I Heart Food Storage

I love case lot sales. For those who don't know what this is, it is a wonderful thing that a nearby grocery store does twice a year. They price typical food items for a cheaper price in bulk and you can pick up some to build on your food storage. As a LDS woman, I find this concept important because food storage is made to help out in times of needs whether there is a disaster by nature or a disaster financially which happens a lot these days. There have been times in the past where we have had to scrimp and save to amend our budget for different life style periods. Those moments have been easier to manage while having an ever growing food storage in my own home. It gives me a huge peace of mind knowing that if anything bad should happen, I can still provide common needs for my family and my kids.

Anyone who knows me well, knows this for a fact. They also know that I have devoted my pantry which is huge to begin with, but also another closet on the side. After this passed case lot sale, I have even moved into underneath beds for storage. We also received 2 huge water barrels to start up our water supply storage as well which is VERY important for us.

Anyways, on this recent pilgrimage to my semi-annual case lot sale, I encountered three funny comments from passers by. The first one was by a middle aged black woman as I was stacking my cart with the cases full of things. She saw my cases of sugar and said, "Is that sugar?"

I replied with "yup." Then she asked, "You can buy it in a case like that? How much is it?"

I then whipped out my spreadsheet that I prepare every time and responded with, "They are each $1.89 for 4 lb. bags and there are 10 in a case which you can get for $18.90."

She replied with, "Wow! That's really good and smart. You can buy sugar all at once and not have to come back and forth to the store to buy more whenever you need some."

That just flabbergasted me because I have been doing this since college and it never occurred to me that people spend so much money just buying a little at a time and have never considered buying and storing lots in their own home. Craziness! Should I be telling my friends more to do this as well?

The second comment came after I had picked up all the cases I needed. I was working my way through the store, picking up my less than a case full of items. I was in the baking isle and my cart had 6 bottles of vegetable oil and 5 jars of peanut butter and I was proceeding to file in 10 boxes of cake mixes. A young woman around the same age as be passed by and when she got a little further away she back tracked and said, "Excuse me. If you don't mind me asking, What exactly are you making?"

I smiled and told her, "Nothing in particular. Every year, this store has a case lot sale where you can buy things for cheaper. I like to bulk up on things I use so I can store them at home. This creates a sort of mini grocery store in my own house so that if I need something to bake with, I don't have to pile my kids in the car and go to a store in order to bake it."

She replied with a simple, "Oh, okay, " and walked away.

Then finally, I had to get help out to my car because I had 2 carts full of food. The middle-aged man who helped me out asked me "if I liked baking?" as we loaded all of the flour, sugar and other essentials into my car. I responded with an energetic, "I sure do!"

I guess that ends my experience this time, but I just wanted to leave you all with a thought to ponder. These really are hard times and life is pretty unpredictable with the economy. You never know what kind of storms will approach you next that you have to work your way through and I just want to reiterate how important I find food storage in my life. I encourage everyone to try and build their own up as well. It will bless you in times of need and if you need help figuring out what to do or how to do it, let me know and I'll try to help you out.

Good luck and take care! Happy Storing!