latenightleader:

 

What is HBA?  

Sorry not Sehila but spent too much time working in retail to resist answering HBA is Health & Beauty Aids things like soap, shampoo, toothpaste and vitimans for example.

I am not naive about sharing but we would definitely help others like our neighbours, family and friends in need within reason.

Thats great Tracy about joining the challenge!  I think I will post a week long eating out of the pantry challenge in a couple of days and see about July. maybe do week long challenges? will see what others think.   of course not including fresh stuff like bread/milk/lettuce etc that we need.  of course being creative enough to see what we can use instead.

The thrift store challenge kinda of worked for me.  less trips there but spending in other places!  if I could just stay out of the stores and not be the primary shopper.

 Week at a time more tempting and "doable" than a month- good idea-

Nan- thanks for info, I was racking my brain for too many minutes.  hygiene, association, bulk, etc, etc. 

Thanks for support, guys!  We are waiting to see if we can get this job, I know we spent a lot on a vacation, but hadn't been to Chicago for almost two years. Good to hear others don't think that budget was way out of line.

well what can you do about gas? fixed expense that is. If you guys all hopped on a plane and ate out every meal then money adds up!     I was looking at flights to Calgary to visit dh aunt and $1800 later for a 1hr flight!  gas and a hotel room overnight looks good!   its a 10 hr trip but not with little kids and we can't drive all night.

While we can't know how long this will last, we can stock up to the best of our abilities.  The LDS church advises at least a year supply.  In articles here on the Stretcher, I have seen where we make a menu for a month and multiply by the number of months you want to have, so a year?  6 months?  We have to store what we eat and eat what we store.  I know that we have had references in the forum about starting your food storage on $5 or $10, and every time it says diced tomatoes, I would mentally substitute stewed.  I am allergic to MSG and stewed tomatoes are my basis for pasta dishes, can eat them cold or warm, are great in soups, and they are low in calories.  While they don't taste like ice cream, they are a great snack.  :-)  I always have at least four cases in my basement, and they get rotated.

Tracy  Yep  HBA = health & beauty aids - thank you Nan.

Shellia

Lynnea Berr:

I am allergic to MSG and stewed tomatoes are my basis for pasta dishes, can eat them cold or warm, are great in soups, and they are low in calories. 

My folks used to make and can their own stewed tomatoes each year, maybe that's a sloution for you. One of the recipes I have, I think the one that clones KFC coating, suggest using salt instead of MSG and salt is often used in home canning.

We have been stocking the pantry long before the prices of everything started going up.  I would estimate that we have 6 months supply of food, TP, shampoo, soap, etc on hand.  I stock up when I see an item on sale that I know we will use.  In addition to stocking up before prices rise, we also stock our pantry in case of a job loss, a weather situation, a SHTF situation, and plus it's nice to be able to "shop" out of my pantry!  Remember to mark your packages with the expiration date and put the new stuff to the back - rotate!  The only thing we would be lacking would be dairy & eggs and fresh vegetables if it wasn't summer time.

I have read all these posts with great interest . In the past when the kids were at home ..I always stocked up . Hubby had his own business and had at least 2 slow months a year . We lived on the pantry many times .Then he got sick ...for 4 years we lived on "poundings " . He died  and I was alone with a son to finish raising ...I stocked up then on everything and prepared for any kind of emergency. Lucky we didn`t have one but I had peace of mind . I didn`t do any extra stocking during Y2K . I din`t feel a need to do so but I was glad everyone else did ! I was director of a mission ministry  from  97-03 . We got so much food and water donated by churches and families after Y2K that it was unbelievable ! It was also wonderful the number of needy families we were able to feed from other folks "hoarding " .

I lived alone for several years and traveled with my job so I didn`t store very much stuff ....but I remarried 10 months ago..so now I have started stocking up again. Between us hubby and I have 5 kids and 7 grandkids . I have talked to the kids about starting their own pantry but so far only one has listened . Hubby and his mom are laughing at me about my "hoarding " .But who knows when /if the day will come that we need to help feed those grandkids .  This pantry gives me the same kind of peace I had after my late hubby died . Like I told hubby and his mom ...the worst that can happen is that it will get close to expiration date and I will donate to a food pantry . I do keep check on dates and while I wouldn`t donate to a food pantry if the date was expired ..I would  use it myself .

My problem is ...hubby doesn`t like canned veggies ..he likes frozen ones ....but like Pat said ...you can`t depend on the power always being on ! I live on top of a mtn in a very rural area and the power is out a lot ...both summer and winter ..infact more in the summer than the winter ! But while he says he doesn`t like them ..he has been giving me extra money to stock with . He gave me $200.00 last Sat !!! So I am stocking veggies, canned meat , fruits, staples and some treats . I am also planning Christmas as I go ...DH already has gifts for all the guys in the family ,tools bought on clearance and with an employee discount from where he works . Yesterday he brought in ratchets for stocking stuffers..they were $19.95 clearanced to $5.00 ..clearneced again to $2.50 and then he go 20% employ discount !! I love shopping for "deals " for Christmas . A friend and I shop together when we can ...we having a saying $3.00 or leave it laying ! Which means ..clearnenced to $3.00 or less . I love Christmas and I love doing for others .Saving and stocking is my way of being able to do that .

As far as the question ..how much is enough ? ...I`d say ...when you have peace of mind ...I don`t have it yet ..so I`m off to spend the rest of my $200.00