No No No November Already? Got Preps?

Wow I cannot believe that it is already November 2011. UNBELIEVABLE how quickly the year has gone buy. It is going to be a mere 3 weeks until Turkey Day. As I did my slide show and recap for the month of October I realized I was so busy I didn't do as much as I usually do. I basically had it in my head that for the months of November and December I was going to kick it into high gear. For the last 11 months I have maintained a minimum of 50lbs of food a week in preps. 50 lbs is a regular week - 100 lbs is a more normal week and 400lbs is a fantastic week.

Some people ask how do I calculate what I need. I have a very basic formula - 1lb of food per person per meal. That is a REALLY high estimate and it assumes waste (there won't be waste) So let's say that it is Mr.Man and Me...for 3 meals that would be 6 lbs. Out of the 6 lbs you have to figure out bread - it takes about 1.5lbs of flour to make 2 good sized loaves and that would be 2 days worth or maybe not in an emergency. So lets say breakfast is oatmeal with nuts with milk and fruit. Morning snack is maybe a half sandwich. Lunch is a bean and veggie salad, and some tacos, afternoon snack is homemade trail mix or crackers and cheese, dinner is some form of stew with bread or rice. Truth be told a lot of these meals extend into secondary meals and I could make 4lbs of food work, but I calculate the 6 because if we start to do a LOT of physical labor we will also be more hungry. It is the easiest formula I could figure out.

Some of the more intensive folks do caloric content, fat content and all that. I'm not into all that because I can do a menu and make something out of whatever we've got. I personally don't think it's fair to tell people to learn yet another thing (caloric intake values) on top of all the other stuff they are trying to learn. I think 1lb per person per meal per day - and just make sure that you have veggies/fruits, protein, grains, cereals, fats. Follow the stupid FDA triangle just change their position. You can't go wrong with the formula. In fact you'll have extra.

So here we go - I had a good head start yesterday for November preps:

3 types of nails - 1/2-3/4 full over 10lbs of nails - only $5 per case. yeah you heard me. Those bostich nails alone are worth well over 50 bucks b/c they sell those about $1 per strip.

I love you Ace Hardware!














8 cases pints $10 each
1 case half pints (straight side) $7.50 ea

sugar at Wally world is still $13.48 a bag.

I went ahead and got a bag it's not getting cheaper that's for dang sure - in fact the price of it seems to be going up everywhere else.




I stopped at target for Halloween Candy and found these notebooks on clearance for 62 cents - I just picked a dozen of the prints I liked - that should keep me in notebooks for a few semesters. yaaay ME.









I found this Mitre box for Mr. Man...I thought 2 bucks sounded good. I don't know much about these things.











I've been wanting egg timers for awhile but they are always so dang expensive - Lucky me I found these last 2 for $3 each. Now I can tell myself onion is for canner, garlic is for oven. I left the bellpepper one. haha.








The staple gun seemed handy mine is just a plastic job. The staples were only $1. Seemed like a good price to me.











I found this at Ace hardware too - I'm just gonna throw it in my backpack...You never know right!











You can see a weird bowl in my photos of eggshells and veggie trimmings - that's my compost stuff from the kitchen lol.

You cannot imagine how happy I was to find this kitchen compost pail for only $7. Supposedly they are upwards of $50. All I know is 7 bucks sounded good to me haha.






I know how gross. i don't care - We like them and they were on sale this week for 99 cents - I had Wally World price match Fresh and Easy - I picked all the ones that expire dec 23 2011 and I'm still gonna freeze them.

I bought 20 pkgs - 10 for my house and 10 for my sisters house. I figure that's enough.




Got some new hair lotion for Mr. Man...2 containers of buttermilk (over $3) not on sale and a 4 pack of the pint jars the fancy ones I like for butter. I don't know why I like the butter in the odd looking containers.

jar lids - 99 cents price match

It was so weird they only had these 4 boxes of lids left in that whole store - super strange.


Pineapple was still 97 cents - so I picked up another 7. That should make at least 15 more pints. That should be good - it will bring our total amount of canned pineapple to 2.5 cases.











Finally I picked up ground lean (93%) for $2.49 a lb that is still expensive to me 5 wks ago ground lean was only $1.69. I also found this Italian Sausage 5for5 but it had an instant $2 off coupon - so 24 oz of Italian sausage for only $3 pretty good. The pork chops are a request from a friend who did us a favor so I'll be making his favorite dish - Pork Adobo!

