In another post, HillBilly mentioned it took him several trips (I forget how many) to get stocked for 3 mos supplies.
Just wondering, out of those who feel they are pretty much ready (except for a few last-minute items) how many trips did you have to make to the stores and back (approximately?)?
and/or: how long did you spend doing it? (eg., one month, two weeks?)
I’m more the few items at a time, or a bag, at the most Costcos and a few boxes. For me three months since I’m not a real prepper, just one doing it because it could well be a real disaster and I’de be a fool not to. Noone would think I was prepping to see my purchases, but I’m just one person so don’t need that much.
I completed the majority of my preps on line. I live far away from everything and it is much more simple for me to shop off the internet. I began during the Turkey outbreak and feel fairly comfortable that my family of four could survive for about six months. I made a lot of large orders from various places to accomplish my goal. I would still have to finish off my preps by topping off propane tanks, gasoline barrels, and last minute perishable items from the small local grocery store. I have no idea how long it would take to physically buy all this stuff if I had to go to it instead of it coming to me.
Similar thread today at current events http://tinyurl.com/edr95
Only a half dozen or so if you are talking grocery items. But it take a while for crank radios, solar pannels, krill lights, water filtering systems, inverters, and so one. Those are mostly UPS/ on line things.
So far I am just buying non-food items I know don’t “expire” and that I will use anyway… so, yes, I’m being a bit sluggish relative to many here when it comes to prepping.
But so far I’ve made at least three shopping trips for buying toiletries, first aid supplies, etc.
I think I’m waiting to see a sharp rise in the number of countries with human cases (whether fatal or not). Still waiting to see updates on Egypt and Azerbaijan.
I have been prepping since 1997, and am no where near complete. Can I SIP for 3 months? Sure. But if most people are SIPing for 3 months, there will be bigger issues than BF. And I’m no where near ready for that….nor do I think anyone is….
nawty
What bigger issues do you refer to, Nawty?
(if you’ve posted these elsewhere, just let me know which thread… don’t mean to rehash old ground)
Economy…Food Supply Chain…Utilities…Civil Unrest
To name a few off the top of my head.
nawty
How many trips depends on just what you think you are facing. If you prepare along the guidelines discussed in the Syetmatic Preparations thread, you should make:
So, I would say that a minimum of 6 or 7 rational trips to get it all in and get it right. Most of us have stretched it over much longer and have taken the time to fill in the forgotten corners of the preps as they come up.
If you are also planning for the end of civilization as we know it, Mad Max at Thunderdome and The Night of the Living Dead all rolled up into one family adventure, then you will need additional trips and time to buy the hand gund, shotguns, rocket launchers and farm implements you will need for that eventuality as well.
I’d say the answer for this thread’s question is similar to the old “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?” I bet for most folks they take four or five licks (trips), then just say to heck with it and bite to the center and get the good stuff;-)
If you don’t have enough money to “take a bite” then just keep on a lickin, you’ll get there eventually.
The stocking up process for me has been going on for 4 months now, with some major “stock up” shopping trips involved. I probably have enough to survive comfortably for about 4–5 months, I could even push a year with teh rice & beans I have stocked up. But the time consuming thing for me is the rest of the stuff…the survival stuff, and medicines. Mainly because of the huge amount of researching involved to find out what would best suit our needs in both a pandemic, as well as civil unrest situation.
A lot of that stuff can be bought online though, and it is much easier.
It’s a lengthy process (stocking up). But what’s the alternative?
Let me preface this with the fact my retreat is on a lake with 500 miles of shoreline. Fish and water from the lake, and deer from the woods are part of my expected diet and I’m prepping for 15 people for a one year quarantine.
I have made at least 8 trips of about 150 dollars in goods each and feel I’m about 1/3 to 1/2 done.
Here is a partial list:
I completed my prepping in a leisurely fashion over the course of six months.
Non-grocery items came from online shopping. Grocery items of canned and dried foods amounted to perhaps one weeks worth of food per person/per shopping trip (a bit difficult for me to calculate, since I only bought each product in quantity whenever the local supermarket put it up as a sale item — roughly a 40% savings off normal retail price).
In practice, two or sometimes three weekly shopping trips each carrying home one double-paper bag (I walk everywhere; I own no car)of ± 25 lbs of food stocked my normal weekly shopping plus prepping.
My completed inventory provides food, water storage, cooking fuel, masks, and etc survival stuff for myself for seven months; same for my girlfriend and one close friend for three months each; and basic food for my four neighbors for one month each if they need it (each box of one months basic food for the neighbors cost me, incidently, under $15 — roughly 48 cents per day).
All of it is stored out of sight and out of the way in a 450 square foot urban efficiency apartment.
