Pack Rat...not such a bad quality

So...apparently I'm back on the bloggin' bandwagon! (or at least it's seems so) I just have a lot on my mind these days. I have two posts drafted and ready to back-date, and I'm sitting here with something I must share.

As some people know, I am a huge advocate of Food Storage. Last summer I almost had the opportunity to have a "food storage fest". I love to hear others share some of their experiences, and just talking about it gets me excited. I would love to start a group...like a storage therapy...where I can get every one's tricks and tips on food storage. It would be a good motivation for me to have to share each month how I did (or didn't) contribute and rotate my food storage.

I belong to websites to help build my storage one week at a time. Last week I attended my bi-annual Macy's case lot sale. An event I look forward to every spring and fall. This year I made a great discovery...they have a sweet little booklet. It contains all the items and prices. You can fill it out with quantities and chose items you want. You give it to them...or call it in. You chose a day and time to pick it up. That's right "pick it up!" Yahoo! No more dragging kiddos around and trying to push a cart filled with 100 lbs. of canned goods. They get it all together for you, load it up and are ready to help load it into your car upon arrival. Genius! (and just a reminder...you can get a raincheck for anything out-of-stock, then pick it up later)

Here is what some of my Food Storage looked like after we moved here. (these pics are from the end of 2006)


I had to literally make paths to get around the basement. The paths were lined with food...but I had no clue what was really down there.

So...In coupon clipping and comparison shopping...I now have a food storage better than our regular food. We did get supplies of wheat...but most of our storage is made up of practical food I know the kids will eat. We did have to invest in another freezer...but thanks to ksl.com, it was well worth going and picking up a slightly used one. Ksl.com also saved me a few hundred dollars in the 'shelf reliance' units. I found one that was used in a display...and was missing stickers. And the other was missing a shelf. (which I picked up at the actual Shelf Reliance showroom) I love these units, I just couldn't pay that much. There was something fundamentally wrong with the unit costing more than the food it held. All I could think of was how much food I could buy for the price of those units! Luckily...ksl.com was my answer. (no...I don't work there, the don't pay me...although they should!)

Last year I also invested in a vacuum sealer. It paid for itself in the first two months. I can buy meats and things in much larger quantities...which is always cheaper.

I still struggle with rotating it. The kids help by sneaking down there and eating the fruit snacks, nuts and chocolate chips. I'm sure they are praying for a disaster, and look forward to a time when all that food can be consumed.

I also have struggled with water. I have smaller containers of water...smaller so they are portable. I'm not a fan of the big drums, but I'm not sure I can get all we need in small containers. (and they are too pricey) Really, what good is all the food storage if we die of thirst in a week? A little backwards!

I also need to find a reliable source of power. We have a propane heater and stove...but I think a generator is probably necessary...dang it! Again, what good is the food you have to cook without a way to cook it? yeah.

I recently swapped out the clothes and supplies in our emergency backpacks. (I have a great 72 hour kit menu with kid-friendly food you can fit into a large ziploc...I would love to put a bunch together and sell them. I think they would sell better than MRE's) The clothes in the packs were too small. And in a moment of celebration...I removed the diapers!!! YEAH!!! It didn't lighten the load any, but it sure felt that way.

Honestly, it has only been the last 4 years that we started getting our storage together. It seemed overwhelming at first, but once I got started I fell in love with watching it slowly grow. I'm not going to lie...when we moved two years ago, we got cussed out for the boxes of #10 cans. It was a pain to move it, but worth the work. (I didn't move any of those boxes...so it was definitely worth it to me. Probably not to Mike's brother though.)

I'm going to preach about the practicality of slowly getting what you need. Until Mike was called to be the welfare specialist, we were not the least bit interested in taking it all on. Mike's calling taught us about the church cannery and other resources available. We are really lucky to live where it's so easy to get what we need.

Speaking of practicality...food storage is really just an extension of the things you already eat and use from week-to-week. If you think about it, there are things other than food you might want. As a woman...there are quite a few things I would really hope I had a supply of :) Even just light bulbs, soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste. Not things crucial in the first 72 hours of an emergency...but nice to have on hand.