That's it - that's my kick start - Everyone please go out and do something - do anything. Prices are going up 20-40% every single time I go to the store and I don't care if I do have the money I do not wanna waste it. Vitamins and basic body lotions are horrendously expensive. Please look around and see the silent anger and mortification in peoples faces with only 3-4 things in their cart because they simply cannot afford the things they once ate. Sad.

ps) I have been watching this one dude make excuses why he can't do as many preps as other people because he doesn't have the money and blah blah blah - M****f**** please. I'm just sayin - if you've been doing this for almost 2 years why have your preps decreased? We're on a very tight budget and we make it. Goodness gracious - if you don't have the stomach to be a winner just lay down and take it from the powers that be - HAHA.

Unbelievable...Can't believe I found this stuff today

I got out of class around 430 - and decided to roll by the 99 cent store. I saw a lot of ads for Organic Spinach in town which means a LOT of overstock going to the local 99 cent only's.

We already went through 4 jars of lemon juice - so I picked up 4 more jars.

Yep 99 cents each






I flipped it to check if it was still 25% juice - NOPE it's actually gone up it is now 36% juice.
Awesome.











And it's STILL made in the USA.












They had these half and half organic salad mix packages. I love these coz they are half spinach and half spring mix...I also picked up a cute little Kleenex box for the bathroom - since Momma In Law will be in town in a couple days :)










I was looking for forks for Mr. Man's desk but instead I found these - Foldable Water Bottles non BPA. Only 99 cents each. I figure these would be great in the emergency bag.









Romaine Lettuce (3 heads per bag)
Earthbound organic spinach (9oz bag)

both looked fantastic today...

I can't believe I also found 21 foot parchment for only 99 cents. That is just disgustingly cheap.







Mr. Man loves pork rinds - so I got him a bag. They had Idaho potatoes - so I picked up another bag of those. I also copped 4 cans of water chestnuts (59 cents each) and some Kraft sourcream (expires 11/2011)...

I always get water chestnuts for Momma coz she loves them in her stirfry!

I got a few other things - chapstick and such...the grand total was $23.76. Crazy right?

oh and check this out I was having a conversation with the stockguy - Rafael and he told me that tomorrow they may have the 1lb organic spinach and DAK canned ham also for 99 cents and I should come by after 12. Right On. I might be able to go I might not - we'll see.

October Week 2 - Food Prices Stink!

I think I'm done canning pineapple for awhile. Including the fresh pineapple purchased I canned 23 pints - gave 1 away and they ate 2 pints before i processed it. Of course these last 2 years so if I find another deal I will certainly make more..but for October 2011 - I'm done with pineapple.






4 days ago Big Lots had a 20% off everything event...I purchased this coffee for 3.90. Truth be told the original price last month was $3.50 a bag (1lb 10oz). It is not the BEST coffee - but it is good - an easy breakfast blend drip coffee. I also keep whole beans stocked up of the good stuff -the strong stuff...but for everyday use and for the price this is a good buy.

And it's not from China - it's from Australia.


Coconut Milk 64 cents each.
NoH are good products my grandmother used to sell them in her store. These are sugar added so it's better for drinks and desserts. I also have plain coconut cream powder put up for curries and such.








Here are the ingredients:
Powdered coconut
non fat dried milk
natural cane sugar

AND sugar is the last ingredient so that means it is the smallest ingredient. Good Stuff.






These were only 40 cents. my Mom is crazy about them. She absolutely loves this gravy. I find the ingredients to be iffy but in a pinch I'll take my chances.










These were $8 for 3 locks.
Word Locks you can set a word to be the combination. We are going to stress test these before we purchase anymore.










2.40 a bottle for the Paprika...
18oz bottle. I rarely if ever see it at this size - mcCormick is downsizing all of their 'large' spice bottles to 12 oz. When I did see this at Costco it was $9. Costco now carries roasted paprika in a smaller bottle for like $5+ each.







Solvent Gloves $1.20
Suede Burpee Garden Gloves $4












Baking Powder 40 cents













Pineapples $1 each













3 wide mouth pint jars 58 cents.

Afro periodically stops at Goodwill to go jar hunting. This month they were cleaned out...but here in AZ the first Saturday of the month is their 50% off everything event. He said that place was jumpin like a bar it was so packed.






We purchased another 2 cases of pints from Ace Hardware $10 each. Yeah - jars are something we NEVER find for cheap here.

