So what did you put away this week?

Picked the last of the cayenne peppers to dry before the big freeze. Have 3 quarts so far. 15 lbs sugar, 1 large box latex gloves, 5 cake mixes on sale, 5 lbs pearled barley and bunches of sugar free drink mix for water bottles.

 

Another 12 pack of charmin ultrasoft megarolls.
That and another couple cases of mountain house stuff.

 

Not too much here this week, got a small bag of beans, some boxed mac and cheese, and some more dried pasta. We do the majority of our monthly shopping at the beginning of the month, so near the end of the month all we stock up on is pounds. Don't bother me though, saw a sweatshirt today that said FAT PEOPLE ARE HARDER TO KIDNAP.

 

Hundreds of rounds of .40 S & W ~ 1x fully processed brass either primed or fully loaded with Speer Gold Dot bullets. My handloads are more uniform and better for combat than most factory ammo. I'm working with 5,000 1 x brass and 1K Gold Dots for now, and about 2,500 hard cast lead target bullets that I'm going to load as soon as the hollowpoints are loaded up

 

We have been doing our winter cleaning.
Gathering items to donate.
Organizing what we do have.
Very simple Christmas, simple fleece sleepers for me and cook books for
Ghost.
Knowing we are well set is a gift in and of itself. Feeling mighty blessed.

 

A new North full face mask with two elements, now I have two. 200 Speer .451 lead tips for the .45 and 200 .45 brass. CostCo canned foods, rice and beans.

 

This week, 75 lbs of rice, mylar bagged and bucketed with O2 absorbers, 8 pack of baked beans, 16 cans of tuna, 6 cans of chicked, bottle of olive oil, 2 bottles of mustard.

This will be the last storebought meat I am planning to buy, I will can my own from here on out.



Sharpshooter

 

Great thought. We have three little ones and that didn't even cross my mind. Thanks!

 

Just Starting. Mylar bagged and O2 absorbers:
44 lbs Long Grain Rice
25 lbs Pinto Beans
25 lbs Rolled oats
25 lbs Gorgonzola Beans
45 lbs Black Beans
1000 rnds 7.62X39

On my way I guess.

 

Just a note; Keep in mind the standard rule of thumb is a 5 to 1 ratio of Rice to Beans to sustain health. Most everything else is "nice to haves" that makes the mundane palatable over the long haul. I guess my point is, if you want to get the most bang out of dollar in the shortest period of time, then it would be beneficial to increase your rice purchases to match the various beans on that magic 5 to 1 ratio. At least until you have enough food put aside to cover the first year post SHTF for you and yours. Others will say, just buy extra of what you normally eat. I agree with that if you believe you have plenty of time to get your food stores in order. I on the other hand have a darker view of where we are at in this world, and where we are going. I suggest that, I would rather be ready now, than 6 months from now. 450 pounds of rice could be had for under $225 and it would balance out what you listed above. Then that list would be truly awesome when you consider how long it would serve you. Keep up the preps.

 

Wife works in an office and they recycle tons of legal and standard size paper. I have her bringing home a tote full almost every day, we store the paper in sealed plastic drums for fire starter. The paper usually has one blank side, they could be used by children or adults for writing and still used as fire starter, afterwards. I figure you can't have enough paper

Much of it is neatly stacked printer paper with only one side used and the back side could also be used in my printer in a pinch

Look into hulled oat groats folks, very versatile

 

Added 3 more cans of coffee, 50# of salt, 1/2 side of beef in the freezer, 3 wool blankets, today found .223 ammo on sale at walmart ($29.95 for 100 rounds) bought 10 boxes.

 

vja..... don't forget your local thrift stores for some great finds. I have found wool blankets here for a couple of bucks each, cast iron cookware for as little as a buck a piece. Also you can get good quaility first aid supplies for a buck a package at "dollar" stores.

 

Yard sales, don't forget yard sales. Another great place to find goodies at decent prices. My mother can't pass one and not stop. Sometimes it comes in handy when I found a rubber stamp that actually said Bullsh*t(only without the asterisk, 'twas spelled properly) at one, and a couple throwing stars at another one. I'm always on the lookout for sharp pointy metal things(never understood the whole 'diamonds are a girl's best friend' thing...functionally useless unless it's for industrial purposes. Gimme cold hard steel any day.).

And yes, paper and pencils/pens very important. Best thing, pens/pencils easy to get for free, businesses always give them out for advertising, and paper's still reasonably cheap.

 

I too love yard sales! I have bought every thing from simple camping stuff to an M1 carbine. My prepping for this week has been zero since I am to sick to go out.

 

Another asset although it takes a while to "build up" a stockpile, is whenever you go to a fast food place grab a extra handful of the little salt,pepper and other packets. tore them in baggies for emergency use or barter. Also do the same with the little soaps and shampoos and such when you stay in ahotel/motel. I also keep the pencils/pens and notepads also.

 

5 to 1 Ratio Rice to Beans

tacmotusn,

Thanks! I had not heard of that ratio of 5 units of rice to 1 unit of beans. I had been busily (and, incorrectly) stocking those up on a 1 to 1 basis. Looks like I'll be buying a whole lot more rice, now.

Where did you learn about that ratio?

 

No problem. You are welcome. Someone had to tell me or I read it somewhere. Then saw it again described in more detail. Don't forget cooking oils and fats. I just learned of the benefits and uses of coconut oil as well.

 

I'm seeing SS109 factory steel core at about that price wholesale. Prices are coming down, finally

That's my next reloading project, have a 5,000 pack of the 62 grain penetrator bullets and now need one large batch of matching 1 X military brass, primers and powder

 

Sorry, I previously failed to properly answer your question here. I heard about the ratio in an article of backwoods home magazine. Link to follow.
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Start your food storage on $10 a week by Alan T. Hagan Issue #59
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this article is a pretty good write up on getting your food storage in gear in a logical manner.