Creating a Food Supply:
Start slow-
The initial start up can be intimidating, but they key isn’t
to buy everything at once, especially if you cannot afford it.
Once a month, evaluate your grocery budget and see if you
can make room for one or two pantry items.
For me, I allotted myself $10-$20 a month on buying supplies. Your monthly purchases can look something
like this:
Example 1: Buying
everything
Month 1 - 1 HDPE bucket
1 Gamma lid and
1 PETE container
1 Rubber Mallet
Month 2 - 25 lb bag Rolled Oats
2-3 lbs Dry Goods (beans, grain, sugar, salt)
Month 3 - 1 HDPE bucket
1 Gamma lid and
1 PETE container
Month 4 - 25 lb Bag hard white wheat
or 40 lb Bucket of wheat
Bucket opener
Month 5 - 3-4 PETE
containers
3-4 Varieties of Dry Goods
Continue this process until you have the variety you want.
Example 2: Frugal
Version
-Save and wash all PETE containers with lids for future use
-Find a local bakery that is willing to sell/give you their
used buckets
Month 1 - Find a good price on Gamma Lids and buy 3-4 of
them,
especially if it is online (reduce shipping costs).
Month 2 - Purchase buckets if you prefer new buckets, spending
no
more than $5 a bucket.
Month 3 - 25 lbs Oats and 2 lbs Dry Goods
Month 4 - 25 lbs Sugar and 2 lbs Dry Goods
Month 5 - 25 lbs Rice and 2 lbs Dry Goods
Adjust food and containers around the sales and your budget.
No Buckets - Just Containers
-Each month buy or reuse
2-3 PETE containers purchase
and enough dry goods to fill them.
-Continue this each month until
you have the variety of dry goods you want.
Food Storage / Bulk
Food Sales:
Many stores in my area offer Food Storage Events, Case Lot
Sales, Bulk Buys, or Group Orders periodically throughout the year. Sometimes just the label “sale” can entice
people enough to just grab and go. You
would think that if it is a store’s “semi-annual sale” (which is highly advertised),
it must be a fantastic deal, right?
Unfortunately this is not always the case. This is where already being familiar with
prices comes in handy.
Some items are a great
deal, and are worth buying the whole case for, but some items are not. Sometimes I can find canned tomatoes, tomato
paste, fruit, beans, and soup at lower prices than at the case lot sales. Sometimes I can even find comparable items at
Costco’s retail price for lower than the case lot sale. Familiarize yourself with prices so you can
stock up when the price is right.
What I have learned:
- Grains and beans are cheaper in the summer and early fall and more expensive in the winter. Of course if it is a bad crop season due to weather conditions, the price of your dry goods is going to increase.
- Buckets, bucket openers, and lids tend to go on sale in late November - December (right after canning season) and once or twice more throughout the year.
- WinCo offers a 10% discount from the bulk section price if you buy the whole bulk bag (25 lb or 50 lb). It won’t hurt to ask your local health food store if they do something similar.
- If you’re not sure about an item, email the company. A simple, pleasant inquiry will almost always have a quick reply. Emailing has answered questions or concerns I have had on certain products, packaging, and labeling.
- Having a variety of dry goods, canned goods, and frozen foods on hand has been better for my family than all dry, all canned, or all frozen.
