7 Amazing Ways to Make Room in Your Budget for Food Storage

We totally get it.

Money is tight and there seems so many items vying for a space in the budget. Food, clothes, gas, utilities, and so on, the list goes on and on.

Have you ever wondered how to make room in your budget for food storage?  Aren’t we all on a tight budget these days?

I personally dream of the day that I’ll have enough extra money in the budget to splurge on Tide with Downy and Charmin toilet paper.  But until then, I’m making my own laundry detergent and using Marathon 2-ply toilet paper (which is a step up from the 1-ply, lol).

Sometimes, it may seem like the budget just can’t eek out another cent to put towards building a food storage or supply of other toiletry items.  But where there is a will, there is a way to have enough money in the budget to systematically build a great food storage which is why we created our 7 Amazing Ways to Make Room in Your Budget for Food Storage.

7 Amazing Ways to Make Room in Your Budget for Food Storage.

1. MENU PLAN: Don’t waste money (and calories) on impromptu trips to McDonald’s…or worse…Little Caesars in lieu of dinner.  Eating out is a total budget and calorie buster! Instead, serve up a healthy meal for under $2 a serving.  When you take the time to plan your family’s meals, you remove the excuse of not knowing what’s for dinner and you can start preparing your meal much earlier, eliminating last minute trips to the store.  When I already know what that I’m serving beef on Thursdays, I can get started on dinner without staring at the fridge for 20 minutes, waiting for a magical dinner fairy, or resorting to a fast food meal.
2. SHOP SALES AND SHOP ONLY ONCE: You don’t have to be super coupon mom to save money on groceries.  You just need to know a few smart strategies so you don’t overspend (check out our Grocery Shopping 101 posts HERE to learn all of the grocery store tricks they don’t want you to know),  It’s imperative that you only shop once and get everything you need in one trip.  Braving the store at dinner time for a forgotten loaf of bread or gallon of milk can cause you to repeatedly overspend all week long and waste gas.
3. BUY BASIC FOOD STORAGE FIRST:  We say this time and time again.  Start with the basics!  Those inexpensive items that will sustain life.  Sustaining life isn’t fun and exciting, but it is the foundation for a great food storage!  Items like wheat, beans, rice, powdered milk, sugar or honey, salt and oil.  Basic food items are cheapest from the LDS church storehouse and all can be purchased online and shipped straight to your house and you don’t even have to be a member of the LDS church to shop there.  A basic food storage for one person from the LDS church storehouse costs around $400.  You can view their items HERE.
4. ARRANGE FOR A STAYCATION: Skip the big family vacation for one year.  Think of how much that over priced Mickey Mouse shaped hamburger cost you last year.  Instead of blowing your budget on a trip to Disneyland, see what fun stuff you can do nearby instead.  (Maybe even do a camping trip in your backyard where you can practice using all of that emergency preparedness gear you have.)  Even if you can take a few days off work and school, a “staycation” can feel like a vacation even if you’re sleeping in your own bed….or backyard.  As long as you make it fun for your kids, whether it’s historical sites, campgrounds and hiking trails, free museums, or a cheap matinee at the dollar theater, they’ll hardly miss the trip.  Plus, you can make Mickey Mouse pancakes at home. 😉
5. ENTERTAIN AT HOME: It can be tempting to spend money to get out of the house when the kids are driving you crazy, but your day trips can spell disaster for your budget!  Instead of nixing family time altogether, dust off those board games, run through the sprinkler, have a snowball fight, or a home movie night complete with popcorn can keep your kids occupied for pennies.  If you need to get out of the house, try hitting all the parks near you and critiquing them.  It’s fun, and let’s you know which place to come back to later.  Or visit the library for new books and movies to watch.
6. BE ENERGY SMART: Everyone is going green…which means it’s totally chic and OKAY to save money on your utility bills.  Of course, not all of us have the means to install a new low-flow toilet or tankless water heater.  Still, you can save money by conserving energy the old-fashioned ways: Turning off lights, timing showers, closing vents in rooms that are unused (check guest rooms, guest bathrooms, large closets, etc.)  Or even try keeping your thermostat a few degrees warmer or colder depending on the season.
7. MAKE AN EFFORT TO SAVE MONEY….EVEN IF IT’S ONLY A FEW PENNIES A DAY: With all that is going on in the world, let us reassure you that getting prepared is a cause worth fighting, scrimping, sacrificing, and saving for.  You deserve the peace preparedness brings, the comfort of knowing you have food for your family, and the tools you’ll need to make a preemptive strike on rising food prices.  It’s never too late to begin or finish what you have started.  So for, literally pennies a day, you can save enough to buy a year supply of the basic food storage items with a couple hundred left over for the fun stuff.  Here’s how it works: save a penny for every day for 365 days.  The first day you’ll save $0.01, day 2 will be $0.02, day 100 is $1.00 and by day 365 $3.65.  Your grand total at the end of the 365 days will be $667.95 and it will hardly feel like a pinch to your budget!

JOIN US IN THE 365 DAY FOOD STORAGE PENNY CHALLENGE!

So let’s do it!  Let’s make this our year to get our food storage.  All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep the commitment….oh, and download our handout and take part in our 365 Day Food Storage Penny Challenge.  Let’s keep the conversation going, make sure to follow us on Instagram @storethisnotthat, for more tips and tricks for building your food storage!

Of course, once you have your money saved, be sure you get the most for your money.  Did you know if you purchase your basic food storage items (wheat, milk, beans, etc.) from the LDS Home Storage Center, you will save over $1,000 compared to other food storage companies.  That is A LOT of money you can use towards other food storage items.  If you want some help knowing how to get your food storage for only $10 a week, click here and download the schedule and feel free to share it with friends.

Become a Savvy Food Storage Shopper

You’re a savvy shopper when it comes to everything else you buy, so why not be a savvy shopper when it comes to food storage as well?  Look—we get it, the world of food storage can be a confusing place not many people want to visit, but we’re changing all of that with our food storage best-seller book Store This, Not That! The ultimate food storage guide. Think of it as the Cliff notes for food storage. You know, just go straight to what works, and forget everything else. We’ll help you quickly decipher what you should and should not be storing, share with you space saving tricks and insider information to save you $1,000s of dollars when buying your food storage, and in the end, how to make something your family would actually eat! Grab your copy today at Amazon.com or Deseret Book.