Preparedness/Food Storage (NYT article)

[Plaid Dad]

I just read this article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=style) after reading this blog post (http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/04/the-new-survivalism.html), and it got me wondering. Do you store food or other supplies, not just for short-term emergencies, but for longer term survival? If so, what do you have and how do you store it? If not, what are your reasons?

We have emergency supplies for short-term needs and/or evacuation, but little else. We do have some water stored.

For those of you who have food storage, what are your recommendations for someone getting started?

[Closeacademy]

If you are interested in this topic then I would see about getting the magazine Backwoods Home. They have all kinds of booklets and such about this. They also have a website and you can order all the back issues on CD. There is sort of a militia feel to the magazine and books as if the world is going to end tomorrow so you better be ready for it if you want your family to survive.

There is a book we got from them called: How to Develop a Low-Cost Family Food-Storage System by Anita Evangelista.

We got it back in our trying to live off the land in the city phase. I believe the number one rule is not to tell anyone that you are doing this because 1. you don't want them to think you are crazy and 2. you don't want them to think of you when/if there is a collapse of the system and people need food.

Also, we really liked Countryside and Small Stock Journal as a resource for this kind of thing too.

[Antonia]

I was just thinking of posting this question! Visited with friends over the weekend who have three years, yes, three years worth of supplies stockpiled! He asked me how much t. paper I have, and I said "um, four rolls: one for each bathroom and *a spare*" - tada!

I will be interested in reading the replies you get.

[elegantlion]

Yes, we do prepare. We have prepared for 2 scenarios.

1. If we had to leave our home on short notice.
2. If we had to "shelter-in-place" for a period of time.

We have a lot of camping and survival type gear stored in plastic tubs in our garage. We have flashlights and radios that are hand crank, they are great. We don't have as much food as I would like, but we are working to change that.

We also have backpacks for each individual in the house. They hold a change of clothes, rainjacket, washclothes, emergency contact information and even a gas mask. (we got those from army surplus)

We use old OJ jugs for water and rotate the jugs around to keep them fresh.

We live in Hurricane country and the reality is that we might need to leave on less than a days notice. We also live near oil refineries and we've had one "shelter in place" since we moved here two years ago. Tornado Warnings were in the area a couple of weeks ago and the backpacks were out and ready.

When they worked on water lines earlier this year, it was nice to have the gallons of water available. We went through several gallons just in the few hours it was out.

We don't live in fear, but prepardness. Ready.gov has some information on this subject as well.

[Raders Fan]

We have always had a year's supply of food. (I joke that the only downside to marrying my husband is that my year's supply became a six month supply.) We are Mormons. Our leaders have counseled us to have a year's supply of food, clothing, etc., to be prepared for individual emergencies such as job loss as well as large-scale disasters.

However, since I began homeschooling I have become much more aware of history. Government should not be the first source people look to for relief. Katrina perhaps is our most recent example of how poorly government functions in helping individuals in a disaster. During WWII, the government rationed food, but people were able to raise fruits and vegetables at home. During the great influenza/WWI, the infrastructure was so completely disrupted that those who were well enough to go to the store could not find any food on the shelves. Adults starved because they didn't have food at home and didn't have the strength to go out and get any. Children who could have taken care of themselves and ill, older family members starved because they could not go and get food, either.

We're now in a situation where the government stockpile of wheat is apparently down to a supply of a few weeks' worth. Asian countries are reducing their exports to the US because they have their own people to feed. US farmers are growing corn because ethanol will solve all our problems.:001_huh: The price of wheat is skyrocketing.

