Aid for Planning Month and Year Supplies

If you are slightly overwhelmed by the idea of planning out EVERY SINGLE MEAL for 3 months (or a year), as I discussed back in this post, then you might be interested in trying this instead.

The general idea is to calculate how much of a certain product you use per week, then use the charts below to help figure out what that equates to for month and year supplies.

The food it calculates includes:
Dry Milk, Quick and Regular Oats, Dehydrated Onions, Potato Flakes, White Rice, Spaghetti, Sugar, Red and White Wheat, Dehydrated Apples, Black Beans, Pinto Beans, Dehydrated Refried Beans, White Beans, Dehydrated Carrots, Cocoa Mix, White Flour, Fruit Drink Mix and Macaroni.

Here's How it Works:

1) For each product of interest, calculate the number of meals of that product your family would normally eat per week.

Example: Lets say my family has milk for breakfast OR once to drink/cook with throughout the day.  That would = 7 servings per week.

2) Calculate how many CUPS of that product you would use for each meal.

Example: we have two children and two adults, so we probably consume around 5 c. per meal.

3) Multiply the cups-per-meal by meals-per-week.  This will give you the number of cups per week you would use for that product.

Example: 5x7 = 35 cups per week.

4) From the chart below, look up the number of cups per week you calculated above in the "CUPS USED PER WEEK" column.

(If your number of cups per week is over 45, you will have to half the number and multiply the corresponding columns by two.)

Cups used per Week	Cups per Month	#10 Cans per Month	Cups per Year	#10 Cans per Year
1	4	1	52	5
2	9	1	104	9
3	13	2	156	13
4	17	2	208	18
5	22	2	260	22
6	26	3	312	26
7	30	3	364	31
8	35	3	416	35
9	39	4	468	39
10	43	4	520	44
11	48	4	572	48
12	52	5	624	52
13	56	5	676	57
14	61	6	728	61
15	65	6	780	65
16	69	6	832	70
17	74	7	884	74
18	78	7	936	78
19	82	7	988	83
20	87	8	1040	87
21	91	8	1092	91
22	95	8	1144	96
23	100	9	1196	100
24	104	9	1248	104
25	108	10	1300	109
26	113	10	1352	113
27	117	10	1404	117
28	121	11	1456	122
29	126	11	1508	126
30	130	11	1560	130
31	134	12	1612	135
32	139	12	1664	139
33	143	12	1716	143
34	147	13	1768	148
35	152	13	1820	152
36	156	13	1872	156
37	160	14	1924	161
38	165	14	1976	165
39	169	15	2028	169
40	173	15	2080	174
41	178	15	2132	178
42	182	16	2184	182
43	186	16	2236	187
44	191	16	2288	191
45	195	17	2340	195

5) Write down the number of CANS you need per month or per year for your family by looking in their respective columns on the chart above.

Example: According to this chart, my family would need 152 #10 cans of milk to last for 1 year.
**DON'T GET OVERWHELMED BY THAT NUMBER, I'LL EXPLAIN MORE LATER**

6) Using the same Cups-per-Week values (that you calculated in #5), you can determine the LBS per YEAR for each product of interest by using the charts below.

Example: Based on the information, I would need 623 lbs. of powdered milk for 1 year

