Is your food storage helping right now?

[unsure]

well for once this year , no big shop for me so no massive bill at the till .

we not so much relied on stocks as just got a few extra bits as normal , but with christmas in mind , like meat , tuna , puddings and such like . we do however go in and out of it as needs be .

fresh fruit and veg , that came from a friend who has a shop and drops me a bag of each every week , weather we need it or not . [ in return i look after his van ] a nice arrangement that works for us .

[steviesun]

The way I generally manage my meat stockpile is all in my freezer (alas, because one of my freezers has just died).

I actually go to the shops regularly but I don't necessarily buy much/anything. I have a few cheaper items which are easy to include in meals such as chicken thighs, beef mince, pork shoulder that I end up buying fairly regularly. When I see good reductions or offers I will stock up. Christmas eve I popped into tescos and they had whole turkeys going for half price. That's less than £3/kg. I bought two. I butchered the crown of one for a roast and the rest of the meat/bones went to the dog along with the giblets. After having the breast meat I put the roast bones into the slow cooker for stock. The other turkey is in the freezer, it says it serves 8-9 but I will probably get more than that from it.

This works for me but obviously wouldn't work terribly well if the power went out for a long time.

Just over a year ago my housemate had a work accident and because he was self employed was without income for a couple of months. My meat stock pile and careful cooking meant I didn't have to buy much, meaning the bills still all got paid.

[PreppingPingu]

From a festive perspective I did find food storage helpful. (Not that I have massive stores or anything.) I did use my cartons of fruit juices that I have stored over the festive period, whisky enhanced mince meat made last year (boy had that "improved" being left a year!) I used to make mince pies and I used one or two small things from my store. That helped me cut down on the expense of Christmas food just a little. Yes I know I will have to restock the fruit juices, but you have to rotate them anyhow and I will just buy an extra carton a week for the next few weeks till I have got my larder store back up to where it was before. I didn't use all my mincemeat so I still have a surplice.

[jansman]

The way I generally manage my meat stockpile is all in my freezer (alas, because one of my freezers has just died).

I actually go to the shops regularly but I don't necessarily buy much/anything. I have a few cheaper items which are easy to include in meals such as chicken thighs, beef mince, pork shoulder that I end up buying fairly regularly. When I see good reductions or offers I will stock up. Christmas eve I popped into tescos and they had whole turkeys going for half price. That's less than £3/kg. I bought two. I butchered the crown of one for a roast and the rest of the meat/bones went to the dog along with the giblets. After having the breast meat I put the roast bones into the slow cooker for stock. The other turkey is in the freezer, it says it serves 8-9 but I will probably get more than that from it.

This works for me but obviously wouldn't work terribly well if the power went out for a long time.

Just over a year ago my housemate had a work accident and because he was self employed was without income for a couple of months. My meat stock pile and careful cooking meant I didn't have to buy much, meaning the bills still all got paid.

Brilliant! In my own rambling way, yours is an example -a good one, of what I am talking about. Spot on.

[izzy_mack]

I use my preps store quite often, in fact i was a prepper for years without knowing it. We are self-employed with haphazzard income, so when there was money I would fill the freezer and cupboard against the day the money dried up. the only difference now is that I buy stores with more thought to outside emergencies and have a bit more of it.
I can't count the times my stores have made life easier and don't hesitate to use them, I'm just more concious of the need to replace as soon as poss. I too find buying stuff at the supermarket harder and harder, more home grown and foraged will be a neccesity this year but I look forward to that.

[Lone wolf]

I have quite an efficient rotation list in place where i buy a fair amount on my weekly shop i am currently getting the supermarkets basic range and i got around 50 tinned items for under £15 which is great the only problem is that i can only store many tinned food and wouldn't help if i needed to bug out. I keep a list with every product i get and have its sell by date so i can rotate to keep them fresh and i can see how much storage i have.

[nickdutch]

when cash flow is bad I attack the stored up tins of potatoes, dry goods and the like, and only go out to buy the breakfast things, when cash flow is good, i get fresh veg in and stock up on tins and dry goods.
That way I am usually relatively well nourished and am never out of food. I feel that i have more financial control and a touch more safety in case my pay gets delayed again.

I have an erratic income being a self employed internet entertainer, so I have to develop a more preparedness way of life as opposed to begging off my parents.

[unsure]

well my preps are going to take a beating for the next six weeks ,, i hand in my notice tomorrow and start a new job on the 3rd of next month . i fully expect my current boss to act the idiot untill i leave so its a case of hold onto what cash i have for the bills .

[PreppingPingu]

Good luck with the new job Unsure. To ease cash flow I have used various things that I have stored, for example I have no coffee stored up now, as I have been using my back stock, so yes cash flow is helping until I get my back pay that I am hoping for this next wage packet.

[jean405]

Yes my food storage is helping right now, winter is hard times, and everything gets rotated, except the long storage stuff. Like some others my food storage is an extended larder, which helps me save money. I ran my food storage down a bit last year because I was unemployed for eight months, and used it then, but recovery is in sight