A few ideas for how to stock up on a budget: I was thinking more about the post I wrote the other day here and wanted to give a few ideas on how to stock up with just $5 a week.
I have said before that I am not a "hard core" prepper. But I do like to have some supplies on hand at any given time. My "emergencies" are not the sort like the end of the world, full-blown nuclear meltdown, complete economic collapse, or an apocalypse type event. My "emergencies" are more of the "oh my we had to pay a large bill this month and are a little short of grocery money", winter storms, hurricanes, and oops the power went out. I find that from time to time we have to use our supplies for one of these reasons.
I don't buy the long-term, 25 year food storage items. A 5 gallon bucket of oats or whole grains or even flour isn't going to do me much good in the long run because that is not how I cook everyday. Yes, I bake bread and sweets from time to time but it isn't my norm. I buy extra of things we use everyday. I like to have a three month supply of things so in case we need to use our food storage/supplies the items we normally use are there.
How do I get a three month supply of things? I start slowly and I stock up on things we use. When things go on sale that is when I buy and for the most part food items go on sale at least once every three months. At that time I buy what I need to the next three months. For example, we use ketchup quite often (I have kids - it is part of the food pyramid!) I estimate we go through a bottle of ketchup a month. So when ketchup goes on sale I buy three bottles. We are not big on canned veggies and tend to eat more frozen or fresh veggies. We can't really stock up on fresh veggies for three months but we can stock up on frozen veggies. Frozen veggies are regularly $1 a bag. We eat fresh as often as we can but we use at least 3 bags of frozen veggies a week, sometimes more. 3 bags a week for a month is 12 bags. Three months worth is 36 bags of frozen veggies. I don't buy 36 bags at once. I don't have that much money to spend on it at once. So I buy a little at a time. I will get a couple extra bags each week at the store until I have stocked up.
If you were to budget $5 extra a week to spend on emergency supplies you could plan out how you can spend it each week.
Immediate needs:
Food -
Water -
Lighting -
Cooking -
First Aid -
Start with water. It is easy to grab an extra couple gallons of water for $5 a week. A case of water bottles is usually $2.50-$3. You can buy at least one case and then a gallon of water for $5. Do this for a couple weeks and you have quite a stash of water.
Food - Start with foods you can eat without heating up. Tuna packets, canned pastas like ravioli, beef a roni, spaghetti-o's, etc. They are better hot but you can eat them cold in a pinch. A box of protein bars, box of dry cereal, pop-tarts, instant oatmeal. Canned fruits, apple sauce, canned and bottled (shelf stable) juices. Start slow and buy on sale. These are all items you can eat without heating up. Make sure the cans are the flip and pull type or make sure you have a hand crank can opener. Canned goods do you no good if you can't get into them.
Alternative cooking - One month save your $5 a week and try to find a camp stove or use your $20 this month to buy some cast iron pots and pans you can use on your grill or over an open fire. Camp stoves like this one is a bit more than $20 new but you can buy one on Craigslist or at a yardsale for about $20. If you own a grill or plan to use an open flame fire to cook in an emergency then use your $20 to buy second hand cast iron pans and pots.
Now that we have an alternative cooking plan - let's go back to food again. Now you can start stocking up on lots of foods each week with your $5. When planning what you will buy try to buy items that will make a meal. One week buy instant pancake mix and a bottle of syrup. The next week buy a package of pasta and a jar of spaghetti sauce. Another week buy canned soups that are ready to eat (Chunky, Progresso, etc). This way if you have an emergency then you have a full meal and not just random parts of a meal. Relish and crackers don't make a meal. You could eat it but it wouldn't be appetizing.
Alternative lighting - For $5 you can buy 5 small flashlights. (Walmart has them in the camping department, they are small but pack a bright led light) You can buy a package of AAA batteries for $5 to go with your small flashlights. For $10 you can buy a larger lantern. For another $10 you can buy a package of D batteries for the lantern. I used to stock up on candles but now I go for the lanterns and flashlights. Just the other day I found a great hanging battery operated light on sale for $3.49 at Office Max. I think they were intended for a locker. You could hang it in your locker and have a light so you can see your books. The light is bright! I bought 2. The fact that you can hang them up on a hook or in a closet on a rod makes them perfect for your emergency supplies. You can put it in the bathroom on the towel rack or hook it on a cabinet door knob in the kitchen. Each was under $5. Candles are cumbersome and dangerous as they have an open flame and can catch your house on fire if you aren't paying attention.
First aid - again, use your $5 to add to your first aid kit. One week buy band-aids, next week buy ace bandage, another week buy antibiotic ointment like Neosporin. One week buy pain-reliever (Advil, Tylenol, etc) another week buy chapstick.
Now that you have the basics for an emergency where you won't have power, begin to think bigger and start to plan and stock up for a time where you may be without a job or there is an illness in the family and money is tight, or when you just need to pay an extra bill this month and groceries and basic supplies will be hard to come by.
Make a list of popular meals that your family likes a lot. Start to stock up a little at a time so that you have all the ingredients for these meals. Stock your freezer with meats, veggies, and quick prepared meals. Stock your pantry with spices, gravies, taco seasoning, canned goods, condiments, canned fruits and juices, boxed mac and cheese, soups, and anything else you normally buy.
Consider purchasing deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, feminine supplies, soaps, shampoos, and other toiletries. These can be some of the most expensive items you purchase on a regular basis. Stocking up on these when they are on sale or when you have a coupon is a wise choice. Other items to stock up on is laundry detergents, bleach, household cleaning supplies, and hand soaps. Again the key is to buy these when they are sale or if you have a coupon. No coupon?? Consider emailing or mailing your favorite brands and tell them how much you like their product. They will often send you high dollar coupons in the mail.
The key here is that if you do a little planning. You biggest emergencies won't be the end of the world type scenarios but the little annoyances of daily life. I can't tell you how many times we have used our food storage because of an unexpected expense or lack of money for some reason. Power outages are our second most annoying "emergency". I am glad that I have an alternative cooking plan and alternative lighting plan. Our daily life doesn't change that drastically when these things happen because we have a plan. Buy the things you use and eat. Food storage isn't any good to you if you don't like what you have.
Benefits of food storage: I love being able to go into the pantry and having a variety of options available to me. We eat it on a rotation all the time so that no food goes bad or gets out of expiration date. Because I have stocked it with the things we eat anyway, we are always rotating our foods. My grocery lists look a little different sometimes because I am always restocking my food storage and buying the items when they are on sale not just when we need them. So sometimes my grocery list will not have any meats on them or any veggies. Sometimes my grocery list looks quite odd as it isn't "balanced". But I find I am saving money this way too! :)
I also love being able to reach under my sink in my bathroom and immediately replace an empty toothpaste tube, or grab a new deodorant. I always have an extra. I never run out of anything I need. When I notice that something is starting to get low, then it goes on the grocery list. I might not get it immediately because it might not be on sale. But it will get purchased before I completely run out of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment