Food Storage Update

(This post refers to an earlier food storage post)

I love couponing! I didn't realize just how much I would enjoy trying to find bargains. I'm such a penny-pincher that I should have known it would be right up my alley.

My concerns in the start included (1) buying things that I normally wouldn't buy just because I had a coupon and (2) having to make several trips to different grocery stores in order to catch the sales. After a few weeks' experience, I think these concerns are still valid, but I'm able to justify them a bit more. I am buying things I normally wouldn't buy, but if I could get them for the deals I'm getting, then I would buy them on a regular basis. For example, Matt loves sugar cereals. I didn't grow up on sugar cereals so I don't care about eating them now. I will buy them from time to time for Matt, but typically don't buy them on a regular basis because they're expensive. However, there have been some really good cereal coupons that match up with sales, so I've stocked up so Matt can enjoy his Trix and Frosted Mini Wheats. :o) I went to 3 grocery stores last week, but I made sure that I went when I was already running errands in that general direction. I have my coupons organized before I go in and know exactly what I want to buy, so generally my grocery shopping trips are pretty quick.

I just find such a thrill in being able to get the most for my money. There is lots I still have to learn (I haven't gotten on the Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy kick that other couponers seem to enjoy due to great bargains), but I'm enjoying the learning process. Some of my better deals include: Breyers ice cream (an expensive brand) for 99 cents, Kraft Mac n' Cheese for 38 cents each (stocking up on food storage), 10 Kool Aid packets for free, BBQ sauce for free (even though I prefer my family's homemade recipe I couldn't pass it up b/c it was free), and floss for free. Couponing can be time-consuming (although I usually do couponing when I'm watching TV), but I have the time right now, so I don't mind.

I haven't made any progress on canning, however. I thought my canned chicken that I made in an Enrichment class tasted slightly better than the canned chicken you buy in the store, so I can't decide if it's worth all the time and effort of canning yet.

We're making good progress with our food storage. After creating my list of meals for 3 months, tabulating all the ingredients etc., and taking inventory of what I have in my home, I learned that I still have a long way to go on having my 3 month supply of food that is recommended by our church leaders. I am fixating on 1 or 2 items a week and stocking up until I have a 3 month supply of those items. Hopefully we'll have it all ready by the end of the year. We did finish our 72 hour kits, which was another thing we had procrastinated.

We're really proud of our progress in general, and I'm just so glad we're finally doing it. I feel like a huge weight is being lifted off my shoulders!

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Food storage has always been one thing I am very uninterested in and have had a lazy attitude towards. I knew it was something I needed to do, but I kept putting it off. It seemed such an overwhelming project to take on to try to build a year supply of food! Every time hurricane season came around here in Texas, I would feel guilt, guilt, and more guilt as food storage was a topic that was hit hard. Then hurricane season would pass, nothing would be mentioned about food storage, and I would once again put it from my mind. I was very grateful when church leaders altered the goal to 3 months. Finally something that felt doable! So in the last year or so we've worked up what I thought was a 3 months supply of food. Feeling pretty good about ourselves, mentally checking off this goal, food storage had again been pushed to the wayside.

In the recent months, however, I've been feeling that we still need to do more and it needs to be our main focus right now (painting rooms in the house etc. can wait). I have had the opportunity to attend several classes through my church about topics I needed more knowledge on. One class was about the importance of food storage in general. The speaker really put people in their place about the excuses we all use to not start food storage. I thought some of her best comments in that regard were if we can manage to go out to eat, go to movies, get our nails and hair done, etc., then we can afford to start our food storage. It's all about priorities. The class was so good and gave the extra push of motivation Matt and I needed.

So, here's how Matt and I have started. I confessed to Matt that the responsibility of food storage seems to fall on women's shoulders, but it was something that was too overwhelming for me to take on by myself. So we first took an inventory of what we have. Then I put Matt in charge of finding/building places to store our added food storage. We've worked together to come up with menu ideas and the actual food that we need to build up, and I'm in charge of watching for sales and doing the actual shopping. For Family Home Evening one night, we sat down together and came up with a week's worth of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts, and snacks for our family of 3 right now. We then multiplied it by 12 weeks for our 3 months. As I started tabulating all the ingredients and converting them to how I'm going to buy in bulk, I realized that we are not even close to having a 3 months supply of food like I thought we did. We have a 3 months supply of some meals, but not everything.


As a part of my task of shopping, I am finally jumping on the band wagon of shopping with coupons. Two of the websites I use to print coupons are couponmom.com and coupons.com. I like these websites because I don't have to register (a lot of online coupon sites require this, and it makes me uncomfortable to fill in personal information!). We have also started requesting the Sunday Chronicle for the coupons located there. One of my biggest hang-ups about coupons is that it requires shopping for deals at more stores instead of doing all my shopping at one store, Wal Mart. I also think that when people use coupons, they buy stuff they normally wouldn't buy just because they're getting a deal. So they may save $1 on an item, but they still spent $2 more than they normally would have spent! I'm going to really focus on using coupons for stuff I already buy. I decided that I am going to try the 1 month trial of the grocery game, since I know some friends that really like it, after I build up my supply of coupons (I hear the grocery store deals usually match up to coupons from 1 or 2 weeks ago). As you can tell, I am quite the novice when it comes to couponing! I attended a class about 6 months ago, but it sounded so overwhelming as the two teachers said it is their second job...after the kids go to bed, they do their couponing. That's another concern: I don't want it to take up so much time! I would love advice from any expert couponers out there!!!

Finally, I am looking more into canning. I attended a meat canning class through my church where I canned some raw chicken. It looks really nasty, but I'm making it tonight in a casserole to see if canning meat and chicken is something I'm interested in doing for our storage. (It would sure make things easier as far as not having my freezer full of chicken and beef.) I don't enjoy storebought canned chicken in my cooking! Hopefully home canning will taste better. We shall see!

I can't tell you the amazing feelings of peace and joy through the small progress we've made so far. It just feels good to be doing something towards being prepared for the disasters that lay ahead. Other progress we've made: we went ahead and purchased some can rotater shelves (not necessary, but helps with organization), and I finally went and did some bulk canning at the store house through our church. Now it's time to start making wheat bread (I'm going to a class on that this week)!

There is still much more information that I need to glean from those more knowledgeable than I (maybe some herb and vegetable gardening?), but I'm becoming excited about this project of food storage. It helps that my sister and sister-in-law are becoming more educated about it too so we can all share our knowledge and do it together!