YNAB You Need A Budget

[Encourager]

Litterbug, I am curious. What is it going to take for you to "get serious"? Every time I go to the store, I find 2-4 oz shaved off the cereal boxes; even the cake mixes are smaller...oh, and same price of course. Even if it wasn't for an emergency, why not buy extra so you aren't paying so much more for it next month? Even if you have only enough to eat for 3 weeks, that is three weeks buffer against none. Use the same principles that YNAB has if that helps you get started. The easiest way is to write down a weeks worth of meals. Then check to see if you have any of the ingredients. If so, you are ahead. If not, buy three times what you need. You will have food already for the week ahead, plus two more weeks. Then double that...six weeks; then triple it...that is over two months of meals. Anyhow, you get my drift. You can certainly vary your meal plans by having different recipes. But it will get you started. And if you use sales and coupons on Sundays to plan your shopping, you are even farther ahead. Just start.

[litterbug]

[color=#00BF40]Litterbug, I am curious. What is it going to take for you to "get serious"?

My next apartment. My lease on this place--which I'll be in a total of 4 months--runs out at the end of October. That's given me time to save my deposit and get myself ready.

Before I moved from the big apartment at the end of June, I could live out of my pantry for about three weeks, more if I counted the freezer, which is full of stuff that would spoil without electricity, and had 10 days worth of water (which I always have had). I just want to formalize the food storage so I can keep my active food pantry down to what I actually use so stuff doesn't go stale or out of date.

This place has absolutely no storage. I moved within the same building because my old apartment had a flood and I needed to get out quick. There's a shallow, narrow coat closet (can't even hang clothes in it), a shallow, narrow linen closet, a miniature linen closet in the bathroom, and a narrow clothes closet...and that's it. I sold or donated (or am in the process of doing so, as soon as I borrow a hand truck again) more than 1/3 of my belongings, including my extra backstock. Even so, every corner of my current place has stuff in it waiting for a place to live.

I still have over a week's worth of food, not counting stuff in the freezer that would go bad quick in hot weather, but I've wanted to formalize it for a long time so it wouldn't be so haphazard if I need to tap my stash. A moderate amount of storage is a requirement for wherever I move next, and I'll carve out some space and decide which way to go with what and how much to store and how to store it. At least that's the plan.

So don't worry about me--I have a plan. Really, don't worry. I'm an intelligent, self-sufficient woman and can handle it. Really.

[jadecraft]

Canned food is the way to go! Other than that I had absolutely no thoughts on the subject. Now that I’ve visited this thread though, I think I’ll be completely prepared for an emergency. Well, at least food-wise.

[Encourager]

@Jadecraft ~~ don't forget to store water and a way of purifying water. You can pick up a water purifier pretty cheap at REI (they usually have good sales this time of year) or online; one that can quickly purify such as a Katydine (I think I just spelled that wrong and mine is out in the car!)

Oh, and don't forget a manual can opener...or two. I follow the rule "Three is two, two is one, one is none" just to be safe and not sorry.
Blessings!

[m2011]

Encourager - I agree on water! I was fortunate that we still had power and so I could boil before filtering to get out the 'chunks' (eewww). But if I didn't have power then I would have been a bit stuck as I didn't have my gas stove at that time and I have two children to care for as well. It's quite time consuming treating the water too so having a large container for storage would have been helpful.

Around that time they were advising people on tv how to manage regarding the water and as I recall it was something to do with adding a certain amount of bleach to the water. I was initially horrified but of course it's 'chlorine'. I can't remember the measurements though.

[Encourager]

@m2011: I have the formula at home...not there right now; just dropped son off at college for his senior year. A bit sad. Will miss him tons until Thanksgiving. When I get home I will dig out the formula of how much chlorine bleach to how much water. [Unless someone else reading this can answer you??] You said 'chunks' in your water?? Oh yuk! You can filter water with triple thickness of cheesecloth or lacking that, a clean tea towel or clean pillowcase. Or even a clean handkerchief.

