How Do You Accumulate Food Storage When You Are Broke?…More Comments
I am leaving this post up for the weekend because I really feel this is an important question that we must answer. Times are getting tougher and there are so many who have never had to consider how to provide for their family during a tough time. We have more and more single moms and dads trying to raise good families. We have more and more grandparents raising their grandkids. We have more and more multi generational households combining resources to keep going. Even in these dire situations food storage and emergency preparations can not be ignored. Yes, there are times when we will just eat through what we have but as soon as there is a positive change we need to refocus on rebuilding.
I had another note from my new friend this morning and I have posted it in the comments section. It has been her experience that when she needed help all anyone wanted to do was give the kids toys. Even her family will only give toys as gifts. Yikes!! So that is the kind of help we can expect? Seems another good reason to prepare. Please read through the comments and add your own insights and advice. Now is the time to share what you have learned when your crisis can.
Yesterday’s post:
There was a huge jump in the unemployment rate last week with 500,000 people applying for unemployment for the first time. That is truly frightening to me. As I listened to the bad news this morning I received the following email from a woman who has just discovered this blog. I felt it was a good one to share with all of you and I hope you will add your suggestions for her. I know there are many more like her struggling to provide today and still prepare for tomorrow.
We are just coming out of a 3 year family financial emergency, have a bit of debt from car/home repairs (after the emergency fund died) and our long term storage is very depleted. I have one totally paid off credit card. I HATE debt of any kind and have been paying to down a best I can. I also seem to equally HATE not having a stash of long term food.
Should I use the paid off card to make a bulk order of emergency food & replace broken water containers to restore our stock before winter ( I checked & what I need to get is about $300 – this would not max out the card) or Should I wait & pay off all the debt first (it’ll take a year & half yet unless I get a wind fall from some where).
I get paid once a month so we get groceries once a month – I don’t have time (single Mom) to do a weekly grocery run to grab some cans to gradually build up since 3/4 of my monthly pay check goes to bills right now… so things get pretty thin a week or two before payday.
Note: She is 5 hours from a place where she can buy in bulk and there is one grocery store in town.
I would pay off your credit cards as quickly as possible. I do have a few suggestions for building a food storage while doing this.
First, I would start having breakfast meals for dinner at least once a week. I know Dave Ramsey says beans and rice but I like breakfast better. French toast, pancakes, waffles, even scrambled eggs and hash browns are very inexpensive and will free up grocery money to start adding food storage. If you follow my blog on Mondays I post things to purchase each week. This week was protein so add a jar of peanut butter or some tuna or beans. If you follow along you will build a stash. Just do as much as you can afford to do. If you shop once a month just keep track of what you should add each week and purchase a few things from each category each month.
Second, if you have older children get them involved and all of you save your change each night in a jar. Make it a practice not to spend your change. At the end of the month take that money and spend it on food storage. We have had as much as $40.00 in the jar in a month.
Third, shop the sales. Add items to your storage, here we call it a General Store, when they are on sale. If I suggest you get protein for example, this week look for a protein that is on sale. If there are none add veggie or fruit or grains that are and then in a grain week you can add the protein. Does that make sense? Everything goes on sale, usually every 12 weeks or sooner. Remember canned foods are good at least two years past the expiration date.
Fourth, do you know any Mormons in your area? There is a Mormon cannery in Omaha and they have great….prices on bulk long term storage foods like beans, rice, pasta and powdered milk (there is more). You don’t have to be a church member to buy from the cannery. You do have to go and can it into #10 cans or mylar pouches but most congregations make regular trips to the cannery. If you call a friend who is a member of if you call the church they would probably just bring back stuff for you when they go if you can’t get there. You can also just purchase a whole bag and put it in a 5 gallon bucket at home.
Fifth, Get the word out at work, with the kids teachers, your email list, or at church that you are looking for fruit and veggies that anyone in trying to get rid of. This is the time of the year people have too much in their gardens and on trees for their own use. Eat, can or freeze everything you can get.
Sixth, ask for gifts. Have the kids make a list of items they would like in food storage and you make a list also. Ask for that from family and friends for Christmas or birthdays. The kids will want popcorn and brownies but they should be included in a good food storage program. Comfort foods are a must!
I could keep going but that should give you a few ideas. Hopefully other readers will add more. You should know how much I admire what you are doing. Your family is very lucky to have someone who is so focused on caring for their needs.
OK everyone now it’s your turn!
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Talk with Halli: food storage and current financial outlook. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/idahotalk/2010/07/16/hfalli-friends
I am a Mormon, I volunteer at the local Home Storage Center in the Detroit area. We welcome people to the center to dry pack food, or just buy it bulk. We have everything there you would need to store food for long term.
