Don't "store" cash, how about food?

[LOL!]

No real need to stock food for emergencies either, so we don't. For hurricanes, it's gas in the cars, credit cards in the wallets, and a battery-operated radios and flashlights. A battery-operated internet device like a Blackberry is also very useful. That's all you really need.

We do fill up 30 gallon rubbermaid containers with water in the showers and bathtubs. We put the lids on to keep the held water uncontaminated, so that we can still take showers if the water is still running. I don't know why we do this, because we have never used the 120 gallons of water we have stored away during any hurricanes and power losses. We normally keep store out-of-season clothes in these containers in our closets.

We also freeze some extra ice before the power goes out. If power is out more than 2 days, we drive away.

Ever been camping? In the desert back country? The same skills used there can be used elsewhere. No electricity and no refrigerators for miles around. No need to take freeze-dried food since you will need water anyways, so canned soups, canned tuna, maybe even Spam(tm) are all you need. A camp stove will heat things up, but usually the gas stove in the house still works if power goes out.

Local ponds have easily caught fish and in-season duck eggs.

I guess one could go overboard, but gas in the cars and credit cards in the wallets are really enough.

[freebird5825]

At the low temperature of the spectrum...Old Man Winter. Lake effect snow measured in feet and/or ice and wind storms can take down power for hours, days, weeks in my neck of the woods. In 25 years, power out on my road has been measured in hours. Others just north have logged days, and even further north, weeks.
The house has two fireplaces with at least a cord of wood on hand at all times. We own a generator, have a natural gas kitchen stove, an outdoor LP gas grill, and a Coleman flat top cookstove left over from camping days. Fuel for all is on hand.
As far as food goes, I keep lots of dry goods and canned soups on hand.
I keep a good supply of juices and seltzer on hand for drinking as normal procedure in any season.
Any long term water or cooling needs could be satisfied with all that white stuff on the ground. We have a 2up snowmobile for last resort ground transportation.

[Dawg52]

Meds.......got to stock up on meds.

[tuixiu]

We buy lots of canned goods on sale so usually have a pretty big stock, could probably last a couple weeks if we had to. Bigger problem would be water, although there are several man-made lakes around this community and I guess I could boil it on the grill.

Of course I've always told my wife that as soon as it seems like the zombie apocalypse is going down to fill up the bathtubs with water.

[Bikerdude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawg54 Meds.......got to stock up on meds.

Never face a storm without Meds.

[kumquat]

We tend to buy stuff on sale and then lose it (in the over-stuffed freezer) until it's freezer burnt. Spent today making soup out of freezer burnt beef. Really PO'd because I bought a new bottle of Worchestershire sauce and ripped up my finger on a broken part of the bottle as I tried to open it. Thinking of paying the store manager a visit. Anyone got a .45 I can borrow?

[Koolau]

This is the first time we've lived in a hurricane prone state. Those of you on the mainland at least have someplace to GO if one is coming. We're pretty much committed to riding it out if one happens along. The good news is that we're a pretty small target and the mid-Pacific has been less active of late than the gulf and Atlantic.

Still, we've gone through the drill and stocked up for hurricane season (last year) and will do so again this year.

But to the OP: Mentioned elsewhere, both parents were young adults during GD. They both did without proper nutrition at times and dad often went hungry (only specific story he ever shared about this was eating only onions for a week.)

So, growing up, we always had a good stock of staples and canned goods. I sort of thought it was a bit much, but I learned (from parents but also from their contemporaries) what it was like to be without enough food.

Whether we're headed into another "GD" or not, who knows. Also mentioned elsewhere, HI is vulnerable to shortages due to transportation issues. Based on these uncertainties, I'm thinking hard about stocking up a bit more than normal hurricane prep would dictate.

Guess I look at it as cheap insurance. You could make a case that you loose some opportunity value if you buy extra food, but "what opportunity" right now? I could make a case that buying now could well be a good "investment" if inflation takes off.

I think if you don't go "nuts" about it, some extra food right now makes more sense than stocking lots of cash, IMO. ITSHTF, you can eat food but you can't eat cash. Pretty much worst case is you pitch a few cans of Dinty cause they got shoved to the back of the pantry and expired.

All depends on what helps you sleep at night, I suppose. As always, YMMV

[Bimmerbill]

Still trying to stock up on ammo, in case of the zombie apocolypse. Ammo is scarce and expensive as heck if you can find any.

[Notmuchlonger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bimmerbill Still trying to stock up on ammo, in case of the zombie apocolypse. Ammo is scarce and expensive as heck if you can find any.

Didnt you read World War Z? Just go with 22 cal and have a head bludgeoning type of weapon. Perhaps a handy mace.

[shoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koolau Guess I look at it as cheap insurance.

This is how I look at it exactly. I store only what we eat and what I store is more or less ingredients, not Twinkies and Ho Hos. I am a scratch cook so a fully stocked pantry increases my options.

[Rambler]

We stock a year's worth of staples: wheat (plus an electric grinder and a manual grinder), beans, sugar, salt, dry milk, yeast, oil/shortening. Actually more like two years' now as the kidlets are moving on to college. That's at home. We only have space for about 3 months worth here. We don't have any canned goods in the states tight now...they go bad before we can use them. The above staples will more or less last forever, except the milk and yeast. I love real whole wheat bread, so I use wheat from our stock to make my own...and I cook a big pot of beans about once a week, so we do use what we store. DW does not think she is a good cook, so usually end up with the bread making and bean boiling duty. We are LDS.

R

[Bimmerbill]

Never read World war Z, but just looked it up. I'll have to borrow it from the library. I just sold my M-1 Carbine and M1 Garand.

[tuixiu]

If you liked World War Z, try Day By Day Armageddon. It's a little more contiguous so I enjoyed it a lot more.

Amazon.com: Day by Day Armageddon: J. L. Bourne: Books