# Is there a way



## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

To have somebody come look at what you have and give a consult on what you need, show you how to do things better without it costing an arm and a leg? I like reading the books and stuff, but I think I'd do better if I had somebody give me a detailed plan written out specifically for me. Is there such a thing? Preppers are notorious for not wanting you to see what they have - with good reasons of course, but I can't handle the lists anymore. They've made me nuts.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

Sign up for Doomsday Preppers and they'll have that "consulting" company score you.

On a more serious note, why not do it the Free Way. Make your preps a group project for this board. Bringing someone in to assess what you have involves a risk of them knowing a lot about you, where you live, and the state of your preps and they can talk after the fact. Here though you're anonymous. Take photos, post them. Be as free with the photos as you're comfortable in being. Then sit back and let all of us loudmouths tell you what you need to do.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Break it up into areas such as food/water, Bug out Bag, etc. State your time frame, 30 day, 90 days, year, etc. 

Most folks ain't gotta clue or they are trying to sell you something.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I'm not sure there is such a service.

But the advice I can give is inventory what you have already. Share that inventory with a fellow prepper you TRUST and ask for their thoughts. Sometimes fresh eyes are all you really need.

You could also use the Prepared LDS Family site for ideas and thoughts on areas you may be lacking. She has great monthly printables for food storage and supplies. She takes it from the LDS stand point but it is still helpful.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Bobbb said:


> On a more serious note, why not do it the Free Way. Make your preps a group project for this board. Bringing someone in to assess what you have involves a risk of them knowing a lot about you, where you live, and the state of your preps and they can talk after the fact. Here though you're anonymous. Take photos, post them. Be as free with the photos as you're comfortable in being. Then sit back and let all of us loudmouths tell you what you need to do.


This is a good idea. I'm shocked I actually like your idea.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Can't all that be tracked? Ugh....I'm pretty paranoid I guess. The LDS pdf is awesome and I've used it a LOT, but I have to admit, it took me 6 months to get over reading the part about needing 750 pounds of grain :gaah: Then I get kind of paralyzed and can't do anything because I feel completely hopeless and incapable. 
I'm actually thinking in terms of "ok, this month you need to purchase 5 cans of blahdy blah blah and next month 3 sacks of...' 
Plus there's this thing I have about people seeing a mess in my house....BUT I'm willing to give it a try if you guys promise not to be too mean. :teehee:


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Can it be tracked, yes. Will anyone ever bother, probably not. I could give you details about how to spoof your ip, vpn's or other methods but it has probably already been logged so not much point.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

If you're going to go with the group-sourcing route where everyone throws their own suggestions at you, I'd suggest that your first articulate the following:

- Your goals.
- Your environment - how many people are you prepping for, any special conditions.
- Your capacity - what can you do, what can others do, how much storage space do you have, what can you build.

For instance, in terms of capacity, if you only have a 10'x10' storage area to store everything and you want it to hold you for 6 months, then there's no use people telling you that you need to store 2 tons of wheat for that would displace all of your other food storage capacity.

Sit down, think about the limits you're working under and then write a post where you spell out those limits so that the Loudmouth Brigade ( a term of affection) knows what's up. This will also help you decide beforehand how comfortable you are with trading off the sharing of this information in return for free, but knowledgeable, advice from many, many different perspectives.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

lazydaisy67 said:


> Can't all that be tracked? Ugh....I'm pretty paranoid I guess. The LDS pdf is awesome and I've used it a LOT, but I have to admit, it took me 6 months to get over reading the part about needing 750 pounds of grain :gaah: Then I get kind of paralyzed and can't do anything because I feel completely hopeless and incapable.
> I'm actually thinking in terms of "ok, this month you need to purchase 5 cans of blahdy blah blah and next month 3 sacks of...'
> Plus there's this thing I have about people seeing a mess in my house....BUT I'm willing to give it a try if you guys promise not to be too mean. :teehee:


Take a look at the link in my previous comment. The printables are close to what you are looking for. They are monthly shopping goals. They aim at 3 months of supplies BUT the goals can be adjusted to suit your needs/wants.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Ok, shelf #1 This is like a mish mash of a lot of different things. Some condiments, some baking stuff....No particular rhyme or reason. With the dried beans, I set them on the shelf until I have enough to fill a 1 gallon mylar bag and then bag them up that way. Most of the things on the shelf are in threes. Three ketchups, three honey, again no reason for that.


