last shopping trip

    While in my local WalMart grocery the other day I was walking the isles thinking about what I would buy, for dinner and for my prepping stores and I wondered what I would buy if I knew the pandemic had started and I knew for sure this was my last shopping trip for a very long time.
I have a full sized pickup truck and the money for the next months bills in my checking account. Say 2000 dollars. I realize everyone's last list would be different because it will depend on what you have already bought. Please share your ideas.

    Most people here are talking bags of rice, but that's only good as long as your power is working. Go ahead and get what fresh foods you can and eat them promptly cuz it's going to be the last milk and fruit and eggs you have for a very long time.

Refried beans taste like chip dip, so kids might be able to eat it cold out of the can. Buy some potato chips to keep the kids comfortable. Buy some board games. Remember, the kids are going to be frightened and scared and you're their only emotional buffer from the threat of a pandemic.

Some cereal can be eated without milk. I like sugar smacks, honeycomb are good, maybe capt crunch. Actually ask your kids what kind of cereal they want to eat if milk no longer exists.

There are a few things I have avoided buying in large quanities up til now because I know they would get old, like quarts and quarts of mayo or 15 blocks of velveta. Also the very large containers of peanut butter. I would also get stuff like fresh chiken and pork and can it in the pressure canner. I have done a little of this but just to get the practice. I think the first things to go will be the sort of things people buy for a hurricane. I hope to be finished with that kind of stuff soon. I am finished with the staples.

Tea lights [candles] you can heat a pan of water over them though it takes a while, crackers, pain relief tablets, stock cubes, solar lights, great for recharging AA battries, rechargeable batteries various sizes [already have two solar battery chargers]. Canned fruit, cartons of juice & water containers.

    Diego's right, but the third wave of pandemic is usually the weakest.

    Given the rate of apparent increase it could be years of severe flu seasons before that kind of death rate happened. Like Katrina, there will be phases of reconstruction.

    Last minutes supplies
Rechargeable batteries
regular batteries
Medical supplies
Water...lots of water
can goods you like to eat...
beans, tuna, can meats, veggies, pasta, etc.
can fruits liquids you can drink also
peanut butter
jelly
crackers
bottle juice, tonic, gateraide
paper products t paper, kleenex, trash bags, paper plates
more water!!!!!!
freeze dryed foods...
spices to make food taste better
jello,,
lets put it this way if its storable and you like it and its got a good shelf life buy it...

Prepgirl

    Prepgirl, here's some advice - stock up regularly on batteries and spend just a bit each month. You have no idea what kind of money you're going to have when we get the final warning and you're not going to be able to afford a lot of expensive batteries. Stock up regularly or you could run into a severe problem where you have to decide what to prioritize.

    Walgreens sells their own brand of batteries, same thing for half the price. I never buy expensive batteries.

A last minute plan:

I have learned how to can quick breads. There is debate on the subject, so read up and make your own decision; but I have enjoyed them at a couple of months old, they say they stay fresh much longer.

I plan to have dry ingredients stored, then, on last minute shopping day, purchase the necessary eggs, butter, etc and immediately make a selected number of jars of apple bread, etc. I store them in the extra refrigerator for longer life.

If power is lost for a long period, we will have this to eat for bread.

I also have a bread maker so as not to be without bread while there is power.

bleach for cleaning

Dijoy wrote: I keep thinking there should be a computer program to put all we use on that will guess what we need ,but no government seems to bring anything like that out to help us. Will have to rely on my ageing memory Diane

http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm
This will calculate items for a year.
It is based on the LDS plan.

    

 I quit wasting my money on batteries, get the crank flashlights and radios, they work great, I did not buy the ones from wal mart, they didnt work. They are on sale at kmart and kohls for around twenty dollars. Well worth it.

My last minute items are items I can do without if I have to, but things I would prefer to have: fresh fruits, potatoes, fresh veggies, fresh milk, bread, more dog food, more cat food. I can make do without it, but would prefer to have these things on hand if possible.

Susan T- I am glad u got this topic back up.

Suzi wrote: When I consider buying something for a prep I ask myself if it will keep well. If the answer is yes I want to buy a lot of it now. I want my last trip to be for things that do not keep well or things like meat that I can put in jars. I want to be able to ignore everything else because I know I already have enough of that stuff.

FluMom - where did you get the coffee grinder? I've been looking for a good one as a back up. I'm also going to get a couple of Berkey filters and make a filter unit with some buckets. With all the dried food I have I'll need water or it'll all go to waste. Putting the last of my rice into buckets this afternoon (I have 250 lbs so far, so now I'm concentrating on other stuff for a while, like canned fruit). The wife - who up until now didn't know we were prepping, other than some canned veggies she found in the motorhome - walked in on me on Monday while I was sealing 50lbs of rice, 25lbs of bread flour, and 25lbs of tortilla flour in mylar in the middle of the living room. She hasn't said anything yet, but it's coming. Just shook her head and went into the bedroom. Oops.

[QUOTE=jacksdad] FluMom - where did you get the coffee grinder? I've been looking for a good one as a back up.

I purchased a Zassenhaus Knee Style Hand Coffee Grinder from EspressoZone.com for $84.90 total.

Just got it and have tried it and I am very happy. I purchaed the Knee Grinder because you do not have to "hold" it. Just put it between your knees and turn. It is easy even for very fine grind but it takes maybe 3-5 minutes to grind enough for 12 cup coffee maker. I did not time myself but it did a great job and it was easy to turn.

Now that being said I would only use this if there is no power, my electric grinder is just fine for now but when times get bad I will love my hand grinder.

Please remember to get a non electric perk pot, I'm going to get mine from Sportsman's Warehouse a 6 cup because it takes less energy to brew 6 cups. My husband will have to rough it!

I am going to purchase a Berkey because I believe in stainless steel for water and I will also purchase an extra two filters. I will be able to give my neighbor friends water. I can have them leave bottles in a bucket of bleach water at my door, fill them and then leave them outside my door for them to pick up. I will not give food but I will not let them die from thurst.

It takes I believe only 3-10 days to die from lack of clean water but you can live several months with very little food.

Have your wife read the article on this fourm on the Health Dept report to people in that TN County. Maybe she will start to see that food will be gone in 24 hours from the shelves and no clean water in a matter of 3-4 weeks as people are too sick or too dead to go to their jobs. Hard fact but true.

Hope this helps!

starspirit, you are so correct, we are not only prepping for BF but anything else that may happen. I use to live in Tornado Alley when I was a kid and never knew when life would change. In Colorado we have been snowed in for 5 days lucky with power but I could have lasted for 12 weeks then and soon I will be ready for almost a year.

Thanks FluMom. I kept coming across the Zassenhaus grinders and really needed to hear that someone liked theirs before I bought one. I guess you have to pay for quality - I kept coming up with prices in the same range as you paid for yours. I liked the idea of the knee style one - it looked a lot less cumbersome to use. 

Glad you were out of harms way 

"jacksdad...your wife will be so happy with you when tshtf..trust me and alot more than the birdflu will be hitting it....prep prep prep....we're all proud of you.... "