A Little Extra

I wrote the bulk of this article a couple of years ago.  As of today, the coronavirus is spreading.  It might amount to nothing, or it could get out of control and has the potential to kill millions.  The only safeguard is to hunker down and wait it out.  If you don’t have food and other supplies set aside, you might be forced to go looking for resources when you really don’t want to.  I urge you to be wise and prepare.  If it’s not this particular virus, with our interconnected world, it will be another.

This is what I wrote a few years ago:

Here is something a little different than the normal post.  A few weeks ago, I was helping my wife grocery shopping.  I noticed that the store was having a temporary sale of Progresso soup.  You can price the soup at this location or others anywhere from $1.70-$2.50 a can.  The sale price was $.89-.95 a can depending on the type.  Plus, there was a stack of buy 3 get $1.00 off instore coupons.  So, you would spend approximately $.62 a can.

I am a big believer in setting aside -- storing extra food and other equipment and necessities.  If you don’t already, I urge you to start to put some away for a day of need.  Just think of some of the events of this past year in our country.  Hurricanes and fire have hurt and displaced thousands alone.  It doesn’t have to be anything as extreme.  If you experience a job loss, but have food storage, it is a great relief to know at least you and yours can eat.  The point of this article isn’t to give you reasons why you should store a little extra, but to encourage you to do so.  Also, to give you a couple of suggestions on easy ways to do it.  

First, there are a lot of companies and ways to buy bulk food storage.  Sure, that’s swell, but probably not the best place to start.  I suggest starting with the nonperishable food that you already eat.  When you need 2 cans of corn, buy 3.  When you get spaghetti, buy some extra.  Create a pantry in your home.  Stock the pantry with these items.  Start small, save enough for a week, then two weeks.  As your pantry grows, make sure to rotate and use the food you’re storing.  

When you approach food storage this way, you can save money in the long run.  Take the example I started this article with.  Progresso is good soup.  At that price, I grabbed another cart and spent a little under $90 on soup.  I got 145 cans.  Another food item we use is rice.  We have bulk rice stored in a few different ways.  Even with my large family, a couple of cans of soup poured over rice can make a filling meal.

 As your food storage grows, see where you can start adding to it to make it more well-rounded.  Protein is a good example.   Most of us just get fresh meat from the store as needed.  Start buying canned fish, chicken, and other meat.  Fruit is another example where we usually buy fresh.  Start supplementing by storing some canned varieties.   Spices and condiments are also good things to start to save at this point.  

After you start to build up a supply, something else to consider is how and where you are storing it.  I’m a big believer in diversity.  We have stuff in their original cans, 5-gallon buckets using the dry ice method, number 10 cans, Mylar bags, glass mason jars (dying art of home canning) and others.  Say you store your food in different locations, food in a pantry, bulk food in a cool dry basement, and some in 5-gallon buckets buried in the back yard.  Now, if your home burns to the ground, you still have food from the buckets safe underground.  If you need to evacuate immediately due to a nuke plant going bad (lots of those on the east coast) grab some stuff from your pantry as you are heading out the door.  Get snowed in and without power for a week, that food in the basement is very reassuring. 

The point is to encourage you to put some extra away while you can.  You can do it in a fairly simple and cost-effective manner. 

Thanks for reading,

Jared

Again, I urge you to start now while there are an abundance of resources and options.  Things are still incredibly cheep and easy to obtain.  Even if the current concern over the coronavirus ends up being for nothing, which it probably will, you will have a greater peace of mind by being better prepared.  Don’t wait until there is a panic.