Figuring Out How Much To Store
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In our preps we store XYZ (food or non-food, doesn’t matter). We want to store enough of it to last 30 days (or 60, or 90, or a year…); how do we know when we’ve reached our goal? Do you know how much of XYZ you use a day, a week, a month? How do you figure it out? What variables need to be accounted for? Most of us just go with the ‘buy a bunch and hope it’s enough’ approach. But some things we’ll use faster than expected, and others will go bad before we’re able to use them. To determine these amounts is more of a hassle than it should be, but here are some ideas.

To start with, most packaged food items have a Serving Size (included in the Nutrition Facts). Sure this number will vary for different people, but it’ll work for a rough estimate. For items bought in bulk, it’s easy to look up the nutritional info online. Also, for food items–if you run out of one source of protein or carbs, you can typically use another–you don’t have to figure out each one exactly.

But other things that we have in our preps aren’t as easy to determine. What about items that don’t have a serving size or the amount used varies by person? Items like: toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, gasoline, shampoo, even pet food, or coffee? The answers are found through our old friend (or nemesis) math.

I’m going to use coffee as an example. How much coffee you use per day is dependent on how strong you like your coffee, and how much you drink each day. I wanted to figure out how much coffee we’d need for Sarah, Ryan, and I (the coffee drinkers in our family) to have one mug of coffee (16 fl oz) per day for one year (we’re assuming the SHTF* and we need to stretch it as long as possible).

We buy (and store) whole bean coffee in 2-pound bags. We figured out that:

• 2-pound bag = 12 cups of coffee beans (8 oz cups, not mugs)
• 1/8 cup (our scoop size) of  beans = 1 mug of coffee
• 12-cup bag of beans = 96 mugs of coffee
• 96 mugs / 3 people = 32 days of one mug each
• 2-pound bag of coffee beans = one mug, per person (for 3 people), per day, for a month
• ANSWER: twelve 2-pound bags = 1 mug, per person (for 3 people), per day, for 1 year

Another consideration is how long the stored item will last. And even though many food (or non-food) expiration dates don’t necessarily mean you can’t eat (or use) them after that–especially in a collapse–we should at least note them and if we think they will last longer understand how and/or why. With coffee, our example, the expiration date is 14 months from the time of purchase – so storing a year isn’t an issue.

It’s important to have our stored preps, but it’s only a start. We need to store them properly, rotate them regularly, know how to use them, and know how much we need of each.

(Friday: What I Did This Week To Prep)

*For my list of abbreviations and other information, open the above ‘Check Here…’ page tab.