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Posted: November 30 2006 at 4:28pm |
I'm interested in others strategies here and will start with mine. For me it has been just over six months of prepping and have learned alot for the forum and trial and error. To keep my preps fresh and with the new year right around the corner, my 5th grader came up with a clever plan for rotation of our preps. He suggested colored sticky dots with a different color for each year to be placed on canned goods etc. (I need reading glasses and reading the dates is a pain.) We then write the month number on the dot and it is very easy to spot and rotate now as needed. 2007 will get a different color and so we go. Anything with less than 3 months to go gets put in our cupboard with a red dot for "Use Now" Preppin is fun as I no longer have to run to the store to get something I need to cook with!
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Bill 100
Valued Member Joined: May 21 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 524 |
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I use a piece of masking tape, giving them a number. Then I list them using a excel type program (spread sheet). So I can see the expiration dates on my computor. If one is getting ready to expire, I will use that one, then replace it when I go to the store.
I like having it on my computor, on a spread sheet, you can have several pages. The first page is really like a inventory but I have it set out where breakfast items are at the top then lunches, then dinners, then other stuff like coffee and sugar. How many meals it will make.
Then I have a expiration page where I have the items along with the number I gave it, and the expiration date.
The only thing is if the electric goes out, but I have a generator plus I could do a print out.
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We write down the date of purchase on the top of the can (and try not to write over the date codes. Not a perfect system, but it's easier to tell at a glance when something was bought, rather than remembering what color is what year. But we're open to suggestions.
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sweetpea
V.I.P. Member Joined: March 27 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 299 |
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these are great ideas, I especially like yours Cruiser ... alas, my sight is not what it used to be up close ... those dots would be a great help for me ... My suggestion for the dots would be to hang a clipboard on the wall and label each year's corresponding dot ... you could also add other information on the clipboard as well like quick recipes, where to find stuff , "In Case of Emergency" stuff ... etc., etc. |
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"When an emergency arises, the time for preparation is past."
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My goal also with the dots is not to keep anything over a year to keep my stock as fresh as possible and the 2006 blue dots are dwindling down and I may donate any left over oddities to the local pantry so they don't go to waste. Right now I am in full rotation mode and every time I go to the store new stuff goes into storage and I "shop" from the preps especially with noodles and mac n cheese.
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Cruiser,What a great idea! I think this is how I will keep track.
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Pegasus
V.I.P. Member Joined: May 20 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 68 |
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Cruiser,I love the colored dots idea with the month listed on the dot. This is a system that any member of my family (young or old) could easily follow if I were out of commission. Even younger children (5 and up) could help with this organization and rotation. Will have to check the office supply store for dot colors and other shapes to possibly come up with a system of year & month in different colors. Or that may be just too much effort for what you get out of it if you already have a large inventory.
Bill 100's Excel program sounds like a very thorough method too ... perhaps if I were not so technologically challenged - by the time I got things entered, they'd probably already have been eaten. My S-I-L uses an Excel sheet method and loves it.
My boxes are getting the expiration date written in black marker so it is easy to locate at a glance. Cans are stacked by expiration date (not an exact science but so far, so good). I do have an Excel sheet of overall inventory but not by expiration date - just by item type/quantity. Then I add/remove as necessary and shop accordingly. Many of the boxed items are being put in plastic bins for safer storage and labeled on the outside. Canned goods are on shelves or in crates by type of food. The milk crates are easy to stack & move. If you need milk crates, check with a beverage service in your area. Many get deliveries but often nobody will come back to reclaim the empty crates. Also good for a 'grab & go' selection of food and/or other supplies.
It is SO great being able to 'shop' from preps. Saves me money and time because I buy on sale and I'm not impulse buying when I need one item...just hit the shelf.
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"We do not know the true value of moments until they have undergone the test of memory." unknown author
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Safety Lady
Valued Member Joined: March 22 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 88 |
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I have 52 dehydrated cans of food. If in desperate times each can can has 25 servings. Small servings but servings.
I have ten white five gallon buckets with a weeks worth of food. Idea is to have seven servings (for each person) of instant oatmeal, and dehydrated mikl. Also seven boxes of dry potatoes, rice or mac and cheese. Also seven sealed power bars, candy bars etc. These are located around the property. We have one old tree with a huge hollow in it. I am planning on putting a sealed bucket in it. Gotta have DH do that I can t see to do that.
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