[Mr. K]

get a sharpie and mark the date you purchased it on each can

I find thats the only way I can keep things straight

Does any one here have a list of fundamental basics you should have for 6 months? a year/

i have a generator and am worried about storing gas- i may bury a metal tank

I am thinking I should get a loader backhoe and some diesel too- nothing huge, just a used one in good shape for less than $5K or so.

it would be great not to have to dig my garden with shovels by hand

I figure if I can run my electricity for a few hours each day the freezers and fridge should be OK

[Waryone]

I work at a food pantry. We have to use a marker to clearly mark the last sale date on every package of food we distribute. We are not allowed to distribute food past its date.

If the food you purchase has a sale date on it, use that date. If it does not have a sale date, mark it with the date you purchased it.

[TexasRepublic]

If you could find pure gasoline instead of gasohol, it would keep longer. There are gas additives that claim to preserve gas for two years.

[andyk]

get a sharpie and mark the date you purchased it on each can

That's a good idea. I do make sure that everything I put in my emergency supplies has an expiration date, but I have not yet had emergency supplies long enough to worry about rotation. Better late than never!

[TexasRepublic]

Many kinds of gasoline sold here: ttp://www.vpracingfuels.com/

[TomGuy]

get a sharpie and mark the date you purchased it on each can

The 'best by' date on cans is only suggestive. Many cans are still good well beyond that date. However, they should be consumed before they get too old, espcially acidic foods, such as tomato products.

I started using a marker to put the last two digits of the 'best by' year on the can label. That makes it easy to see which cans should be use by 2010, 2011, etc.

Depending on the product, some cans and packages are marked for the year 2014.

[STYRO]

Buy yourself a 55 gallon drum. When you need gas, pump it out of your underground storage. Then take your drum to the gas station and fill it up with the exact amount you used from your underground tank. Dump the drum gas into your underground tank. Your underground gas will always be relatively fresh.

[Tucson_AZ]

Long-Term Food Storage Menu

Their Food Storage Planner is very good.