It costs about 50 cents more to go to Ace Hardware but you know what - Ace Hardware stores are usually privately owned and purchased as a franchise - so we've decided to buy our jars at Ace instead of giving Wally World our money.



I bought another 25 lbs of bread flour - it went down about a quarter. $7.99 this week at Costco. Hardly anyone was shopping at costco on Tuesday. The people who were in there were just getting 2 or 3 things. It is amazing how little people buy these days. I remember when Costco first opened some couples had 1 cart each!





Kilner Jars.

$3.99 each. I just wanted something to put my salt in. I got rid of my cardboard container and the big jars like this at Hobby Lobby were like $8.








I don't know where they are made but it's a British company that owns it - they also have canning jars and I will be on the lookout for those. As soon as I get my hot little hands on some I will be testing them in the canner.









I know some of you could just get this in your back yard - but we can't LOL. It was a steal at $2.69. Regular price is like 6.19.

Doesn't hurt to have it.

They have some oakplanks on clearance but I want those to go down a LOT lower in price.





Jumbo Bath Poofies 3 for $2.50...the weird thing about these bath poofies the standard price used to be like 79 cents - now even at wally world the price is $2 for the Jumbo ones.

Gold Bond Foot Spray - handy for the BOB $3

Real Parmesan Cheese - $2.40




I bought 5 more coconut milk for a friend. Today it was 80 cents each. That is still a steal.











FoodSaver freeze 'n Steam bags - $4

I've never purchased these - I hope they were a deal - the foodsaver freezer bags are usualy 10-12 a box and that's for about 2 pieces. I hope I got a good deal.








Dawn Brand scrubbers. 99 cents. Regular 2.99. I think it's a good deal. Of course you can always get scrubbers at the dollar store but they aren't the same quality as these - plus these have the channel you can put dish soap in.

I just might have to go back and buy 5 more. I think 1 brush lasts about 1 yr in my house.




I found the canning section at Fry's. The jars were actually $2 more a case than the ones at Ace Hardware. Ridiculous.

Anyway..I found this pickling lime - it was $2.49. I don't know if that's a deal or not- I looked at the mrs. wages website and the price for 16oz is like $3.59 plus shipping and it no longer comes in this plastic bucket - it just comes in a resealable bag.

I like the bucket.


Imusa wok/cast iron scrubber.

Super handy - I have a bamboo one but I just can't seem to find it (see organized/disorganized prepper life). I will do a demo on this after I do some cooking this weekend.







Glass drinking glasses

39 cents each. It never hurts to have glass put up. For some reason our glasses always have less and less in the cupboard. I think it is just something that happens with time - glasses get broken and thrown away and it's not like you ever discuss that kind of thing.

I may go back in a week and check if they have more and if they are even cheaper.


Finally I got these really DELUXE reusable shopping bags for 99 cents. They are the super strong kind that you can spray down with bleach to sanitize the bottoms. I think they were normally $4 each.









Check it out they even have a 3 pocket divider for wine or jars or whatever and a velcro closure! Fancy huh. haha.











I got 3 prints - the polka dots, the fruit mix, the apple. There was another weird one with cocks (roosters) on it. I didn't really like that print.

Oh and check THIS out - Fry's no longer gives you a 5 cent discount for using your own bag. HAHHA. So what's my motivation then HEFFA? My own contribution to the green movement which is just all some bullshit business created by Al Gore and his Homies.

Gooooodness!

Find Room in your Budget

School started today. Last semester I would go preps shopping Monday, Wednesday and Friday because my Math class was from 7am to 830am. So I would always hit the stores right after class because I would be one of the first customers and would often have my pick of produce and stuff. Today I had a class at 11 - 1, and out of habit I headed towards the store.

I managed to find a few things and pinched 60 bucks out of my budget to purchase some preps. Truth be told I was really out at my local discount places just looking for some fleishmans yeast because I am down to about 9 packets. Sometimes I do get super lucky and I'm able to find 4 packets for a dollar at a the local dollar stores. But no such luck today - I will have to look again later in the week. I really thought that I would not be buying any preps this month as I stated in the previous blog our budget isn't even thin anymore it's just straight anorexic.

But when you see things that are an absolute steal you make room for them in the budget. That is another thing about prepping - sometimes you see something and you are tempted to add it into your stores because it looks handy or seems like a deal or looks interesting...but no matter what - I pick and choose what I buy - because I always keep 60-100 sitting there in case something really good comes up.

