NOT having food storage is expensive

That title is not a typo.

This post will dissolve the myth that food storage is too expensive, so for those of you using that as an excuse: read on, if you dare.

Not Having Food Storage is Expensive

Food storage should be considered an investment, not a financial burden.  No matter what situation you find yourself in; be it a natural disaster, financial distress, or everyday life, one thing remains the same:

you have to have food to survive.

We all have to buy it.  Some just choose to pay much more than others.

Having a surplus of food in your home not only gives you peace of mind, but it saves you time, effort, and money.  For example:

Ever been in the middle of making dinner and realize you are missing just one thing?  Food storage can save you from making an unexpected trip to the store (and from continually borrowing from your neighbor).

Cooking from food storage (or from scratch) ALWAYS saves me at least 50% of what that item would cost if I were to buy it premade.  Not to mention the health benefits that accompany home-made cooking.

The more you go shopping, the more money you spend.  Every trip to the store to pick up "a few items" often results in unnecessary purchases.

Every time you need an item that you don't have at home, you are forced to pay full price when you could have purchased it on sale.  Every single item in the grocery store goes on sale at least 3-4 times per year.  Timing will vary depending on the season, the store, it's location and the item.  If you don’t know if what you’re paying is a good deal or not, it’s time to start paying attention. 

So… how do you maximize your dollar?

(And no, I am not going to tell you to clip coupons).
I am going to tell you to start building a “good buy for groceries” list. 

Having a list like this allows you to save money on all of your groceries; the catch is to buy enough to last you until the item(s) go on sale again.

The lists below have a dollar amount associated with each item.  This is what I PREFER TO NEVER PAY MORE THAN.  Often times I can find it for less than what is listed.  Rarely I will run out of an item and have to pay more.

If the item isn’t on my list (or the price isn’t included), I don’t buy it often enough to care if I am paying an extra dollar or two.

This is also a great place to document which brands you like, and those that you never want to buy again, as well as any notes that you might have.

 

CANNED / BOTTLED GOODS
Item		Price	Amount	Brand	Location
Beans	Black	$0.50	14-15oz can	any	any
	Chili con carne	$0.90	" "	Nalley	any
	Garbanzo	$0.50	" "	not GV	any
	Great Northern	$0.50	" "	any	any
	Kidney	$0.50	" "	any	any
	Pinto	$0.50	" "	any	any
	Refried	$0.88	" "	Taco Bell	Macey's, Walmart
Fruit	Fruit Cocktail	$0.80	15oz can	any	any
	Mandarin Oranges	$0.33	11oz can	any	any
	Pineapple	$0.66	8oz can	Dole, GV	Walmart
	Pineapple	$0.88	large can	any	any
Meat	Tuna Fish	$0.25	-	Chicken of Sea	Winco / Coupon
Soups & Broths	Beef Consume	$1.00	10.5 oz. can	Cam.	Macey's, Walmart
	Broth, Beef	$0.50	14 oz. can	any	any
	Broth, Chicken	$0.50	14 oz. can	any	any
	Chicken Noodle	$0.50	10.5 oz. can	Cam.	Macey's
	Cream of Chicken	$0.50	10.5 oz. can	WF, Cam.	Macey's
	Cream of Mushroom	$0.50	10.5 oz. can	WF, Cam.	Macey's
	Tomato Soup	$0.50	10.5 oz. can	WF, Cam.	Macey's
Tomato	Tomatoes, any	$0.50	14-15oz Can	any	any
	Tomato Sauce	$0.24	8oz can	any	any
	Tomato Paste	$0.40	6 oz. can	any	any
	Spaghetti Sauce	$4.25	4 lbs. 3 oz.	Prego	Walmart, Winco
Vegetable	Corn	$0.50	14-15oz Can	Name Brand	any
	Corn, Creamed	$0.28	14-15oz Can	Green Giant	Winco  / coupon
	Green Beans	$0.50	14-15oz Can	Name Brand	any
	Roasted Red Peppers	$3.50	16oz	Mezzetta	any
Other	Evaporated Milk	$0.69	12 fl. oz can	any	any
	Green Chilies	$0.50	4oz	any	any
	Olives	$0.88	DR WT 6oz	any	Macey's