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## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

I like Bobbbs suggestion of pictures. Your fear of us seeing a mess? You have never seen our messes. I doubt anyone here would judge you by that. People would freak if they saw pictures of the inside of my one barn. I have places in my house that if anyone saw, they would think I was a slob. 
I'm shocked when I walk into some peoples houses and there is nothing. No mess anywhere. How the heck is that possible? I was working at one of those houses about a month ago and about 3:00, 2 kids about 8 years old came in the room that I was working. There was no evidence that any kids lived in that house..Weird.

Up to you, but these guys will assess your preps quicker for free than anyone you could pay to come to your house. And you never know, it might give a few of them something to argue about for a few days JK I love those threads : )

Well now that I posted, you beat me to it...


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

I can assure you I will not be showing any pictures of the fish antibiotics that I DON'T have or the suture kits that I would NEVER EVER use....


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

(Self deleted as it didnt contribute to the thread.)


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Don't get too tied into the lists. I use the lists to get ideas and to check for items that I forgot. There are items on my list that I have never seen on anyone else's. No family eats the same as another therefore no prep list needs to match another. 

I developed my system by having my supplies in two areas. One I call my pantry. This includes a coat closet size pantry and my kitchen cabinets. I eat out of these every day. My pantry contains everything I use on a regular basis. At least that is the plan. I can probably eat for a couple months out of the pantry.

Then there is the store. I call it the store because I shop for the pantry out of my store. The store contains all my consumable items like food, cleaning products, and paper products. When Items go into the store they get dated. I use a first in first out system. I am working towards having two years worth of stores. If it comes out of the store and has less than a two year old date on it then I need to assign more shelf space to that item. I stock the store by buying sale items as much as possible. Since I mostly eat fresh or frozen vegetables I store extra canned vegetables. 

The nice part of this system is that as I want to step up to the next level all I have to do is assign more shelf space to a certain item (or build more shelves) and wait for the next sale. There are some items in the store that I only have for long term storage but very little. I have never had as much of everything as I wanted. I don't expect that I ever will. The nature of my prepping means that most items will have low points. Certain things like vitamins will only keep so long which limits how much you can keep. Items like canned goods and TP will keep almost indefinitely. 

If I go to my store and I don't have an item I purchase one for the pantry and another for the store. So, my list was developed over years one item at a time.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Caribou said:


> Don't get too tied into the lists. I use the lists to get ideas and to check for items that I forgot. There are items on my list that I have never seen on anyone else's. No family eats the same as another therefore no prep list needs to match another.
> 
> I developed my system by having my supplies in two areas. One I call my pantry. This includes a coat closet size pantry and my kitchen cabinets. I eat out of these every day. My pantry contains everything I use on a regular basis. At least that is the plan. I can probably eat for a couple months out of the pantry.
> 
> ...


I'd love to see your lists.


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## Jimthewagontraveler (Feb 8, 2012)

ok I will go first but im in a bit of a rush so no grading on spelling or punctuation ok
1 what scenario are you going for
if its an earthquake boy are you going to have a mess
2 how many people ae you prepping for
this will make a big diff on our projections of timeframe
random thoughts
are you buying as much yeast as you need for the bread you plan to make or not enough or to much
do you have more than one location for storing to reduce the chance of losing everything to a house fire or some other single event
i can see that you have made a very noticible difference in your survival odds with nothing more than you have in that one picture
you should be pleased with what you have acomplished
with that said i must be honest that shelf has less than my granny would have been comfortable with either as a young girl growing up in the wayback hills or retired and living in downtown phoenix
i will also comment about your comment about being frustrated by lists
suck it up and get on the ball
what part of preparing for disaster is required to be fun
i think a lot of it is some dont
now final point
I AM PROUD OF YOU AS YOU SHOULD BE YOU ARE AN OLD WARRIORS HOPE
MAY WE MEET IN VALLHALLA TO PART THE CLOUDS AND WATCH OUR CHILDREN MARRY
ROCK ON YOUNG PREPPER
now
go to your closest internet and find heather alexanders song MARCH OF THE CAMBREADTH


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Grimm said:


> I'd love to see your lists.


The truth is, Grimm, I'd like to see my list also. The way my store developed was not through a list except for a regular shopping list. I know where the holes are on my shelves and I fill them up as I can.

My preps are kind of like the audio bars on some entertainment centers. Each item increases and decreases seemingly independent of each other. Every once in awhile, when most of the bars are near the high end I turn up the volume. The highs get a little higher and the lows are not so low.