You can see our order form for all the HSC(s) at: http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,8133-1-4352-1,00.html
i would not use your credit card. you will just be exchanging the stress of no food storage with the stress of more debt. what we did when times were tight was to take advantage of the buy one get one free sales at the grocery stores. all of the extra cans of fruits and veggies, boxes of crackers, etc. went into a special cabinet. even if its a couple of cans a month you are still doing something within your budget.
Part of an email I received this morning from the same new friend who was quoted in the blog post:
Also, to save money on electricity & food, we cook once a week – usually a huge casserole or some large crock pot item. It’s just too expensive to cook every night -when we switched to once a week over a year ago the power bill went down by about 20 dollars, the food bill went down and water bill went down too but I don’t remember how much.
There is little edible gardening in the agricultural area we’re in – it’s all mass produced grain for the grain elevators. We tried for the second year in a row to have a garden but only one lettuce & one tomato made it but we’re learning & I’m sure we’ll do better next year.
I’ll call the Mormon church about the cannery. A friend of mine is a member but she’s never answered me when I’ve asked her if she’d please take me. The church you mentioned had an emergency preparedness fair last year & they said the cannery was only open to members. Maybe that was the official answer during the fair & I’ll get a different answer if I call now. I’d give my eye teeth to be able to get in there. I’d pay for everything, it’s the access to bulk un-refined things. I can make $5 of unprocessed food last a lot longer then anything that comes in a box.
Our family & friends refuse to give anything but toys for holidays. I really wish I was joking but I’m not – they won’t even give power tools that I need to do repairs. Just toys the kids don’t need and in some cases don’t want.
It’s odd – people always want to give the kids toys as if that solves everything – several years ago my transmission dropped out on my car. My mother refused to help me unless I contacted St Vincent DePaul first for help. They had no interest in helping me with my car. All they wanted was to give the kids toys. As grumpy & scroogy as it sounds, I’m so tired of tripping on toys & finding/cleaning up the remains of broken toys that I’ve found myself scared to ask for help from anywhere lest they give us more toys. I think it must say something about modern American society but I’m not sure what…
The only other question I have is if you know any good designs for homemade can racks – my cardboard ones broke from use and I can’t get a design straight in my head for my kitchen cupboard (it’s one of those blind cavernous corner ones that goes back 12-14 inches). I tried having someone weld a metal rack up for me but they didn’t get the function of it & the cans didn’t roll.
As far as gardening is concerned check out this group:
http://MittleiderMethodGardening@yahoogroups.com
Jim is great about answering questions and so are the other members. They have lots of ideas and are always willing to answer individual questions.
I’m not criticizing any one here because we would not be here if we didn’t want to become prepared.
What is truly a conviction will lead to action. But a lot of people who are broke will not give up modern comfort or convenience– cable TV (a truly life draining addiction & there are free movies at most libraries if we must be entertained), home internet (free at most libraries), high priced cell service for every family member(option- prepaid service used sparingly-not just children texting friends), processed food or eating out (learn to cook and eat fresh food- healthier now and doctor/meds expenses will be minimized in future). In other words making choices that are good now and in the future, stretching your resources and living within your means, not necessarily going totally without. However if I were truly broke I would be going without before asking for help–someone does pay for the help and they may be going without to be able to lend a hand. Make pinching pennies a hobby and there are endless ways to save (see dollarstretcher or pinchingyourpennys sites).
If previous generations could see how soft we’ve become and how much we cling to modern conveniences– even going into debt to have them, or that we can’t plan for forseeable expenses let alone the unexpected and accumulate a contingency fund–they would just shake their heads in disbelief.
It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, we can get out of debt and use a little to plan ahead. I don’t focus on what I can’t do NOW but rather what I am able to accomplish and look forward to being able to do even more once out of debt.
Cherlynn wrote:
When we were flat broke and living in a tent trying to finish the pole barn my husband had started to live in, we prayed for a way to get food to feed us through the upcoming winter. We found lots on our property to dry or can and then all kinds of people started contacting me with their surplus items. One had an orchard and due to health problems couldn’t deal with it we canned tons of beautiful red plums and later apples and pears. Then came the squash, tomatoes and other produce. Some of the stuff we had so much it took a few years to finish it off! Just finished off all those red plums making them into fruit leather. With the Lord’s help and some hard work we did very well.
IMO – I’d sell or donate the toys!
Sometime people do things like giving toys because they aren’t sure of what to give otherwise. Then there are the ones who are only helping you because of the children and think “well, this will make the kids happy” – so wouldn’t something to eat but they don’t get that.