BASICS and PACKAGED FOODS
Item		Price	Amount	Brand	Location
Baking	Baking Powder	-	-	any	Walmart
	Baking Soda	-	-	any	Walmart
	Candy Chips	$1.50	bag	Name Brand	any
	Chocolate Chips	$1.50	bag	Name Brand	any
	Chocolate Chips	$1.00	bag	WF, Generic	any
	Cocoa powder	$2.50	8 oz.	Hershey's	Walmart, Winco
	Coconut	$1.00	14oz. bag	any	any
	Cornstarch	-	-	any	Walmart, Winco
Flour	Flour, Lehi Roller Mills	$6.00	25 lbs.	Turkey	Costco
Salt	Salt, Kosher	$1.50	3 lbs. box	Morton	Walmart, Winco
	Salt, Table	$0.33	tube	any	Walmart, Winco
Sugar	Sugar, brown	$1.00	2 lbs. bag	any	any
	Sugar, granulated	$1.00	pound	any	any
	Sugar, powdered	$1.00	2 lbs. bag	any	any
	Yeast, Instant	$2.50	pound	Saf-Instant	Macey's
Fats/Oils	Extra-Virgin Olive Oil	$17.00	1 gallon-metal	1st pressed	Parley's Hardware
	Vegetable Oil		1 gallon	any	Macey's
	Sesame Oil			Macey's	Macey's
	Canola Oil			any	any
	Lecithin, Liquid	-	-	-	Bosch, Macey's
Drinks	Apple Juice	$1.00	64 fl. Oz.	Langars	Smiths, Macey's
	Orange Juice, frozen	$1.00	small can	Name Brand	any
	Water Bottles	$2.00	24 pack	any	any
Other	Dried Herbs/Spices	-	-	bulk section	Winco
	Honey	$2.00	pound	Clover	Macey's - 10 lbs.
	Honey, raw local	$2.00	pound	Alfalfa	UV Produce
	Nuts and Seeds	-	-	bulk section	Winco
Packaged	Cereal	$2.00	box	Name Brands	any
	"  "	$1.00	box	Generic Brands	any
	Crackers	$2.00	box	Name Brands	any
	"  "	$1.00	box	Generic Brands	any
	Stuffing	$1.00	box	Stove Top	any
	Cake Mix	$0.70	box	Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines	any
	Chips	$2.00	bag	Name Brands	any
	"  "	$1.00	bag	Generic Brands	any
Pasta	Pasta	$1.00	box	Barilla	Walmart, Smiths
	Mac and Cheese	$0.50	box	Kraft	any
	Raman	$0.10	each	-	any
Other	Salad Dressings	$1.50	reg size	Name Brands	any
	Salad Dressings	$1.00	reg size	Generic Brands	any
	Peanut Butter			Jif, Skippy	any

 

MEATS AND DAIRY
Item		Price	Amount	Brand	Location
Cheese	Bagged Shredded, any	$1.50	8oz. Bag	any	Macey's, Smiths
	Colbyjack	$2.99	2 lbs.	any	any
	Cottage Cheese	$1.00	16 oz.	any	any
	Cream Cheese	$1.00	8 oz.	any	any
	Medium Cheddar, brick	$3.99	2 lbs.	any	Macey's, Smiths
	Mozzarella, brick	$3.99	2 lbs.	any	Macey's, Smiths
	Parmesan	$3.50	8oz. Can	any	any
	Parmesan, green	$4.00	pound	Kraft	any
	Pepperjack	$3.99	2 lbs.	any	Macey's, Smiths
	Ricotta	$2.00	15 oz.	Precious	any
Dairy	Butter	$2.50	box	any	any
	Eggs	$0.99	dozen	any	any
	Margarine	$0.69	box	Imperial	Macey's
	Sour Cream	$0.88	16 oz.	any	any
	Yogurt	$0.50	each	Yoplait	any
Meat	Chicken Breasts, B., S.	$1.69	pound	-	Macey's
	Bacon, Turkey	$2.00	pound	Butterball	Winco, Macey's
	Beef Roast, any	$1.99	pound	-	Macey's, Smith's
	Chicken Drumsticks	$1.00	pound	-	Macey's, Smith's
	Chicken Thighs, B., S.	$1.75	pound	-	Macey's, Smith's
	Chicken Thighs, B.I.	$1.00	pound	-	Macey's, Smith's
	Ground Beef, 85%+	$1.75	pound	-	Macey's
	Ground Beef, 90%+	$1.99	pound	-	Macey's
	Ground Chicken	$1.99	pound	-	Macey's, Smith's
	Ground Turkey	$1.99	pound	-	Macey's, Walmart
	London Broil	$1.88	pound	-	Macey's
	Pork Chops, any	$1.69	pound	-	Macey's, Smith's
	Pork Loin	$1.99	pound	-	Macey's, Smith's
	Pork Roast	$1.99	pound	-	Macey's, Smith's
	Sausage, Breakfast	$1.60	pound	-	Macey's