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## invision (Aug 14, 2012)

One of my first posts on here was my initial list some 6-7 months ago... Since then I honestly have stopped the list. I have two food storage area as well - the pantry off the kitchen and in the basement.

Each week before I go grocery shopping, I do the following - I take a look at what has been used in the pantry, fridge/freezer in the kitchen and I bring up the stuff from the basement dry storage and the deep freezer... I make mental notes of what I need then buy more of for the basement and typically buy more than my need - and if I see specials on any of the normal items we eat or use - say 10/$10, BOGO items, etc I take advantage to add to the storage... 

I would have no problem pulling out my spreadsheet, updating it and sharing... I am sure there are items I am missing because no one person can think of everything... This might be a good exercise for each of us...


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## exsheeple (Mar 27, 2011)

I dont have a list, I just stock up on what I normally use on a regular basis for now. I know I have a long way to go but having something set back is better than nothing.


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## cqp33 (Apr 2, 2012)

exsheeple said:


> I dont have a list, I just stock up on what I normally use on a regular basis for now. I know I have a long way to go but having something set back is better than nothing.


First of all "exsheeple" I am glad you recognized the error of your ways! Second and this if for everyone starting as I myself am getting ready to start stocking up myself, at least the way I have wanted to but being constantly moving every 2-3 years with the military it was difficult. Do what you can and with what you have, don't put yourself in a financial mess doing it, be smart with the assets you have and learn everything you can. You statement "having something set back is better than nothing" is spot on! Keep adding to it a little bit at a time as "assets" permit, it will grow before you know it, just make sure that you keep a good "first in first out" program that is easy to use, that is key!


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

cqp33 said:


> First of all "exsheeple" I am glad you recognized the error of your ways! Second and this if for everyone starting as I myself am getting ready to start stocking up myself, at least the way I have wanted to but being constantly moving every 2-3 years with the military it was difficult. Do what you can and with what you have, don't put yourself in a financial mess doing it, be smart with the assets you have and learn everything you can. You statement "having something set back is better than nothing" is spot on! Keep adding to it a little bit at a time as "assets" permit, it will grow before you know it, just make sure that you keep a good "first in first out" program that is easy to use, that is key!


A simple way to start is "use one, replace with two."


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

Lazydaisey all of us get overwhelmed sometimes and we all wish we had more supplies. I know I am not happy with my current food stores, especially canned goods. What you have so far in the picture is a great start and I assume there is more that you haven't shown us. You're way ahead of the average person and should be proud of what you've accomplished so far. 

Keep up the good work. Do a little at a time. If breaking it down by week or month works for you keep doing that.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

I don’t have a list either, never di….well, I do have a list of all the #10’s… somewhere. I do know that I do not have to add anything to that area, unless there is a really good sale on something I would really like.

Aside from foods, I took stock of how long things lasted. TP for example as it is very high on my list of important things for me to have. I use 8 sheets per trip with one trip a day, let’s make that 2 trips a day just in case, 16 sheets a day. A roll has 300 sheets so will last 18.75 days, call it 18 days or better yet 2 weeks. A 12 pack will last 24 weeks so we’ll say I use 3 - 12 packs a year. Let’s say I have 50 - 12 packs, that will last 16.67 years, we’ll call it 15 years. I like to always round down!

Other items such as soap, shampoo and all that I just buy a few on sale and you would be surprised at how fast you accumulate extras. I could supply Ivory bar soap or Dawn to quite an army. Don’t forget the sponges to go along with them! I use very few band-aids and related items but still put up a good stock of them on sale. Just recently they had boxes of gauze pads (all sizes!), tape, arm slings, wrist braces and all that type of medical supply in the discount basket. All nicely individually packed inside too! I bought the entire inventory they had, it wasn’t cases but several boxes of each.

If any sundry is on sale I ask myself three questions. Would it be anything I would ever use, anything that would be good to have in an emergency situation and what else it could be used for. Multi-purpose items are always a great score.

And your shelves look like a great start! We just need pictures of where you keep the good stuff.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Ok well to answer some of the questions: We are a total of 6. 3 adults and 3 kids under 12. I believe I am planning for a collapse kind of situation. I think most things I'm putting away are in keeping with a no electricity scenario. I have the equipment to cook without a stove and have materials on hand to make an earth oven when the time comes.
In my thinking, when the gubberment declares food a "precious resource" storing it will be illegal. If they come to the house to take a look-see at what you have I sure don't want to have shelves stocked full of stuff so I've packed up several 5-gallon buckets of food and water for all 6 of us for a day. Now I don't know where to hide them. Under the mattresses doesn't seem like it's hidden enough. If they search, they will find. So the barn seems like a good idea but I'd really like to bury them. Everything in the buckets is either in a can or is dehydrated and vacuum sealed. The water is just in plastic bottles that I got in a case from the store. Can you bury that?