I have only started in the last few weeks. I pick up some things at the store when I’m there for regular items, one “special trip” to the drug store, one HUGE Costco run and one HUGE Target run today. Oh yea, a few things from the hardware store too. I already carry more-than-neccessary on some items anyway because I hate to run out of them (TP!) but alos our closest store is far away so it’s a hassle to go more often. I still have a ways to go but I’d say I’m 90% of the long-shelf-stability imtes (Canned goods, pasta, medical supplies) but am waiting a bit for some things that have a shorter life-span like cereals, crackers. I plan to but an extra freezer soon and will load it with meats, frozen fruit and veggies, etc. as things “heat-up” but not full SHTF - if we know when that is!
The short answer is too many to count because I preped over a years’s time.
It can not be done all at once.
The average person goes to the grocery once a week and fills up the cart. The average family eats out several to many meals each week. The average family makes speacial trips to the grocery during the week to get needed items. The average family uses water from the tap for various uses.
Imagine for 1 week you had to get all food, water and other supplies using only 1 trip to the store and not being able to leave the house that week. How full would your cart or carts be?
Now multiply this for amount for each week needed “to stock” while buying supplies to be used immediately each week simultaneously.
Old prepers will tell you it takes time, money and a probably a complete reorganization of your house to fit it all in. (as in any work project it takes 10 times more than what you thought it should in time money and effort)
That’s why we want you to start now. You’ll hit the major stuff first and expand as needed.
bump
So far I’ve spent at least two months prepping, have probably spent close to 800 dollars now, and I still only really have about 3 months’ worth of non-food preps, plus one bug-out bag.
I’ve probably made at least 7 distinct trips.
I’m a daily food shopper, a habit I picked up when I was in Europe. Since I also live alone and work at home, I need to get out once a day and see other people. I pick up a couple of extra things with every trip.
Now that I’m 7 months into this prep stuff, my opinion is that it requires infinite trips until you think you’re finished. There is always something else that you decide you need to include as you spiral up from 2 weeks to The End of the World.
Actually, I think you can do a passable job in 4 or 5 trips if your needs and goals are modest. Raving lunatics like myself are always after the next, improved, sub-atomic nebulator with automatic molecule sorter. Those puppies are expensive.
Eccles,
Do you have an on-line source for one of those improved sub-atomic nebulators? I’ve always wanted one of those suckers.
I suspect many of us are way underestimating how much food to store. Four cans of food per person is a minimal day’s worth (Can of fruit for breakfast. Can of vienna sausages at lunch. Can of chili and can of vegies for dinner) So a family of four needs 16 cans a day. To stay home for three weeks (21 days) is 336 cans — and that is eating very lightly.
A hundred lbs of flour sounds like a lot — but it’s not if you are baking your own bread — it might be just a month’s worth. And you need yeast, at least powdered eggs and baking soda/powder to go with that flour. Sobering thoughts . . .
Melanie- I COULD give you the link. But then you might be tempted to overspend on it. Besides, the misuse of one of those could cause all kinds of mischief, like time running backwards or some such.
Peers around corner of computer to see if she’s buying this load of…
I was thinking about that today when I got stuck in traffic due to roadworks. I have always maintained a large well-stocked pantry in part because we’ve lived outside the city for the past 20 years. There is something in me that makes me feel uncomfortable if there isn’t food on hand. We go out for brunch on Sundays and other than that we eat everything at home. So it takes a lot of food. But in the past 3 months I have literally shopped everyday but Sunday. Looking for deals, searching isles wondering what treasure I might find in one of 5 food stores I shop at. What could be kept long term, how can I make meals interesting using non-refrigerated items, how can I keep protein and carbs in balance, how can I maintain my weight loss program ( 2 years and counting) etc. So I would say that we have a year’s supply on hand if we don’t have a lot of people knocking on our door and to buy all of that it has taken 90 trips. I would average 6 bags of items each trip. Actually I’m sick of doing this shopping just carrying everything into the house and then organizing it all. I have a basement pantry that has heavy duty shelving - it’s almost the size of the small corner convenience store of yester year. Time to input more info into my computer spreadsheet so I can track inventory. Glad I have experience with our previous business managing inventory. I track what’s on hand, supplier (and alternatives), backorders or “not on the shelf this week”, what was used up when, what I then consider minimum stocking levels, what I consider maximum stocking levels. etc. I need to work on some of this yet. This is going to be a new industry for the home.
Well……..I’ve maintained a ‘sort of’ pantry since 1999, & I would use out of it then replenish with more stuff, not always the same thing.
I try to keep foods that we eat daily, like breakfast cereals, cookies, etc. and what I call Saturday meals — microwaveable Dinty Moore or Hormel microwave entrees that don’t have to be refrigerated — things that we can grab & heat quickly (can boil in a pan of water heated with Sterno if there’s no power).
Then I have ‘the power’s going to be out all weekend’ type foods — that’s where all the flour & Bisquick & canned foods come in.
And then there’s the long term freeze dried, etc. stuff & the buckets & the vacuum-sealed things I’ve put up.
I went today to Walmart & spent $300 (on the charge card) all of it for canned food, shelf storable milk, large bags of rice I’ll vacuum seal, instant packaged foods, and a small car-lighter-operated mimi- frigerator that also heats.
Then I went to Big Lots & got some canned goods, a Coleman car-lighter-operated inflater for air mattresses, tires, etc. for $24 and 2 big orange Rubbermaid coolers shaped like a round hassock — like football teams turn over on their coaches (I guess, there’s a picture of someone doing that with one of them on the label) for $24.99 because they appear to stack well & hold 7 gal each. The WalMart 7 gallon things are cheaper, but I’m afraid they wouldn’t stack well like these since they’re only 1 thickness of plastic. Anyway, those things ran my bill up some so I ended up charging about $180.
Then I went to Publix (chain store here) and got their weekly loss-leaders (BOGO products) and dropped another $150, on more canned goods, more milk, more grits, more flour, more rice, etc.
THEN I went across the street to the Winn Dixie (another chain) and spent about $250 I think it was on their loss leaders which included a TON of their store brand gravy and seasoning packages, MORE shelf milk, MORE rice, chocolate bars, peanuts, spaghetti pasta, beans (got those at the other places too) and so on. Some of it is still in the car tonight! The rest is piled up in our guestroom taking up about 1/4th of the room!!! I’ll end up spending all day tomorrow organizing it — I’ve NEVER spent this much at one time & it’ll probably take longer than 1 day to organize it in a useable way.
I just dread it if this movie tomorrow night has ANY affect on either shopping habits of other people, or the price of certain goods!!! This way I have a ‘before the movie’ price on basic staples & I can check that against the ‘after movie’ prices.
I may not live to see whether we have a bird flu pandemic or not — my HUSBAND’S going to kill me!
5 trips with our pick up -loaded the bed full. Ive grabbed stuff while I was out a near a store. Ive fully loaded my car at least 4 times. It takes a lot more time and trips than one would imagine. We ended up buying three large storage cabinets just to get some order. So we would know what we had what we used and needed replacing ect….
People who are not preparing ahead expect to get adaquate supplies at the last minute in one trip? Not gonna happen.
How many trips? I have shopped just for preps and along with my weekly runs. Sometimes I think the research to decide what to buy is more time consuming. I spent about 2 hours just yesterday orderng on line. This whole thing is very time consuming.Last minute no way! That is a dream world for sure.
Prepping Gal—I think about this in traffic too—infact I was thinking yesterday I don’t listen to the radio anymore, I find myself thinking about what I don’t have in prepps!! I would be interested in what system ( on the computer)you use to track your supplies.
Who was already prepping specifically for panflu before encountering the FluWiki? (who has seniority here?;)
After months of randomly buying extra’s, storing them in a steel cabinet and knowing I won’t be home but at the hospital, I’ve decided to purchase large rubbermaid type containers with lids that can hold 1/2 wk - 1wk’s worth of menu items, and label week 1, week 2, etc. - same approximate contents in each container for the first 8 weeks. Going to fill up 8 of these babies so my husband can just pull one out of the basement at a time. I think will help with rotation of stock. Thoughts? anyone done this?
Erm…GhostRN: you’re not my mother by any chance are you?
(I’ve been wondering if it is time for another steel cabinet…)
GhostRN - that’s actually a very good idea. I too used Rubbermaid containers to store mine but put all the soup together, all the pasta together, etc. The thing I like is if I have to evacuate for a hurricane I can grab as many containers as I can fit in the vehicle and have some variety instead of having 2 containers that are all soup.
I did the bulk of my shopping in 1 trip to Sam’s. Two carts, two cars, two people - $750 for approx 90 days (not including water). Now that I have that safety net I am more slowly working on menus, non-essential items, things to make it easier. The only thing I consider essential for SIP is water, food (and the ability to prepare it), hygiene items, and defensive capability (be it whatever you feel comfortable with).
I did about two weeks worth of research before going to Sams and in the end went aisle to aisle picking stuff pretty randomly by what I liked and expiration dates. I still think having a plan is necessary for last minute preppers.
sn – at 13:18 - “and basic food for my four neighbors for one month each if they need it (each box of one months basic food for the neighbors cost me, incidently, under $15 — roughly 48 cents per day).”
If you wouldn’t mind, could you list what is in the boxes? I’ve been struggling with the idea of doing this but haven’t been able to get away under $100 and that only includes a little water.
I agree wholeheartedly with all above re: effectively going out for a “last minute 3-month stock-up” is fantasy when/if it hits. I think that many of the folks I’ve talked to out there who think that they can do that (or a last minute 6-month stock-up, etc.) can only think that because they haven’t yet tried to do the first month’s worth of stocking. This has taken way more time than I would’ve ever thought. I actually laughed when I read the title of this thread and thought that it would be easier for me to try to calculate how many times in the last six months I’ve been to the grocery and have **not** bought a prep item.
By the way, Love Texas at 1:12 above: Your question was to someone else, but this might be similar/helpful. I keep my preps inventoried with an Excel file (with backup). Columns have quantity (e.g., 2), item description (e.g., Pinto Beans, Bush’s Best, 15oz can), General category (e.g., Food, Medicine, Cleaning, etc.), Sub-category (e.g., Vegetable-beans, Vegetable-green, Beverage-dairy, Pain/fever reduction-ibuprofen), Expiration date (e.g., 12/13/08), and location (e.g., under guest bed). It’s sort of involved to do at start-up but allows you to sort your items quickly (using the Data/Sort By function in Excel) by Type (e.g., “Wow, I sure have bought a lot of green beans but no yellow/orange veg…why do I have so many canned peaches?) or (more importantly sometimes) by expiration date to see what needs to be rotated (which is where the description comes in handy once you get up to several hundred cans of stuff to try to rotate). Anyway, thought this might be germane to the above comments on inventory control. Once you get over the initial hump of typing things into the file, it’s an easy system to use and update, especially if you (like me) have to store preps in lots of different places.
Happy prepping to all. Galt
It will also take longer if you are not prepping on a regular basis…. like me, right now, I can’t prep on an every other day basis. Right now I’m maybe prepping once a week or once every two weeks, because of time schedules etc too.
Galt—Thanks for the input on excel—I like the idea of a location column:) Then I might could find the stuff. I guess the expiration date is almost the most important. I don’t want to have things go bad.
n+1 minimum.
A prepper, no mater how much they have prepped will always want to get at least more of one more thing.
ricewiki – at 01:18 I was prepping way before I found Fluwiki- but not with as much determination and drive as I have now.
On the rubber maid containers - we have been tossing around the idea of prepositioning some things at our cabin in the mountains “just in case”. We don’t really have plans to bug-out, but you never know. What size containers are you all using? I had in mind things like canned pasta sauce and dry pasta, Just add water type things, some toiletries and our sleeping bags (we only ever use them there anyway) and some pillows and towels and other little do-dads we might need.
Cinda - I bought the 66 quart and 70 quart Sterilite (sp?) plastic containers at Target for my trailer. I have space limitations you may not have in a cabin.
I, too, keep canned goods, toilet paper, paper plates, etc. in my bins. I like them because they are not too heavy for me to move by myself. Just make sure you don’t put too many canned goods in them!I sort of divide the heavier stuff among the containers and then put lighter weight items on top.
Hope this helps.
I am in shock at how much I need. I finished my 28 day meal plan for four people and then multiplied it by 12 because I want to prep for 8 people for six months. Right now I’m going through the list and trying to create a usable shopping list vs. taking a list to the store and having it say things like, “200 tsp vanilla extract”, “17 cups of dried apricots, 1,000 TBS olive oil, etc.” You get the idea.
But what I was unprepared for is just how much I will have to buy. Here is a cut/paste from my spreadsheet which will, I’m sure post without any of the formatting, but it will give you an idea of the volumes of food I need to get to fulfill my 6 month plan. Many people are not planning to cook in such an elaborate way (with KathyinFl’s good recipes) and offering their families such variety, but I figure that hey, the quality of the food will be important to the crabby, housebound captives.
Keep in mind, this list is incomplete. There a lot of items that I haven’t translated into the proper equivalents yet, i.e. how many #10 cans of dehydrated carrots do I need to equate to 16 cups fresh, etc.
