My tried and true week-by-week food storage and emergency prep system

Since its January, its time to start my food storage rotation all over again. I have been using a system that I have fine-tuned for a few years now, and I'm pretty sure I have most of the kinks worked out. The thing I really like about this particular system is that it breaks it all down to week-by-week. I also like that you can jump in wherever you are in the year, and just start from that month. Its a good, "non-overwhelming" way to get started (and continue!) on your food storage!

This is the sheet that I use that shows each month with four weeks listed and the items to work on each of those weeks:

The first year I implemented it, I just stocked our shelves with whatever was on the list for the week. The next year, at the beginning of each week, I checked my inventory of each item for the week, rotated if needed, tossed out expired things, and then made sure that my stock was up-to-date and consisted of the correct amounts for what our family needed.

To go along with the above week-by-week sheet, I have a corresponding inventory sheet (notice how the colors match up with the colors on the weekly schedule). It has all of the items in my food/emergency storage. This is one page of six in my inventory sheet set:

Every year I tweak it a bit according to our needs. Bob and I are pretty much empty-nesters (until our son comes home from his mission in May, and also not including the times our other kids come around), so we have adapted it all to the needs of two people, more or less. I also look at other lists that come across my desk and add things that aren't yet in our emergency storage. So, the list is ever-changing, which is good. I hate to throw food out, so I don't want to store more than I need to be storing. I try to store what we will use in the coming year. That way, it turns out to be about a year's supply of everything.

I'm going to post the food storage "items for the week" on this blog so that it will remind me and maybe spark something in somebody out there in blog-land to make sure you and I both, are ready for any upcoming emergency. One thing you need to know is that items for the week are guidelines. You can decide what in that particular category you would really want to have in your food storage. For instance, in the 2nd week of January, the items are cleansers. This could be just the basics that you might want to have set aside in case of an emergency, or the full-blown array of cleansers you might use in a year's time. I decided I wanted to do a true "year's supply" for my family, so I try to keep the basic items that I will use within the year. I may or may not include stain remover, or floor cleaner. It all depends on what you want to have in your supply. You also may want to start out with the very basics and then add to the list as the years go on. (A bit easier on the pocketbook!)

The first week in January, the items are easy...

January Week 1: Watch for and buy 50% off on Christmas items, cards, paper, ribbons, etc. If you don't care to score on any of the Christmas buys, then you get a pass this week!

The second week in January, the items are as follows:

January Week 2: Detergents, bleach, cleansers, laundry detergent, dish detergent, bathroom and window cleaners. Many cleansers last for several years, but I like to rotate through mine so that they don't get old or stale. You may not think of dishwasher detergent as an emergency item, but I like keep enough in stock so that I never find myself running out or in extreme need to run to the store. :)

Notice I've highlighted these in pink. They will correspond with the items on my inventory sheet set (6 pages) so that I can find them right away on the list, know how many I should have in storage, and then know how many I need to put on my shopping list for that week. On my inventory sheet set, I record the quantity I have, the size of the package, the expiration date, and the amount I should have in storage. There is also a place to mark off if I have enough of the item and the date that item was checked off.

Does that all make sense? Clear as mud, right? It makes perfect sense to me, but I KNOW I don't think the same was as everyone else, so it might just be a bunch of jibberish to all of you. If any of it is helpful, then its all good.

If you would like me to send you copies of the inventory sheet set, and also the week-by-week item list, just leave a comment below with your name and email address, and I'll zip one off to you!