The Twelve Week Plan: Food Storage

Twelve Weeks of Food

While building my pantry supply of food I would vacillate between whether I should store a years supply of food or six months or three months or one month...you get the idea.

Since taking the True Couponing workshop I have decided to store twelve weeks worth of food and sundries.  This corresponds with the twelve week cycle of types of food going on sale.  I also looked at how much food my family would need to have if a hurricane hit or we lost our source of income.  Adding in the consideration of storage space, twelve weeks seems to be the supply amount that best fits our needs.

By shopping the BOGO sales and using coupons for each item I have easily reached a twelve week level for most items.  Now my problem is storage.  My project for this summer is to go through all cabinets and closets, purge outdated items, organize according to expiration date and type and, hopefully, free up space.

While doing my organizing I will be making lists of what I need to purchase to bring me up to a twelve week supply level in everything my family needs.  Do I need to shop for shelves or organizers to make my supplies more accessible?

I will also lay out some boric acid tablets and deal with any other pest control issues I see (I hope very few).  Keeping the food storage areas free of pest has been a consideration for generations.  Many a Colonial homekeeper has been plagued by mice or insects in the cellar.  It's the age old battle in self sufficiency.

My goal is to complete my twelve weeks of storage and free up more storage space by the end of the summer.  I'll keep you updated on my progress.

God bless,
Pam