So your ready to start preparing with food storage but there are so many things you could start with, how do you know where to start. You may ask yourself these questions: “Which item is the most important?” “What will I need first?” “How can I afford all this stuff?” “How long do I have to get prepared?” and so on…. My suggestion, unless you are rich, is to put off some of these questions for later and start simple by storing a little of what you already use.

Storing What You Already Use

So how do you begin storing what you already use? I find the easiest way is to pick an item once or twice a month, or more if you can afford it, and buy extras of that item next time you are grocery shopping. What type of items should you pick? Well, that depends on what you normally eat. My family uses canned corn about 4 times a month, so next time I go to the grocery I would buy 8 cans (or more) instead of 4 and put the extra 4 in my storage room (or under your bed if you don’t have a storage room). Over time, you will have great food storage base to bring some comfort and security to your family without braking the bank.

The beauty of buying things you already use is that when something does happen you won’t have to figure out how to use the things you have stored, plus you may even enjoy the food. Don’t forget some of the comfort foods you sometimes eat. We always buy extra boxes of brownie mix, chocolate chips, and other items that we use in deserts also because they can bring some joy in hard times.

Rotating What You Store

You will want to rotate the items you store to keep your food storage from expiring and going to waste. This means that when you buy more of an item you have in food storage that you put the new items into your storage and use the oldest items for your regular meals. One thing I learned in doing this is that I am sometimes tempted not to buy more of an item I plan on using because it is in my food storage. Try hard not to do this as it will deplete your food storage instead of building it. Always buy the items you plan on using and rotate them with the items in your food storage and soon you will have an organized system of a growing food storage.

Got This System Down, Now What

After a 6 months to a year, you should have a good base to your food storage with items you usually use. The question then is “Now what do I do”. Well, don’t stop with your new system of storing what you use, you will want to at least maintain this storage and keep it rotating. When you have reached this point, it is time to come back to the the questions I suggested you ignore at first and take your food storage to the next level. As to what that next level should be, I won’t go into that in this article because I just want to give you an easy simple way to get started.