So we store everything we need for basic survival, plus a few nice things. Wheat, flour, rice, pasta, oats, sugar, honey, beans, oil, salt, powdered milk, garden seeds, water. Home canned fruits, jams, dried fruit. Store canned fruits and veggies. Freeze dried fruits (these are really good--have to keep them hidden), butter (in the freezer--about a four-month supply), powdered eggs. A side of beef in the freezer. And would life really be worth living without a decent supply of chocolate chips?;)

We also have a water purifier, Dutch ovens, charcoal, and some kind of unit for cooking food without using a whole lot of charcoal. The next purchase we need to make is a hand-powered wheat grinder. I've been researching them and will make a decision this week. We also have all our camping equipment, and dh bought a new, larger tent last month.

providentliving.org (not .com--that is an entirely different operation) is the LDS Church's website for emergency preparedness. They start you out with the basics and have recommendations for amounts you need per person.

If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help.

Jennifer

[*anj*]

I stock up on some foods, but not enough on others. For instance, I purchase grain (wheat berries, oats, brown rice) once a year. I just checked my supply and even though it's time to order again I still have about 6 months worth from last year.

I only have enough meat and veggies to last us maybe a few weeks. My freezer is not full at present.

When I did the Y2K thing I stocked up on a lot more stuff, and we ate it and ate it and ate it when nothing happened.

We have plenty of seeds and enough land for a nice garden, so we could definitely grow veggies for survival...as long as disaster doesn't strike in the dead of winter, in which case we'd be shall we say...scrod.

Hey Drew, which other beliefnet blogs do you read? Just wonderin'.... :)

[emzhengjiu]

I've been lurking on homesteadingtoday.com forums for just this reason. I've only just started stockpiling food but have always kept a good pantry and extra water. But where would I put a year's worth of supplies in our apartment?? We're cluttered as it is but I'm trying to de-clutter to make room for more important items.

Judy

[Raders Fan]

But where would I put a year's worth of supplies in our apartment?? We're cluttered as it is but I'm trying to de-clutter to make room for more important items.

We put a lot under our beds. We have a lot in No. 10 cans (coffee can size), so they are all a uniform height. You can either put it under your box springs, or in place of your box springs.

Also, I forgot to add above that we also have a nice supply of paper plates and cups and plastic utensils. In a disaster, the last thing you want to use your water for is washing dishes. Heck, I don't even like washing dishes when water supply isn't a problem.:001_smile:

Jennifer

[DIY-DY]

I just read this article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=style) after reading this blog post (http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/04/the-new-survivalism.html), and it got me wondering. Do you store food or other supplies, not just for short-term emergencies, but for longer term survival? If so, what do you have and how do you store it? If not, what are your reasons?

We have emergency supplies for short-term needs and/or evacuation, but little else. We do have some water stored.

For those of you who have food storage, what are your recommendations for someone getting started?

DH built me a shelf just for that purpose. It's in the basement, beside the chest freezer.

I'd like to work up to a year's supply, but I need to do it w/o breaking the budget. *grin* It took me about six months to gather the 2mo. supply for the six of us, just by buying extras of what I normally buy while at the store. That would be my recommendation for someone just getting started. (Unless you have the funds to make big purchases in one fell swoop - in which case, I'd say go nuts buying in cases, but still buy things you'd use.) Doing it this way, however, has also ensured that our food storage contains things we normally eat, anyway. So when I buy beans, I'll buy the 10# bag for the kitchen (we eat a lot of beans) and another 10# bag for the storage shelf (but don't store it in bags!! I just lost four pounds of popcorn to a wily little mouse b/c I forgot to put it in a container. LOL.) Nut butter? Buy two jars, and put one on the shelf. Salmon? Half the cans go in the pantry, half on the shelf, etc. The additional five or ten dollars per shopping trip didn't hurt too badly, and before I knew it, I was telling DH that I need another shelf for our food. That felt good!

We store food (beans, rice, oil, salt, lentils, canned veggies, sauces, green chiles, etc.), water, basic hygiene supplies (tp, bleach, vinegar), basic medicinal supplies (hydrogen peroxide, gse oil, iodine, medical emerg. kit...)

