This is one part that completely overwhelms me. Even getting a true 3 month in my house and keeping it is hard with 11 people. We have a lot of food compared to the average family but not what I want.
My goal this year is to fill in my 3 month holes and keep it well stocked up so we don’t lose a whole category. I tend to stock up then forget about it until it nearly gone.
I want to begin putting away long term but the numbers completely blow my mind.
I love TJ’s calculations from Patreon. But at that we are needing 268 buckets 😱😱😱. I know... one at a time but..... 268 to just grab the basics.
We are planning to COOHMP in the next 2 years and moving those buckets seems crazy too.
What is everyone else doing? Any other big families?
It’s hard enough for one person. I live alone, but prep as if other family members will be here and for additional people, if I were to have a group Post SHTF. My biggest concern is storing water. What types of food are you guys storing for long-term? What are your thoughts on freeze-dried foods from companies like Augason Farms and Mointain House?
@krystalsharp I don't mind dried foods. I mostly by thrive. When I'm talking long term buckets I mean more the absolute basics like Wheat, Corn, Beans and Rice. TJ/Bear has a great spreadsheet on Patreon on what he advises.
Our family is Gluten Free so I made some adjustments to fit but for our family that would like like this....
40 Buckets of Corn + 8 #10 cases of corn meal
80 Buckets or Rice
60 Buckets of wheat (mix of wheat/oats/quinoa/buckwheat/amaranth/millet)
Numbers like this are scary.....but necessary! and most people don't have 11 in their family...but this would translate to "tribe" numbers. I just made my own tribe.
Companies like Estes and ABF will drop off a trailer for you to fill and take it to either the closest hub to where you want it or right to the destination.
11 people, that's daunting, but if each adult kicks in their share, it wouldn't be as bad. I'm assuming some, a few of them are working. Heck, I'm alone and it's still a lot of food. Don't be discouraged by the numbers, just keep adding as funds are available. The great part of this is that it isn't wasted money for things you may never use. If you buy smart and store properly you can always eat what you have down the road. I rely mostly on canned goods, rice and pasta. Everything I've read indicates that they store well for many years. I routinely eat things I bought in 2016-2017 and they're just fine. Even boxed cereal seems to last a long time unless it's been opened. Use a sharpie to date them. First in, first out, same as any restaurant would do.
Don't know where or how you live right now, but Bear has spoken about a trailer he had with 'all the stuff'. Not sure if this could work for you, but it might be worth looking into. HD sells enclosed 'job' trailers that are relatively cheap. Not perfect, but could work as well as giving you another option of storage and possible sleeping at a new location if needed. It would also work as a place for hay and grain storage later on. Without a BOL, trying to put stuff up is hard. If you had to leave this afternoon...first off, where are you going? Second just how much are you going to be able to take with you? One of these trailers could be fitted out with shelving and such for storage of anything you put up, including the 'camping' items you might need. Off season clothing comes to mind as it's only going to get colder from now on. Depending on what your BOV is, you might also think about a livestock carrier. Fair season will be winding down soon and sometimes you can find really good deals on one of these. A power washer and a gallon of bleach will take care of any residual smell if that bothers you. To my mind, the where and how is much more important than how much right now. For me, I would be looking at freeze dried foods and dehydrated meals for ease of transport and weight. Another thing to keep in mind is what is your absolute 'I'm outta here!'? See where I'm going with this? It's these little niggling small things, we all tend to overlook, that could be the death of us. Be safe, be smart and ever vigilant. Shalom.
As for me:)....I live in my BOL, mountain, woodland and some buffer from metro areas.......not a HUGE buffer, but hopefully enough unless it REALLY goes to Hell.....If it gets ugly here, then it would probably be ugly most places I could run to I'm afraid..........and I have 5 cats, they don't travel well :)......My current options would be 100 miles back INTO the teeth of things, not good, or 1000 miles, THROUGH the teeth of things, even worse......If it came to that, George Armstrong Custer and I would have a lot to talk about, or those folks at the Alamo :)............For any foreseeable circumstances, this is where I make my stand.......A man can only do so much with what he has...Leave me alone, I'll be fine, come after me and I guess I'm going down, along with a few of them that comes a'knocking. .........Kinda hoping, like most of us, that if things get bad, they won't get "Hollywood" bad, just bad..............There are differing degrees of everything.
@Michael Lang I'm with you brother. I'm too old to be wanting to play Rambo, but if it comes to me I'll deal. I've been thinking..yes a very dangerous statement, lol....we need to do our thing with getting our place. Yes, especially the younger ones. I've spoken with a lot of good, good people on here and have been wondering how this could be kept together when it does go down. Radios, maybe. Traders, more likely. Just a thought. I wouldn't like no knowing how the family with young kiddos made it out or are making it. Yes a lot of other things to think about, but damn, that would be a very heavy burden.
