Friday, February 4, 2011

Stockpiling 101, cont...

Step Two


Now you’ll need to spend some time thinking about menus. In order to know what to stockpile you need to focus on what you use. If you don’t bake, then it’s pointless having 50 kg of flour stored. If you don’t eat baked beans they shouldn’t be in the cupboard. You know what you and your family eat on a regular basis. Most families have a dozen or so favourite meals they cycle through regularly. What are your family’s favourites? That’s where you should start your list.

Make a list of the ingredients or food items you buy regularly and start checking prices. Write the price, the size of the packaging and the store in a little note pad that you keep with you all the time. This enables you to take advantage of specials when you see them therefore making your stockpile a real budget superhero.

Remember though, only buy what you use, don’t buy it because it’s cheap. Cheap is still expensive if it sits at the back of the pantry collecting dust until it’s finally thrown away during your next spring cleaning session.

Once you’ve started to build up a supply the food items you use regularly, you can expand your stock list to include consumable items like toiletries and cleaning supplies.

When you’re comfortable with your ability to manage your well stocked pantry you’ll no doubt want to take it to the next level – preparation planning.

Preparing for an emergency, whether or not it’s financial or physical or both takes planning based on an intimate knowledge of your needs. Emergency Preparation requires you to store everything you need to survive a short term (or long term) emergency. Working on your well stocked pantry is giving you the knowledge, skills and a head start on stockpiling.

As your stockpile builds you will begin to feel a sense of self-reliance. You’re no longer a slave to the supermarket. The roles have been reversed. You can choose to buy when it suits you rather than them. You’ll start to get a taste of the real power of the money in your pocket and your respect for its power will grow.

2 comments:

  1. Stockpiling is VERY important and I'm glad to hear you spreading the necessity of it to others.
    It is scary how many people don't even have enough food in the house for a couple of days let a lone any longer.
    I think we're entering a time where this is going to be even more important than ever before.

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  2. Thanks Lori. You are so right!

    It really is important that we all learn to think and look a little further into the future than we currently do.

    Too many people seem to think that life will always be as it always has...

    Thanks for visiting.

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