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

This is the stuff I canned from last year that I have left:
14q green beans
15q tomatoes
4p spaghetti sauce
11q corn
8p corn
5 q of yucky green zucchini soup stock that I think I'll throw out
9q chicken
6q venison
4q carrots
7q cherries
8p beets - again, think I'll throw out because they changed color in the jar and the kids won't eat them


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

lazydaisy67 said:


> To have somebody come look at what you have and give a consult on what you need, show you how to do things better without it costing an arm and a leg? I like reading the books and stuff, but I think I'd do better if I had somebody give me a detailed plan written out specifically for me. Is there such a thing? Preppers are notorious for not wanting you to see what they have - with good reasons of course, but I can't handle the lists anymore. They've made me nuts.


I'll do it for free.PM me and we'll e mail it out.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

Dear Lazy,

I started a dissertation in response to your post and then realized that it was just more shared ignorance passed on over the forums. the simple answer to your question is yes there are folks who can help you but if they are in Texas for example that does you little good. the other factor is are they going to charge you. I would not pay someone to help you. You need someone who is a mentor not an expert. Experts tend to be either people who failed and now want to share their plans with others or have no experience at all but have read all the books. 

Truth is from your pictures it appears you are very serious about getting prepared just need a boost now and then. One thing that affects all preppers is hitting the wall. There will be times you just feel like you have hit that wall and there is no reason to go on. Everyone who gets into this lifestyle feels that at one point or another and it comes more than once. 

We work with a lot of newbies just getting started and one thing we try to do is give it to them in small doses. No one can take the mass of information you get in all the books and forums and try to make sense of it. We lay out a plan for each one of them with specific things to do. First thing is to give us a detailed idea of where and what they have right now. example: do you have a water well? Do you use a wind powered pump on the well or is it electric? Do you have an elevated tank to provide water pressure to your living area? Do you have any kind of water filtration system (can be homemade)? 

How long do you plan to provide for? (A month, three months, six months, a year, or more?)

Are there people in your group who take prescription medications they cannot live without?

Do you believe in protecting your self and your family? In other words do you have weapons to defend yourself?

How do you plan to cook if you have no power? Wood, Propane, Diesel, sunlight, etc. 

Do you have animals you plan to keep? food for them? 

I know questions do not help you because you want answers right now and that is okay. Look for good mentors like Jerry D Young. Jerry is a really good guy and long term friend to many of us. Big thing is find someone to talk to. I mean a real conversation over the phone if nothing else. be sure whoever you hook up with is the real deal. 

I wish you the very best and hope you find the right people to help you. GB


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

I must say that I am quite impressed with your canning skill. Skills are as important as "stuff".

I have an idea that you might want to look into. I see the quantities you are purchasing in. If you can find an LDS cannery close enough you might consider picking up some of your supplies from them. For example, I get 25# of beans for $16.??. Freight to here is expensive so you might do better. They have some items that I have not been able to find in bulk elsewhere. It has sometimes been hard to pay for bulk or larger amounts of sale items but when I can pull it off it reduces my cost in the long run. Okay, okay, I spend as much as I can so it doesn't reduce my spending but I do get a lot more.


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

Here is what I do. I made an excel sheet that lists every consumable item I could think of. Some things I condensed ( instead of listing each type of canned vegetable I listed it as vegetables and so forth ). I then made a column for quantity on hand. After that I made a column that lists my 1 year goal. The next column lists the difference in the two. I can pull it up and look at my TP and see that I need to buy X amount more to reach my goal. If I am under 25% of my goal, the on hand column is red so I can quickly see that I need to focus on that area soon. I'm really just starting out so all but a few items are in the red so I'm still just buying anything I have the opportunity to get. 

As far as having someone else evaluate your stores, I don't feel the need. I know what my family needs to survive and that will be different for your family. We basically bought only stuff that we would store on a grocery trip a couple months ago. We then kept a log of everything we ate/used in a week (including gallons of fuel) and based our goals off that. The list has a lot of fluctuation as we discover new things we like or discover things we thought we would like to be not as good after storage. I feel as though basing our preps around normal everyday usage will actually allow us to stretch them farther in a real SHTF situation when we will be rationing a little better. 

