It’s real circumstances that have happened in our home that have given us a bit more wisdom and thought behind keeping a stocked pantry and extra supplies around.
I normally keep a second pantry with overflow items, but not enough that we would have enough food to last for an extended period of time. We watched last year as the stores began limiting items.
We have a large family and those kind of rations wouldn’t ever be enough if we were in a bind. So, once the supply picked back up a little bit, we began to wisely prepare our home and pantry.
When you are responsible for children and animals, you don’t have the luxury of not preparing. Better to be prepared than to be wishing you had extra food on hand in case of an emergency.
Think through a cool and dark place where you could store your extra items. A few ideas would be: – Under beds – In the back of closets – At the top of a closet – In the corder of a room
DESIGNATING A PLACE TO STORE EXTRA ITEMS
– 5 Gallon Food Grade Buckets: these are excellent for storing your wheat berries, rice and dried beans in. – Pantry Containers: I love using these in my pantry to keep everything sealed up.
STORAGE CONTAINERS
One of the things I want to encourage is that you purchase items that your family will end up using. Don’t go out and buy cans of food that you’ll never end up eating.
PURCHASING JUST WHAT YOU WILL USE
Rotate your supply: every few months go through your items and make sure everything is still up to date.
KEEPING YOUR STOCKPILE UPDATED
Realistically, I like to have 2-3 months of food on hand at all times.
How long do you want to prepare for?
It does take extra money to get your stockpile of items built up. You can either do it all at once or you can add a little bit here and there over time.
How much money do you want to invest?