(66) cups dried apple slices (12) cups dried chopped apples (96) fresh apples (12) jars of artichoke hears in oil (6) 7 oz cans (2) boxes bakind soda (42) lbs banana chips (12) cups uncooked pearl barley (6) cups barley (precooked - for hot cereal) (60) cans baked pork and beans (24) cans black beans (24) cans cannelini beans (21) cups unsprouted mung beans (24) cans garbanzo beans (12) cans great northern beans (48) cans french style green beans (12) cans lima beans (60) red kidney beans (10) lbs dried red kidney beans (24) cans refried beans (12) cans three bean salad (12) cans butter beans (12) cans green beans regular (12) cans pinto beans (12) cans waxed beans (12) cans Castleberry BBQ beef 16 oz cans (12) cans Castleberry BBQ pork 16 oz. Cans (24) cans Castleberry Beef & Gravy 16 oz cans (12) cans of beer (36) jars of beets (17) 60 oz boxes of Bisquick (36) tsp chicken bouillon (12) packages bread sticks (8) cups dehydrated broccoli (156) cans chicken broth (14 oz cans) (12) cans brown bread (12) brownie mix (24) bags bugles (36) jars of almond butter 84 jars canned butter (12 oz jars) - can your own 11 #10 cans butter powder (Survival Acres - 176 TBS/can) 84 heads of cabbage - get at last minute (12) boxes chocolate cake mixes (48) boxes yellow cake mixes (36) cans carrots (12) cans baby carrots (36) jars pickled carrots (36) 1.5 oz envelopes of Knorr cheese sauce mix (132) cans of cheese (48) cans of Oregon Farms sour cherries in water (14) cans of Bing cherries 4 lbs dried cherries (60) small jars of marachino cherries (36) bags chex mix - get at last minute (12) 16 oz cans of Sweet Sue BBQ Chicken 156 cans canned chicken - 14 oz. (12) small jars chile garlic sauce (12) 4 oz cans of green chopped chiles (Mexican section( (12) cans chinese crispy noodles (Asian section) (18) bags of chocolate chips (24) hershey bars (12) jars mango chutney (84) jars clotted cream - order online (36) cans coconut milk (24) small jars coleslaw dressing (72) cans corn (36) cans creamed corn (60) boxes Jiffy cornbread mix (2) boxes of Argo cornstarch - 1 lb box (or equivalent) (12) boxes Akmak crackers (48) boxes animal crackers (24) boxes Red Oval Farms crackers (24) cans cranberry sauce (5) 3 lb cans Crisco (34) #10 cans powdered eggs (6) 32oz boxes of Swans Down cake flour or equivalent (20) 10 bags white flour (24) cans fruit juce (apple, orange, grape, grapefruit, pineapple) (24) boxes of graham crackers (96) granola bars (36) cans of canned grapes (12) ham hocks - don’t require refrigeration (96) jars dehydrated ground beef = 2 lb freh (12) boxes Hamburger Helper (168) cans of hash (9) 5lb containers of honey (12) large cans La Choy chicken chow mein (24) cans chow mein noodles (12) large cans La Choy sweet ‘n sour beef (176) cans evaporated milk (6) cups millet (precooked grain for hot cereal) (132) baby jars of Miracle Whip or mayonaise (48) boxes muffin mix (48) small cans of mushrooms - whole with stems (48) small cans of mushrooms - sliced (12) boxes Lipton Spanish Rice Mix bottles equal to 2 1/2 cups of sesame ginger salad dressing (96) 12 oz jars salsa (2) packages of Janes Crazy mixed up salt - in spices 14 lbs chorizo (Mexican sausage) - non refrigerate 40 lbs summer sausage/salami or equivalent (24) lbs Jimmy Dean sausage in tube (or equivalent) - need to dehydrate this (6) 750 ml bottles of Dry Sherry (not cooking Sherry) (48) jars or cans of Sloppy Joe mix (to mix w/ 1 lb meat) (12) cans of 7-up (24) packets of Lipton’s “Cup of Soup” - cream of chicken (24) cans Progresso Chicken with Rice Soup (12) 14 oz cans Campbell’s cream of chicken soup (12) 14 oz cans Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup (48) cans of Progresso Soup (or equiv) - 12 different kinds (12) packets of Lipton onion soup mix (12) 1.4 oz pkg. Knorr vegetable soup mix (24) large jars spaghetti sauce (3) 12 oz cans Spam (12) cups sesame seeds (72) envelopes taco seasong mix (36) 14 oz cans spinach (24) butternut squash or (96) acorn (24) boxes/bags stuffing mix (49) 2 lb bags brown sugar (3) 2 lb bags powdered sugar 60 lbs sugar - (15) 4 lb bags or (6) 10 lb bags (66) cus sunflower seeds shelled and salted (36) jars tahini (6) boxes Kraft Minute Tapioca (red box) (12) 8 oz cans tomato paste (24) cans tomato juice (24) 8 oz cans tomato sauce (96) 14 oz cans diced tomatoes (12) 14 oz cans stewed tomatoes (24) 28 oz cans whole canned tomatoes (60) bags tortilla chips ( get at last second) (36) cans tortillas (120) 7 oz cans tuna (48) cans mixed vegetables (24) bags veggie chips (4) 1liter bottles of balsamic vinegar (8) 12 oz bottles red wine vinegar (8) 12 oz bottles rice wine vinegar (48) oz white wine vinegar (18) cans water chestnuts (30) 1.4 oz packages whipped topping mix (2) 1.5 liter (jugs) red wine (2) 10 oz bottles of Worcestire sauce (12) cans zucchini in tomato sauce
This food calcultor might help you figure out how much you need and thus how many trips.
