The Family

I have been telling my extended family they should stock up on food. I use the blizzard defense. You never know when a storm will come and knock out your power this winter. You won't be able to go to the store and get groceries. See, they live in town and every day or two my father and my brother will go to the store.

Are they listening to me?

Hmm. My brother still has to go every other day. But my dad has been buying extra. I saw about 8 boxes of macaroni and 6 jars of spaghetti sauce at his house a couple of days ago. And he knows I've been storing in food so when he finds a deal he gets it for me. This week he gave me 8 cans of Tomato soup and 8 cans of Chicken Noodle soup. My dad is a great man.

My younger brother lives in the country, about three miles from me. Now because he lives in the country he and his family only grocery shop once every week or two. It's not convenient to hop in the car when you need something from the grocery store. It would take a half hour just to drive to the store and a half hour back. There's no time at the end of the working day to do this every night. They do stop and get milk and bread on their way home once a week if they didn't grocery shop that week. Usually a quick run into the store and grab what is needed and sometimes what they may have forgotten from the grocery trip. In a way my brother's smarter than me because he has a card for Sam's Club and buys a lot in bulk.

So that's the extended family: My dad, my older brother and his partner, my younger brother with his wife and family. There's my mom but we haven't talked about it yet as I haven't seen her in a while. I love them all and I want them safe, just as I want my wife and children safe. And I want them all well fed and if there is something we can do now to make sure we stay safe and do not go hungry then we should do it and we should do it asap (as soon as possible).

Food Storage

And so it begins. In the last month I have come to terms with the realization that food may not always be available. Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, disease, nuclear war, chemical and biological war, terrorist attacks etc. Anything can happen in this world and let's face it most things that do happen are not good.

People in third world countries are starving. People in this country (US) too are starving. Anyone of us can be next. There is less food for the largest population this planet has ever had. As the population rises where will more food come from? Our top soil is depleting, our ever increasing use of pesticides is creating super bugs, prices for everything keep rising and our pay stays the same or does not go up enough to meet the rise in the cost of food.

The economy is swirling down the sink.

All of this has been on my mind so I have been gradually buying a little extra food each week. I can barely afford groceries to begin with so its not been easy. I look for sales but mainly I shop at Aldi's because they usually have the cheapest prices. I have found a few sales at the Big M and P&C and when I do I stock up then too. The Dollar Store and Ollie's have been good too.

Some deals I have gotten have been 2 for $1 Tuna. Progressive Soup at $1 a can. Carrots, peas, corn and beans for 39 cents a can. Needless to say right now in my cupboard I have 20 cans of Tuna, 24 cans of chicken barley soup and 20 cans of vegetables.

I've been trying to spend at least $10 a week today for food for tomorrow.