As for why we do it... well, for several reasons. The thing that triggered it for me, and got me started, is that we've found ourselves in tight spots before. We got through them, but it was harrowing a time or two. I'd really like for us to have the flexibility for DH to make life-changes without having an undue burden on how to provide for us. If he should want to go back to school for his master's degree, hang out his own shingle someday, or even - heaven forbid - lose his job, I want to know that I've done what I can to ease the crunch on the homefront. Food storage/preparedness is one way for me to do that, for him, and for us.

We are also in an area that has "weather issues", and we'd like to be prepared for those incidents (tornados and torrential rains, mostly, although we do feel the effects of hurricanes in the gulf, as well). We're near a major metropolitan area, and if there is an outbreak of anything that would require a quarantine, we'd like to not be worried about getting food and supplies for the duration. Same thing for the fact that there's a large military installation in the area. We aren't near the family, and we could not make the trek should a large-scale emergency happen. So, we would have to hunker down here and find a way to make it work for however long it might happen. Since our food storage contains things we normally use, we just rotate through it - new purchases can go directly on the shelf, and the boys love going to the "basement store" to bring up food. :)

Some of the pitfalls I've seen mentioned again and again include: bulking up on just one thing at a time (so, while it's great to aim for x-amount of flour, don't just concentrate on that up front b/c should an emergency present itself before you've completed your Master Plan, there's not a whole lot you can do w/ just flour); not using proper containers (a lot of food gets thrown away b/c of bugs, mildews, rot, or other contaminents); not rotating out your supplies (that goes back to store-what-you-eat, eat-what-you-store); going into debt to build up a food storage/preparedness plan.

Me? I like the Baby Steps plan. It's not as overwhelming to me to look at what I need to gather for a week, two weeks, or a month as it is to look at the big charts with all the details for a family for a year. It feels do-able when I break it down. And so far, it's been do-able, for us.

[Jenny in Atl]

I have struggled with this subject, but the facts are, I'm not allowed to stock pile dd7's diabetes supplies (insurance won't cover them, and we can't afford to buy test strips and insulin that go bad after a year or two, out of pocket). So, really what's the point. DH knows enough survival skills that we could find food in order to live, but we would still have the painful task of watching our youngest die unless we took up the life of crime and broken into pharmacies in a crisis or learned how to make pork insulin and guess her blood sugar levels on the fly. The first I could easily see happening with dh (he would do whatever he could not matter the "laws" or lack there of.) I just can't be reminded of this each time I re-stock the supplies.

I used to be in a quilting circle before dd7 was born. Most of the women LDS. They would let me order, along with them, the most wonderful frozen fruit each time they placed these huge food orders. At the time I saw it as kind of fun, now I just don't know if I could.

[HollyDay]

I believe in being prepared too - we live in Hurricane country down here.

But, out of curiosity - what are guys preparing for?

[Tutor]

We have always had a year's supply of food. (I joke that the only downside to marrying my husband is that my year's supply became a six month supply.) We are Mormons. Our leaders have counseled us to have a year's supply of food, clothing, etc., to be prepared for individual emergencies such as job loss as well as large-scale disasters.

My son's last Cub Scout leader is Mormon and we are indebted to her family and the LDS preparedness resources they turned us to. We are much better supplied now than we were a year ago.

[Amira]

For me, it's mostly to save money and not have to shop so much. It can be hard to find space for everything, but we've been able to make it work, even in small apartments.

Our food storage was very nice when my husband was laid off. I don't really expect it to be all that useful in a wide-scale long-term sort of situation though since we wouldn't watch others around us starve, but for short-term or individual things, it's nice to be a little more prepared.

[RoughCollie]

I think it is important to develop a rotation method for replacing items before their expiration date has been reached. Even canned goods and bottled water have expiration dates, and there are time limits on how long items can be kept in the freezer.

[CLHCO]

I have most of the dry good needs for a 3-6 month supply ordered from a local storage co-op. I hope to top it off in the fall to a full 6 months at least.

