Set aside $5 a week to buy the specific items each week. You will have a kitty set aside that you put the $5 in and you can't touch it for any reason but to buy the food storage item for that week. Put in the remaining change back into the kitty. Some things in the beginning are going to be cheap and then later will be more expensive. In order to pay for the expensive stuff later you need to keep the leftover money in the kitty. Weeks 38 and 44 you will have "off" to replenish the kitty.
Week 1: 2 cans tuna fish, 2 boxes salt
Week 2: 5 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese, 4 cans tomato soup
Week 3: 3 cans mushroom soup, 1 2.5 lb peanut butter
Week 4: one bottle 365 count multi-vitamins
Week 5: 4 cans tomato soup, 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 6: 1 bottle aspirin (500 tablets)
Week 7: 1 100 lb container wheat
Week 8: 1 5 lb powdered milk
Week 9: 1 5 lb honey
Week 10: 4 cans tuna, 4 boxes macaroni and cheese
Week 11: 1 10 lb sugar, 1 box salt
Week 12: 4 cans mushroom soup
Week 13: 1 bottle 365 count multi-vitamins
Week 14: 1 100 lb wheat
Week 15: 1 box macaroni and cheese
Week 16: 1 5 lb honey
Week 17: 2 cans tuna, 4 can tomato soup
Week 18: 1 10 lbs sugar
Week 19: 1 100 lbs of wheat
Week 20: 2 10lbs of sugar
Week 21: 1 10lb powdered milk
Week 22: 1 can mushroom soup, 1 10 lb sugar
Week 23: 1 can tuna, 4 cans tomato soup, 1 10 lbs sugar
Week 24: 1 10 lbs sugar
Week 25: 2 cans tuna, 2 cans mushroom soup
Week 26: 1 100 lb wheat
By the end of the 52 weeks, you should have:
700lbs of wheat,
240 lbs sugar,
40 lbs of powdered milk,
13 lbs of salt,
10 lbs of honey,
5 lbs of peanut butter,
45 cans of tomato soup,
32 cans mushroom soup,
15 cans tuna fish,
10 macaroni and cheese dinners,
500 aspirin, and
730 multiple vitamins
They suggest adding 6 lbs of dried yeast and 6 lbs of shortening and this should be enough to sustain 2 people for a year. For every 2 people you have in your family add $5 more and double or triple the amount of whatever you are buying that week.
By Christi from Paducah, KY
Editor's Note: I searched and there is another version of this. Prices may be a lot higher for some items now (I know that honey costs a lot more.)
There is also a Morman version which is slightly different:
http://www.themormonchannel.net/tmc/1yrfor5.html
In any case it is always good to have food stores for lean times or emergencies. You may want to change what you buy but it's a good guide.
I think it is a wise person who stocks up for an emergency. It may only be a matter of time before some of us experience some type of catastrophe and will be grateful to have some basic food to eat. Although they don't want to scare people, the emergency management people on a federal and state level are working on plans to deal with various types of disasters we may encounter in the future. In our state we deal with tornadoes and floods and there is a very strong possibility that we could have another earthquake along the New Madrid fault!
I have a few tweaks to this plan. Rather than buying so much flour, get 1/2 cornmeal and 1/2 flour - makes same amount, but you get 2 different meals. Also, rather than buying all tuna, watch for sales and get canned beef stew. Store rice as well as flour in freezer. Also, instant grits will store easily, come in flavors, and are very simple to make -- Plain goes with tuna too, I mix them together for breakfast or quick dinner.
