I started my journey of preparedness three years ago. We all remember the shortages that all started with toilet paper. You couldn’t find toilet paper anywhere! When you did find it you made sure to buy what you could. My mindset changed right then and there. Growing up I didn’t have to worry about not having enough. My father worked in the automotive industry as an engineer and we never felt like we were doing without, ever. Quite the opposite when I think back at just how fortunate we really were. So for the past three years, my focus has been on preparing my family for whatever happens, whether it be a job loss, a natural disaster, or another shortage you just don’t know what could happen to disrupt your everyday life. We have dealt with both a job loss and we lived in Florida for 23 years so we dealt with yearly hurricanes. I would stock up and think I was pretty well set if I bought some bottled water and maybe a couple of extra rolls of toilet paper. But it wasn’t until the big shortages happened that really woke me up. In the past, I may have bought an extra ketchup to have on hand but most likely I would have to run out and buy something if I ran out of it. Some of those times it was right in the middle of cooking dinner and I didn’t have extra of the food I needed. So I changed my mindset because I wanted to make sure I could provide for my family for whatever comes our way. I don’t know about you but after seeing all of the food shortages over the past three years as well as the disruptions and the mass panic when there are shortages – I don’t want to have to worry about that.

So what are things that you can do so you don’t have to worry about not having the food and items you use on a daily basis if something were to happen? The first thing I would suggest is to look at items that are on sale for the week, the things you know that your family uses all of the time. Start by buying 2 of those items. When you shop, look for markdowns and sale items and learn to buy one for now and buy a second to save. Ideally, you will start doing this every time you shop and work up to having multiples of the food and items you and your family use whether it is a bag of rice or a bar of soap. Next, find ways to preserve food whether it is freezing extra meat, vacuum sealing foods in jars or bags, saving food in mylar bags, dehydrating, canning, or even freeze-drying food. Finally, make sure you keep track of your food and items. For example, I use a sharpie pen to mark the tops of canned goods as to when they are best by. Just like in a supermarket, you will want to follow the first in/first out method meaning you want to make sure you use what is expiring first versus the ones that have a later expiration date. 

I hope this inspires you to think about why it is a good idea to prep and have items available to you when you need them. I’m glad you’re here. Let me know if there are any topics you are hoping that I’ll cover. I’ve been wanting to start a blog for years and I told myself it’s worth a try! Follow my journey here and over on Instagram. ~Jenny on the Ridge