Of course, I found out they are low on wheat and may not be able to fulfill the orders for that. :glare: I can't imagine why wheat would be a difficult commodity to get all of a sudden. :glare: The price of it is up $5 a bag from the last time I got it too. :glare:

I made a meal plan of food to rotate that includes spices necessary to make bean dishes fantastic instead of only bearable as well as desserts.

However, until the food arrives, I'm rather unprepared for anything catastrophic. I'm too low on too many basics. So, the world must hold off on catastrophic events for a few more weeks.

[*anj*]

This very topic is being discussed in a nutrition Yahoo group that I subscribe to and someone posted a link to this (http://www.tfrecipes.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=270)website. I haven't spent any time there, I just thought some people might be interested, especially those who are into whole foods.

[jeri]

and bug-free?

jeri

[Sara R]

because of --

(1) falling dollar. Wheat is on the world market, so the world sets the price, and dollars don't work as well as they used to.
(2) growing markets overseas. China and India are eating better food now. Grains are used to grow meat. This increases the demand and the price.
(3) Stores have been going down.
(4) Less agricultural land due to the housing boom?
(5) Biofuels increasing price of corn--maybe more farmers are growing corn and less wheat? All agricultural commodity prices have been going up, probably due mostly to #1 and #2.

[6packofun]

I try to have at least 4-6 weeks worth of food, water and paper supplies around. There are so many situations that can become "emergencies" of varying magnitude like the Northeast blackout of '03, my husband's job loss that turned into 2 1/2 years of unsteady work, or a financial snafu, medical problem, etc. Boy, it sure was nice to *not* have to be one of the folks running to the store for water and toilet paper when that blackout happened! And that was only short-term.

I would like to be a lot better organized with rotation and finding a system for keeping track of expiration dates. Helping with our church's food pantry has actually benefitted our family in this area.

The tough thing for us, though, is that we don't use canned and boxed food items as much anymore. So we can keep it on hand for an emergency but rotating can be tough because we're trying to eat fresh foods and avoid preservatives, convenience foods. It's a kink in my system because I want to be prepared *enough* but not to the point of wasting food.

[Tap, tap, tap]

I have struggled with this subject, but the facts are, I'm not allowed to stock pile dd7's diabetes supplies (insurance won't cover them, and we can't afford to buy test strips and insulin that go bad after a year or two, out of pocket). So, really what's the point. DH knows enough survival skills that we could find food in order to live, but we would still have the painful task of watching our youngest die unless we took up the life of crime and broken into pharmacies in a crisis or learned how to make pork insulin and guess her blood sugar levels on the fly. The first I could easily see happening with dh (he would do whatever he could not matter the "laws" or lack there of.) I just can't be reminded of this each time I re-stock the supplies.



Most insurance companies will allow you to refill medications after 75% supply is gone. If you refill his insulin and related supplies 6 days early each month in 5 mths you will have a 1 month stock pile of medication. Insulin typically lasts about 12mths, or longer, so if you rotate your stock periodically you will be fine. Insulin, while it is suggested that you refrigerate it, can be stored out of the fridge if the electricity goes out. I have had patients tell me that they don't like to keep extra insulin on hand because they fear a power outage will cause them to loose the stash. Some people don't ever refrigerate it! The manufacturer says it is shelf stable for a few months, some people do notice a slight difference, but it is better than throwing it away if the electricity goes out. I always recommend to all of our patients that they keep a 2-3 mth supply of all crucial medications on hand in case of emergency or in case someone looses a job and they find themselves without insurance for a while. I see it happen all the time to pts, who find themselves without coverage, and an unexpected $400 prescription bill.

