FS Goal Setting and Making a Plan

When it comes to Food Storage most people do not know where to start, how to start or even do not know why to start. Food Storage is just a larger pantry and it can help you save money in the long run. Here is something I wrote in 2008 on this topic and a few more current ideas added in as well.

Goal setting and making a plan can be hard for some and really easy for others. Start by writing down what you want to do. For example you want to get through until pay day with out running to the store every few days. Make a list of everything you will need for 2 weeks. This not only includes food, but toilet paper, deodorant, shampoo, laundry soap, dog/cat food as examples. Make a general meal plan/menu. Right down what you need for breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks.

Know what your family uses in 2 weeks/or even a month for different items. Buy enough to get you through for 2 weeks for starters, then go out a month. I have learned over the years to go shopping once a month and what my family needs to get through that month. How much toilet paper does you family go through in a week? For my family it is a 24 pack for a month. Now that is as long as school is in and people are only
home for a few hours in the morning and evening. When it is vacation time (summer or winter break) we use 36-48 rolls a month.So take things like that in to consideration.

How much milk does your family go through in a day? My house it is about a gallon every two weeks. We are not big milk drinkers. So I only need to 2 gallons for a month. But we do go through a lot of cheese, a 2lb loaf a week very easily.

You can start to make a list, write things on the calendar, use your day planner if you have one. In my house if we write it on the calendar, it gets done. For starters to see how much milk you go through, write down on the calendar, or where ever Monday used 1 gallon up, Wednesday used 1 gallon, Friday used up 2 gallons. Well I think you get the picture. Add up what you use in a week. Easy math a gallon a day is 14 gallons in 2 weeks. A gallon every other day is 7 gallons. Of course it is hard to have 14 gallons of milk in the fridge at one time, but you can buy 3-4 gallons at a time. You can even mix dry milk and mix your regular milk to stretch it so you will have to go to the store less. (if you do this at night while no one is watching, they will never know!) You can also freeze milk, just pour some milk out in to a pitcher or another milk jug, put the lid back on, date and store in the freezer. You then can remove the milk the night before you need it and put it in the fridge. (again no one would know). These are some ideas to help you store some milk, so you would then have to go to the store less, just for milk.

The key is finding a way to get organized and find a way to make a plan on how much of what to buy.
All families are different and all families work differently. What works for me and my family may not work for yours.

Set your goals but do not go over board because you will become over whelmed and not  complete it. Start small, master that and work on from there. You can always learn from the small things and succeed at that and build on to more challenging and more harder things. One thing you do not want to do is say I want my 1 year storage this year but you have no idea where to start or have never really done food storage. It is a Great goal! But start smaller. I want one months worth of food storage. Even that for some is way over board. Then start even smaller. I want one weeks worth of food storage.

Start with your lists, see how much of what you use, then you will know how much you need to buy for one week, a month, to even a year. You do not have to buy it all at once, who really has the money to do that. Most people have to budget out money not only for regular food shopping, but food storage items too. Start small even one can of something extra is better than nothing at all. Set a goal and make a plan!

Right now with the cost of food and everything else going up, people being out of work, and budgets are tight. It is really important to know where every last penny is going. when you make a list and go shopping for groceries every two weeks, to even once a month; If you can to this, you will save money. how many times have you or a family member ran to the store for something and ended up buying other items? Did you forget the one item you went to the store for? A lot of people do. You can end up impulse buying, every time you enter the store. If you say well it is only a few dollars, all those dollars add up. Make a menu, make a list, make a plan, and save money. Good luck!