Don't know if any of this helps you but it works for me. And I too get overwhelmed at times and have mini freak outs over not having enough. It just takes time and planning.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Food and water is pretty simple. All need to know is how many people and how long.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Maybe somebody has already said this, but you might want to back away from the material preps for a while and consider the skills side, you already seem to have canning with lids covered, do you have a solution if you can't get new lids for example?? not trying to overwhelm you, just that sometimes a change is as good as a rest


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

I too am impressed by your canning. Good for you. I will second the thoughts above. I like to think not in terms of "stuff" but in terms of time. I have used a lot of our stuff as we have had some downtime at work and now that we are picking up again Im going to start thinking about restocking. For me its 4 weeks. I just don believe its worth while to prepare food and water for longer then that unless your isolated or have some way to move it to a safer location. So here in two months when I will be replacing our water stock I will need to buy 15 24pks of water. That should hold us for 4 weeks with what we have in longer term storage. I have a go box of food for a week if we have to go to a shelter. Other then that we have 4-6 weeks of food around the house at any given time.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

I guess I've never considered the canning as much of a skill, I just read the instructions and did what they said. Anybody could do that if they had enough desire and need. I would consider it a skill to master canning on a wood burning stove. I have gobs of canning lids and get another box pretty much every single time I go to the store. I know the reusable Tatler lids are neat too, but I'm just used to the metal ones so I get those.
Maybe the thing that's freaking me out is that I don't know how long I should be preparing for. It's one thing to talk about 6 months to a year and another all together to plan for 5 or 10 years. 
Baking is a challenge for me cause I hate to do it now, let alone when I have to on a fire later.... It throws me for a loop when I saw that you should make your own baking powder with soda and cream of tartar. This was after I had purchased a bunch of baking powder...ug. OR buying powdered milk. It just makes me furious that it's so expensive. $17 for the big box at Walmart??? and HOW many pounds of that do I need for a family of 6? Good grief. Olive oil is expensive too and especially so if you get it in the glass bottle that I read you're supposed to. Maybe I just read too much.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

lazydaisy67 said:


> I guess I've never considered the canning as much of a skill, I just read the instructions and did what they said. Anybody could do that if they had enough desire and need. I would consider it a skill to master canning on a wood burning stove. I have gobs of canning lids and get another box pretty much every single time I go to the store. I know the reusable Tatler lids are neat too, but I'm just used to the metal ones so I get those.
> Maybe the thing that's freaking me out is that I don't know how long I should be preparing for. It's one thing to talk about 6 months to a year and another all together to plan for 5 or 10 years.
> Baking is a challenge for me cause I hate to do it now, let alone when I have to on a fire later.... It throws me for a loop when I saw that you should make your own baking powder with soda and cream of tartar. This was after I had purchased a bunch of baking powder...ug. OR buying powdered milk. It just makes me furious that it's so expensive. $17 for the big box at Walmart??? and HOW many pounds of that do I need for a family of 6? Good grief. Olive oil is expensive too and especially so if you get it in the glass bottle that I read you're supposed to. Maybe I just read too much.


I use this site to get a basic idea of how much of somethings we'd need. It offers the basic calculator for free and you can pay for all the extras. I use the free service since its, well, free.

https://www.stockupfood.com/


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

lazydaisy67 said:


> I guess I've never considered the canning as much of a skill, I just read the instructions and did what they said. Anybody could do that if they had enough desire and need. I would consider it a skill to master canning on a wood burning stove. I have gobs of canning lids and get another box pretty much every single time I go to the store. I know the reusable Tatler lids are neat too, but I'm just used to the metal ones so I get those.
> Maybe the thing that's freaking me out is that I don't know how long I should be preparing for. It's one thing to talk about 6 months to a year and another all together to plan for 5 or 10 years.
> Baking is a challenge for me cause I hate to do it now, let alone when I have to on a fire later.... It throws me for a loop when I saw that you should make your own baking powder with soda and cream of tartar. This was after I had purchased a bunch of baking powder...ug. OR buying powdered milk. It just makes me furious that it's so expensive. $17 for the big box at Walmart??? and HOW many pounds of that do I need for a family of 6? Good grief. Olive oil is expensive too and especially so if you get it in the glass bottle that I read you're supposed to. Maybe I just read too much.


Not only is canning a skill it is a valuable one. The ability to preserve food has allowed mankind to prosper. Today most people buy their canned goods out of the store. Most people don't have this skill. Your home canned food is also a higher quality than store bought.

