Plan for Emergencies by Building Up Food Storage
This post I did a couple of months ago, was such a big hit, that I wanted to repost for those who may have missed it. I wrote this article on why it is wise to Plan for Emergencies by Building Up Food Storage.
I am a huge believer in being prepared, not for your day to day adventures per se, but being prepared for emergencies. I am not a great planner and often fly by the seat of my pants. When it comes to planning for the unknown, I am a tad better. There are so many different emergencies that one could encounter in their life, and I feel it is important to plan for those events as much as possible.
I don’t consider myself an extreme couponer with an excessive stockpile, but I like to have enough of a stockpile in foods and toiletries, and household items, to hopefully get my family and I through any rough times. Such rough times might include a natural disaster (if our items are held in tact), job loss and more. When my husband’s commercial construction company went under 3 years ago, I realized more than ever how important building up food storage and planning for emergencies really is. We all chug along in our daily lives, and can’t foresee any big problems in our future, but we should prepare anyway. We don’t always know what may be ahead of us. I hope and pray that nothing tragic will strike us, but I think that being prepared and having enough necessities on hand, to get through those rough times, can make those tough times that much less tragic.
Not only can your stockpile help you and your family, but also your neighbors and friends! If we all prepare and plan, just think of the things and power we could have.
I want to give you just a few quick tips for building up your food storage and planning for emergencies.
- When you do your grocery shopping, start purchasing just a couple extra of those things you know your family will eat. These items could be your foods for survival. If you purchase bit by bit, your stockpile will slowly, but surely, grow. You can also shop online and purchase such kits, for these purposes.
- If you have extra coupons and something is going on sale for cheap or free, buy extras! You may not think you need 5 bottles of shampoo, because it only takes you a month to get through one bottle. Without being negative, and a “Debbie Downer”, try to think about how you could be prepared for those “just in case” moments. If I had started planning and preparing for months or years before my husband lost his job, life could have been that much easier.
- Look at the shelf life of products. If they don’t expire or go bad for a very long time, then buy extras while you can, or while there is a really good sale. I like to buy a lot of an item when it is at it’s lowest price point. Then I hopefully won’t have to purchase that item again, until it is on sale again! Try to do this as much as possible, to help you save and build.
- Make sure you always have the staples on hand. I think of survival food, as those basic foods one can get by on, if one had to. This could be flour, sugar, wheat, powdered milk, evaporated milk, pasta, rice, etc. These foods all have a pretty long shelf life as well.
- One thing that we do (and need to update), is that we have a 72 hour emergency preparedness kit. This could be a large dufflebag that has a change of clothes for you and each of your family members, flashlights, matches, granola bars, blankets, etc. The purpose of this bag is so you have something super fast and easy to grab in case you have to flee your house in a hurry, because of a natural disaster, or something of the sort.
Because my income fluctuates month to month, there are some months where it is very difficult to make ends meet. I have a lot of peace knowing that I don’t have to go out and buy toothbrushes, toothpaste, laundry detergent and more, during those rough months, because I have sufficient on hand. Then when a month is a little better than another, I try to replenish my stockpile as much as I can. Just start thinking ahead and planning and preparing. You never know when you just might need to use that stockpile.
Now for a little fun, If you had to live off of one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
P.S. Those Capri Suns and Cereal boxes in the photo, got us through the whole school year, without having to replenish!
Shannon says
You should also mention to stockpile on kids clothes and shoes. Kids are always growing and basic clothes never go out of style. I have the next 4 sizes for my kids put in size assorted bins. If we are in a low income point when the kids need clothes then I don’t need to worry.
Heather Perry says
I am a firm believer in stocking up too. Having a bit of a stock pile certainly helped us 2 years ago when we had a BIG snow storm on the east coast and it seemed like the whole world was socked in for days! Now, that said, we also ended up losing power for 50 hours – but thankfully, was resourceful enough to use the snow outside to act as our refrigerator and as things started to thaw in the freezer, we cooked them off and ate them.
Another thing that a friend and I have organized and is a huge help to us and our community is called a Free Swap. The concept is pretty simple – we all have stuff that we don’t need. That stuff even still has life left in it. So, usually through the fall, winter and early spring (we take off late spring and summer for folks who like to yard sale – or like to get some extra income from it) we set up in the basement of our home owners assoc. club house. We advertise by word of mouth and over the past (coming up on 3 years) we have had a great success! We allow folks to bring everything from household goods to clothing and everything in between. Our next one is just after Labor Day – so we are gearing up – and are so excited!! During these swaps I stock up on kids clothes or organization bins – whatever I may need at the time.
Dawn says
I could eat pizza every single day of my life! : )
Emily Lyon says
haha – That’s assuming the pizza places will always be open, and you always have the $$! 😉
Emily Lyon says
What a neat idea – I love it!
Emily Lyon says
Clothes are great to stock up on when you can!
Carol Hoffman says
Sorry, but this is awful, all that processed food, and Capri Sun? Did you read about the spoilage? Where is your water? All that GMO junk food….
Emily Lyon says
Carol, I understand your point, but you must know that that closet in the picture is very big and you can’t see everything on the shelves to the left or the right. I very much believe in stocking up on water and other healthy foods. This photo is nearly 2 years old and I have made a vow not to purchase so much processed food since this time. When I first started couponing, I bought whatever was cheap or on sale. I am more discriminate now in my shopping habits. Thanks for your concern though, even if you were rude in your approach.