Getting Started - Step 2

Now that you have your plan, it's time to start shopping.

*As you do your grocery shopping for the week, buy double - one to use and one to store. Depending on your budget, you can do this with 1 meal, 2 meals or all of your meals. Do what works best for you.

*Continue to buy 6 of each item needed for your 14 meals until you have built up your 12 week supply. (Or 12 each for 7 meals, 4 each for 21 meals, etc. ) This step takes some time. Here are a few tips we learned along the way:

1. Slow and Steady wins the race.
Don't panic and feel like you need to buy everything you need all at once. I did this once and blew an entire month's grocery budget on one trip to Costco. I don't recommend this method - unless you like eating a lot of Mac&Cheese and green beans.
Also, don't go into dept to buy food. This defeats the other part of provident living.

2. Take advantage of sales and bulk discounts.
Sales are a great way to stock up on items you need. We loved the Macey's case lot sale! And once you have food stocked in your pantry, you won't have to buy it at regular price. My weekly grocery list consists of bread, dairy and fresh produce. I have everything else on hand. The extra money goes to buying food storage items that are on sale that week. My grocery budget hasn't changed, but I'm able to buy and store much more food.

One of my favorite sites for shopping grocery sales is Sister Savings.
(For AZ and Utah) I print out the Excel list, highlight the items I need for my food storage, and take this list with me as I shop. Walmart will price match from this list so you don't need to take the ads with you.

3. It doesn't take a lot of money to start working on your food storage.
Start is the key word. You can buy an extra can of veggies or a box of Mac&Cheese for 50 cents. A can of soup, a package of spaghetti noodles, etc. Continue to add a few items each time you go to the store, and watch your cupboards start to fill up.

4. Use "extra" money to buy items for your food storage.
"Extra" money for us is anything in addition to our budgeted income. This includes bonuses, rebate checks, etc. It's also any money left over once our monthly expenses are met - money for eating out, entertainment and "extra" stuff like that.
As we started working on our 3 month supply, I started thinking about all of my other purchases in terms of food storage.

Dinner from a fast food place = 40 cans of veggies for my food storage.
Five movie tickets = 30 packages of pasta.

As I started looking at things that way, it was easier to cut back on some of our "extra" expenses and put that money towards building up our 3 month supply.

Note I said some, not all - balance is important.

Here are a few resources for sales and coupons:

Sister Savings
Grocery Smarts
Coupons.com
Pinching Your Pennies