@Haunted55 LOL!!!.......Yeah brother, I'm way too old to do the Rambo thing.........Guess if it comes to me I'll do whatever I gotta do, but I'd rather die quietly in my sleep in some future year :).....My loved ones are spread far and wide, just me and the "furballs" here.........Scariest thing would be not knowing how everybody else is doing and not being able to help.........I've given everybody a heads up and I keep them posted, bout all I can do.............Honestly, on one hand I do expect the SHTF relatively soon, 1-2 years. On the other hand I have a hard time getting my head around the idea that the whole shit-house is gonna collapse.........cities maybe, even likely depending, but not the countryside..........My biggest concern is grid down, regardless of who or how it happens. You pull the plug on society and yeah, we're going "Hollywood" pretty quick. Anything less than that I think would be local, possibly regional, but survivable........for those of us who take steps beforehand..............My best advice and it's often repeated here and other places, get out of town, get out of the "burbs" if at all possible and put some space between you and whatever might come. Even a few miles might make a huge difference.
I do understand your struggle of tracking preps, especially for a large family. I've attached a spreadsheet that originally came from Bear. Added a page to track my long term preps. Still working on the garden section. Hope this helps.
Remember that prepping is a marathon and not a sprint, so don’t burn yourself out. We’ve got lots of buckets filled, but also have several to. That being said, we like canning as well, so we are also working on our intermediate food storage. One thing to take into consideration of Bear’s bucket plan is that it is one of the cheapest cost for calories. The buckets don’t consist of spices and such to make that 1year worth of food taste good (he does cover this in other areas, but the initial stockpile doesn’t include these things). If the buckets are overwhelming, start by stocking 72 hrs worth of food, then fluke that, then double that. That’s almost 2 weeks worth of different foods. Bear also mentions a 7 meal plan, that works great for storage. If you can double up on those meals, you can can them after you cook them and store 1 week of food each week. don‘t be held back by sticking to one plan because it’s the “cheapest” overall. It much easier for me to pay for a 2# bag of beans each time I go to the store than it is to buy a 50# bag every so often. I also don’t have to worry about spilling the beans and risking critters finding what I miss.
This is one part that completely overwhelms me. Even getting a true 3 month in my house and keeping it is hard with 11 people. We have a lot of food compared to the average family but not what I want.
My goal this year is to fill in my 3 month holes and keep it well stocked up so we don’t lose a whole category. I tend to stock up then forget about it until it nearly gone.
I want to begin putting away long term but the numbers completely blow my mind.
I love TJ’s calculations from Patreon. But at that we are needing 268 buckets 😱😱😱. I know... one at a time but..... 268 to just grab the basics.
We are planning to COOHMP in the next 2 years and moving those buckets seems crazy too.
What is everyone else doing? Any other big families?
It’s hard enough for one person. I live alone, but prep as if other family members will be here and for additional people, if I were to have a group Post SHTF. My biggest concern is storing water. What types of food are you guys storing for long-term? What are your thoughts on freeze-dried foods from companies like Augason Farms and Mointain House?
@krystalsharp I don't mind dried foods. I mostly by thrive. When I'm talking long term buckets I mean more the absolute basics like Wheat, Corn, Beans and Rice. TJ/Bear has a great spreadsheet on Patreon on what he advises.
Our family is Gluten Free so I made some adjustments to fit but for our family that would like like this....
40 Buckets of Corn + 8 #10 cases of corn meal
80 Buckets or Rice
60 Buckets of wheat (mix of wheat/oats/quinoa/buckwheat/amaranth/millet)
82 Buckets of Beans (beans/lentils/peas) + 4 #10 cases refried beans
I've added.....
300lbs of Potatoes variety= 30 #10 cases
Eggs = 8 - #10 cases
Numbers like this are scary.....but necessary! and most people don't have 11 in their family...but this would translate to "tribe" numbers. I just made my own tribe.
Companies like Estes and ABF will drop off a trailer for you to fill and take it to either the closest hub to where you want it or right to the destination.
One bucket at a time, I’d do one from one of your categories and then start again.
better to have your food storage and have
To move it and not have food when you need it.
11 people, that's daunting, but if each adult kicks in their share, it wouldn't be as bad. I'm assuming some, a few of them are working. Heck, I'm alone and it's still a lot of food. Don't be discouraged by the numbers, just keep adding as funds are available. The great part of this is that it isn't wasted money for things you may never use. If you buy smart and store properly you can always eat what you have down the road. I rely mostly on canned goods, rice and pasta. Everything I've read indicates that they store well for many years. I routinely eat things I bought in 2016-2017 and they're just fine. Even boxed cereal seems to last a long time unless it's been opened. Use a sharpie to date them. First in, first out, same as any restaurant would do.
Its just my Wife & me, but my GOODNESS the amount of food I've had to buy for just the two of us for 1 year is staggering!