Weight (lbs) per can     →		POUNDS of PRODUCT per YEAR
		4.1	2.6	2.7	2.8	1.8	5.7	4.3	6.1	5.8	5.8
Cups / Week	#10 Cans / Year	Milk, Dry	Oats, Quick	Oats, Reg	Onion, Dry	Potato Flakes	Rice, White	Spag- hetti	Sugar	Wheat Red	Wheat White
1	5	21	13	14	14	9	29	22	31	29	29
2	9	37	23	24	25	16	51	39	55	52	52
3	13	53	34	35	36	23	74	56	79	75	75
4	18	74	47	49	50	32	103	77	110	104	104
5	22	90	57	59	62	40	125	95	134	128	128
6	26	107	68	70	73	47	148	112	159	151	151
7	31	127	81	84	87	56	177	133	189	180	180
8	35	144	91	95	98	63	200	151	214	203	203
9	39	160	101	105	109	70	222	158	238	226	226
10	44	180	114	119	123	79	251	189	268	255	255
11	48	197	125	130	134	86	274	206	293	278	278
12	52	213	135	140	146	94	296	224	317	302	302
13	57	234	148	154	160	103	325	245	348	331	331
14	61	250	159	165	171	110	348	262	372	354	354
15	65	267	169	176	182	117	371	280	397	377	377
16	70	287	182	189	196	126	399	301	427	406	406
17	74	303	192	200	207	133	422	318	451	429	429
18	78	320	203	211	218	140	445	335	476	452	452
19	83	340	216	224	232	149	473	357	506	481	481
20	87	357	226	235	244	157	496	374	531	505	505
21	91	373	237	246	255	164	519	391	555	528	528
22	96	394	250	259	269	173	547	413	586	557	557
23	100	410	260	270	280	180	570	430	610	580	580
24	104	426	270	281	291	187	593	447	634	603	603
25	109	447	283	294	305	196	621	469	665	632	632
26	113	463	294	305	316	203	644	486	689	655	655
27	117	480	304	316	328	211	667	503	714	679	679
28	122	500	317	329	342	220	695	525	744	708	708
29	126	517	328	340	353	227	718	542	769	731	731
30	130	533	338	351	364	234	741	559	793	754	754
31	135	554	351	365	378	243	770	581	824	783	783
32	139	570	361	375	389	250	792	598	848	806	806
33	143	586	372	386	400	257	815	615	872	829	829
34	148	607	385	400	414	266	844	636	903	585	858
35	152	623	395	410	426	274	866	654	927	882	882
36	156	640	406	421	437	281	889	671	952	905	905
37	161	660	419	435	451	290	918	692	982	934	934
38	165	677	429	446	462	297	941	710	1007	957	957
39	169	693	439	456	473	304	963	727	1031	980	980
40	174	713	452	470	487	313	992	748	1061	1009	1009
41	178	730	463	481	498	320	1015	765	1086	1032	1032
42	182	746	473	491	510	328	1037	783	1110	1056	1056
43	187	767	486	505	524	337	1066	804	1141	1085	1085
44	191	783	497	516	535	344	1089	821	1165	1108	1108
45	195	800	507	527	546	351	1112	839	1190	1131	1131

Weight (lbs) per can     →		POUNDS of PRODUCT per YEAR
		1.2	5.5	5.2	2.4	5.3	2.8	5.8	4.8	6.1	3.4
Cups / Week	#10 Cans / Year	Apples Dry	Beans, Black	Beans, Pinto	Beans, Refried	Beans, White	Carrots	Cocoa Mix	Flour, White	Fruit Drink Mix	Maca- roni
1	5	6	28	26	12	27	14	29	24	31	17
2	9	11	50	47	22	48	25	52	43	55	31
3	13	16	72	68	31	69	36	75	62	79	44
4	18	22	99	94	43	95	50	104	86	110	61
5	22	26	121	114	53	117	62	128	106	134	75
6	26	31	143	135	62	138	73	151	125	159	88
7	31	37	171	161	74	164	87	180	149	189	105
8	35	42	193	182	84	186	98	203	168	214	119
9	39	47	215	203	94	207	109	226	187	238	133
10	44	53	242	229	106	233	123	255	211	268	150
11	48	58	264	250	115	254	134	278	230	293	163
12	52	62	286	270	125	276	146	302	250	317	177
13	57	68	314	296	137	302	160	331	274	348	194
14	61	73	336	317	146	323	171	354	293	372	207
15	65	78	358	338	156	345	182	377	312	397	221
16	70	84	385	364	168	371	196	406	336	427	238
17	74	89	407	385	178	392	207	429	355	451	252
18	78	94	429	406	187	416	218	452	374	476	265
19	83	100	457	432	199	440	232	481	398	506	282
20	87	104	479	452	209	461	244	505	418	531	296
21	91	109	501	473	218	482	255	528	437	555	309
22	96	115	528	499	230	509	269	557	461	586	326
23	100	120	550	520	240	530	280	580	480	610	340
24	104	125	572	541	250	551	291	603	499	634	354
25	109	131	600	567	262	578	305	632	523	665	371
26	113	136	622	588	271	599	316	655	542	689	384
27	117	140	644	608	281	620	328	679	562	714	398
28	122	146	671	634	293	647	342	708	586	744	415
29	126	151	693	655	302	668	353	731	605	769	428
30	130	156	715	676	312	689	364	754	624	793	442
31	135	162	743	702	324	716	378	783	648	824	459
32	139	167	765	723	334	737	389	806	667	848	473
33	143	172	787	744	343	758	400	829	686	872	486
34	148	178	814	770	355	784	414	858	710	903	503
35	152	182	836	790	365	806	426	882	730	927	517
36	156	187	858	811	374	827	437	905	749	952	530
37	161	193	886	837	386	853	451	934	773	982	547
38	165	198	908	858	396	875	462	957	792	1007	561
39	169	203	930	879	406	896	473	980	811	1031	575
40	174	209	957	905	418	922	487	1009	835	1061	592
41	178	214	979	926	427	943	498	1032	854	1086	605
42	182	218	1001	946	437	965	510	1056	874	1110	619
43	187	224	1029	972	449	991	524	1085	898	1141	636
44	191	229	1051	993	458	1012	535	1108	917	1165	649
45	195	234	1073	1014	468	1034	546	1131	936	1190	663

