We strongly encourage you to create a list of meals and food that you'd use easily within 3 months. You can sit down and plan out 3 months of food, review your average consumption of goods each month and multiply by three, or simply purchase what is on sale and store what you can't use within that week.
However you devise your plan, you should bear in mind that it should take you (on a low budget) about 6 months to collect 3 months of food storage. We do not advocate purchasing 3 months of food at once due to the expiration of the food: give yourself a chance to cycle through it at a steady pace. (No one wants to eat 24 cans of chili in 1 month.)
1 yr/1 adult= food stacked to the size of a twin size bed (no storage system, just stacked)
3 months: 270 meals for 2 adults = 1/2 twin bed
Here is a list of what we try to stay in stock of (2 adults, 1 baby). Again, please create a plan tailored to your family's need.
To store in shelves:
15 lbs rice
2 cases beans
1 spice set
3 cases fruit (pineapple, pear, peaches)
30 packages of pasta (4 servings per package)
1 case of milk (condensed or dry)
1 case cream soup (cream of mushroom, celery, etc.)
20 lbs potatoes
2 cases meat (salmon, chicken, tuna)
3pkgs bouillon (chicken, vegetable, tomato)
20 lbs wheat flour
2 cases tomato (not flavored)
10 lbs cereal (variety of boxes, oatmeal, and cream of wheat)
20 lbs. sugar (white granular, brown, powdered)
2 gal. oil (olive oil, corn oil)
10 gal.juice/drink
To store in freezer:
9 frozen vegi (broccoli, pea, corn, Brussel)
10 lbs hamburger (beef, turkey)
20 chicken breasts
4 lbs bacon
3 sausage
15+ small bags of seasonally stored fruits and vegi* these are the items you buy in bulk during sales and freeze, like the posted tutorials
3 jars of jam
1 loaf of bread
2 boxes of butter
3 small bags of pesto*tutorial to come in June
3 days of water (8 gal.)
For drinking only:
1 gal./1 day/1 adult
(We added 2 gal. for minimum hygiene, cooking, and cleaning.)
The trick is to only buy on sale or in season, cook some and store the rest, and then you'll have a surplus of money (or food) and a larger culinary skill set. I'm confident that everyone can have 3 months worth of food--not only is it a peace of mind and an overall cheaper way to purchase food, but you'll learn how to cook in season, eat better year-round, help your family eat in variety and figure out what works for your family. It's much easier to go from 3 month of food to 6 months, one year, or even two years than it is to go from buying on demand to planning ahead for 1 month. So take heart. You can do it! And it is worth it.
To also help you in your budgeting, here is a list of year-end sales or markets. For example, Case Lot sales hit at the end of September, so save the bulk of your monthly budget for the end of September and plan on using the majority of October's budget in the beginning. Also, we listed general times and seasons, so (for example) you can purchase 10 bunches of asparagus in March, freeze/store them, and not purchase them until next March (they can get up to $5 a bunch in the fall).
January-- Small back-to-school Case Lot sale; Citrus, winter squash, beets
February -- Citrus, cabbage, radishes, turnips, new potatoes, pease
March -- leafy greens, shoots (bamboo, asparaus), strawberries, green onions, rhubarb
April -- eggs, baked goods, ham, strawberries, pineapple, green beans, hot peppers, plums,
May -- mangoes, kiwi, nectarines, chicken, imported squash, corn, sweet peppers
June --corn, watermelon, hotdogs/hamburger, nectarine, broccolli, cauliflower, s'more supplies
July -- melons, pears, lemons, limes, avocado, bananas
August -- squash, tomoatoes, raspberries, aproicots, grapes, back to school case lot sale
September -- pears, apples, peaches -- CASE LOTS (big sale)
October -- apples, pumpkins, large gords, cheese
November -- baked goods, dairy cream/butter, spices, turkey
December -- candies, baked goods, meats, soda, citrus
The trick is to only buy on sale or in season, cook some and store the rest, and then you'll have a surplus of money (or food) and a larger culinary skill set. I'm confident that everyone can have 3 months worth of food--not only is it a peace of mind and an overall cheaper way to purchase food, but you'll learn how to cook in season, eat better year-round, help your family eat in variety and figure out what works for your family. It's much easier to go from 3 month of food to 6 months, one year, or even two years than it is to go from buying on demand to planning ahead for 1 month. So take heart. You can do it! And it is worth it.
To also help you in your budgeting, here is a list of year-end sales or markets. For example, Case Lot sales hit at the end of September, so save the bulk of your monthly budget for the end of September and plan on using the majority of October's budget in the beginning. Also, we listed general times and seasons, so (for example) you can purchase 10 bunches of asparagus in March, freeze/store them, and not purchase them until next March (they can get up to $5 a bunch in the fall).
January-- Small back-to-school Case Lot sale; Citrus, winter squash, beets
February -- Citrus, cabbage, radishes, turnips, new potatoes, pease
March -- leafy greens, shoots (bamboo, asparaus), strawberries, green onions, rhubarb
April -- eggs, baked goods, ham, strawberries, pineapple, green beans, hot peppers, plums,
May -- mangoes, kiwi, nectarines, chicken, imported squash, corn, sweet peppers
June --corn, watermelon, hotdogs/hamburger, nectarine, broccolli, cauliflower, s'more supplies
July -- melons, pears, lemons, limes, avocado, bananas
August -- squash, tomoatoes, raspberries, aproicots, grapes, back to school case lot sale
September -- pears, apples, peaches -- CASE LOTS (big sale)
October -- apples, pumpkins, large gords, cheese
November -- baked goods, dairy cream/butter, spices, turkey
December -- candies, baked goods, meats, soda, citrus