Ditto
Don't know where or how you live right now, but Bear has spoken about a trailer he had with 'all the stuff'. Not sure if this could work for you, but it might be worth looking into. HD sells enclosed 'job' trailers that are relatively cheap. Not perfect, but could work as well as giving you another option of storage and possible sleeping at a new location if needed. It would also work as a place for hay and grain storage later on. Without a BOL, trying to put stuff up is hard. If you had to leave this afternoon...first off, where are you going? Second just how much are you going to be able to take with you? One of these trailers could be fitted out with shelving and such for storage of anything you put up, including the 'camping' items you might need. Off season clothing comes to mind as it's only going to get colder from now on. Depending on what your BOV is, you might also think about a livestock carrier. Fair season will be winding down soon and sometimes you can find really good deals on one of these. A power washer and a gallon of bleach will take care of any residual smell if that bothers you. To my mind, the where and how is much more important than how much right now. For me, I would be looking at freeze dried foods and dehydrated meals for ease of transport and weight. Another thing to keep in mind is what is your absolute 'I'm outta here!'? See where I'm going with this? It's these little niggling small things, we all tend to overlook, that could be the death of us. Be safe, be smart and ever vigilant. Shalom.
As for me:)....I live in my BOL, mountain, woodland and some buffer from metro areas.......not a HUGE buffer, but hopefully enough unless it REALLY goes to Hell.....If it gets ugly here, then it would probably be ugly most places I could run to I'm afraid..........and I have 5 cats, they don't travel well :)......My current options would be 100 miles back INTO the teeth of things, not good, or 1000 miles, THROUGH the teeth of things, even worse......If it came to that, George Armstrong Custer and I would have a lot to talk about, or those folks at the Alamo :)............For any foreseeable circumstances, this is where I make my stand.......A man can only do so much with what he has...Leave me alone, I'll be fine, come after me and I guess I'm going down, along with a few of them that comes a'knocking. .........Kinda hoping, like most of us, that if things get bad, they won't get "Hollywood" bad, just bad..............There are differing degrees of everything.
@Michael Lang I'm with you brother. I'm too old to be wanting to play Rambo, but if it comes to me I'll deal. I've been thinking..yes a very dangerous statement, lol....we need to do our thing with getting our place. Yes, especially the younger ones. I've spoken with a lot of good, good people on here and have been wondering how this could be kept together when it does go down. Radios, maybe. Traders, more likely. Just a thought. I wouldn't like no knowing how the family with young kiddos made it out or are making it. Yes a lot of other things to think about, but damn, that would be a very heavy burden.
@Haunted55 LOL!!!.......Yeah brother, I'm way too old to do the Rambo thing.........Guess if it comes to me I'll do whatever I gotta do, but I'd rather die quietly in my sleep in some future year :).....My loved ones are spread far and wide, just me and the "furballs" here.........Scariest thing would be not knowing how everybody else is doing and not being able to help.........I've given everybody a heads up and I keep them posted, bout all I can do.............Honestly, on one hand I do expect the SHTF relatively soon, 1-2 years. On the other hand I have a hard time getting my head around the idea that the whole shit-house is gonna collapse.........cities maybe, even likely depending, but not the countryside..........My biggest concern is grid down, regardless of who or how it happens. You pull the plug on society and yeah, we're going "Hollywood" pretty quick. Anything less than that I think would be local, possibly regional, but survivable........for those of us who take steps beforehand..............My best advice and it's often repeated here and other places, get out of town, get out of the "burbs" if at all possible and put some space between you and whatever might come. Even a few miles might make a huge difference.
I bought a 20 foot shipping container filled it up with our food and meds and shipped it up to North Carolina from Miami, FL.
Renee,
I do understand your struggle of tracking preps, especially for a large family. I've attached a spreadsheet that originally came from Bear. Added a page to track my long term preps. Still working on the garden section. Hope this helps.
Paula
Remember that prepping is a marathon and not a sprint, so don’t burn yourself out. We’ve got lots of buckets filled, but also have several to. That being said, we like canning as well, so we are also working on our intermediate food storage. One thing to take into consideration of Bear’s bucket plan is that it is one of the cheapest cost for calories. The buckets don’t consist of spices and such to make that 1year worth of food taste good (he does cover this in other areas, but the initial stockpile doesn’t include these things). If the buckets are overwhelming, start by stocking 72 hrs worth of food, then fluke that, then double that. That’s almost 2 weeks worth of different foods. Bear also mentions a 7 meal plan, that works great for storage. If you can double up on those meals, you can can them after you cook them and store 1 week of food each week. don‘t be held back by sticking to one plan because it’s the “cheapest” overall. It much easier for me to pay for a 2# bag of beans each time I go to the store than it is to buy a 50# bag every so often. I also don’t have to worry about spilling the beans and risking critters finding what I miss.