If you decide to do this, sit down with a calendar and mark the dates you will be able to refill the meds. It is easy to loose track and to use your emergency supply. I suggest to pts that they put a container in the fridge or pantry and mark it especially for the ER supplies. That way you have it all in one place, can rotate it easily every few months, and can grab it and go in an emergency. I also would get an extra test kit and batteries, and put that in the ER kit. You don't ever know when your meter will go bizerk and you will need an extra. Meters often just stop working. If you use a particular brand, sometimes you can call the manufacturer and ask them to send you a free meter, for a back up. Some companies will.

[chiguirre]

I'm not a survivalist, but living in Venezuela certainly taught me the value of hoarding foodstuffs. I've been through a 2 month long national strike, lots of basic products disappearing when price controls are threatened and now the inlaws are dealing with the random food disappearances Chavez' erratic economic policies provoke.

I've also been through a 3 day blackout during Hurricane Rita, and I do take hurricanes seriously although we live just outside of the last storm surge evacuation zone. I stock up on water, batteries and non-perishables in May and don't touch them until the end of October, then we use them during the cool months and buy a new stash when hurricane season starts.

When we lived in Vzla, I made sure I kept at least a 8 week supply of basic foods on hand (pasta, corn flour, tetra pak milk, canned vegetables, tuna, rice, beans, etc.) I tapped into those stockpiles many a time because things disappeared from supermarkets frequently. Not everything would disappear at the same time, one month it was corn flour, then it would be milk, then eggs. It's far worse now because this government is either very inept or very macchiavellian and you have to be constantly on the lookout for staples to keep a household running. The key to stockpiling is to use stuff before it expires. With perishables, you just have to do without. When there are no eggs, you can't bake a cake unless you have an under the counter source. I'm not sure I'd rely on a freezer for a large part of my emergency stash because of the 3 day blackout we went through. I know you can get a generator, but then you need to stockpile fuel.

Thanks for bringing this up, I need to start keeping an eye out for bottled water and battery sales.

[Janna]

We don't have things stored. I have no good reason for this. In fact, after reading Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank about a year and a half ago, I started a list of things I should have on hand - flint being at the top! But do I? Have I started? Nope.

For one, I don't have the storage space. For two, it feels more doom and gloom rather than preparedness to me - which makes no sense and is irrational, I know. My mom has stockpiled since 1999 (in preparation for Y2K) and I see the wisdom in that for a myriad of reasons.

I haven't read the articles you linked and I haven't read the posts from other people. So if this link has already been provided, I apologize. But here is a link (http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf63856424.tip.html) to help give you an idea of how to go about stockpiling. Maybe it will help. I've had it bookmarked for over a year but still haven't made use of it, LOL.

[Raders Fan]

The first is in 5-6 gallon plastic buckets with very tight fitting lids. First, I put the newly purchased bag of grain or flour in the freezer for 2-3 days to kill any bugs. Then it goes into a plastic bucket with a few bay leaves to keep weevils out.

The other way I store it is to buy it in No. 10 cans from the LDS Church. The cans are packet with an oxygen-absorbing packet to keep the food fresh and any potential bugs unable to breathe. The cans are more expensive, but the food (like dry beans, powdered milk and other milk products) lasts longer. They are also rodent-proof, while buckets could be gnawed through, though I've never had this happen.

Then, you use what you store so that you are rotating your food and keeping it relatively fresh, though that isn't much of a concern of mine with regard to grains.

Jennifer

[TN Mama]

I didn't create my stockpile for emergency situations, but I was introduced to the grocery game as a way of saving money. The GG recommends a 12 week stockpile and gives you the information on when prices are at their lowest and which coupons to use, etc. I get excited about paying .25 for jelly or leaving the grocery store with "free" peanut butter.

[mcconnellboys]

I have a large pantry and keep it stocked. I try to rotate my things constantly, but still stay pretty well stocked at all times. I don't attempt to put things away for super-long term storage, as I worry about possible safety hazards of keeping food overly long. I also keep my supplies stocked regarding things such as toilet paper, cleaning supplies, medical supplies, etc. If major storms are brewing or there's any hint of potential trouble on the horizon, I tend to stock up even more, then use down afterward. I've always done this, LOL. I think my grandparents/parents depression era mentality rubbed off on me (that, and I just don't like to go to the store)......