I prep for just a little bit more. I usually suggest people prep for three months. When you reach that then go for six, then nine, and then a year. Most people will find a level they are comfortable with between one and seven years. Set small goals, allow yourself to feel you have accomplished something then work towards the next goal. Building a house is a big job. Nailing a couple boards together is simple. Nail enough boards together and you have a house. Keep your goals achievable. Enjoy your successes, when you put more of your home canned goods on the shelf sit back and enjoy how they look.

We go through about a gallon of milk a week. I figure that fifty gallons of powdered milk is a years worth for us. We will probably use far less powdered milk than whole milk but there is no way to judge that so sometimes I just pick a number. I figure it is better to judge high.


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## exsheeple (Mar 27, 2011)

Thats the thing...no one really knows SHTF how long it may last.....at this time I figure I can survive for at least 6 months with what I have on hand right now, maybe longer if I do some fishing and hunting along the way...but prepping for one seems a bit easier. I have done what Caribou has suggested and set small goals so it isn't so overwhelming. I have learned how to home can, dehydrate, and be more of a smart shopper.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

try writing down what your group eats. for example: Monday, bowls of cereal, eggs,strips bacon, milk, juice, coffee... lunch ham sandwiches, chips, milk, tea.... supper, roast, peas, carrots, potatoes, onions. now put down about how much you eat of each. add any supporting foods such as seasonings, sugar, dry creamer. keep this up for a couple of months. you will see a trend starting and will know about how of your main foods you go thru each day, week, month and year. when you go shopping keep the list that you buy. I say buy, because I don't always stick to the written list. one week I went to the store and found libby's veggies for .50 a can. ended up buying six cases and then going back and getting 4 more! other things on my list waited until the next trip. I did this for about 6 months and now know how we eat and what we have so that restocking is easier. i know when I can cheat on my list for a good buy and when I can't. I don't do lists anymore.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

lazydaisy67 said:


> Ok, shelf #1 This is like a mish mash of a lot of different things. Some condiments, some baking stuff....No particular rhyme or reason. With the dried beans, I set them on the shelf until I have enough to fill a 1 gallon mylar bag and then bag them up that way. Most of the things on the shelf are in threes. Three ketchups, three honey, again no reason for that.





lazydaisy67 said:


> This is the stuff I canned from last year that I have left:
> 14q green beans
> 15q tomatoes
> 4p spaghetti sauce
> ...


I just looked at your pictures and I have a couple of thoughts on them.

#1 - the dried goods are at the lowest point in the shelving. You might want to move the dried-goods into water-tight sealed containers. If there is any moisture at all - it will be at the lowest level first - damaging the dried goods.

#2 - The shelves are very open, almost too much air-space. If you can tighten up that space, you will find that you can put-up way more goods easily. Maybe consider using drawers or bins on sliders to make better use of that space.

Other than those two points, I think that you are doing great!


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

Save FREE containers! The ones you get with food or other things, like sturdy plastic or glass jars and tubs with lids. Wash 'em up and put your dry beans in them, or whatever. Yeah, it takes some room for that, but you will soon figure out what you should save, or not. 

Storing beans in a bucket saves a lot of space compared to stacked plastic bags. Same with bags of sugar and many other things.


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## dirtgrrl (Jun 5, 2011)

First, LD stop thinking about what you *should* or *should not* be doing. Those are other peoples' "shoulds" and may or may not be useful to you. Thinking that your prepping must be like everyone else's will just cause you a lot of stress. We usually don't plan well under stress.

In my early days of prepping I gathered lots of things, but didn't put a whole lot of thought into how they would hold up in storage. As a result I wasted a lot because of bug and rodent issues, expirations, etc. Several pounds of salt were ruined by leakage from some other container. (See Naekid's post above.) Most store containers are meant for short term storage, so I started repackaging a lot of things into mylar or canning jars. I now focus on fewer acquisitions that will store longer.

There are a lot of very good posts in this thread and I'm really enjoying it. Just remember:

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

lazydaisy67 said:


> To have somebody come look at what you have and give a consult on what you need, show you how to do things better without it costing an arm and a leg? I like reading the books and stuff, but I think I'd do better if I had somebody give me a detailed plan written out specifically for me. Is there such a thing? Preppers are notorious for not wanting you to see what they have - with good reasons of course, but I can't handle the lists anymore. They've made me nuts.


Post pictures of what you have. Tell us where you get your water. What you plan on using for a toilet. What kind of home security you have. How many months of food you have.


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