Give me a hand please?

[ninny]

So my goal is shop out of my basement both for me and a few friends who don't have the space at their houses. I'm trying to this very cheaply. I have a decent start on food. Debating if I really want to store large amounts of flour/sugar I will go months between baking anything. What non food items should I be stocking? I am going to get start twice a month getting some more things plus if we are running low buy extra of it. This time it's solar lights, bubble bath (little kids need their bubbles ) shampoo, candles,hand soap, dish soap, antibacterial hand wash/spray, Tylenol think things they carry at the local dollar tree. I have to get chicken and rabbit food this time as well. I need to talk to my feed store about buying a pallet or half pallet see if I can get a discount. I need a extra heat source. Ideas? What non food items should every family with very young kids have stocked? Baby is coming in January I would like to have a good start on this part. Thanks!

Edited to add as of this upcoming January I will have three kids three and under if that helps with ideas.

 

[bubba1358]

Clean water and/or water purifiers. Not like a Brita filter, but items that can turn non-potable water into clean water.

 

[ninny]

Clean water and/or water purifiers. Not like a Brita filter, but items that can turn non-potable water into clean water.

I am working on water. I have been saving our gallon jugs and filling them up plus buying bottled water. I do need a filter of some sort though.

 

[so lucky]

Ninny, I have found that regular water jugs disintegrate after a while. You will notice water spillage in your storage area, and trace it back to the stored water. You might want to check into a more sturdy container for your water. I am experimenting with gallon bleach containers, and gallon vinegar containers. The plastic in them is much thicker, and I figured if they hold up to bleach or vinegar, water would be a breeze.
You can probably go on line and find a disaster check-list by Red Cross or some organization like that.

 

[Emerald]

Ninny, I have found that regular water jugs disintegrate after a while. You will notice water spillage in your storage area, and trace it back to the stored water. You might want to check into a more sturdy container for your water. I am experimenting with gallon bleach containers, and gallon vinegar containers. The plastic in them is much thicker, and I figured if they hold up to bleach or vinegar, water would be a breeze.
You can probably go on line and find a disaster check-list by Red Cross or some organization like that.

I was going to say the same thing. the store bought gallons in the "milk jug" type jugs have all leaked within two years of being stored in the basement(not damp down there either) but what seems to work fine are the Hawaiian punch one gallon jugs. I used to volunteer at the school and when ever there was a dinner for the kids that parents had to bring stuff those one gallon cheap jugs of punch came flooding in.. I took about 20 home last time I was there. I have about a dozen left. they do break the handles after about one good winter of toting water to the chickens. but they do not spring leaks and they have saved my bacon a few times with power outages.
Some of the other moms thought I was kinda goofy for wanting so many of them instead of just throwing them out. but when I told them where I lived(they all know our power outage problems out here) and that I had dogs/cats/chickens and us that all need water when the power goes out and that the chickens alone can drink about 6 gallons, if not more, in the summer heat. and that about 20 gallons of good drinking water for them and us makes it so that I don't have to go running out to somewhere else. I saw a few other mom's taking the empty jugs home for those little power outages.. lol

Now if you have a bath tub you can buy "water liners" which have small hand pump and the liners keep the water in the tub very clean and you can get quite a few extra gallons in those tubs. and for those who think.. heck I'll just fill it and use it up.. I ask you to leave your tub full over night(or jsut a bit of water in bottom) and then take a good good look at all the stuff that you will see in the tub.. I've seen hair/dust/earwigs(summer time) in my water just over night.. ick..
Sugar and salt will store for a very long time with the main issue being they get rock hard. I have flour that is just over a year old and it is still fine(not whole wheat I grind that when I need it due to rancidity problems with storing live fresh ground whole wheat). I buy in bulk 25lb bags and store in bakery store frosting buckets. the only buckets I don't buy are the peanutbutter ones.. just can not get the smell out of those.. they ended up being my fish buckets.. the fish don't care.. lol

 

[~gd]

Ninny, I have found that regular water jugs disintegrate after a while. You will notice water spillage in your storage area, and trace it back to the stored water. You might want to check into a more sturdy container for your water. I am experimenting with gallon bleach containers, and gallon vinegar containers. The plastic in them is much thicker, and I figured if they hold up to bleach or vinegar, water would be a breeze.
You can probably go on line and find a disaster check-list by Red Cross or some organization like that.

