Couponing...oh my!

Ok...we've all tried it, right? We think it's a waste because we'd take one little ol' coupon in and save a buck off our hundred dollar shopping trip. Well those days are gone and people are learning to use coupons to save 50-60-70% or more if you're really good. There are websites to help you become a coupon expert (this is not one of them by the way).

If you are preparing your food storage and you are not couponing, you are missing out on a huge savings! And let me just say...I am not a Mormon...I am a born again Christian that has been intrigued by the LDS church and their desire to teach people how to store food and why we should be storing (aka stockpiling). There are many things that can go wrong in our lives (and in the world) and people's lives and way of life are being disrupted daily...times are volatile right now and the one thing that you DO have control over is being able to feed your family. Whether you lose your job, have an illness in the family and lose a significant portion of your income or whether something catastrophic happens (foreign or domestic attack)...you can feed your family. Unfortunately most families in this day and time would not be able to feed their families for one week without making several trips to a grocery store.

It's like insurance...you hope you never need it but you get it "just in case." Same for stockpiling but the good news is that with food, toiletries, paper goods, etc. you will use it....and you will have saved a bundle by not purchasing it just when it's needed. When couponing, you only purchase when it's on sale and only if you have a coupon. You also purchase as many as you can when prices are at their lowest so it pays to know what the normal price is and what is the lowest price you can get it during normal sales.

For instance, I know that my brand of coffee is priced at 8.99 and usuallyl will go on sale for 5.99 (very rarely at 4.99) so when I recently found a sale for 2.50 for half the amount (would've been 5.00 for same size) but with a .75 cent coupon, I ended up with a savings on the lowest price for my normal size. I had enough coupons to purchase 15 bags which will last us for nearly a year...for only $27.00.

Now you're gonna ask how I had enough coupons for 15 bags...well, I get more than one paper. I had 5 inserts and there were .75 cents off one bag and 1.50 off 2 bag coupons so I was able to get 15 bags. Usually, I would have 5 coupons for sale items and if there is a sale and coupon that saves me 50% or more, I will use all 5 coupons and that is how you build your food storage quickly. My kids know that I will not by anything that is not on sale and does not have coupon except on rare occasions that the sale itself is good or if it's an item that typically has no coupons (milk, meats, fresh produce).

You can use your search engine to look for video's on coupon organizers, stockpiling, LDS or Mormon women food storage, etc. and you will find lots of information on how to do these things.

Here is my favorite coupon site http://www.couponmom.com/

Getting Started With Food Storage

Getting started seems very overwhelming but it doesn't have to be. Just follow these simple rules and you will be on your way.

First:

You should get a 3-ring binder, atleast 1" (or use of the kids old binders). This is where you will begin to keep your notes, inventory, goals, etc. As you continue to add to the binder, you will probably need a few binders...one for foods (inventory, goals, shopping lists, etc.), one for how-to info (making rain barrels, potato barrels, aquaponics, compost potty, etc.), gardening and whatever else you can think of. You may want to invest in lots of printer paper and ink because once you get going...you'll be the printing queen (or king.)

Secondly:

Make a two-week calendar and list each breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks that your family enjoy's over the course of two weeks. Be very specific as this will help identify the things YOU should store. For instance, my two-week calendar has spaghetti twice (in emergency situation, spahetti is easy, minimal ingredients, with/without meat) so I know that I use an 8oz noodles, 1 can tomato paste, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1/2 - 1lb of meat (optional and may not exist in emergency), spices and bread. So I know if I'm eating spaghetti every week, I need 26 1lb boxes of noodles, 52 cans of tomato paste, 52 cans of diced tomatoes, spices and bread ingredients.

After you've made your menu calendar, make a list of all ingredients needed to make each meal and then determine how much of each item would be needed to feed you for one year. Now...you do not have to go out and purchase a years supply of food (that should be your mid-term goal). Once you know how much you need for a year, divide by four and you'll have your 3 Month Goal.  This will be a short term goal.

Calculators:

There are many calculators out there that will help figure out how much of each item is needed per adult and per child in your home. This is fine and good to help you get started but most feel that they will be storing for family members and friends who have not yet caught on. The calculators are a good place to start though because you need to get enough for you own household first.

