I am a college student who is trying to start up some sort of food storage with what little money that I have. I have a couple of questions for the pros out there:

1. I'm at square one but don't have the upfront expenses to just buy three months of food storage all at once, how would you suggest I start? What staple foods should I buy?

2. I've heard of the terms "rotating" Is there a good but simple method to it because judging by my aunts family of 7 one year supply it seems too complex...what system do you use? (I know, loaded question but I need all the help I can get)

Thanks

Also, I drink about a gallon of water a day. Gallons of water aren't that expensive at the store but how long do they last? and if you don't have access to clean water, how do you go about making dirty water clean?

I can answer one out of three out of the questions ya got. Where to start? Anywhere. You mentioned that you have little to spend and can't afford and bulk purchases and that is fine because in reality, not many of us can. I would suggest dedicating $5 a week of your food budget towards building up food storage. For $5 you can get 4 cans of something, a bag of flour, 5 gallons of water (not sure how long those last), a couple of bags of sugar, or some first aid supplies. You see? By the end of the month this $5 will add up to $20 a month spent on food storage and in a years time $240 :) It seems overwhelming at first but its the baby steps that really get you there so don't stress out. Every little bit counts. Good luck and hopefully someone can help you out with your other questions.

Thank you so much for your response. I am going to implement this into my budget starting next week! $5 a week seems realistic on a tight budget and breaking it all down like that makes me feel better about it all. Anybody know anything about water and rotating food?

Thanks

Estimate minimum one gallon of water a day, per person, when storing water. It would be ideal to have 2 gallons a day per person when you consider drinking water, cooking water, dish water etc. We don't realize how much water we use. Be sure not to cut yourself short with water supply as it is essential. The gallons of water in the stores last a year. I would actually say 6 months to a year just to be safe. I am not sure on this but personally I rotate every 6 months to a year. I am not sure about purifying water but would like to know the process in which one would do so.

Another thing I've been thinking of is lets say you have no electricity whatsoever. How would you utilize items like beans or rice? Beans need to be soaked and heated up but how would you use them without a stove or even one of those portable stoves? Electricity is another thing that we don't realize we use so often. Try going a week without the use of your microwave, fridge, stove!

I found a great article of water purification. I have never tried purifying water but anyone with experience who can educate us more on this subject would be greatly appreciated. http://articles.trackmyfoodstorage.com/templates/Resources.aspx?articleid=6&zoneid=1

There are two methods that I know when it comes to water purification. Boiling and bleach. I have on hand a container of bleach, cheese clothes or something to filter the water with, and clean empty bottles. Boiling it the safest/easiest way for me personally. Bring the water to a rolling boil and keep that way for about a minute or so. Then you simply let the water cool. For filtering you get a cloth, as mentioned above, and filter away. Its a good idea to filter and then to boil. For the bleach, make sure to read the contents so that you know you are using the basic household bleach. There is a specific ratio to use when bleaching so I would take the time to look this up, maybe to even make a laminated index card with that information just in case.

I am looking to save up at least 3 months worth of storage, ideally 5 months, and if I go the slow and steady way how long will it take aprox to come up with this much food storage? How do you figure the time it takes to come up with the amount of food storage you want?

Thanks
~Amy

amyjt23@gmail.com wrote:

...  how long will it take aprox to come up with [3-5 months of] food storage?~Amy

Well, first you have to determine what 3-5 months looks like for your family.  I am a family of 1 and my basic list for one week consists of 2 dozen powdered eggs, enough powdered milk for one quart, 1 pound of flour, 1 pound of corn meal, fourteen servings of meat (canned or TVP), and fourteen servings of vegetables (canned or boxed).  I also keep a spare of just about all the spices I normally use on hand as well.

The powdered milk, powdered eggs and TVP, I saved up for and ordered in the serious long-term storage cans like those sold by this site (may as well put in a plug for the sponsors, eh?).  All the rest I accumulated as sales came along.  Tuna on for 50¢ per can?  I need one or two cans per week for my storage plus my normal half dozen cans I keep in the cupboard, so I purchase enough to fill out my needs, put the fresh ones in the storage closet, pull the old(er) ones out of the closet and rotate into my cupboard.

I believe most things are placed on sale at the local grocery stores once every three to six months, so I try to stock up on each as they come around on sale to last until the next time.  

How long will it take you to do this?  It depends on how much extra cash you can spare for your storage.  Once you get your storage needs mapped out, just use your cash to pay for the extra items as they come on sale.  If money isn't a problem, you could get the whole thing sorted out this weekend.  If you wait for each item to be placed on sale, then it might take up to a year to get completely loaded out.

Thanks so much for your help! I've been hunting sales like you recommended and am "saving my quarters" (so to speak) for extra purchases during my weekly shopping trip. I also found someone who is a near pro at couponing and she has taken me under her wing....though I'm not going to go through extremes because that would become another full time job, I'm sure.

I just hope all this organization I've been high on doesn't wane, ya know? Its hard for me to determine when I'll have my desired food storage saved up but I'm trying to accumulate as much as my budget permits.