Bluebonnet - weight shouldn’t be a problem- hubby’s a good sized guy. We have a reasonable amount of storage area. The cabin belongs to hubby’s cousin also so we can’t take up too too much space though I don’t think they are planning any bug outs either. In any case it would be nice to have some extra’s down there in case we were there and TSHTF
Felicia — where do you get canned tortillas?
Felicia, my goodness, I can keep my family of 5 fed for three years on all that! What are you planning to do with 84 heads of cabbage?
Yeah, I know I may have to rethink that cabbage thing. My thought is that cabbages live forever in the refrigerator (I think I had one in there for six months and I swear it was still good if I just removed the outer leaves), so cabbage becomes a lettuce substitute. I also have cabbage as a side dish, sauteed in olive oil. But 84 heads is clearly too much - won’t leave room for anything else like apples and other long lived fruits and vegs that could be stocked up on at the last minute. This list still needs some major tweaking.
We always ate canned tortillas growing up because Mexican food was still a novelty. They came twelve corn tortillas to a can (Old El Paso I think) with slips of paper between them. We fried them quickly in oil and then shaped them before they hardened. I assume that you can still buy them, but momtojamie, if you’re having trouble finding them, then perhaps I will too.
Flourbug, I too was shocked by the quantities, but I was very scientific in preparing the list. I made a 28 day food plan and then analyzed all the ingredients you would need to make the menu for a family of four. And then because we have 8 people (well seven really), I doubled the amounts and then multipled it by six for six months worth of prep. One of the things I’m going to do is put red rubber bands on the items that are part of the menu plan to distinguish those items from other items that might be available for casual eating. For instance, if you look in the pantry and there are two cans of mandarin oranges: one with a red rubber band on it and one without, you know that you can eat the one without the red rubber band. That way, I won’t find myself without something like cashews (that might have otherwise been munched on) for a recipe.
Eccles,
I’m licensed, bonded and insured to handle the nebulator.
Everyone,
I have seniority here.
OK. But the ones I ordered have unlicensed pangalactic interrossiters, and those are very difficult to come by since the destruction of Metaluna.
And if she gets that one, I’ll have elevated Melanie to the rank of Goddess first class.
As for seniority, we have been prepping for something (undefined but assumed) since 1984. Sometimes more than others, but always pursued by this relentlessly growing pile of cr*p. Even before the avian flu business broke out, you could have pulled the plug on us and we could have gone a month or more with no discomfort. (Except maybe TP. We never really made an effort to stock TP).
Wow. Felcia that is quite a list. Makes mine look totally insufficient. But sitting down and going through what I have and still need, what would count as a meal per person, etc. is something I have been meaning to do. I am still picking up things here and there at the grocery store, especially if on sale. I’ll be hitting Costco soon to stock up my new freezer. Are you ever fully prepped? No. At some point I have to start rotating out items that are going to expire then need to be replaced. But you can reach a level of semi-preparedeness that feels like a huge weight off your shoulders. I felt better once I pulled together medecines, some stuff from the hardware store plus food items with a long shelf-life. Now I’ll start things with shorter exp. dates. The biggest help, however, is just having a plan then implementing it.
Love Texas - I’ve set it up on a spreadsheet like another person mentioned. I have a specialized program but haven’t used it because it needs it all to be done on the computer. What I want to do next is print out the spreadsheet and laminate the pages so I can do it manually and reuse the sheets. I already have a laminator at home. I liked the idea of adding “expiry date”, never thought to do that. I do the very opposite to others regarding menu planning, always have. I may refer to a recipe but I only use it for an idea. Then with that idea I see what I have on hand. My husband says eating in our house is always an adventure. I started doing this years ago when I hated not having 1 or 2 ingredients and said to myself, do it your way. It usually turns out fine except I may never make the same meal exactly the same in the future.
Felica,
If you’re willing to share your 28 day plan with us, maybe we can make recommendations to you for things you can substitute so you don’t have to keep such large quantities of things, when there’s something else that can be used instead that’s more compact. But of course it will depend on what you’re using it for as to how to work substitutions. For instance, instead of that many cabbages, could you use canned slaw instead and cut down on the fresh or was it important to have the fresh for a particular reason like nutrition or as a firm ingredient for a salad like we’d use a lettuce leaf on a plate?
Hello everyone. We too have a bug out cabin and have put about half of our preps (about 2 months worth) up there. My big fear is that we won’t be able to bug out in which case I have just lost half my preps.
Does anyone have any similar concerns about “when to bug out?”
In answer to ricewiki at 01:18, I have been prepping for emergencies since 1991, but for bird flu specifically, since 2003.
As for how many trips it takes to get prepped, well the truth of the matter is you can’t make enough of them to get fully prepared for any emergency life may throw at you. Ditto for how much reading and studying you have to do (online or in books) or how many skills you ought to learn (like gardening, food preservation, etc). But everything you do ups your odds of surviving anything you might encounter.