Check out this calculator used by the LDS (Ladder Day Saints/Mormon's). I'm not a Mormon but I realize that they have been practicing this a long time and they have much more experience to share than my born again Christian family. I appreciate their wisdom in this area and look to them for much guideance...so THANK YOU.

Click here to use the calculator http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm?p=1

Short Term Goals:

Bug-Out-Bag (BOB) or go bag - usually with a 3-day supply. This bag would be used to grab in case of evacuations, emergency situations where you need to get to another location and it could be used as your car bag/get home bag. If an emergency happens while you are at work, out shopping, etc. and you were not able to get home via your vehicle...this bag allows you to grab it and have emergency supplies available for your trip home or to your BOL (bug-out-location)(which hopefully you will consider next.) BOB's should include food, water, first aid, money and defense (knife, gun).

2-Week Food Supply - simply put, it's enough foods to sustain your family for a minimum of 2 weeks. This is short term emergecy such as an ice storm that knocks out power and where you may not be able to get to the store. And even if you could...there is probably not much left at the store.  The 2-week supply should include enogh water and enough food to make a 2-week stay comfortable and managable. A 2-week supply is NOT enough for major emergencies! Most families have less than a weeks worth of food in their cupboards or pantries...an even less water. You must know what food you have and how long you can make it last in order to provide for your family.

3 Month Food Supply - if you followed the first 3 steps then you made your two-week menu plan and determined your 3 and 12 month food needs. You need to take these small steps so that you don't end up with a years supply of spaghetti and nothing else. Work towards the 3 month goal then on to 6 months and a then a year. It won't take you long.

Mid Term Goals

Food: You should work on getting a year's supply of food. This is very important! If something drastic happened in this country that caused an interruption in gas, food production, food transportation, etc. you need to ensure that your family will not starve to death. During the great depression, most families were still farming and there were over 7 million people who starved to death. Today, we have a much greater population with little to no farming in each family...can you imagine how many people are going to die. Store's do not store foods in their warehouse to sustain all the people in their area's for any length of time. Their warehouses would be wiped clean in a matter of hours...and if you make it out of the store...you may not make it out of the parking lot with your food.  This should be the minimum of food in your home for disaster preparation.

Long Term Goals

LTS (Long Term Storage)

This is after you have identified and gathered your short and mid term goals. LTS is food, first aid, defense, etc., that will sustain you for 5-10+ years. Dry goods, packaged properly can be kept for up to 20-30 years, depending on the item. These are mostly pantry items that our grandparents and great-grandparent always had on hand. If you have flour (wheat), sugar, oil, corn, beans, oats, milk powder...you can make so many things. I have created a "from scratch" binder that will allow me to make all the basic food (bread, cornbread, muffins, pancakes) as well as many treats that would keep our family happy (pretzels, poptarts, pies).

Though I am far from having any long term storage to speak of, I know that it is my next goal. I could not feed my family for 5 yrs right now but I know I need to focus on that next.

WHY ALL THE FUSS?

For those who are still skeptical of storing food because you believe nothing will ever cause this nation to fall into despair...please look around at what is going on in this country and others. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cJNEeI-lFM  -  video's that show footage of the tent cities in this country - people who never dreamed months ago that they'd be living in a tent, having lost their jobs and all of their possessions. I'll tell you this...I have another goal and that is a pop-up camper (easy transport, compact, cheap).

What if nothing ever happens? One thing we can be sure of is that prices seldom come down. Yea, we have sale prices and occasionally there is a reduction in cost of specific items (ie, milk products 2009) but for the most part, prices rise. Inflation is just a natural occurence. Having put back food storage, you may save your family tons of money over the coming years as food prices rise. We saw what happened with corn prices when it was decided to use our food source as a fuel source. We rely on other countries to provide many of our foods today...not something I'm happy about for a variety of reasons.

Food Storage is something that you have control over. Unless the government comes knocking, looking for hoarders or unless you are taken out by roving mobs looking for food (which is all conspiracy junk-right) then food storage is something that you can do.