Reality Check: 

This information was provided by Elder Mark B. Anderson from the Lindon Home Storage Center.  It was compiled on 10/13/2009.

What that means...

These estimates are based on #10 cans purchased from the LDS Cannery.  Although most #10 cans purchased will not vary by brand in terms of weight per can, one item has a large difference.  That item happens to be the example I used; powdered milk.

At this moment there are #10 cans of powdered milk that make anywhere from 9 - 22 quarts of milk (2 1/2 - over 5 gallons).

.  That means that certain cans make more than double (or half) than others, depending on how you look at it.  (Check out this post for more information on that).

So what..

If you buy your milk from the cannery, you can use this chart.  If not, take the time to figure out how many gallons of milk each #10 can (that you purchase) makes, and figure out how many gallons you use in a month.  Multiply that number by 12 and you'll have your years' supply (my year's supply is actually around 13-14 #10 cans, not 152).
Everything else on the list should be legit, but I'd double check the quantities just to be sure, since food pre-packaged in #10 cans has already changed A LOT in the past 5 years.

How do you double check?

There is a column just under the title on each chart that tells you the weight (in lbs.) per product per #10 can.  Make sure that weight matches up with the weight of product in the #10 can you purchase and you're good to go.

A lot of these items are available in quantities larger than a #10 can, so you can use this chart to help you determine how many lbs. (or poly buckets) you need to purchase to get the same amount.

Example: Multiply the number of #10 cans needed by the weight in each can to come up with the total weight.  Apply it to the chart below.

LINDON HOME STORAGE CENTER
BULK PRODUCT -to- STORAGE CONTAINER CONVERSIONS
			BULK WEIGHT CONVERSION TO:
	PRODUCT	BULK WEIGHT BAG/BOX (LBS)	#10 CANS	MYLAR POUCHES	5 GALLON BUCKETS	# OF BAGS OR BOXES IN A 5 GALLON BUCKET
	BASICS
1	BEANS, BLACK	25	5	4	1	1.5
2	BEANS, PINTO	25	5	4-5	1	1.4
3	BEANS, WHITE	25	5	4	1	1.4
4	MILK, DRY NONFAT	25	6-7	5	1	1.1
5	RICE, WHITE	25	4-5	4	1	1.5
6	SUGAR	25	4-5	4	1	1.6
7	WHEAT, RED	25	4-5	4	1	1.5
8	WHEAT, WHITE	25	4-5	4	1	1.5
	OTHERS
9	APPLE SLICES	15	12	9-10	2	0.6
10	CARROTS	25	9	7	2	0.7
11	MACARONI	20	6	5	1	1.1
12	OATS – QUICK	25	10	8-9	2	0.7
13	OATS – REGULAR	25	9-10	8	2	0.7
14	ONIONS, DRY	35	13	10-11	2	0.5
15	POTATO FLAKES	25	14	11	2	0.5
16	SPAGHETTI	25	6	5	1	1.1
	SHORTER-TERM STORAGE
17	BEANS, REFRIED	25	10-11	9	2	0.6
18	COCOA MIX, HOT	25	4-5	4	1	1.5
19	FLOUR, WHITE	25	5-6	5	1	1.3
20	FRUIT DRINK MIX	25	4-5	4	1	1.6
FYI: There are ~3 quarts in a #10 can and ~4 quarts in a Mylar pouch. One gallon = ~1.33 #10 cans and = ~1 Mylar pouch.

And there you have it!

That wasn't too confusing, was it?