I feel for the people who only get to make one trip to one store (or even for those who only get to make one round of trips to a variety of stores) before some emergency like a hurricane (or BF) happens — it’s cartainly better than doing nothing, but how much better is hard to say.
Felicia, I KNOW it takes a lot of food to feed a family for a year. The whole idea is to stockpile the foods you like - with modifications to replace items that will not keep with selections that have a longer shelf life. You know, if we are all quarantined together, not able to go to work, not able to watch our favorite tv shows or get online, and stressed to the nth degree by the events keeping us isolated, FOOD is going to be a lot more important than it is now. Make your family happy, feed them foods they know and love.
Let me tell you an easy way to grow lettuce, and free up some of that fridge space. :)
Any store that has a garden department should carry something called Jiffy Trays. They are flat plastic trays divided into little compartments. Each compartment has a small round disc of encapsulated peat moss. I buy the large, 72 compartment trays that cost around $6–7. Buy several packages of lettuce seeds. There are many different varieties, usually a dollar or so per package, and because lettuce seeds are tiny you’ll have enough to do 2 trays for each package you buy. Put 2 seeds in each of the little peat moss discs. Water. Put the entire tray outside or in a sunny window, keep moist, and 3 weeks later you’ll have enough 2–3″ high leaves to make a decent salad for your entire family. I usually have a couple of trays at different stages, and just go outside and snip off a few leaves to add to sandwiches, as a base for tuna or chicken salad, etc. Since the trays are reusable, just buy 4 - 6 trays and a few dozen packages of seeds and you’ll have enough for all year.
Sam’s sells giant containers of animal crackers… one would probably be equal to the 48 boxes of animal crackers you list.
I like your idea of marking cans to let others know which they can eat and which are part of a recipe. Not that it would matter… my father’s philosophy seems to be ‘put the beer in the glass, not in the batter’. But at least I’ll have an excuse when the recipe flops. ;)
Flourbug—that’s a GREAT IDEA for lettuce!!! I’m going to start now with that plan!! THANKS!
I’ve been to the store so many times it made my heart race just to drive by…
I still need to buy two cases each of Green Giant nibblets and Del Monte french cut green beans. How long have I been saying that?
LOL.
How many trips for me, or how many for the UPS guy at work.
Felicia, When you made your meal plans do you plan on having or not having leftovers? This thinking will significantly change how much you need.
Similar to the riddle that a man can make a cigar out of five cigar butts. He has 25 cigars, how many can he smoke? answer 31
Flourbug, I really like the idea of the lettuce trays - thank you. Oremus, you’re right about the leftovers and I also think I should do a trial run of the the 28 day food plan to see what works and what doesn’t. One of the the things that’s bumping the quantities up is the fact that I’m just not sure how much some of Kathy’s menus serve. With the absence of that information, I decided to settle on “qty 4″ when, in fact, some of the recipes might really serve, for instance, six people. And if that’s the case, then I would just have to stretch it a bit to serve my seven folks. I’m also sometimes skeptical about the size of a serving. I’m a good cook and if the food tastes good, then my family will want generous helpings. No one ever leaves the table still hungry at my house. The other thing that bumped up the quantities is that I assumed there would be no electricity and in cases where I need to open a can of something that requires refrigeration, I am assuming that I would use what I needed from the can and have to discard the rest, especially if it was during hot weather. So a recipe that, for instance called for 1/2 can of refried beans would really require a full can.
I’m overdue to send my menu plan to DemFromCT along with some of the other lists I’ve created. I don’t want to send something along that is flawed which is why I’m trying to work out the kinks. But, if there is one piece of wisdom I could impart to everyone is “do the math”. Don’t look at a full larder and think you have ample stores without actually calculating how much of each item you will use during your prep duration. I’m shocked and dismayed by how much I need to get.
Felicia, you have brought up soooo many good points — let me suggest to you one thing, if I didn’t already — you can purchase a small fridge that will run off your car cigerette lighter to store leftovers in, if you don’t have ice, etc. Another thing, I’ve just recently bought a new freezer & I have certain things on the door like frozen chicken pot pies, etc., but for my prep stuff, I have wrapped each type thing in several layers of newspaper & marked it well so that if I have to open the door those items won’t lose so much cold as quickly. I have it arranged so that fast fix stuff is in front at easy reach just inside the side of the freezer where the door opens, then prep stuff is at the back far corner on every shelf where the cold seems less likely to get sucked out. Maybe that’s just silly on my part, but the newspaper does insulate very well and will keep things mighty cold for much longer than usual.
Anyway the little fridge I got was at WalMart & I plan on using it for left overs that I want to keep. When cooking for someone who’s sick, it might take them several tries before they are able to eat up an entire serving of something.