I was going to say the same thing. the store bought gallons in the "milk jug" type jugs have all leaked within two years of being stored in the basement(not damp down there either) but what seems to work fine are the Hawaiian punch one gallon jugs. I used to volunteer at the school and when ever there was a dinner for the kids that parents had to bring stuff those one gallon cheap jugs of punch came flooding in.. I took about 20 home last time I was there. I have about a dozen left. they do break the handles after about one good winter of toting water to the chickens. but they do not spring leaks and they have saved my bacon a few times with power outages.
Some of the other moms thought I was kinda goofy for wanting so many of them instead of just throwing them out. but when I told them where I lived(they all know our power outage problems out here) and that I had dogs/cats/chickens and us that all need water when the power goes out and that the chickens alone can drink about 6 gallons, if not more, in the summer heat. and that about 20 gallons of good drinking water for them and us makes it so that I don't have to go running out to somewhere else. I saw a few other mom's taking the empty jugs home for those little power outages.. lol

Now if you have a bath tub you can buy "water liners" which have small hand pump and the liners keep the water in the tub very clean and you can get quite a few extra gallons in those tubs. and for those who think.. heck I'll just fill it and use it up.. I ask you to leave your tub full over night(or jsut a bit of water in bottom) and then take a good good look at all the stuff that you will see in the tub.. I've seen hair/dust/earwigs(summer time) in my water just over night.. ick..
Sugar and salt will store for a very long time with the main issue being they get rock hard. I have flour that is just over a year old and it is still fine(not whole wheat I grind that when I need it due to rancidity problems with storing live fresh ground whole wheat). I buy in bulk 25lb bags and store in bakery store frosting buckets. the only buckets I don't buy are the peanutbutter ones.. just can not get the smell out of those.. they ended up being my fish buckets.. the fish don't care.. lol

I used to use pump up kiddy swimming pools the water in the pools went to the animals and the water in the side walls was for humans but it was a pain to fill and empty the sidewalls so I switched to a rain water storage system. I hooked up an electronic [battery powered] rain guage to open the diverter valve to the plastic bags supported by raom barrels AFTER 1/4"of rain had fallen and cleaned off my roof. I took samples and submitted them as well water [FREE TESTING in my County] I was told it was very clean for well water.~gd

 

[Hinotori]

Ninny, I have found that regular water jugs disintegrate after a while. You will notice water spillage in your storage area, and trace it back to the stored water. You might want to check into a more sturdy container for your water. I am experimenting with gallon bleach containers, and gallon vinegar containers. The plastic in them is much thicker, and I figured if they hold up to bleach or vinegar, water would be a breeze.
You can probably go on line and find a disaster check-list by Red Cross or some organization like that.

We use square 5 gallon water jugs that I bought at the grocery store for $8 each. There is to much iron in our well water to be nice for drinking and we don't have the room for a big filtering system. So all cooking and drinking water is bought. I've been using the same jugs for 3.5 years. They take a beating in the truck sometimes, but hold up.

On the plus side, I know how much water we use for cooking and drinking in a normal week. Though we do drink soda as well.



I found that I can't seem to store enough barley, lentils, peas, and pastas. We use a lot of those.

I have a few gallons of honey stored in quart mason jars as well. It will take me time to get through them. Mom gave them to me. They're from my Great Grandpa. He died in 2001. He hadn't had bees since about 1992. It could be even older. The honey still tastes like nice alfalfa honey. Since I grew up eating the stuff, that's the only honey that tastes like normal honey to me.

We have white and brown sugar stored in air tight containers. Even after a year, the brown sugar is still soft. I'll have to refill that container soon.

I don't know how long baby wipes stay wet. I've gotten some in the past that dried out after a while and I'd have to add a bit of water to them. We don't have kids but baby wipes are very useful for everyone. We keep a small container in the truck to clean up if needed. We also keep TP and paper towels in the truck as well as hand sanitizer. Alcohol based hand sanitizer is a nice thing to have stored for when you don't have a lot of water and need to make sure you're hands are safe.

I don't store water for animals. I'll haul it from the pond if I need to during the short summer. The rest of the year, there is almost enough rain to not need to refill the chicken's water bowls. It seems every animal we have would prefer to drink out of puddles, though.

 

[Britesea]

I have reused 2 liter bottles of water, which I flush and refill every 6 months for 2 years, then I recycle the bottles. This keeps the leaching of chemicals into my water at an acceptable low. Since we live by a river, I also bought a Sawyer Bucket Filter from Thrive Life.com, which can clean up to 170 gallons of water a day (or about 7 gallons an hour) for 16 years. The .02 filter will even filter out viruses, and you can backflush it to clean it. Hauling the water from the river will be a chore, but doable; especially if I can find or fashion an old-fashioned yoke (Lehman's has one, but it's outrageously expensive). The next thing on my list is to get a manual pump for our well, and maybe at least one 55 gallon drum specifically rated for water storage.

I store sugar and molasses which can be used separately, or you can make your own brown sugar from them. Honey is wonderful because it will stay good forever; even if it crystallizes, you can just reheat to liquify again. Oil and lard and butter, whole grains and a good quality manual mill, beans (which can also be sprouted for winter greens), salt, vinegars (wine, ACV, and distilled). Powdered milk, especially if you have children; even if you have dairy animals it's still good insurance. Canned meats (either home canned or commercial) in case the power goes off long enough to lose the stuff in the freezer.

I've been cooking and dehydrating grains (rice, wheat berries) and beans in order to have foods on hand that would take a minimum of cooking time to prepare in case we are somehow reduced to cooking on the charcoal bbq or the campstove.

