits, jams and jellies (basically foods really high in acid or sugar). You need a pressure canner to can low-acid foods like meat and veggies because they need to be canned at higher temps. A pressure canner uses steam under pressure to get hot enough to safely can meats and veggies.

When you can soup, you can use a recipe specifically designed for canning, or you can use your favorite recipes by canning using directions for the ingredient that takes the longest time to can and the highest pressure. So, if I can beef and veggie soup, I'll act like I'm canning just beef and use the canning guidelines for beef.

Once you take the jars out of the canner, you'll start to hear the "ping" of the lids sealing. It's a lovely sound! Once the jars cool down, they can be stored on a shelf just like canned foods from the store -- only home-canned foods are made just the way you like them with nothing added in that you don't want. Pretty much anything you find in cans at the grocery store can be canned at home with a pressure canner, although things with milk/cream don't can so nicely. If I want to can cream of broccoli soup, I'll saute onions and broccoli, put them in quart jar, fill the jars with chicken stock, and then pressure can them. When I want to serve the soup, I'll open a jar, heat it up, and then add cream/milk and cheese before serving.

[Libby]

Ok that is way too cool....we didnt do that when I was younger but then again we didnt do much of anything average now that I think about it.

Thanks for the lesson...in some way I am envious b/c Im not able to do that. Think of all the healthier meals we could have saved that were homemade!

[wildflowerpa]

I have been canning for quite awhile but now when I do veggie soup or beef cabbage and potatoes or even chili they all unseal after a couple days. I have always used a water bath canner as I can't afford a pressure canner. Any ideas why this is happeneing? I hate to take the time to make all this t
stuff and then have it spoil on me.Thanks in advance

[Odilia]

wildflower, a water bath canner isn't getting high enough temps to give you a good seal on low acid foods. You'd be much better off freezing these foods until you're able to get a pressure canner.

Since fewer people seem to be canning these days, you may be able to find a pressure canner at a yard sale (I see one or two each summer) or at an estate sale. If you have freecycle in your area, you could try posting a "wanted: pressure canner" ad to your local group. You could also ask around at church and with friends and family.

When you find a pressure through "the grapevine," it may not come with the owner's manual, and it's possible it may be missing parts. You can get many manuals online or by contacting the manufacturer. You can also contact the manufacturer for missing parts.

If you're not sure what you've got, you can take the canner to your local extension office. Every county in the country has one, I believe. If you're in a low population area, you may share an office with several counties. The folks there can help you check the pressure gauge if your canner has one, and they can help you figure out if you're missing any parts. They'll also have up-to-date canning info. They're really a great resource!

Good luck!

[wildflowerpa]

Lo and behold I was given a pressure canner.Never had anything so ominous looking. No book of corse so I will have to do some fast research as my veggies are coming on fast.
Thanks for all the input. you guys are so helpful.