Stretch Your Food Dollar: The Importance of Food Storage
Times are really getting tough for folks, and more and more families are having to curtail their spending habits. In lean times, food storage is a total blessing. I grew up in a Mormon household, where having a year supply of food was considered just as important as believing in Jesus or paying tithing to the church. Our family was on welfare for a substantial portion of my childhood, and the canned goods from our food storage and our trips to the food bank enabled our family to never go hungry.
There must be something about growing up with enough canned goods to last a year that leaves a permanent mark on your psyche. I haven’t considered myself a Mormon for over a decade, but I still keep my pantry stocked. I feel better knowing that if a zombie uprising occurs, we’ll still be able to feed ourselves. Summer is an especially lean time for us because my partner doesn’t receive financial aid during the summertime. We’re going to be eating a lot of canned peaches and fresh veggies out of the garden. But at least we planned ahead.
You don’t have to have a lot of money to start a food storage. In fact, the whole point is that food storage is supposed to help you reduce your food budget. If you live in an apartment, you might not have a lot of storage space. However, you can always find a corner in your closet or a nice space under the bed. Those flats of green beans from Costco slide right under the average bed frame. Here are a few tips and tricks to building up your own food storage.
1. Watch the food sales. Big grocery chains often have fire sales on canned fruit and canned vegetables. You can often get veggies for 50 cents a can if you watch the food ads.
2. Buy a little extra. If you’re buying something like pasta, buy one or two extra packages. If you add to your food storage a little at a time, the overall cost is minimized because you’re doing it in increments.
3. Invest in good, airtight containers. I hate bugs in my food. Flour, pasta, dried beans, cake mixes, cereal, and dried fruit all have a tendency to attract critters. So keep it shut in an airtight container. Your food will also keep longer if you keep it stored properly. Why spend money on dried goods just to throw food away because it’s gone bad?
4. Rotate your stock. Don’t just shut your cans away in a closet and forget about them. Use them on a regular basis so that things don’t expire before you have a chance to use them. When you buy new food items, rotate the cans or the containers so that the oldest one are in the front.
5. Make your own preserves. Many of us are growing gardens to help reduce our food costs. When you’ve got tomatoes and zucchini coming out of your ears and you don’t know what to do with it, consider canning your own tomato sauce or diced tomatoes. If you get some great deals on fresh fruit, you can always cut it up and freeze it to use during the winter when produce is more expensive.
If you and your family don’t already have extra food in your pantry, I hope you’ll start thinking about ways to tuck something away for a rainy day. I’ve dwelt in apartments for the bulk of my life, so I can totally relate to not having space for extra food. But trust me – this is especially important for folks living on financial aid, because you can always count on lean times during the summer and winter vacations. If you plan ahead by stocking up during the months when you do have financial aid, and only keep 2-3 months worth of food on hand, space really isn’t that big of a problem.
Next week I’ll share some suggestions for determining the right amount of food to keep on hand for your particular household. If you’ve got any tips you’d like to share, please leave a comment.
Photo credit: stock.xchg
When I buy a box of something (like cereal) I always write the expiration date in large letters on the front of the box w/ the sharpie marker. That way, if I have a bunch in my cabinet, I can grab the one with the soonest expiration date to eat next. Canned goods, I organize in my pantry with the soonest expiring in the front and the newest in the back.
I buy dried organic beans in bulk (and preferably on sale!), and cook up a massive pot of them about once a month. Some get used immediately, in salads/soups/whatever.
The rest of the cooked beans get drained and packed into glass pint jars (extras from my canning) and stored in the freezer until needed. It’s cheaper than buying tins of beans, but still has most of the convenience… Without having to get out the pressure canner for making my own canned-from-scratch.
I agree with Coupon Artist that it’s good to date your stored food! For the items in the freezer, I just use a permanent marker to write the date on each glass jar before filling it; it washes off later.
Now that I’ve reread your post on canning, Serena, I have to ask: How’s that pickled okra?
Great suggestions, both of you. I especially like putting the date in big numbers instead of just relying on the dates on the box or can.
FG – the pickled okra was so good it’s gone. But summer is right around the corner and I’ll soon be up to my ears in okra, so I’ll be making some more. Oh, and pickled beets. I used to hate canned pickled beets when I was young. But something must have happened to my taste buds, because now I can’t get enough of them!
I have seen hundreds of food storages. I have helped organize & consult on what to have
included in your food storage. I share the ideas that I have accumulated over the years.
Along with your wheat, beans & rice, your canned foods etc. Some even have MRE’s & freeze
dried items. Whatever it is you have in your food storage, I just want to give you a few
ideas & suggestions. I am also open for suggestions, after 17 years, I still come across
great ideas.
First, make sure you have a good variety of spices. You can eat the same beans or rice a
lot easier when one day they taste like taco spices & the next day curry etc. A variety of
spices will make anything easier to eat long term. I personally have many bottles of
tobasco. I can eat bugs with tobasco, crickets, worms etc. I am serious.
In many emergencies clean water is a big problem. You will go through hundreds of gallons
of water in just a few short weeks. Make sure you have a good water filter with your food
storage. You use a lot of water to cook with & drink. A water filter that you hand pump will
turn rain water, canal water or saved water from cooking etc. into good drinking water again.
Have some good vitamins. Make sure they are good natural vitamins that your body will
digest & absorb. 90% of vitamins pass through you & end up clogging the sewers. True.
I came across Lifecaps, that is what I have in my food storage, 72 hour kits & bug out bags.
They digest & get in your system within 20-25 minutes. All natural.
You can survive on lifecaps & water alone for months. They have all the vitamins & minerals,
also iodine & a little natural sugar to keep your blood sugar level stable. I bought 25
bottles before I found a coupon code & then bought 75 more bottles. The coupon code is
“healthcap” (save 33%) & you can find out more at lifecaps.net.
Keep hand sterilizer with your food storage & hydrogen peroxide. In an emergency people get
sick & die from simple infections. In an emergency, you lose your appetite & forget to drink
water, under stress. Your immune system suffers tremendously & small infections grow large.
Under stress TAKE YOUR VITAMINS & DRINK WATER! You will have more energy to deal with the
emergency & have a healthy immune system. Keep your hands clean when dealing with food &
use the hydrogen peroxide even on small cuts as a precaution. It can save your life.