What:
Things like mustard, mayo, catsup and coffee can be stocked for one ahead. Look for a sale when you pull your backup unit off the shelf. That way you never run out of something in the middle of cooking. If you are efficient you should never have to run to the store or the neighbours because you dont have a much needed item.
As for any other food stuff, it depends on how many of that product you use on a regular basis. Decide how much of xxx you use on a weekly basis. Now decide how many weeks you need ahead. This often is predicated on how often there are sales on something. Shelf stable items can be. Stored up to a year or more depending on pull dates. Some things are good past pull dales, depending on the item. There are good articles out there that will give you good clues. Pasta is supposed to have an eight year shelf life. Beans , and anything with an acid content do not have much grace period beyond the pull date.
Some canned goods have taken a large hike in cost. It really is a benefit if you keep enough stock to last you until you find a good sale. Green beans can be over a dollar a can. They can also be five dollars a dozen in a case lot. The difference in cost means that you can eat three times instead of one.
A list of canned items that are a good thing to stock ( provided you eat and use these things on a regular basis ;
- Green beans
- Corn
- Diced tomatoes
- Some canned beans
- Salad dressing
- BBQ sauce
- Dehydrated potatoes
- Pasta
- Some soups
Keep a few of :
Black olives
Mild green chilies
Pepperoni
Top ramen ( emergency rations )
Dry milk
Flour
Sugar
Brown sugar
Water: emergency rations
Back up salad oil
Back up catsup
Back up mustard
Back up coffee
Tea
The key is to know how much to keep. You don’t want to have the pull date get away from you, but you don't want to get stuck paying full price either.
This can be done on a shoestring budget. It takes time and a skill set to buy things whether you need the immediately or not when you find something o a RBP. You dot wait until you have a fire to buy a fire detector. Plan. If you know you are going to go through a financial crisis, or a month where the expenses are great, save for them, but having a full part can also tide you through.
We know we have a donut hole to ride through the third to fourth quarter of the year. Maybe for you, you know you are having a baby and aren't going to feel or have time to shop a lot, or maybe not feel like shopping. Maybe you know you are gong to have surgery or your spouse is going to have to go away for work and you are carrying the full load. Whatever it is, plan for it. There is a wonderful sense of satisfaction knowing you always have food in the house. No one should have to carry the stress of not hang anything in the cupboards. That stress lowers your life expectancy. And it is a terrible hardship on children. If you have any steady food money at all, you can stretch it to cover a small stock. Sometimes it takes a can or case at a time. But you can
do it.
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