Affordable Tips for Building a Surplus of Food and Other Essential Items

September is National Preparedness Month. With winter on the horizon and the status of the economy uncertain, it's a good idea to plan ahead. Creating a surplus of essential supplies is an important way to prepare for the unexpected. Having food and other needed items available can help ease you through any number of undesirable circumstances to include natural disasters, severe weather events, power outages, supply chain issues, or personal tragedies such as the loss of a job or an unexpected illness or injury. 

Building a surplus doesn't have to cost a lot of money. With careful planning and an organized approach, it's possible to stick to a budget while stocking up on needed items. The following tips have worked well for my family, and I hope you will find them useful as well. 

Start with a Plan

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Building a surplus starts with picking a time frame. At the minimum, it's important to have a 72-hour supply of food, water, medication, and other essentials in the event of a natural disaster, power outage, or severe weather event. Beyond that, I recommend starting small and building. over time 

Once you have a 72-hour reserve of necessities, focus on building a two-week supply. From there you might strive for one month, then three-months, then six-months or more. Your ultimate end goal will depend on your personal budget, needs, desires and available space. Whatever your end goal, having one in mind when you start will help provide a framework for an organized approach to building your surplus. 

To determine how much of a specific item you need in order to have a 1-month, 3-month, or 6-month supply, write the date on items when you open them. Use this information to figure out how long the item lasts in your household and then to estimate how many you will need to achieve your goal supply.

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How Much is Too Much? 

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The danger of building a surplus is buying more than you can actually use before the items expire. There are several factors to keep in mind when determining how much of a surplus you need. These include:

• An assessment of your storage space - How much space do you have and how appropriate is it for storing food? Avoid storing food and other temperature sensitive items in garages, attics and other areas of your home where the temperature fluctuates throughout the year. 
• An assessment of your habits and abilities - Do you tend to eat packaged, prepared foods or do you typically cook from scratch? 
• An assessment of your life plan - When we were an active-duty military family, we stored about 3-months of food and then started using it up 3-6 months before our move. Now that we are settled, we can afford to have as much as a year's supply of certain items. 

Organize Your Existing Storage

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Another important step in building a surplus is organizing your existing supply. Take some time to look through your pantry and other food storage spaces. Identify what you have on hand. Get rid of anything that is outdated or that you know you won't use and organize what's left. 

When organizing non-perishable food items, I recommend storing like items together so that it is easy to see how many of the same type of item you have on hand. Store the oldest items (those that will expire first) at the front to be used first and avoid unnecessary waste. 

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Other Essentials

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In addition to food, it's a good idea to stock up on other items you use regularly. This can include prescription and over-the-counter medications, toiletries and other personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies, paper products, and other consumable items. 

Use One, Buy Two

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You will be amazed how quickly, easily, and painlessly (budgetarily speaking) you can build a surplus by buying two replacement items for every one item you use. Use up a bottle of ketchup, buy two. Use up a bottle of shampoo, buy two. Use up a can of tuna, buy two. You get the idea. My husband and I began implementing this practice as newlywed college students, and we were impressed and pleased at how easy (and affordable) it was to stock our cupboards using this simple method. 

Shop Sales

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This may seem like a no-brainer, but it takes effort and planning to get the best prices for the items you need. It means looking at weekly fliers (either on paper or electronically) and planning accordingly. 

You can decrease the amount you spend on building a surplus significantly by waiting for items to go on sale and stocking up on the brands and products you use when the price is right. 

Shop Seasonal

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You probably know that certain items are on sale at certain times of the year. What you may not be aware of is the specifics of the annual cycle with regard to which items are on sale each month of the year. Knowing this can help you to plan ahead and stock up on specific items when they are at their lowest price of the year. 

Utilize Coupons, Rebates, and Savings Apps

These days saving on groceries and other essentials is easier than ever with the myriad of savings apps and rebate programs available. By spending a few minutes before and after you shop to see what special deals are available and then to scan your receipts can increase your savings significantly with coupons and rebates. 

Buy in Bulk

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Often the larger the quantity, the lower the cost per unit. Admittedly, this is not always the case, but it is certainly the case much of the time and sometimes the savings are significant. Now that we are empty-nesters I sometimes choose to buy the smaller version of a product because the larger version won't get used before it spoils, but I've also discovered that in many cases larger quantities can be divided into smaller portions, thus preserving both the savings and the food item. Vacuum sealers are a great way to divide and preserve larger portions. 

Build in a System for Saving

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Each month we take any leftover money in our food budget and roll it over into another budget category that we call Grocery Surplus. We then use this money to add to our surplus of food and other essential items. This is also where my grocery rebate money is stashed. After saving in this manner for a few months, I recently had enough money set aside to buy a supply of freeze-dried foods for long-term storage. On another occasion, I spent my savings on 5-gallon water storage containers. Other times I've used the money to stock my freezer.

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Where to Begin

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It is not necessary or desirable to store a surplus of every item on your shopping list. With regard to food, I recommend that you begin by building a surplus of staple items that form the basis for much of your family's diet - things like flour, rice, oats, salt, sugar, vegetables and fruits (canned, frozen, or freeze-dried), meats (canned, frozen, or freeze-dried), etc. Next, focus on items your family uses regularly and/or in large quantities. 

Even if you have no interest in establishing long-term food storage, I recommend having at least one #10 can of powdered milk and powdered eggs because these will allow you to do a lot more with the food you have on hand in a situation where stores are closed, or perishable foods are difficult to obtain. I have tried a variety of freeze-dried foods, and the one thing I do not recommend is freeze-dried shredded cheese. It just doesn't reconstitute in a palatable fashion (in my opinion). 

Building a surplus of groceries and other essential items brings peace of mind both in emergencies and on a daily basis. Apply these tips to gradually and affordably increase your stockpile. ​