Just Do It

What with the  rising cost of food, gas, utilities and more taxes on the horizon what are you doing to prepare for your future?  I'm not even talking about your long term future but the near future.   If you aren't already preparing isn't it time that you started?  For some, just the thought of trying to prepare for the future can be a bit overwhelming. It doesn't have to be.  You don't have to have a year's worth of  MRE's put back.  You don't have to order # 10 cans of food from a mail order store.You don't have to have all the "really cool" stuff you see on websites proclaiming that you simply HAVE to have this product to survive.  All these things do have a place in prepping but it is absolutely NOT necessary to start with these type supplies.  And it doesn't have to be expensive.
With prices going up in the stores everyday I decided to begin my preps by investing in food.  My reason was and is simple. Food prices are going up and they won't be going down. What you invest in your food storage today will save you money in the future.  For example, last year a can of tuna was around $0.59 a can around here.  Today it is around $0.79 a can. Who knows  what it will be next year. You are already ahead of the game if you start now because it WILL be more expensive next year.
You don't have to break the bank either.  If you are going to have tuna this week just pick up an extra can.  One extra "item" at a time may not seem like much at first but it does add up. When I started working on my food storage I approached it in little steps. 

Make a list of meals your family eat regularly and what ingredients it takes to prepare those meals.  This is a great place to start. You really want to remember the motto " Store What You Eat and Eat What You Store".  For example, if your family doesn't or won't eat Spam why would you want a case of the  stuff when there are other things that they will eat instead?  We happen to like pinto beans and rice.  It's a regular meal for us.  So when I pick up a bag of beans or rice I will pick up an extra one for later. This is just an example but I'm sure you understand how this will build up your food storage.  These days, if something is not on sale or I don't have a coupon for it I will rarely buy it. 

Take an inventory of what you have in your pantry. Could you make it 3 days? 5?   If a natural disaster happened and you couldn't get to the store how many days would your food's last?  This is a good place to start.  Let's say you have 3 days stored.  Set your goal at one weeks worth.  If you are at 2 weeks strive for 4. It always helps to have some sort of goal.

Prepping doesn't have to be expensive and it definitely doesn't have to be overwhelming.  You just have to start..... and what better time than now?



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