[Tagurit]

I have hit a new dilemma!
I’ve got a solid 6 month supply of food (Canned & dried) stocked up and have had this for over 2 years. Even with rotating stock, I am having trouble racing to beat the expiration dates. Other than rice, honey, dried pastas and high dollar MRE’s … what else can one stock up on that will last 4+ years?
It seems that now, by rotating stock, we are always eating old food.
I can’t imagine stocking up with a 4 year supply.

Getting sick from old food and filling the garbage can with outdated food is no way to save money.

[blam]

Food is good for much longer than most people know. See here:

Five Different Shelf Life Studies: Two on Canned Food and Three on Dry Food

"NFPA chemists also analyzed a 40-year-old can of corn found in the basement of a home in California. Again, the canning process had kept the corn safe from contaminants and from much nutrient loss. In addition, Dudek says, the kernels looked and smelled like recently canned corn."

[BobL]

I couldn’t see a way to make stocking up on food work - and if we really got into a situation where we didn’t have food, I’m not sure that I’d want to stick around in that society.

But I still have some. My approach is to have mainly rice and noodles for about 6 months - I have other canned stuff, but not a whole lot. I figure that there will always be food, to some extent, and given my supply, I can supplement it with rice/noodles, and do much better than my neighbor trying to scrape by on subsistence levels of government-restricted food.

That’s about it. My 4-years of stuff includes things like toilet paper, bags, soap, etc...but not food - way too much to hold on to. The 4-year supply is more for comfort, so I don’t have to be waiting in line for an hour to get my 2 rolls of toilet paper after the dollar crashes, for example.

[hinckley buzzard]

Well, I don't know why you think you need a six month supply of food, to begin with. The world is not coming to an end any time soon, and modern conveniences won't disappear short of a nuclear war. If that happens, expiration dates won't matter because your food will be safely irradiated and last a lifetime, like my can of 1967 C-rat ham and eggs sitting on my desk.

[GailA]

Things like laundry soap, bar soap, cleaning supplies, fabric softner, shampoo, razors, other grooming aids. All have climbed steeply in price. Don’t forget things like TP and paper towels. I have at least a year’s supply of all but the TP and paper towels, that is about a 3 month supply for 2. I can’t pass up paying $2 for a bottle of name brand laundry soap, instead of $6-8 for the same size. Same goes for Bounce or Snuggle.

Biggest problem is running out of room to store it. Need to get the attic cleaned out of junk and make it my storage area for non food items.