Hello Jim,
We too are beginning preppers. I wanted to add a few gotchas I encountered when storing food. The first, which is minor, occurred when we bought snacks in bulk. We are not big snackers, but we enjoy some dry-roasted peanuts while watching television, and some chips on the side with a sandwich. When there were suddenly 9 lbs of peanuts or 6 bags of chips in the pantry, family members started eating snack foods excessively. But before I had to ration them, the behavior self-corrected. Our diet has actually gotten better as we stock up, as most long-term storage foods are whole and not pre-processed.
The second gotcha needs to be watched more carefully. When we reached storage of three months food, we got complacent. With “so much” food on the shelves, at least it seemed like a lot to average suburbanites, we failed to purchase replacements as we consumed from the pantry. Our storage actually dwindled until I noticed the trend and got back on track. Don’t’ get complacent!
Our pantry has grown to the point where Dear Wife merely takes a basket to the pantry to “go shopping”. She loves it. Our shopping pattern is this: Dear Wife makes a list of items which need replacing or increasing, which involves a big, monthly trip to Sam’s. And I hit the grocery stores for sales when I go to the office once every week or two (yes, we have moved as far from the city as I can bear to commute. And I too have a get home bag). I figure Sam’s is 30% off retail, so I only purchase items which are 40% off, or more. Coupons can cut the sale prices even further. I often save more than I spend by buying only sale items. J
I could go on and on about our prepping experiences, but that would end up being a whole ‘nother article. But sticking to the subject of food, after several short years, I estimate we have stored food for three for 9 months (based on an LDS calculator). My goal is to store food for five for a year, since family is sure to show up in hard times. In addition to that, the garden beds are built, we are raising rabbits, and will get chickens when building the coop/barn get to the top of my "to do" list. Thanks, – S2man