Anyone Besides Us Getting… “Sticker Shock?…Part 1”

Good morning my friends, and welcome back once more to Ridin Out the Recession. Thank you again for droppin back in to visit with us today!

I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I went to the grocery store for Deb last week and dad-gum, things sure are going up in price! I literally was astounded!

Whole chickens…anywhere from 9 to 11 bucks. I couldn’t even imagine this! Carnation canned milk…$1.85 PER can! I was like…WHOA!

These are exactly the reasons we started our food storage…availability, inflation, and concern over our own ability to purchase food, IF our business continued to experience such a dramatic slowdown, like we experienced in 08.

Back when our site was started, we talked a great deal about the state of our current economy. We explained that we are in the asphalt paving business, and what a hit we took in regards to our business back in 08.

It didn’t simply slow down…IT STOPPED! Plus, it stopped for 1-1/2 years. There was no gradual easing off, as once more, it was like you just slammed on the brakes in your car.

Well, Deb and I had seen this coming, and honestly we were already in “you better pay close attention mode,” in regards to the economy. We immediately started making, “lifestyle changes,” and today are so glad we’d done this.

We knew that without work, this could very well mean we didn’t eat as well. In our belief you can’t have one without the other. First off, our misfortune is not the fault of others, but is based upon the decisions and actions we made, not someone else!

With this being the case, after beginning to see the economic downturn, and shortly afterwards we DID see, once more, we were already doing everything in our power to become much more self-sufficient, and self-reliant than we’d ever been before in our entire lives!

Now, 2-1/2 to 3 years later, boy, are we ever glad we did the things we did!

Food storage was a big concern for us, and we started researching heavily the ways in which we could store food most effectively, as well as safely.

Our choices mainly were the home canning process, and a Food Saver system. Both fit nicely into our lifestyle, and I can’t say that we really prefer one more than the other.

From a storage standpoint we really like to home can, whether it be vegetables, fruits and jellies, or meats, soups or stews. Our big like in this regard is you CAN get by with no power, if this ever takes place.

As long as they’re stored in a fairly cool, dark spot, you really don’t HAVE to have power. This is a very big plus with the home canning process. I also have come to realize that not only is this type of storage very lenient if you were to undergo any extended period of power, but that Deb and I just really like putting food up in this fashion. We enjoy the process, for whatever that’s worth! LOL!

But let me be quite honest in another regard as well. The Food Saver system we like very well too, although we do prefer most of our food storage to be home canned.

In the Food Saver process, using vegetables or meats, it does one terrific job. We Food Saver those babies, and you have just increased the food life of whatever it was you “food savered.” I read up to 5 years, maybe even more, with no freezer burn.

Power though, to Deb and I, is really of little concern. When we built our house, we also bought a 45 KW generator that will run our entire household…electricity or not. So, in case of storms, or whatever the reasoning, we have the ability to keep all our freezers and refrigerators running, insuring no frozen food loss.

This too brings up a point…diesel fuel for our generator. We considered this too. We keep our generator topped off with fuel at all times, plus we have 425 gallons of diesel stored in a mobile tank. This can be pulled to wherever it’s needed.

Now, after letting you guys in on the fact we do have diesel stored, this indeed helps us out greatly, but without too much thought, it’s pretty obvious that if times REALLY got bad, we eventually WOULD run out of diesel.

With this in mind, WHAT IF, diesel wasn’t available after using up our supply? So as you can see, this too could present a very serious problem, and one you should not overlook…in our opinion.
Our plan, if any of this were to occur is simply…rationing our fuel. In other words, although our generator is capable of running our entire home…it would not be used in such a way.

We’d spend much more time outside, number one, and number two, we’d only run our generator, possibly two to three times a day, only for keeping our refrigerators and freezers cold enough to sustain what’s in them…that’s all.

In other words…you need to become very frugal. Now this is something Deb and I have always pretty much been, but we, unlike many others understand full well, we have the ability to continue to cut corners anyway we can.

Something else our Food Saver allows us to do, is to store complete meals in our freezers. This mainly for convenience.

If you’ll start cooking from time to time, meals that are heavy prep, heavy mess, and heavy time consuming…we make up more than we could possibly eat in just a sitting or two. This allows us to Food Saver up complete meals that only have to be taken out of the fridge, thawed, and then heated. In just a short period of time you have a complete nutritious meal! This is great for a household where both Mom and Pop are in the workplace.

Another thing we use our Food Saver for, is storing dried peas, beans, sugar, salt, corn meal, flour, pasta, and even grits.