Regena

[*anj*]

and bug-free?

jeri

I keep mine in 5 gallon pails. They come with snap on seals that are hard to take off even when you use the special tool that I have. So I use Gamma-Seals (http://beprepared.com/category.asp?c=444&SID=GOOGLE&EID=GLFS200703254&gclid=CITawcLgypICFQx7PAodGGa9rg&bhcd2=1207633273). I also put a little oxygen packet in each bucket. I store my grain in my not-totally-dry, not-totally-critter-free basement and I have never had a problem at all. No bugs, no other critters.

[lynn]

I have struggled with this subject, but the facts are, I'm not allowed to stock pile dd7's diabetes supplies (insurance won't cover them, and we can't afford to buy test strips and insulin that go bad after a year or two, out of pocket). So, really what's the point. DH knows enough survival skills that we could find food in order to live, but we would still have the painful task of watching our youngest die unless we took up the life of crime and broken into pharmacies in a crisis or learned how to make pork insulin and guess her blood sugar levels on the fly. The first I could easily see happening with dh (he would do whatever he could not matter the "laws" or lack there of.) I just can't be reminded of this each time I re-stock the supplies.

I used to be in a quilting circle before dd7 was born. Most of the women LDS. They would let me order, along with them, the most wonderful frozen fruit each time they placed these huge food orders. At the time I saw it as kind of fun, now I just don't know if I could.

On the diabetic supplies, you could buy extras when you have money and rotate so the date in storage is always the latest date.

[Jenny in Atl]

Most insurance companies will allow you to refill medications after 75% supply is gone. If you refill his insulin and related supplies 6 days early each month in 5 mths you will have a 1 month stock pile of medication. Insulin typically lasts about 12mths, or longer, so if you rotate your stock periodically you will be fine. Insulin, while it is suggested that you refrigerate it, can be stored out of the fridge if the electricity goes out. I have had patients tell me that they don't like to keep extra insulin on hand because they fear a power outage will cause them to loose the stash. Some people don't ever refrigerate it! The manufacturer says it is shelf stable for a few months, some people do notice a slight difference, but it is better than throwing it away if the electricity goes out. I always recommend to all of our patients that they keep a 2-3 mth supply of all crucial medications on hand in case of emergency or in case someone looses a job and they find themselves without insurance for a while. I see it happen all the time to pts, who find themselves without coverage, and an unexpected $400 prescription bill.

If you decide to do this, sit down with a calendar and mark the dates you will be able to refill the meds. It is easy to loose track and to use your emergency supply. I suggest to pts that they put a container in the fridge or pantry and mark it especially for the ER supplies. That way you have it all in one place, can rotate it easily every few months, and can grab it and go in an emergency. I also would get an extra test kit and batteries, and put that in the ER kit. You don't ever know when your meter will go bizerk and you will need an extra. Meters often just stop working. If you use a particular brand, sometimes you can call the manufacturer and ask them to send you a free meter, for a back up. Some companies will.

This is more info that most want to know... sorry for the dull post.

I'm not new to this... dd7 has had diabetes since she was 13 months. We are self employed and have the bare minimum of insurance with a very high deductibles. Blue Cross Blue Shield does not refill by % used, but by date. I am allowed a three month supply of insulin at a time and cannot refill until about a week before the three months have passed. Unless, I tried to give my child less insulin; we use most all of it by the time we refill. Her meter is attached to the back of her pump (so using another meter is not an option unless we want to pay out of pocket (meters are cheap, test strips are not). I'm only allowed one month's supply of strips at a time. That's $45 dollars every three weeks for the strips alone (after paying $500 out of pocket to met the dect). I do have a back-up meter (same brand), batteries, glucagon, juice, glucose tabs, phenagren, three large boxes of extra needles if the pump fails, etc.

