Be Ready - Be Prepared

Food storage pantry’s, they’re not just for crazy end of the world types.  No, not at all, they’re also a great tool for saving money on ever increasing food prices.  A proper food storage pantry will also save you time, and money on gas, by reducing your trips to the store.  In addition, a well-stocked food pantry will provide security for you and your family in case of an emergency or disaster.  Have you ever seen those news stories where the store shelves clear out in mere hours when a hurricane is expected?  Maybe you have experienced it yourself.  Where I live, a local grocer’s store shelves went bare of basic food items in just a day when a snow covered mountain pass would not allow trucks to get through

So, what exactly is a food storage pantry?  Well, a food storage pantry is any place in your home where you can keep a supply of food items that you would use on an every day basis to prepare the meals that you like to eat.  Think of it as your own in house grocery store.  When it comes time to prepare a meal, you have what you need on hand without making extra trips to the store.  Common food pantry items would be those that have a long shelf life.  Items like canned foods, flour, sugar, beans, rice, pasta, and spices are some examples.  Having these items stocked at all times is a huge convenience.  The majority of your grocery shopping is now mostly for perishables like fruits, vegetables, milk, and eggs.  If you have the room, you may also incorporate a freezer into your food pantry, just make sure you have a generator to power it during outages.  A well-stocked storage pantry will also provide a buffer for you and your family in case food becomes scarce or unavailable.

A month supply of food would be a good starting point.  A years worth would be great.  Just think of the cost savings in the long term.  A years worth of food is certainly cheaper now than it will be a year from now.  And you have the peace of mind knowing that your family will not go hungry, or have to rely on family and friends in the event of a disaster or job loss.  Here’s a rather shocking statistic for you - The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all food increased 5.5 percent in 2008, the highest annual increase since 1990, and is forecast to increase 3 to 4 percent in 2009.

When stocking your food storage pantry, the idea is to buy food in bulk when it is at a good sale price.  This eliminates the need to buy the same foods week after week at higher prices.  For example, lets say your family likes to have spaghetti once a week.  You would buy spaghetti and pasta sauce in bulk when it is on sale.  This way you always have what you need to make spaghetti, and you bought it at a much lower price then you would pay buying it every week.  How much you buy at one time depends on the size of your family.  Of course, you don’t want to buy more than you need, but you do want to buy enough to save money and keep your pantry stocked.  There may be a bit of a learning curve, but you’ll get the hang of it.  Start small and work your way up to larger purchases, keeping an eye on bargain prices and coupons.  Eventually you may want to keep a log book of prices you have paid for items.  This way you know when you are getting the best price.  Lets say that you are getting low on canned corn and it is at $.65 a can, you may choose to only buy a few cans if you know that you have purchased it before at $.59 a can.  When corn reaches the best price then you would buy more of it.  This practice can greatly reduce your food expenses over time.

As you can see they’re many advantages to having a food storage pantry.  If you are interested in storing more food or storing food for longer periods of time you may want to consider long-term food storage.  Just remember that any level of preparedness beats no preparedness at all.

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