Stepping up to bulk food, step one, two and three

     So now you think you are ready to buy bulk food and store it.  Nope!  It is time to review.  Sorry!

First in this blog, I have advised a review of the kitchen cabinets and pantry and your buying habits.

You need to get rid of your bulk unused 'good idea at the time' items.  Donate the unused items to a food pantry and stop buying them.

Clean your cabinets and rearrange the storage area to accept bulk purchases of thing you will use. 

Practice better storing habits.  Once you are in the habit of putting away food to keep it at its best for the longest you are ready to consider bulk.

Get out your lists of things you have.  You need to check off items like the cooker before you shop for food items.


     Now, you can plan to buy bulk.  Buuuuutttt....... AFTER you do a little research.  

www.notquitesusie.com 
This site offers free printable grocery
list  templates

     You want to make a shopping list and plan the food you think you will need to survive your personal disaster scenario.  Planning helps to avoid the purchase of items you will not really eat.  Planning takes into account that the best way to keep your bulk supplies current and up to date is to eat from them and rotate buying new and eating what you have stored.

     My mother bought canned spaghetti and canned ravioli every year.  She feels this will be easy to prepare if the power goes out in a hurricane.  She never eats this stuff when the power is on, why would she want to eat it cold?Finally, I am of an age that we can have these little talks.  If there is no storm, sure, she donated the canned junk food to a food pantry.  Still, will you eat cold ravioli when you have a freezer full of food that needs cooking first?  Yeah.....No!  You will cook the good stuff and leave the cans to rust.  So, this list and planning for the bulk purchases is important.

www.moneysavingmadness.com
This site give coupons for WalMart

     I personally eat a lot of rice.  I like rice.  I would eat my weight in rice in a year.  I order rice from a menu when I go out to eat.  Purchasing rice is smart for me.  If you gag on the memory of a trip to Viet Nam every time you smell hot rice cooking, then buying bulk rice is not for you.  You want to put potato buds and other dehydrated potatoes on your list.  

     Make your list look like a regular shopping list.  Plan for starches, vegetables, fruits and meat.  Don't forget sauces, spices and the staples like grains.  

     Buy what you know how to cook and store fuel for the cooking of your foods.  

     What is the point of having food without a propane or butane stove or access to a fireplace and wood to burn?  To afford fuel and a stove, you may have to make a list of the foods you can afford now with the fuel and a list of foods to buy in after you have secured a cooker.  Maybe you have a cooker and fuel on your list of things you already own.  Maybe just the cooker.  Put fuel to cook the food on your bulk food prep list.  We were raised to think, we can't fry without oil.  The truth is, we cannot fry without fire.  Don't forget to put oil on your list.

     Timing is everything and price is a point to consider as well.  Sales happen.  You may have an appointment in town center near a specialty store that has bulk grains.  Plan your trip and take care of your business.  Then you can go shopping without making a second trip.  That is good timing.  Sales are good to follow.  Get on some websites and sign up for their e-newsletters.  Compare prices and shipping costs to local products.  Get out the yellow pages.  If you have a Seventh Day Adventist's church community near you, they will have a bulk, organic produce store like the one near me.  Ours is located between the big church and one of several private schools.  They are closed on Saturday and they feature local growers and makers of health foods at an out door fair once a month.  You may have a large bulk whole foods store near you that makes it cheaper to buy grains than having them shipped in.  Look around on your regular routes driving to work or normal errands.  

www.examiner.com
this article encourages buying bulk
to save dollars

     Constantly check prices and realize if you are home during your disaster, you will be able to eat canned food and eat from your cabinets until you have to eat from the bulk grains that need milling.  Many of these items are available at your local discount grocery store and are the best value.  A flat (twenty four cans) of canned vegetables at Save-a-lot are currently about $14.  You buy them from the store while you are shopping for your weekly supplies and store them while saving on shipping and handling.  
     
     Your cabinets are cleaned and ready, you have found storage in dead spaces around the home, you are prepared to shop bulk.  Get your list, get familiar with pricing and get prepared.