I have amazing neighbors who are great examples of preparation. I love talking to them about things...and sharing my joy of Macey's case lot sale with someone who loves it as much as me! I am blessed to live around great people in such a great place.

So while our storage is still a work in progress. I must testify that getting it, really is possible. And while I hope we don't have to use it soon...I know there will come a time when we will use it.

I came across a fantastic and funny list on my friends website. So I'm going to copy it here. It kicks my butt in gear to read stuff and realize how much better I can be...

Top 10 Reasons Why I Don't Have My Food Storage:

10. My neighbors have a TWO year supply!
No, they don't. They don't have any food. Did you know that 85% of the members of the church don't have any food storage at all? If your idea of food storage is to eat someone else’s food...this is a really bad plan.

9. I've paid tithing for 20 years...the church can give me a little food.
Many members believe that when the times get hard, the church is going to come through like Joseph in Egypt. Absolutely not true. All the church storehouses and welfare farms across the country would only feed 4% of the members of the church. The church has been asking YOU to store food for 75 years. They're NOT storing food for you. Thus, another bad plan.

8. I'm moving in with my children / parents!
Really....that’s just a bad plan all by itself. But it points out that most members don't have a year's supply because they're PLANNING on eating someone else's food! Of course, since no one HAS any food, we have yet another bad plan.

7. I can't have a year's supply...without the bullets to go with it!
Have you heard this one?... "How dumb is that to go to all the time and expense of getting food...just to have some guy with a gun come and shoot my family to take it away?" Here's a better question. Are you afraid of the guy with the gun? Or are you more afraid of BECOMING the guy with the gun? What would you do if your children were starving to death? Would you lie? Cheat? Steal? Would you shoot your neighbor for his food? I guarantee....if you were watching your child starving to death, you would do anything you had to to keep them alive. If you don't have your year's supply, you are putting yourself in danger of losing not only your temporal salvation, but your spiritual salvation as well. So far, all the reasons we don't have our food storage involve eating someone else's food. Please, don't put your family's temporal salvation in other people's hands. No one is storing food for you. Not your neighbors, not the government...not even the church.

6. The boat and the 4 wheelers are taking up all my storage space!
(priorities!)

5. 3 letters....Y2K.
Okay, that's 2 letters and a number....but they're always making way too much out of everything! This is never going to happen!” (Every prophecy that has ever been given WILL happen.)

4. If anything DOES happen, the government will be here within hours!
(insert laughter) Did you know the government has been telling us that we need to have food storage? They're actually CALLING it food storage! We now have the government telling us to store food, water, medicines...whatever we will need to be able to stay in our homes for several months.

3. I can't afford scrap booking AND food storage.
The average food storage can cost as little as a dollar a day. We live in the richest society in the history of the world, and while there are cases where money may be a problem, most of the time it is a matter of priorities. We have chosen bigger homes, nicer cars, more TV's, computers, vacations ...everything is more important than our food storage. If I asked, "Who has a cell phone?" most of you would say yes. You pay at least $30 a month to have a cell phone....that's about a dollar a day...the cost of one year's supply of food for your child. Is your cell phone really more important than your child's temporal salvation? You have to make food storage a priority.

2. I'm waiting for the cannery to sell Papa John's dehydrated pizza!
Food storage has always had a stigma attached to it. If it's not wheat, beans and powdered milk, it's not food storage. Food storage can be sweet and sour chicken, tamale pie, chile and cornbread, beef stew, shepherd's pie, minestrone...even chocolate chip cookies! Your imagination (and your pocketbook) are the only limitations you have.

And the #1 reason why I don't have my year's supply of food?...

1. A year?? I thought it was 72 hours!!
You KNOW you should have your food storage. You WANT to have it, but it can be so overwhelming! How much do I buy? Where do I store it? How do I cook it? It seems like an impossible task.... but it's not. It doesn't matter if you use a system or just start buying extra food, the important thing is to do something.