We Food Saver these, and then we put them in food grade 5-gallon buckets with sealable lids. Each bucket we use for the storing of these items holds about 20 pounds of food. Each package we Food Saver holds about three cups of whatever item we’re storing at the time. This again is for…convenience and easy access.

Our procedure for these, are all simple, but with a few of these there are precautions to take. These mainly are your rice, flour, corn meal, and grits.

These we strongly suggest you freezing for 3-4 days. This kills any bugs, or eggs, that may have gotten into the items while they were being packaged, or even picked up through the shipping process while getting them to the stores.

I wouldn’t say that this is indeed mandatory, but it is something we practice at all times. We do freeze these before Food Savering, each and every time!

Let me give you a good example of the importance to try a pick up a little extra each week. This is pertaining to our family specifically, and shows the importance of what we’re discussing today.

Our oldest son Josh, and his family, have done really well in taking some of their income and putting up some food each week. Josh started storing extra about the same time that Deb and I did, and actually amazed Deb and I with the amount they put up in relatively a short period of time.

Josh works for a tire company, and was used to receiving bonuses on the number of new tires he sold monthly. Some of these checks were fairly considerable amounts, and supplemented their salary. His wife Shelly worked too during this time.

Well, the economy took a big hit, and all of a sudden the number of new tires being sold dropped off…A LOT! This had a big, big effect on his ability to supplement his income as he had been doing previously. Then Shelly became pregnant, and stopped working.

Suddenly they were faced with a big loss of income through no more or very little bonus, and the loss of Shelly’s income to boot. Things changed swiftly, and this had a huge consequence in their lives. BUT…they had food.

Again, those two had put up quite a bit, and what they couldn’t keep at their house, due to lack of room, the rest they brought down here to our place, and stored it in our food storage room we built.
As of today, their work has still not picked back up to anywhere near what it had been, people are now buying used tires mainly, again, this because of our economy, but Josh and family are still eating quite well.

Once more, they too had the best interests of their own family at heart, and took the initiative to do something about it. By doing so, they are weathering all this, pretty well. They did tell Deb that they had about eaten all they could store at their place, and before long they’d have to pick up some of their storage from here. This makes no matter at all, and we’re glad we had the room to store most of their food supply here for them.

But you see my point. Although they’re having it tough, they are still eating, and eating quite well to be honest. Only by having the foresight, and sacrificing many weeks I’m sure, to be able to put up some food, at this point today, they are very, very happy they had done so.

Through their own actions, they insured that they, and their three boys, had nutritious meals even though their income had dropped substantially.

So over the next few days, we’re going to drop back, and emphasis once again, the things that Deb and I have done in regards to our family and friends ability to survive, even in tough, tough economic times.

We hope that through this we may be able to help out others who aren’t sure of some of the things they need to be doing, or even why they need to be doing them. We don’t claim to know, by any means, everything you need to know, but we are pretty astute in many areas of this topic.

If you guys, during these next few conversations we’ll be having with you, have any ideas, suggestions, or experience in such as this, please feel free to express them. I know that what you have to contribute will be much appreciated by all!

In closing today, please know how grateful we are for your continuing to drop in a see us. We appreciate your doing so, and we wish each and every one of you the very best in all you do!

God Bless you guys, and Deb says to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

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4 Responses to Anyone Besides Us Getting… “Sticker Shock?…Part 1”

  1. Sandy Grant says:

    I have been talking to some Latter Day Saints that store foods for 2 years. They use O2 packets in things like beans, rice and etc. Is this necessary? Would this only be when you stored in large containers with no food saver precautions?

    • admin says:

      Hey Sandy. You know, we haven’t been using the O2 packets…we use the food saver. We’re eating corn meal, flour and rice that was put up in 08. No problem, sugar too. But, that’s just how we decided to do it.

      The Latter Day Saints though supply tons of good info, and we learned a WHOLE lot just from researching their sites. Very, very informative in the art of food storage. So, in our opinion…if they talk, you just might better listen up! They’ve been doing this for a long, long time!

      • Sandy Grant says:

        I fully agree but I feel secure about using a food saver if you have had things stored since 08 and there is no problem.

        • admin says:

          Sandy…besides Deb goin around “foamin at the mouth” some, and my having terrible headaches from time to time, we’ve seen absolutely no ill effects at all from eating food we put up in 08! NO, No, we’re only kiddin!

          Our food has been just great. Looks, and tastes, the same as just bought. We are firm believers in our Food Saver. It works well for us!

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