Most preparedness people say to start with an inventory of what provisions you already have. For some people this first step is so overwhelming that they stop right there and will not go any further. So I’m going to say if you want to start with an inventory great, however, if that is too overwhelming to you then just go on to the next step and start your inventory from what you buy from this point on. Now, on the topic of an inventory the best three ways I have heard of are:

1)      Index cards so you can write on them when you purchase and use the items

2)      A three ring binder with dividers for different categories of food, paper products, hygiene, etc.  and

3)      An excel spreadsheet.

Which ever way you are more comfortable with use that one, but remember if we loose the grid you won’t be able to use a computer so you would need to print out the spreadsheet on occasion. Unless you already have a large amount of food stored up most people will use what you already have within a month or two. So if you don’t want to start inventorying what you already have that is okay. The main thing to remember is to not let that stop you from starting on your food storage.

To start off, you will need to be able to get the grocery store sales flyers each week whether that be by going to their website and signing up for their email or buying the usually Wednesday paper. Also keep in mind that Sam’s Club, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Wal-Mart, K-mart and Walgreens have ads too. Sometimes even your local gas station store will have, say, milk on sale to get you in and purchase their gas. So look around, it is worth the time. It is best if you can shop around at the different shores to find the cheapest prices. Some people say to make a 3 ring binder and keep all the prices of what you buy in it from all the different stores. Go to www.betterbudgeting.com  and sign up for her newsletters. Michelle Jones is one of the best that I have found on this subject and has been doing this frugal thing for quite a while.  This is from one of her webpage’s “Our grocery saving and grocery coupon tips are all free. We also feature them in our newsletter each month, along with printable menu planners and a price log to help you save as much money as possible!”  If you think you don’t have that kind of time then it’s not that important to you to have food storage.  I have discussed this with many people that said they did not have room for food storage. At the time our family was living in a 2 bedroom trailer we had 2 pre-teens and we had at least an 18 month supply of food.  The old saying if there is a will, there is a way.

What price do you put on being able to take care of your family?  There is help out there for you, but you have to do your part. Check the store ads and figure out the best savings on what you buy the most of that is on sale that week and purchase 5 or 10 or whatever extra you can while you are purchasing the rest of your groceries for that week, bi-week or month. This is where having a daily consumption log helps out. Also you can print out coupons from your own computer. The next time you buy groceries you do the same check the ads and whatever is the best savings buy 5 or 10 or whatever you can extra.  When you buy the best savings the next time you need to get that item you will already have it in your storage so get one out and then take the price of that item  you would have spent when it was NOT on sale and buy something else extra.  If there is not anything on sale that you normally use the first time, then buy salt.  Salt is something that is very cheap and is a necessary item for our bodies and it has over 14,000 uses according to www.saltinstitute.org.   You can use salt to preserve meat, brush teeth and clean kitchen items.  So, when you think you have enough, get some more. The next time there is not anything on sale, buy baking soda, it has many uses. Go to http://lifehackery.com for 75 uses of baking soda.  Also when you purchase all of the salt or baking soda you need for a year it is motivating to have something done, and will encourage you to do more. There is also bleach www.clorox.com  and vinegar (1001 uses) www.vinegartip.com  these are some of the cheaper items that you can mark off quickly, encouraging you to keep going. You will get to where you only have to purchase short term items such as milk, bread and produce and then you can spend the rest of your budgeted money on sale items, or if no sale items are on, purchase the cheaper items, especially ones that have multiple uses.  Flour, biscuit mix or pancake mixes do not last as long as, say, whole wheat berries, even when it is canned. It has fatty acid from the germ that reacts when exposed to oxygen www.wikapedia.org  in it that will go rancid unless you keep it in the freezer, but then you can’t store other things in the freezer. And what if the electricity goes out?

There is a mental attitude to food storage that needs to be learned. It is not just to store up all this food and put it into the basement and never touch it unless for the big one. It is a way of life to eat what you store and store what you eat.  It can also be a fun family time to see who can find an item cheaper than anyone else.   It is also a savings plan, just like money in the bank except for when the time comes that you can’t even buy food and you can not eat money.