Before the tsunami of inflation hits...

[snoozy]

...what foods do you think a wise and frugal person should stock up on? What do you think is really going to go sky high?

[mommagoose_99]

Rice and Peanut Butter. I stocked up on one a day vitamins. CVS had buy one get one last month.

[FUNKY PIONEER]

Pretty much every thing will go sky high. For example I went to buy canning jars, they were priced at 9.99 a case, now priced at 24.99 a case!!!!!

Sit down in your kitchen with a pad of paper, a pencil, and a cup of your favorite beverage. Think about those foods that you consume regularly that you have some ability to store. Take your time, or better yet, jot stuff down over the course of a day as they occur to you.

Once you think you have your list pretty much complete start prioritizing each food in their order of importance to you. An example of what I mean by this would be that I'd much rather run out of canned mushrooms than tomato products so the tomatoes go gloser to the top of the list.

Now you have a list of foods that you eat regularly, that you have some ability to store, and prioritized in their order of imporatance to you. Start buying and putting away those foods until you have reached whatever level you deem worthy of keeping on hand.

Many foods do not keep well over the long-term in their store packaging so you may want to repackage those. If so you might want to look at the Prudent Food Storage FAQ for best practices. It's free to read or download via the URL in my signature below.

.....Alan.

[MoGrrrl]

I have been concentrating on the ones that are more expensive to begin with - oils and meats. I think we've got two gallons of olive oil put up, and a similar amount of veggie oil.

[edcopp]

Prices are already rising quite stiffly. If you have not noticed you are not paying attention.

Buy what you use. A lot of stuff that you very seldon use will just get in the way. Shop around for stores that have not raised the prices yet. An example in my town today is, corned beef 12 oz. can. $2.00 at Dollar General, and $1.50 at Family Dollar (200 yards apart). Guess where I bought mine.

[Beef11]

I would be mindful the futures market tells us what will happen in the near future. Pork is going to get real high next year and i would guess beef will do the same 6 months to a year later. If you raise your own many others will be doing the same thing and the price of weaners will go way up. The availability may also be affected. plan accordingly.

[ladycat]

I just keep all the basics on hand- flour, cornmeal, rice, oatmeal, dry beans, peanut butter, applesauce (substitute for oil in cooking), sugar, olive oil, baking powder, baking soda, canned tomato products, pasta, dry milk, etc etc. I buy everything in bulk.

With plenty of staples on hand, I can cook an unlimited variety of inexpensive meals.

Originally Posted by FUNKY PIONEER

Pretty much every thing will go sky high. For example I went to buy canning jars, they were priced at 9.99 a case, now priced at 24.99 a case!!!!!

I saw them on Saturday for, I think it was $9.50 a case. Last year, IIRC, they were about $7.

[cindy-e]

Rice and Wheat are already going up because of weather patterns that destroyed a lot of crops last year and the year before. Floods and droughts and etc... I guess soy is probably up too, but I don't eat a lot of that so I don't know. Meat is going to get sky high as someone suggested. If you can have some homegrown meat and a good veggie garden, this next year would be a good time to do it.

I bought a lot of beans (because I can't afford to stock up on meat right now) and grains. I figure if we had to, we could make it on that. :-) I canned a bunch of tomatoes, and apples this year. Didn't have my own garden this year. :-( Bought some powdered milk for the first time ever.

cindyc.

[ksfarmer]

Actually, the price a farmer receives is going down. Wheat I sold for $8.75/bushel in July at harvest time is now selling for barely $5.00 . If I had stored my wheat to sell later, I would have lost a bunch. Which brings up the question, Why hasn't the price of a loaf of bread gone down??

[Oldcountryboy]

Big 50 pound sacks of beans and peas of various types, which ever you prefer to eat. Also, large sacks of rice, flour, cornmeal, oatmeal,salt, sugar, and big containers of cooking oil. We use a lot of tomato sauce in our cooking, so if you do too then you might want to stock up on it too. Also, gravy mixes, boulon cubes, and lots of spices. It might come handy if you have to start collecting roadkill to eat on.

Powdered milk or milnot, and powdered eggs.


If you have all these in store then you will be able to eat something if things get rough.

[MWG]

Originally Posted by FUNKY PIONEER

Pretty much every thing will go sky high. For example I went to buy canning jars, they were priced at 9.99 a case, now priced at 24.99 a case!!!!!

Holy cow! What kind? I just picked up 10 cases of quarts for 7.49 a case (and they had rings and lids)...

[Oldcountryboy]

Canning jars and lids should be on sale right now at places like walmart which need room for christmas items. The best time to stock up on canning supplies is during the christmas season. Last year we bought a bunch of pickling spices and salsa mixes which were about 50 percent off the regular price.

[BeagleMommy]

Most the stores in my town have been totally our of canning jars for a couple of weeks. I bought the last cases at a couple of stores. All the employees said they won't get more until next year.

[Elizabeth]

Your local Ace Hardware can ALWAYS order canning jars for you.

[Modern Pioneer]

We been stocking up on the staples, and are getting well ahead of ourselves. Our chest freezer is still pretty empty b ut with deer gun season just around the corner that will soon change. Where is a good place to buy bulk items at? Like at a chain store??

Keep your powder dry

[Elizabeth]

Allen- do the math. Sometimes buying in smaller quantities is just as cheap, sometimes cheaper, than buying "in bulk". Depends upon if there is a supplier for bulk goods close to where you live- if you have to spend more $$$ on gas than what you would save then obviously, it isn't worth buying in bulk. Also, if you have to spend time and $$$ repackaging for storage you might be spending more than it is worth.

Start checking prices- see what regular prices are in your area, compare to sale prices- it might be cheaper to buy stuff on sale and stock up that way.

IF you can get free shipping, there might be some mail order places that are worth purchasing from, but if you have to pay extra for shipping, again, it may not be worth it to you.

[mnn2501]

Originally Posted by A.T. Hagan

Sit down in your kitchen with a pad of paper, a pencil, and a cup of your favorite beverage. Think about those foods that you consume regularly that you have some ability to store. Take your time, or better yet, jot stuff down over the course of a day as they occur to you.

Once you think you have your list pretty much complete start prioritizing each food in their order of importance to you. An example of what I mean by this would be that I'd much rather run out of canned mushrooms than tomato products so the tomatoes go gloser to the top of the list.

Now you have a list of foods that you eat regularly, that you have some ability to store, and prioritized in their order of imporatance to you. Start buying and putting away those foods until you have reached whatever level you deem worthy of keeping on hand.

Many foods do not keep well over the long-term in their store packaging so you may want to repackage those. If so you might want to look at the Prudent Food Storage FAQ for best practices. It's free to read or download via the URL in my signature below.

.....Alan.

Best food storage advice in the world, thanks.
I've been preaching this for years, yet people I know continue to store things they never use because someone told them it was the best thing to store.

[HermitJohn]

I'd be careful buying huge quantities of some staples unless you can also afford proper storage to prevent bug infestations. No more fun than thowing out half bag grain cause it got buggy.

[snoozy]

Speaking of which, as anyone used diatomaceous earth to keep grains and beans from getting buggy?