As seen in the photos. Pink Beauty Pink Salmon in a 15.4 oz can. Since there was no activated yeast in the store I stopped to look for lemon juice and celery seed - no such luck. Right as I started to head towards the register I saw these 4 shelves fully stocked. 99 cents a piece Expiration? 06/2016. WOW

You've got to understand that this size salmon on sale is $1.99. Regular price ranges from $3.99 to $5.99 depending on which store you go to. Pillar Rock is my favorite, Pink Beauty is a close second but only because it is not Red Sockeye Salmon. After trying the Pillar rock and Pink Beauty I don't even want to eat the Chicken of the Sea brand. But it's in the preps and if you mix it with shrimp and cracker meal - it makes passable croquettes.

At 99cents a can with a long expiration I had no choice but to go back. I originally purchased 40 cans - and then I went back and got the last 20 cans on the shelf.

The last time I found Salmon at this price in this size was in June...I even put in a special order to the home office for 200 cans of the pillar rock but they said it's rarely in stock.

We are flush for canned salmon now - over 100 cans of this size in rotation!


The large Kraft Ricotta was also only 99 cents expires November and ditto for the Sour Cream. I checked the ingredients and it's like milk, milk curds, milk fat, salt - in that order. Nothing new about it but the packaging LOL. Since we were lucky enough to find Ricotta I will make a lasagna this week and the sour cream will be used to make some sour cream amaretto almond cupcakes.

That is pretty much how it works around here I cook what is here and what's on sale, tha'ts how we save money :)

Organic romaine was still 99 cents for 3 heads.













30 tab ginkgo and 8 sausage packs and 12 sausage paacks were all 99 cents each. I usually get beef sausage but I haven't seen that in over 6 weeks. Beef is getting very hard to come by at a cheap price around here.









It's almost time to make my own version of Mrs. Dash no salt blend. I have no desire to pay 3.79 a small packet so I am going to make one for me and one for Momma in Law.










Cauliflower and 5 lbs of potatoes are all 99 cents. I was really short on potatoes this week and I don't like coming up short.











Finally, I stopped at dollar tree because they are the only ones who carry the gossner whole milk and borden half and half. Both of them are shelf stable and good until February and May of next year. If the expiration date comes up I'll just use them for a small batch of white cheese. Truth be told I think the flavor on both is above average for something that comes out of a tetra pack. I've had similar milk in Asia from New Zealand - this has a smoother mouthfeel and no aftertaste. The half and half is fantastic in coffee whether it is hot or cold way better than powdered creamer.

I also threw in another bottle of lemon pepper and ground cloves. It never really ends. Things are improving for us financially, but it's going to take a watchful eye over our lifestyle and keeping our spending in check. We still have projects that need to be started, projects that need completion and we would like to go solar and on top of that I am still in school. It would be very easy right now for me to say "I'm too busy or too frazzled to prep..." I could say "It's just not in the budget...we need to live our regular lifestyle and take a week off and blow out of town..." I could say a ton of stuff but I won't - staying prepared is just a part of our lifestyle now and when you are strong and aware you don't get off the hook that easily. You just have to rise to it.

Stay Preppin'...Stay Positive.

Truth be told - I like having all of this stuff stored - because when we want something and it's not on sale I can just reach on the cupboard for it - I like slathering butter on my cinnamon rolls and not worry if there is any left. I like having chicken and beef at our disposal even if it hasn't been at a good sale price in over a month. It truly saves you money in the end because you aren't running to the store for 1 thing and come home with 10 - haha. It's nice to look on your shelf and see 7 dollar hair conditioner that you purchased for 99 cents and know that you don't need any for another year.

My lit professor heard me telling people they should get stuff like TP and toothpaste on sale and just leave it in the linen closet so they aren't constantly running to the store for 1 or 2 things and overspending. Don't you know - that high fructose sucking, junk food eating, intellectually slothful mess of a professor asked me,"do you live in a bunker?" I laughed and said,"is your house paid off?" She said,"no..." I said,"Mwahahahaha...ours is, that's what we live in" I'm surprised that cow didn't fail me - I got my A.

People who have fear and are addicted to fear will often try to shit on you. They want you to live in that same vat of shit that they live in. People who have fear are rarely loved, rarely peaceful, often distrustful and live sad lonely existences - that is WHY they try to suck you into their petty bullshit and fears. I rarely nibble in those cases. I am really working on reacting in a clever exemplified way. We don't prepare because we are scared we prepare because we want to thrive when the world changes. This isn't the end of the world - this is a growing pain - a changing pain. You just gotta work through it yanno?