[litterbug]

I was trying to remember all the different factors for sanitizing water with bleach and found this website which sounds like what I was taught for backcountry practice. It even calculates how much bleach you need for different amounts of water.

http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oemergencypurifycalc.html

One important point is that you need to increase the amount of bleach if the water isn't clear. We used to let (silty Colorado River) water settle in a bucket overnight, pour the almost-clear water into another bucket, and then bleach it before using it as wash water. We then dipped the washed dishes in a stronger bleach solution before letting them air-dry.

Another key people sometimes forget is to sanitize the storage container, even if it's brand new.

[chrys]

This is a great thread. I mentioned it to DH on Monday afternoon, and we agreed that we could do better. We went through the requisite 'it's a metro area' 'yeah but there's a lot of people here and what if' this or that. Electricity down, no water, terrorist attack, hurricane.

And then yesterday's earthquake hit. We didn't discuss that one, ha! No damage for us personally, just intense shaking - but it reinforced for me that we need to get on this sooner than later.

[m2011]

http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oemergencypurifycalc.html

What a great site - thank you for posting that! We use litres but I can easily work it all out form the info there and using a converter. I think I'm going to print out that info and put it in my ''emergency" folder.

[m2011]

@m2011: I have the formula at home...not there right now; just dropped son off at college for his senior year. A bit sad. Will miss him tons until Thanksgiving. When I get home I will dig out the formula of how much chlorine bleach to how much water. [Unless someone else reading this can answer you??] You said 'chunks' in your water?? Oh yuk! You can filter water with triple thickness of cheesecloth or lacking that, a clean tea towel or clean pillowcase. Or even a clean handkerchief.

It's hard when it comes time for your children to be more independent. ):

Re water, yeah the chunks really turned our stomach. Strangely the council here kept saying it's fine to drink....we didn't agree so we did our best to purify. I must say, given it was summer, I've never felt that disinclined to drink water.

[reinhartfamily]

Just wanted to share an excellent resource with you all - http://www.shelfreliance.com They have this awesome tool called the 'Thrive Q' which is where you set up your entire list of food storage needs, then select a monthly amount to budget toward food storage. They then select items to fulfill your needs and automatically send you a shipment each month.

The quality is top notch, their instant milk is truly drinkable! My kids love their freeze dried fruits as snacks anyday, so we use a lot of their products just because we like them =). They also have emergency preparedness supplies, including 72 hour kits, etc. Oh, and the shelves! Surely check out the shelves!

My 'consultant' is a friend - Kerry Black (http://kerryblack.shelfreliance.com). But you can just order straight from the website or find a local consultant if you wish. **Edited to add my friend's website as well as a note from her that prices are cheaper through a consultant, so you definitely want to go that route if you can help it!

Happy Food Storage!

[Encourager]

@reinhartfamily: Thanks! Have not heard of that place before; will definitely check them out. Spent the morning sorting stuff and organizing in the storage area. Whew! Tired and only half done! Hopefully tomorrow will be breezy so I can pick tomatoes; otherwise, the 'skeeters will carry us off for breakfast. Is it too early to pray for a hard frost??!

[Encourager]

Okay, I just can't resist posting this. Forgive me if it is in the wrong spot!! "The Weather Channel says the east coast earthquake was caused by an unknown fault line running under D.C. and Virginia. It is now being called Obama's Fault, though Obama will say it's really Bush's Fault. Others say it was the founding fathers rolling over in their graves or, what we all believed to be an earthquake, was actually the effects of a $14.6 trillion check bouncing. Some say another probable cause could be that a large majority of Americans suddenly shifted to the right."

[kilps]

Hey with the email we receive about being able to purchase a friends copy for $20, we should all send a copy to the politicians who are representing us. Maybe they will incorporate the methodology and fix the debt issue. (Can YNAB count high enough? )

[jesse]

I actually have it planned to send YNAB to every entering congressman/woman with each election cycle going forward. And if they're re-elected, I'll send them another one.