[pinkz4u25]

Hello everyone. I'm really new to this. I am stockpiling in hopes that when my boyfriend gets back from Afghanistan and we move in together I will have enough stuff to last a while. Right now I am a single mom of one 2 year old boy but when I move in with my boyfriend it will be a family of 5...all boys but me haha. Right now I have a huge tote of toothpaste and deo. I have a few questions. How do you keep all of your stuff? Shelves? Boxes? Another question is about frozen stuff? I know they have some really good sales on chicken and ground beef sometimes. Can I throw that in the freezer for a couple month? How long do you think it would last? Is there certain things you would say to Definitely Not!!! freeze? I just need as many tip and tricks as possible.

[jessl]

Hi!

I have my stockpile in a bunch of places. Shelves are good if you have them, but if you have a lot of the same thing totes work well too. I think its harder to rotate stock that way so if you have limited shelf space I would use it for food.

You can definately store meat long term in the freezer! Here is a link to the USDA website:
Freezing and Food Safety

At the bottom is a time chart, but it says on the top the food remains good indefinately, the time is for quality only. After that time the quality may not be as good.

If you only have the freezer above your fridge you may want to invest in a chest or upright freezer. The little freezer above the fridge fills up fast.

[sleepyshopper]

My basement is dedicated solely to my stockpile Non-Perishables that is

I have shelves, pegboard, totes, drawers, etc..

My most favorite storage piece is my pegboards.....It looks like my own store down there...

[Lynda1811]

First of all, Welcome to AFC!

Stockpiling is having what you need on hand, so that way when you run out you are not having to pay full price. Most of us will learn what is usable past expiration date.

Keeping your stockpile in a cool, dry place, away from extreme heat and cold, and out of direct sunlight, will be the best way to store it for maximum use.

You can use shelves, totes, peg board, boxes, what ever will work for you. And as one said, to rotate your stockpile, make sure the older product is up front to use first, and the new products are in the back. While in totes this might be a little more difficult, you can always write the date you purchased it or the expiration date, on it, with a sharpie.

I like to have my stockpile in one place. I was forgetting what I had, and buying more, when I really didn't need to.

I took over my basement, which was our (DH's) game room. I took it over about two years ago, and my DH has not once complained about not being able to play pool, darts, air hockey, or foosball.

I have an upright freezer, which I got free with the purchase of our house, and utilized a deal through our grocery store in march and bought a smaller chest freezer. I live in a small rural farming town in MN, so I don't get the great deals like others to pack both of them. But, I am working on this, and in time it will come.

Most of us have learned what will be ok past expiration. Most of your canned food items have long expiration dates.

You can freeze a lot of things that you didn't think you could. I have been looking into this, so that way when winter comes, I'm not on the road in the middle of a snow storm, or having to drive 45 min in ice, snow, and temps in the negative numbers.

Meat that you get can be frozen, another poster, posted a link for that. In my expierance, as long as it is stored properly, and keept at freezing temps, this can last for years.

I use mostly freezer bags, but my mom gave me her food saver, and I love it. I use it for the meat mostly, make sure you flash freeze it on a cookie sheet, before using the foodsaver so you don't suck up the blood and juices and ruin it.

I do buy a lot in bulk at Sams club. I buy the huge sacks of onions and will dice up the entire bag and fits into 2 gallon size zip loc bags, and this will last a year for my family of 5. If I need a fresh onion, then I'm only having to buy 1 at a time, and not a bag which could go bad if not used in time. Frozen onions will get soft after defrosting, so is best to use them in spaghetti, casseroles, things like that.

Stockpiling is not only food, health and beauty, and house hold cleaners. It can be school supplies, holiday items, toys, clothes, the list is endless. As long as you have room to store it, and it's free or nearly free, then it's a good idea to stock up.

If you have any other questions, or need any help, please feel free to PM me, I love to help out.

Lynda

[Lynda1811]

Originally Posted by sleepyshopper

My basement is dedicated solely to my stockpile Non-Perishables that is

I have shelves, pegboard, totes, drawers, etc..

My most favorite storage piece is my pegboards.....It looks like my own store down there...

I love the peg boards too. I took mine down 2 years ago to use at my garage sale, and still haven't put them back up.

I took over my basement as well for my stockpile.

My goal this summer is to clean out the garage so the pool table, foosball, air hockey, darts can go out to the garage, so I have more room in the basement. It's a pain to keep walking around the pool table.

Lynda

[jenpen01]

I would love to see how you have that arranged. How do you use the peg boards?

[Lynda1811]

Originally Posted by jenpen01

I would love to see how you have that arranged. How do you use the peg boards?

I don't have mine up yet, but I used it for many things.

I got my peg board at menards, I believe it is a 8x8 sheet, had my DH cut it in half. He mounted it on the wall with 2x4's behind it so the hooks can be put in.

At first I was using it for my scrapbooking and beads, in my craft room. Anything that could be hung up, was. Then got to thinking, many things that I buy can be hung up.

tooth brushes
buddy bars soap
make up
razors
razor refills
sponges

After I took it down to use at a garage sale to hang my jewelry, I really miss it. I'm going to get it put back up, and get more so that I can hang my holiday stockpile up as well.

I hit, halloween and christmas at 90% off and a lot of the things I got can be hung up. Will make it easier to see what I have.

HTH
Lynda

[MeganK]

Welcome to AFC Like others have said, it's usually best to keep your stockpile in one place so you know exactly what you have. Shelves are great for this! You could put some up in your basement or maybe a spare room. If you don't have a lot of space to dedicate to your stockpile, totes are good too. You can label them and put them under beds, etc. Also, is there a closet anywhere that you can put all of your stockpile in? If you have a "junk" closet, you could move the boxes up to the attic or just clean it out and start putting your stockpile there.

[pinkz4u25]

Wow! Thank you guys. That really helps. I hate that I'm living at my moms right now. I have all my stuff in boxes until I move! I have the totes at the moment but I'm getting so much stuff that the totes just dont seem reasonable anymore. I'm spending all that im saving to go buy those haha. Does anyone else have ideas on what I can and cant freeze and how long things will last? I'm worried that if I buy things and freeze them that once I take them out they will taste funny or not be good anymore? Does anyone know things that do that? I know that my mom freezes milk and I dont like the way it taste once you take it out...almost watered down?

[jessl]

Maybe you can get some cardboard boxes for free. Ask at places like liquour stores, etc. If they are good quality boxes they will hold up for a while.

I think I have read that things like cream cheese and sour cream get kind of a funny texture after you freeze them. Not sure what else. I haven't tried freezing cheese, but I think I've read it works best if you shread it first.

I've had good luck with meat, veggies, and bread. Also margerine and butter freeze well. I've stored flour in the freezer too when I had room to avoid any bugs invading it. And of course anything that is frozen when you buy it, like frozen waffles, etc.