I agree with some of the other comments that using a credit card is not a good idea. And doing a drastic cut of entertainment for a short while to restock your stores is a good idea – but cutting all entertainment with no ability to get ahead is pointless. It’ll lead to a sad situation all around.
good luck no matter what road you take, it’s never easy.
I really feel for you. It sounds like you are in a difficult situation. I can only tell you what I would do and hope that it can help.
First, go through everything in your house and decide what you can get rid of. Pick a high traffic day in your area and hold a garage sale. Use this money to acquire what food storage you can. I did this years ago when my dh was unemployed and I made enough to pay our credit card payment. Granted it wasn’t much but it helped pay a bill and clean my house.
Second, don’t give up on gardening. It can take years to acquire the skills to really produce a good garden. But it’s worth the wait. Try different forms of gardening. And compost all of your veggie and fruit scraps to help improve the soil you do have.
Third, try to trim your energy bills. I don’t know if you’ve tried this already but you can save a lot by using a clothesline and/or drying racks. Your clothes will last longer as well saving you more money. You might check to see if your energy company will do an audit so see if you can save there. And see if they do an average bill rather than having monthly fluctuations. So they will look at your last year of use and average that by 12 and that will be your payment each month. This can help you to budget more effectively.
Fourth, keep in mind that God blesses us when we try to do what’s right. Even if we can’t do everything all the time, He blesses us when we do what we can. He knows your heart is in the right place. He knows that you want to do what’s right. So have faith in Him that He will provide for you. Just remember that you have to keep your eyes and heart open for His providence.
Wishing you the best!
Oh, another thing. There is a wealth of information on the internet about saving money and stretching what you do have. Some of my favorite sites are http://www.stretcher.com, http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com, and http://www.livingonadime.com. Hopefully you can find some new ideas there.
Cherlynn wrote:
My Dad
made the big mistake of cosigning notes on his little brothers house and
semi truck. My uncle never made one payment making my Dad pay for it all
on top of his own payments. My parents never said a word but we lived on
rice and beans our entire lives until I (the baby) was 15. We had rice
every morning for breakfast and beans every night for dinner with two
exceptions. Friday nights we would have chili, vegetable soup or spare
ribs and kraut when my Dad was able to get some from his partners. then
on Sunday morning we always had a big country breakfast and Sunday evening
we’d make fudge or taffy. I just thought that was how everyone ate. We
did have big special meals on holidays. When I was 15 my Dad sold out his
part of the business (had gone into business with 4 other Army buddies)
and went to work for a private company. He made a lot more money and he
had just paid off his brothers debts. My sisters had just all left home
and my life changed a lot! I got introduced to new foods like hamburger,
hot dogs and steaks. Dad quickly paid off his own house and was out of
debt. Years later I learned the truth of what had happened. We were
better for it knowing how to make do and as far as we knew we never went
without anything. We always had food and always had a roof over our
heads. We played hard and were loved by both parents greatly and nurtured
by them. Can you live on just beans and rice today? You bet you can!
toss a few special days in and you’ll make it work. You can greatly
reduce your regular monthly food bill and stock up a little extra each
month. Never pass buy anything given free! Free canning jars, free
produce, free anything you can use to feed your family or preserve for the
future or something you can fix up and sell to buy more food to stash
away.
A little each month and you’ll be amazed at the end of a year how much you
are able to stash way for that rainy day. Remember the tortoise and the
race “slow and easy wins the race!”
If family insists on giving toys as gifts, then my suggestion would be to insist on gift receipts and take them back (if the kids are agreeable). Then use the money from that to buy what you need.
Just got this note from Jim:
One seriously under-utilized method of lowering your living costs and improving
your health is to get serious about growing and eating out of your own garden.
The Food For Everyone Foundation is committed to helping families learn a
simple, affordable, and highly productive method of gardening called The
Mittleider Method. The http://www.growfood.com website has lots of free help and
guidance, including a free ebook – The Mittleider Gardening Basics Course -
which is the Learn section.
The FAQ section has over 500 short articles answering common gardening
questions, and there are free greenhouse and automated watering system plans.
Anyone who asks for it is also welcome to several other important documents to
help you become highly proficient in growing your own food. The illustrated 6
Steps Recap, the Garden Planting Guide, and How to Build, Install, and Use
T-Frames are great resources, and will be sent to anyone who requests them by
writing to jim@growfood.com
For those who are committed to helping others we can also assist with other
materials. Just tell us what you are doing and we’ll try to assist you to
become a better gardener.
And my wife Araksya, who is from Armenia, is a wonderful cook (she’s working her
magic at this moment – I can smell!). She posts some of her favorite recipes at
http://recipeforeveryone.blogspot.com/, and she uses vegetables in ways that are
SO good! Check out her blog.
Very neat blog.Really thank you! Want more.