Food storage. At the beginning of the journey, it’s not uncommon to feel like you instantly need everything.
Fear sits there whispering in one ear. And your budget screams back in the other. Eventually it goes on long enough that you do nothing. Inaction and stress keep you from moving forward.
Part of the problem comes down to what you need on the shelf vs this picture of freeze dried perfection we see all around. But if you never eat the food, now you have piles of waste. Sure, it may take 10 years (or more) to expire, but are you really wanting to invest hard earned money into something you will throw away?
Instead of going crazy with pre-packaged foods, start simple. A bag of noodles here, a can of corn there. A few dollars a month can move the needle and build a useful food storage.
Instead of trying to carve out $100s each month, taking it away from other needs, start small. A budget of $5 can do some amazing things. Even in this crazy inflation age.
The simplest efforts turn into much large gains with time and patience. This is true of anything you do on a homestead. You rarely start out with everything exactly how you want it.
Food storage is no different. In time, you might be able to stock more. And you may just find out that you absolutely hate eating the same canned corn day after day and switch to green beans đŸ˜‰
The point is something is better than nothing. It’s not a race to see who can stock the most. It’s a journey to prepare your family for whatever may come.
Set a small budget, live within your means, and shop the sales. Eventually you will go from tomorrow’s dinner to next month’s options. And that’s when true peace will start to fall into place.
$5 a week becomes $260 a year. Or at our local Walmart prices, 20 boxes of noodles, 48 cans of vegetables, 12 cans of chicken, 24 cans of tomatoes, 5 boxes of dehydrated potatoes, 4 jars of peanut butter, 8 jars of jam, 100lbs of flour, 8lbs of sugar, 1 jar of yeast, and 1 bottle of olive oil.
That’s not a bad start for a single year of saving a little extra change. Or for the coffee drinkers, one less Starbucks every week.
It’s time to make your food storage a reality.