Her pump supplies I can pretty much buy whenever I want, but again, If I buy more than a three-month supply, BC/BS will not cover it or choose to cover what they deem as reasonable. I don't live in an area prone to natural disasters. So that, leaves a nightmare system brake down or "attack"/war, and in those cases, dh and I know were to find the supplies, and I can easily see both of us doing whatever we had to, to keep dd alive. A month's worth of food and water is a great idea in case of a hurricane, flooding, or major earthquake, but I see little good in working to hoard a month's supply for the worst case scenario, like a war.

Thanks for trying to help though.

[lynn]

Another thought for this thread. when thinking preparedness/food storage consider some "luxury" items to easy the stress. Having favorate candy on hand, or some of the things like your brand of deoterant, razors, gum etc. Crayons, paper, yoyos, cards etc for the kids.

[kokotg]

I have no idea how to measure such things, really, but I'd guess we have at least a six month supply of food on hand? A side of beef in the freezer, 4 six gallon bucket of various kinds of wheat, 2 six gallon buckets of beans, 2 more of rice. And I've been stocking up on other staples--baking supplies and whatnot. We're really lacking in stored fruits and veggies at the moment, but I'm gardening like crazy and hope to can/freeze/dry a lot more stuff this year than we did last year (we made dozens and dozens of jars of applesauce last fall, but it was all gone by february). I'm also working on edible landscaping in my yard. So far this year I've planted rhubarb, 2 dwarf apple trees, 4 blueberry bushes, and 2 paw paw trees (all in addition to my regular vegetable garden). So with luck we'll have some fruit coming in by next spring.

[Kari C in SC]

For me, it's mostly to save money and not have to shop so much. It can be hard to find space for everything, but we've been able to make it work, even in small apartments.

Our food storage was very nice when my husband was laid off. I don't really expect it to be all that useful in a wide-scale long-term sort of situation though since we wouldn't watch others around us starve, but for short-term or individual things, it's nice to be a little more prepared.

We would fall into this category. When we moved to SC in January, we bought a freezer. I always wanted one in Florida, but I didn't have the space. Since we have a freezer, I have stocked up on hams that were half off and bought 80lbs of ground beef at Sam's. Ragu sauce just went on sale for half price the other day, so I bought 22 jars. I am actually wanting to go back and buy more! LOL! This isn't really preparing for an emergency. I am buying things in bulk as I see great sales in the event that our income goes down or gas goes much, much higher. My dh has a minimum salary, but he also makes commission. We figure when the pay is good, we need to stock our shelves - just in case we have to live on the minimum for a time. We also are gardening for the first time ever. I actually enjoy the strategy of stocking up on things. It makes me feel like I am spending our money wiser and making it go farther.

[Colleen]

Do you store food or other supplies, not just for short-term emergencies, but for longer term survival?...If not, what are your reasons?

No, I feel no compulsion whatsoever to do so. I typically have very little extra food on hand. Well, no that's no entirely true. It depends on the season. During summer we have produce in the garden, and in the fall, a good deal of canned or frozen goods. At times, we have a lot of frozen meat in there, too (e.g. if we've just purchased & butchered a half a beef cow, for example). Right now, my freezer is virtually empty and I tend to keep in my cupboards/pantry only that which we'll use in the next week or two.

We have many, many friends who took the Y2K scare very seriously ~ I'm talking, people who have bomb shelters, people who write articles and make money off these sorts of things. I respect them all, but never shared their concerns and am still not of a mind to stockpile.

[tlcmom]

Talk to your doctor about this. Most doctors have samples of many prescriptions. We are self employed and my prescription would cost over $100 a month, and we have a tight budget. My doctor knows this and gives me samples whenever he can. I usually only have to buy 3 months of a years supply. Maybe your doctor would have some insulin samples you could have. it would be worth asking.