I can grow most of the herbs I use, and dry them for winter use; but spices are something else entirely. I store spices like pepper, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg as whole spice so they don't lose their punch as quickly. I have a large heavy mortar and pestle and a nutmeg grater that make short work of any grinding that needs to be done. You can find recipes for making your own condiments and spice mixtures online- I've printed some of them out and have them in sheet protectors in a notebook. My dijon-style mustard tastes better than Grey Poupon.

Although we don't use them regularly, I have disposable plates cups bowls and utensils so that in the event we end up with less water than I'd like, we don't have to use it all to wash dishes. The paper will make good fire starters as well. The alcohol based sanitizers are nice for saving water, as are the waterless cleaners like Cepacol for cleaning the whole body in a pinch.

We bought a Kerosene heater for emergency supplemental heat. Kerosene is more stable in storage than a lot of other fuels. Of course, a wood stove or fireplace would have been great, but we don't have the space or the money... the kerosene heater cost about $150 as opposed to $600 for the cheapest wood stove I've found so far. It will only heat about 450 sq feet, but that's enough to keep at least one or 2 rooms warm-- I'm willing to bunk in the living room if I have to.

I spent time going through and updating our medical supplies as well. Besides the usual stuff, I bought some one-use vials of crazy glue-- good for holding larger wounds together. Another use for "ladies hygene supplies" are as first aid bandages; tampons got their start as bandages for bullet holes in one of the world wars I understand. A couple of 1/2" dowels make handy splints for broken bones. There are antibiotics you can buy for fish and other animals that are identical to the stuff you get from the doctor; do an online search to find more info on that.

 

[~gd]

I have reused 2 liter bottles of water, which I flush and refill every 6 months for 2 years, then I recycle the bottles. This keeps the leaching of chemicals into my water at an acceptable low. Since we live by a river, I also bought a Sawyer Bucket Filter from Thrive Life.com, which can clean up to 170 gallons of water a day (or about 7 gallons an hour) for 16 years. The .02 filter will even filter out viruses,Carefull with your words unless you mean to missinform readers! Only a small race of virons can be removed via a filter, these are the ones that like to clump together like a 'mother' does in vinegar and if you have ever tried to remove mother by filtration, little bits can pass through the filter amd establish itself on the other side.These are the larger sized virons. Average size will zip through like birds flying through a open 2 car garage door~
Remember if someone makes claims that are too good to believe, Don't believe, CHECK THE CLAIMS! ~gd and you can backflush it to clean it. Hauling the water from the river will be a chore, but doable; especially if I can find or fashion an old-fashioned yoke (Lehman's has one, but it's outrageously expensive). The next thing on my list is to get a manual pump for our well, and maybe at least one 55 gallon drum specifically rated for water storage.

I store sugar and molasses which can be used separately, or you can make your own brown sugar from them. Honey is wonderful because it will stay good forever; even if it crystallizes, you can just reheat to liquify again. Oil and lard and butter, whole grains and a good quality manual mill, beans (which can also be sprouted for winter greens), salt, vinegars (wine, ACV, and distilled). Powdered milk, especially if you have children; even if you have dairy animals it's still good insurance. Canned meats (either home canned or commercial) in case the power goes off long enough to lose the stuff in the freezer.

I've been cooking and dehydrating grains (rice, wheat berries) and beans in order to have foods on hand that would take a minimum of cooking time to prepare in case we are somehow reduced to cooking on the charcoal bbq or the campstove.

I can grow most of the herbs I use, and dry them for winter use; but spices are something else entirely. I store spices like pepper, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg as whole spice so they don't lose their punch as quickly. I have a large heavy mortar and pestle and a nutmeg grater that make short work of any grinding that needs to be done. You can find recipes for making your own condiments and spice mixtures online- I've printed some of them out and have them in sheet protectors in a notebook. My dijon-style mustard tastes better than Grey Poupon.

Although we don't use them regularly, I have disposable plates cups bowls and utensils so that in the event we end up with less water than I'd like, we don't have to use it all to wash dishes. The paper will make good fire starters as well. The alcohol based sanitizers are nice for saving water, as are the waterless cleaners like Cepacol for cleaning the whole body in a pinch.

We bought a Kerosene heater for emergency supplemental heat. Kerosene is more stable in storage than a lot of other fuels. Of course, a wood stove or fireplace would have been great, but we don't have the space or the money... the kerosene heater cost about $150 as opposed to $600 for the cheapest wood stove I've found so far. It will only heat about 450 sq feet, but that's enough to keep at least one or 2 rooms warm-- I'm willing to bunk in the living room if I have to.

I spent time going through and updating our medical supplies as well. Besides the usual stuff, I bought some one-use vials of crazy glue-- good for holding larger wounds together. Another use for "ladies hygene supplies" are as first aid bandages; tampons got their start as bandages for bullet holes in one of the world wars I understand. A couple of 1/2" dowels make handy splints for broken bones. There are antibiotics you can buy for fish and other animals that are identical to the stuff you get from the doctor; do an online search to find more info on that.