What I'm Buying

I love having lots of examples when I'm learning something new. And I like to see how people are applying things in their lives - there are so many great ideas out there. So, I thought I would post some pictures of the stuff I am actually buying at the stores, and what kinds of things I am actually putting in to my food storage.

Here is my trip to Albertson's yesterday (March 30):

All of it is going into food storage (except the french bread) - unless my husband gets to it first! :)

I made my purchases in two transactions, in order to take best advantage of the current deals. The first transaction:

6 Post Selects cereals, 1.57 each (when you buy in multiples of 2)

Total - $9.42 before tax
minus $3.00 in coupons (3 coupons for $1 off when you buy 2 boxes)

Total paid: $6.70 PLUS I got a $5 off your next shopping trip Catalina coupon

The second transaction:

2 Post Raisin Bran cereals, 1.57 each
2 Post Grape Nuts Trail Mix cereals, 1.57 each
2 Post Grape Nuts cereals, 1.57 each
4 Taco Bell refried beans, 1.00 each
1 Taco Bell taco shells, 1.00 each
1 Snuggle fabric softener, 32 loads, 3.99 each
2 Kraft salad dressings, 16 oz, 2.99 each
1 loaf french bread, 1.69 each

Total - $26.08 before tax
minus - $3.00 instant Kraft savings promo when you buy $10 worth of products (no coupon required)
$5.00 Catalina coupon from previous purchase above
$3.00 for Kraft dressings (I had 2 $1.50 off coupons)
$2.00 off coupon for the Snuggle fabric softener
$4.00 off for the Grape Nuts Trail Mix cereal (I had 2 $2.00 off coupons)
$2.00 off for the Raisin Bran and Grape Nuts cereal (I had 2 $1.00 off 2 boxes coupons)
$1.69 off for the french bread (I had a get free french bread coupon - comes at the end of your receipt sometimes)

Total paid: $6.18 PLUS I got another $5.00 off Catalina coupon for the Post cereals and a $3.00 off Catalina coupon from buying participating Taco Bell products (so I now have $8.00 to spend towards more groceries)

So, I got 12 boxes of cereal, 4 cans of refried beans, 1 box of taco shells, 2 bottles of salad dressing and 1 bottle of fabric softener for my food storage, all for $13.00. I just want to illustrate that you don't have to spend a lot of money to build up your food storage.

What I was most excited about on this trip was the Post cereal - I have about 25 boxes of cereal in my food storage already (about a 3-mth supply) but much of it is sugary cereal. It is not often that the more "healthy" cereals go on sales this good, so I was very excited to be able to pick up good, whole-grain cereals for approximately $.28 a box!

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Great Deal on Post Cereals

If your family likes Post cereals (Honey Bunches of Oats, Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat, Post Selects or Grape Nuts), you'll definitely want to visit Alberston's this next week. They are having a spectacular deal on Post cereal through April 7 - $1.57 each when you buy 2 (participating varieties). On top of that, there is a Catalina offer that will print off a coupon for $$$ off your next shopping trip, based on how many cereals you buy (buy 3, get $2 off; buy 4, get $3 off; buy 5 or more, get $5 off).

SO - if you go in and buy 6 participating Post cereals, you'll pay $9.42 + tax, then you'll get a Catalina coupon at checkout for $5 off your next shopping trip. If you average that back in to what you paid, it makes the cereal $.74 a box. This is WITHOUT coupons!

To make it even better, there are coupons available for a few of the varieties, which would make them $.24 a box. (And this is good-for-you cereal even!)

Update: The Post cereal sale runs through Tuesday, April 7!

Being Prepared

"Members of the Church have been counseled for many years to be prepared for adversity. Preparation, both spiritual and temporal, can dispel fear. With the guidance of Church leaders, individual members and families should prepare to be self-reliant in times of personal or widespread emergency." (www.providentliving.org)

Emergency preparedness includes being prepared in the following areas:
- Family home storage
- Family finances
- Family emergency planning
- Ward and Stake emergency plans

President Gordon B. Hinckley gave us the following counsel in 2002:

"I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family.

"None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us.

"We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary.

"I do not predict any impending disaster. I hope that there will not be one. But prudence should govern our lives. Everyone who owns a home recognizes the need for fire insurance. We hope and pray that there will never be a fire. Nevertheless, we pay for insurance to cover such a catastrophe, should it occur.

"We ought to do the same with reference to family welfare.

"We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. I am speaking now of food to cover basic needs. As all of you recognize, this counsel is not new. But I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all.

"Begin in a small way, my brethren, and gradually build toward a reasonable objective. Save a little money regularly, and you will be surprised how it accumulates." ("To the Men of the Priesthood", Ensign, November 2002)

Week 1 Assignment

"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." D&C 130:20

Probably one of the single most important things you can do to prepare yourself and your family for difficult times, whatever they may be, is to keep the Lord's commandments.

Tithing is a commandment from God, and when we obey His law, He is bound to bless us. We will need His blessings on our efforts to prepare every needful thing for ourselves and our families.

Elder Marvin J. Ashton counseled, "Successful financial management in every LDS home begins with the payment of an honest tithe. If our tithing and fast offerings are the first obligations met following the receipt of each paycheck, our commitment to this important gospel principle will be strengthened and the likelihood of financial mismanagement will be reduced." When we pay an honest tithe, we receive blessings from the Lord.

Elder Sheldon F. Child of the Seventy said, "As we faithfully pay our tithes, the Lord will indeed open the windows of heaven and pour us out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. I want each of you to know...that I know...that if you always pay an honest tithing, the Lord will bless you. It will be the best investment you will ever make."

Your assignment this week is to read the following talk, "The Blessings of an Honest Tithe" by Elder Marion G. Romney, and then take stock of where you are at in paying your tithing, and make any necessary changes so that you are in full compliance with this commandment. It is such an important commandment, and in these troubled times, we need all of the blessings we can get!

Part two of your assignment: Sometime during this next week, purchase enough new 9V batteries for every smoke detector in your home. (I usually pick up the big packs of 9Vs at Costco.)

Don't worry about changing them out yet - that's for next week. If money will allow, buy twice as many as you need, so you'll have extras on hand.

Catching the Vision

We're going to talk a little more over the next little bit about the why's of emergency preparedness and food storage, in hopes of helping you catch the vision of what this is all about and why it is so important. I know that the thought of emergency preparedness, and especially food storage, can be overwhelming - there is so much involved that it is hard to know where to start!

My hope is to put together a series of weekly assignments that are small, easy-to-do steps that will help us slowly but surely reach our goal of preparing every needful thing. The best way to climb any mountain is just by taking one small step at a time. (Or better put, the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time...)

I will post much more of the background info and basics of what you'll need to know over the next few weeks, but because we're coming up on General Conference and will not be meeting together as a ward next Sunday, I wanted to get the first assignment out right away so that you can get started on it.

Welcome!

The goal of this site is to help the members of the Cimarron Ward in their efforts to organize and prepare food storage and emergency essentials for their families.

I'm still new to all of this, and have only just started my family's food storage in earnest in the last six months, so we'll be learning together.

It is my hope that the information and links that I post here will help you as you strive to follow the counsel of Church leaders in preparing every needful thing for your family. Please feel free to ask questions or post comments so that we may all learn and benefit together.