FOOD STORAGE ITEMS
Item		Price	Amount	Location	Notes:
#10 Cans	Apple Delight Drink Mix	$6.00	-	Macey's	Not the best, but kids like it - last priority
	Apple Slices	-	-	Macey's	1 can = 1 year
	Banana Chips	$7.00	-	Macey's	1 can = 1 year
	Bell Peppers	$12.00	?	Macey's	1 can = 1 year
	Butter Powder	?	-	Macey's	wish list
	Buttermilk Powder	$9.00	-	Ridley's	wish list
	Chocolate Milk Powder	$10.00		Macey's	Country Cream=Best Brand for Quantity/Taste
	Egg Mix, Dried Product	$15.00		Macey's
	Honey Powder	$9.00	7 cups	Macey's	Love for Baking!
	Onions	?		Macey's	1 can = 1 year
	Potato Gems	$10.00		Macey's	get 2 / 1 water to potato gem ratio
	Potato Pearls	$6.00		Cannery	Still Available?
	Potato Slices	$7.50	-	Maceys,Ridleys	purchased, haven't tried yet
	Powdered Milk	$10.00		Macey's	Country Cream=Best Brand for Quantity/Taste
	Sour Cream powder	-	-	Macey's	wish list
	Whip Cream Powder	$5.00		Macey's	purchased, haven't tried yet
Bulk	Almonds, any	$3.60	pound	Winco	Bulk Section
	Barley, Pearl	$13.00	25 lbs.	Mail Order
	Oats, any	$19.00	50 lbs.	Macey's
	Popcorn			Mail Order
	Quinoa			Winco, Costco
	Rice, Arborio			Winco
	Rice, Brown - Long			Macey's
	Rice, White			any
	Salt	$3.00	25 lbs.	Costco
	Spices	varies	pound	Winco	Almost always cheaper in Winco's bulk section
	Wheat, any	$19.00	50 lbs.	Macey's
Poly Buckets	Poly Bucket, Empty	$2.50	-	Macey's
	Wheat, any	$13.00	-	Macey's
	Oats, any	$13.00	-	Macey's

As you can see not all of my items are filled in, so this is a continually updated list.

Personally, I have this printed out and included in my food storage binder, so it is always accessible.

There are also a lot of resources available that can help you stretch your buck in terms of food storage.  Here are some of my personal favorites:

Bountiful Baskets: is a local food co-op.  Every week you can purchase a 'basket' of fruits and vegetables (among other things) for a very discounted price.  Baskets are then distributed the following Saturday at the location you chose.  It is completely run off of volunteers, so occasional participation is expected, which includes unloading food from the truck and helping to distribute.  A basket costs $16.50 (with tax) and is 50% fruit and 50% vegetables (and contains a lot more than what you could get at the store for that price).  You never know what you are going to get each week, since the ordering is done by the location manager, but it is locally grown when possible and there is always a good variety.  Organic baskets are also available.

Grocery Smarts: is basically an online ad.  Select your state and the store you want to shop at.  It will come up with a list of items that is in that particular stores' ad for the week, and will use a star based system (the more stars the cheaper the product) to let you know how good of a deal it is.  This site also includes coupons to use (and where they are located) to get the most bang for your buck, including links to printable coupons.  I am not a coupon-er, but I still use this site regularly to determine which store is having the best deals.  

There are buttons at the top right of the page that allows you to 'start' making your grocery list.  After clicking this button, you can select the items that you want to put on your list.  When done, select the 'finish' button, and you have a printable grocery list.  Very handy.

 Utah Valley Produce was a site that was started to help local farmers find a way to offer their produce at discounted prices (knocking out the middle man).  This was very popular a few years ago and has become less and less so as the farmers have become better known and distribute their produce without the site, however they still offer a great deal on local honey.  This site is not operational at the moment because nothing is offered until Spring/Summer/Fall.  Check back again at that time.

Pleasant Grove Fruit was created after Utah Valley Produce, and lists local farmers contact information and what types of produce they offer.  They do have an email list that you can sign up for (next season) so you can be notified of when certain produce becomes available.  This site is not operational at the moment because nothing is offered until Spring/Summer/Fall.  Check back again at that time.

Alpine Food Storage is a home run business that offers a HUGE variety of bulk and packaged foods.  From spices to containers, they pretty much have it all.  Order forms can be downloaded from their site.  You simply email your order to them, they let you know when it arrives, and you pay them when you pick it up.  No shipping costs.  Great selection.  Located in Highland, UT.

I hope this helps!