It may be April Fool's Day, but I'm not kidding you when I say that I've stopped buying food storage for a while.
You may remember that a couple weeks ago, I told ya'll that my family will be moving soon to Virginia. We'll be there for one year, and then we'll move to Florida for 4 years.
As you can imagine, I immediately started looking at housing options online. Since we'll only be in VA for one year, we'll be renting. And with our meager budget, we'll probably be in a very small 2 bedroom apartment. I'll admit, I'm pretty sad about it and I am realizing how lucky I have been for the last 4 years to be living in a 3-bedroom house with decent sized closets (and I used to complain about having no basement! It's all relative I guess).
Last August we posed the question to you about moving with food storage. We asked for your advice and you gave it! Go back and read the comments from that post, they are great!
To sum it up, I have three main options:
Move my food storage with me. This is a great option if you have the funds to move it, and if you will be moving to a place with adequate storage for it all (although, there are many unique places to keep your food storage - you don't need a large pantry or a basement! Abbie is especially creative with where to keep food storage).
Store your food storage elsewhere. Some people decide to store their food storage somewhere else for a while, especially if the move is temporary at first (like ours is). If I wanted to, I could probably store most of our food storage at my in-laws' home. They live in GA as well, so when we move down to Florida in a year it would be easy to stop and get it, or to get it after we've moved into our permanent home.
Eat your food storage now, and start over. This sounds kind of depressing at first. START OVER?? Are you serious? After all my hard work, the inventory, etc.? Just when I was starting to feel good about how much food we have saved up? Well.... yeah. And guess what- this is the option I have chosen.
I'm kind of excited, actually. Last year in our food storage e-book, we put together a whole shopping list and menu plan for three months of food, which is what I have been following. However, since then we've come out with a TON more food storage recipes, which I want to incorporate into my new storage and my menu plan. So, I have this opportunity to totally re-vamp my menu plan and mix things up a bit. Maybe instead of three weeks of different meals, I'll plan four (for even more variety).
Initially I was worried about going too long without having any food storage. It's like being without insurance for a period of time - it's a little bit scary! However, I soon realized that since we are eating through our food storage right now, I'm saving a lot of money by rarely going to the grocery store! All I really buy these days is dairy and produce. Since I am saving so much money now, I am putting aside that money so that when we are moved and settled, I can assess my needs and re-stock a lot of my storage at one time (or, when I see a great sale).
(Finally, let me just specify that we're eating through our three-month supply, not our longer-term storage. I have lots of boxes of #10 cans of food (beans, wheat, rice, and oats) that I will be moving with us.)
Any other suggestions from anyone? Have I missed any options that I should consider? Am I making a huge mistake?? :)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
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17 comments:
That is what I would do! Good luck with the move!
Another option would be to sell your storage. However, I would only do that with my longer-term storage, not my three-month supply, if I were moving someplace that longer-term storage supplies were more readily available.
I would make the same choice that you have - given the circumstances.
Wendy
http://iprepared.blogspot.com
I would hire a friend to move your three-month supply in her car. You can store it under each person's bed.
Even main stream media are predicting higher food prices and possible food shortages this spring -- within the next couple of months.
I think it would make a great learning period. You could perfect what you would want vs what you actually have, plus it would save you money that could be used towards moving expenses. I would love to see your experiences cooking from your 3 month stock so don't forget to blog :)
A lot of counties that grow food experienced flooding last year and this year. Our national food supply is lower than normal.
I'd keep your food supply.
Actually, this option makes the most sense to me! Less to carry, less to store...and you need to rotate anyway!
Good luck on the move!
I recently moved across town with boxes and boxes of canned food (my short term supply) and it was a total pain for my movers! You have to be reasonable about food storage and I think you are being wise. Especially since you are saving up money to start again. And you have your long term if you get desperate. Good luck in the move!
We did this the last time we moved - used up about 3/4 of what we had (although it wasn't 3 months worth) moved the things we really wanted to keep and gave the rest to our next door neighbour (who was feeding 4 teenaged boys at the time). Our main priority was to empty the freezer. We stocked up again over the first month or so at our new location - getting a big load of whatever was on sale each week. Our movers weren't fussed about the weight - we had about 2 tons of books (got a freight rate for moving 1/2 way across the country, rather than the usual moving one) and a few boxes of canned goods were just more to go on the cart.
Best of luck with the move!
We moved across the country and just ate through our 3 month supply before getting there, and it really wasn't too bad re-stocking it. We went a little slower, but definitely save the money so you can go on a grocery binge when you get settled. :)
this is a debate that my husband and I have often...because we have moved 4 times in the last 8 months, now we are moving again! ugh!
our third move was temporary and I didn't want to move it, I wanted to keep it in the storage unit, but my husband 'insisted' that it needs to be with us whereever we go, to be prepared.
So with that I just say always have it close with you!
I love your blog by the way...very inspirational.
ps, my husband as done all of our food storage preparation, all I have done is moved boxes! we have about a 2 yr supply of our long term food storage!
I joined the LDS church over 40 years ago. During all that time, I have been aware of or active in food storage. I have never known a time in the U.S.A., since learing about food storage (Preparedness, Year's Supply, etc.) that it seems more pressing and important. Perhaps Conference this weekend will supply some direction for you.
Good Luck in your move.
This is the option I have used time and time again. When we knew we would be moving, we would eat the food in the house. I would still take the food money out of the budget and not spend it so that when we moved and I restocked I had several months worth of grocery money to restock with. First we started with fresh and frozen we ate those first then moved on to the stored food. The only thing that would buy was fresh fruit and milk and eggs.
However, be prepared for that first shopping trip it will be a doozie.
My suggestion for the first year would be to take your 3 month supply with you and leave your long-term down South; pick it up on the way back down. Your parents in-law are AWESOME and will take good care of it. I bet you could even talk them into coming and getting it.....
- J. Alexander
As a military wife, that is a question I have to ask myself every time we move. I always opt for eating it instead of moving it. It does take a while to build it up, but the potential for things to spoil or spill ALWAYS out weighs the benefits. That GREAT deal you got on olive oil isn't so great when the bottle breaks and ruins your couch, photographs, furniture and clothing. Or if your food causes some kind of infestation--YUCK!! No thanks.
Last time we moved we packed things like cooking oil and other liquids in 5 gallon plastic pails lined with a garbage bag. The bag was sealed shut after the pails were packed, then a very tight fitting lid hammered on. Not a drop out of place :)
Eat it now. Moving is enough of a headache without worrying about extra weight. Your back will be glad you don't have to pick those heavy things up multiple times. Unpacking will be easier. Definitely set the money you're saving aside and don't spend it on anything else. It will be much easier to "move" money than food. Once you arrive and assess your storage capacity, you can hit every store in town for their loss leaders. Use the time you save shopping now to use the food creatively.
Whatever you do, you can't make a "huge mistake." If you move the food, you'll be able to eat right away without having to scout out the nearest supermarket, and your food storage is intact. If you eat it now, you'll have less to move, and more wiggle room to unpack in your new place. Then you'll have time to work out a new system. Either way, you win. Maybe the answer is eat some now, take some with.
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