A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. Proverbs 27:12

Remember having a deep pantry isn’t just about having extra food on hand. It is also about having the means to survive in an emergency situation, having all the extra food isn’t going to do you much good if you can’t cook it when the power is out. If you are having a hard time trying to afford to fill a deep pantry read my post on “having a Deep Pantry on a tight budget.”

Don’t forget to share what you were able to do this past week to have a deep pantry/food storage. Let’s encourage each other. And if you have a question feel free to ask or if you have the answer to a question feel free to answer. If you have a tip or idea you can share that also. As I said let’s make this a place where we can share and encourage others to get that deep pantry.

25 pounds of Sugar or 5 pounds of Honey / Detergents

25 pounds of sugar at Wal-Mart is 13.24. Sugar is the cheapest sweetener to store and it does last a very long time. It may clump up but it is still good. If you store it in 5-gallon buckets it won’t clump as bad, I have some stored in buckets and some stored in the bags it came in, it does clump up a lot more in the bags. I’ve not stored any in Mylar but I am assuming it won’t clump up in the Mylar bags. (If you have stored it in Mylar please share about how well it stores).

Honey is a little more expensive,5 pounds of honey at Wal-Mart is 19.98 ( Make sure it is pure honey with no additives). Try to find local honey, usually, it is a little cheaper than store bought. Honey keeps forever, it may sugar a little if it does this just warm it, up to liquefy it back to where it was. If you can afford it, it is great to have, but if not sugar also works. They also make a honey powder it is 10.76 for 3 pounds at Wal-Mart. I have looked at the ingredients and it is mostly sugar with flavoring (no honey in it). I have some and it does taste like honey though, so if you want the honey flavor without the huge expense you have a choice.

Detergents You can store detergents or you can store things to  Make your own. I didn’t price the different detergents since there are so many different ones and the prices vary (all expensive). If you plan to make your own you will need to store Borax, Washing Soda ( if you have baking soda you can Make your own washing soda for a fraction of the price of store-bought ), Fels Naptha or Zote, ( unless you make your own soap then you need lye, hope to do a post soon on making your own lye).   

The Action Item for this month is to get your garden planned, even if you only have a small area, you can plant a lot ( there are all kinds of information on the web for small area gardening). If you have already had a garden try to expand and add a few more things, maybe even some things you haven’t tried to grow before. You might want to look into berry bushes and fruit trees also. If you have landscaping in your yard you might want to think about replacing some things with edibles (If you have to water might as well water something that gives something back).

The extra item for this month will be garden seeds, bushes, trees, and herbs. After you get your garden planned try to start ordering the seeds and things you need for it. Also, start getting your seeds started.

Continue to put water back, either fill your own containers or buy store-bought.

Keep adding some to your money stash. Add what you can, try to set a weekly goal even if it is only a few dollars every little bit will help and will be more than you had.

What were you able to get done this week?

Have a great week.