Getting Started with Food & Home Storage

You can't talk about preparedness without talking about food storage. While there is a ton of information out there about how to build your food storage and what all you should include in your food storage, lets just start with some basic stuff that you can do now to be prepared with a basic supply of food.

I think a lot of people get caught up in trying to build a years supply of food and thus they get overwhelmed and give up on food storage. While I do recommend a years supply, that is not what you should be thinking about when starting out. When thinking about starting your food storage, think about reasons that you might need it. Those reasons are different for each of us dependent upon where we live. For most of us, the number one reason for building food storage is natural disasters. Think about it, how many times do you see the shelves cleared off at the grocery store? It's usually before a huge storm, mainly snow or hurricanes, and people come flocking because they don't have any of the stuff they might need on hand. What happens if you get there too late... to bad you are out of luck. So, here are a few good ways to avoid those horrendous lines and the stress of worrying about having the supplies to get you through those natural disasters.

First, get some water storage! Water will be the first thing you need so make sure you have a couple of different options. A good water filter will help. A cheap way to clean your water is to buy the iodine tablets. You can find those at any Walmart. Another thing to remember is that when you know ahead of time of a potential disaster it is a good idea to fill up your bathtub with water. That should provide you with about 50 gallons of fresh, clean water. They also make bathtub plastic liners for this that even have a spout so your water will be guaranteed clean. Another way would be to save 2 liter bottles and juice bottles, clean them out with a little soap and water, then fill them up with fresh water and store. Don't use milk jugs, they eventually break down and you are left with a huge puddle wherever you store your water. If you have a basement, store it there, otherwise the garage will do for water, don't store food in the garage. 50 gallon barrels are also good options for storing water, though you need a good place to put those large bulky tanks. Just make sure that you have either a spout or a way to get water out of them because tipping them over isn't going to work out well. The last option for today is buying bottled water. I never buy bottled water unless I can buy it for less than 10 cents per bottle. Just keep an eye on store ads, they throw them on sale often, especially during the summer.
Next is food storage. A lot of people like to run out and buy a bucket of wheat and beans and think that they have their food storage. Well, if you go straight from your regular diet to nothing but wheat and beans because that is all you bought, you have another thing coming! That stuff will tear you up! If you can integrate that stuff into your diet now, you will be much better off, and healthier for that matter. The easiest way is to look around at what you already have and what you already eat and just buy more of it. You could even plan out meals for a month and then work on getting the supplies over time. I like to look out for sales at the store and then buy a little extra. Most of these type of items will last 3-5 years. If it comes in a box, transfer it to a bag, or just make sure that you eat it. Food rotation is a great way to keep your food storage current. So, hit the sales hard and buy something extra each time you go shopping. This will help you avoid sticker shock and build your storage for just a few bucks a week.

The last thing on the list for today is home storage. Toiletries and medications are probably the most important things under home storage that you can have on back up for an emergency. The good thing about toiletries is that they go on sale and there are always coupons for them. Once my sister got like 300 boxes of band aids for free by using coupons. While I don't promote extreme couponing, it does have it's benefits if you have the time and energy for that. If you have children, it is always a good idea to have extra diapers and children's medication like Tylenol and ibuprofen. For adults it is a good idea to keep some aspirin on hand, just in case of sudden heart attack. If you ever get a prescription for nausea medication like Zofran from your doctor, FILL IT! and keep it on hand. Before modern medicine, people died all the time from dysentery, so if something ever happened where we didn't have that luxury, nausea and diarrhea medicine could be a life saver. Same with fever medications like Tylenol and ibuprofen.

So, make a list of some things that you don't have in your home and food storage that you would like to have. Then start buying stuff slowly. Don't go into debt to buy home storage. On the other hand, don't wait until it's too late to start getting the stuff you need. Be Prepared and be smart!