Felicia- In the event you are isolated from your normal source of supply, then your crew may just have to live with the portions you give them. They may not leave the table hungry with regard to their actual nutritional requirements, just not as full as they are used to. I don’t think any of us can afford the supplies to stuff everyone at every meal.
besides, with reduced physical activity will come reduced food requirements. You don’t want to “blimp up” the whole family, do you?
I’m-working-on-it. I’ll send you my spreadsheets assuming your e-mail address is on your profile - a second set of eyes would be great! And Laura B., slow and steady wins the race. You’re right that having a plan and working the plan is a sure way to be ready and it also has the benefit that it puts you in control. It’s “You vs. the Bugger” and if you’re steadfast, you will win! My husband actually (uncharacteristically) came to me a few months ago and said, “Thank you for getting this family ready. If we didn’t have a plan I would be reading about this potential disaster and feeling very helpless”. I suspect that many of the naysayers out there are people like us who actually have the same level of worry and concern, but who have chosen to deal with their fears in a different way. People are different. When faced with the same information some people will seek to gain control and affect the outcome and others will adopt other coping mechanisms like denial, ridicule, fatalism, etc. I’m a “fixer” - when faced with a problem, I work to find a solution. I suspect all the folks on this site are similar.
Eccles, good point! There is only one stationery bike and seven of us! I don’t necessarily think they would overeat, I just don’t want to have to be measuring out 1C portions of dinner and having them come to me and say “Please Sir, I want some more”!
Couple of thoughts on growing lettuce-you can buy, very inexpensivly, a small three tiered green house-I got mine at a Big Lots for about $20 and I set it in frount of a sunny window. I use it to start plants, but you can grow herbs, lettuce whatever. I don’t care for the plastic packs myself- I use big flat kitty litter trys-much sturdier, and cheaper. Also, If you have any outside room at all you might try a small container garden. I scavaged a cast iron bath tub from a bathroom remodle, set it against the patio wall, filled it with soil and compost and I grow lettuce, spinach (in cooler weather) radishes, a cucumber plant or two. Its amazing what you can grow in one of those! I do the cut-and-come again planting and plant somenew every month so I allways have salad greens growing there.
I also use excel for inventory. I’m so not a computer person, but all the little pieces of paper were starting to drive me nuts. My husband set it up for me. Also, he syncrinizes it somehow onto a little Palm Pilot device he gave me so I can take that with me to the shops. It also has our medical records presciptions etc on it and other info.
I also use the plastic tubs-I love them. I had been putting one kind of item in them-one for tp. for example-But I like the week one, week two idea.
It is amazing how much food we need to store! I love all the lists that people have been posting to get ideas for amounts and so one.
bumped for WatchDog
Thank you ricewiki.
I hope that I have enough time to complete my prepping. Driving away in a grocery delivery truck is not an option so I will try to step it up. I hope I have six more months to finish.
Eccles- put me on the list, right after Melanie! I need a new neutrino ray anyway (they’re still inclded on the interossiters, right?), and having one might be helpful on my job, since i dont know Spanish…
Thanks for the bump, Ricewiki. I’d have missed it otherwise, its been an age since Ive read the forums here, so I’m way behind the curve.
I’m a long-distance prepper- Ive been building my current stock slowly for about a ear. Just too expensive otherwise. Doubled it with a couple of ouch! type trips to Sams Club in thelast few months.
Just got the Revelar software www.revelar.com (usual disclaimers apply, I’m just a customer) and I think its going to help me not only organize but figure out how long it will last, and what holes I need to fill. Its just going to be a bear doing the original inventory. Next week, I guess. Ive gotta work 4 12 hr shifts in a row starting tonight, so not much will get done in the next few days.
Ditto to Green Mom’s suggestion on the $20 greenhouses from Big Lots (I have 3 and am using 2 right now to shelter warm weather plants (i.e. peppers tomatos and tomatillos) that can’t go in the ground of my vegetable garden as yet. They can be taken apart and stored in the off season very easily
Plastic windowboxes are a good place to grow lettuce, spinach, greens (like mustard & kale), radishes, carrots (the shorter 4–6″ long baby varieties) and herbs. Right now you can get seeds for all of these at Wal-Mart/K-Mart/Target/Big Lots/Lowes/Home Depot/Tractor Supply Company (if you live in a rural US area like I do, TSC is a very useful store!) It wouldn’t hurt to put some seeds away now for later growing and pretty soon they will be marked down for clearance. Just store them in a closed jar in your fridge to extend their life span.
Getting good books on gardening might help too — books on container gardening, Jerry Baker’s books (http://www.jerrybaker.com ), and any of Mel Bartholomew’s books on Square Foot Gardening all have good useful ideas for gardening in small spaces
Old thread - Closed to increase Forum speed.