Top Ways to Save Money in Shopping For Food Storage Supplies

Food storage can mean different things to different people. When most people think of “food storage” they think of containers used to hold leftover meals for future consumption. These are great to have, but they are not the only ways to store food. Many companies are starting to think long term. What happens if there is a natural disaster? Will you and your family have enough emergency rations and water to make it through until normal processes are restored? Most people would say no.

Many of these foods are freeze-dried and can include three, six, and even twelve months of food, for up to five adults. These meals are made specifically to last up to 25 years, in many cases, and are great to have around the house in case of any type of disaster. The meals can vary, but in most cases, they use a mixture of shakes, oatmeal and granola for breakfast. Lunches and dinners can include different pasta dishes, soups, and even chicken, for a variety.

Along with long-term food storage, they also offer short-term meals. These can be great for impromptu snow storms, when getting to the store can be dangerous or when stores run out of necessities.

Food is important, but what about drinks, including water? Everyone needs liquid and foodinsurance.com can help. They have milk substitutes, orange drink, and even chocolate milk, as well as apple juice. They even have water bottles with special filtration systems, making even bad water good again.

Options Available

Some families require different options than others. They do offer gluten-free food meals, as well as meal plans for vegetarians, so no matter what you enjoy eating, you will find something with this company.

Purchasing food storage supplies from foodinsurance.com is a good choice because they provide high quality meals that actually taste pretty good. Their food lasts longer than other companies and they have decent prices. They are sure you will enjoy your meals, but they do offer a return policy if you feel your needs weren’t met. They even offer free shipping in some cases and have promotions, such as give-a-ways and special prices.

Along with free shipping, there are also payment plans, so you can always have the emergency rations you need. Please visit foodinsurance.com for more information.

About the Guest Author

Agnes Jimenez is a professional blogger and writer. She writes for many online establishments and supports those ones that offer alternative lifestyles to consumers.  As a frugal living and self-sufficiency advocate, she recommends FoodInsurance.com for those budget conscious individuals who want to get big savings in shopping for food storage.  You may follow Food Insurance in Twitter.

Aquaponics Update 02/06/12

Marty had a rare Friday off work, so we got the majority of our errands run then.  We met his brother, Ben in Waco at Homestead Heritage for lunch.  Then made stops at Walmart and Home Depot.  Marty need to purchase some more gravel to get grow bed #2 started.  Me, being a somewhat impatient person, decided to pick up some lettuce and cabbage starts to put into grow bed #1.  The seeds we planted last week just weren’t doing it for me.  I also bought a chocolate mint plant, which smells heavenly!  We also bought 3 dozen minnows for the fish barrel, so we can start getting some fertilization going.  So here are photos of what we did this weekend!

As you can see, we now have grow bed #2 up and filled with gravel.  Nothing planted in it yet.

Before we could plant the starts, we had to wash off all the dirt on the roots.  These are our cabbage plants getting a bath.

See the pretty clean roots.  This is to help keep the dirt from getting into the water in the system.

Now that the roots are all clean, it’s time to start planting them!

Marty used the garden knife to plant the starts into grow bed #1.  Just push the gravel aside, insert the plant and cover with the gravel.

Getting grow bed #1 planted with lettuce and cabbage.

Our newly planted lettuce.

Our newly planted cabbage.

an enlarged view of the newly planted grow bed #1.  As you can see we still are trying to sprout seeds in the back left corner.

Here’s what they look like right now.  We have a few more starting to sprout, but over all it hasn’t been very successful as of yet.  We used seeds that were several years old, so I’m not sure if that was a factor.  We’ll keep trying and watching them.  If they don’t start doing something in the next week or so, we may try again with new seeds.

As of right now, all is going pretty well.  The only real problem we’re having is getting the homemade bell siphons working consistantly.  That’s driving Marty bonkers, but I know he’ll figure it out.  I think the big problem is that the grow beds and the fish barrel (where the water for the grow beds are pumped from) are too close to the same height.  Next weekend we will probably be changing things around a little in the greenhouse.  We’re going to purchase a kiddy pool for the fish instead of the barrel.  This will be lower to the ground and hopefully make the bell siphon work better.  We’ll see 🙂  We will also be making some worm beds and adding so we can grow our own fish food.  We also plan on exchanging the minnows for some sort of fish we could actually eat.  Perch or Crappie probably.  We just need to get them ordered and purchased.

But we’re sure enjoying the process.  There’s something really relaxing about hanging out in the greenhouse and listening to the water.  That, and I get to enjoy the scent of my chocolate mint plant (not to mention a slight fishy odor now that we have fish in the system!).

I’m Such a Ham…

Photo courtesy of nate steiner on Flickr

Ham Radio Operator that is!  For the last 2 weeks, I have been studying to pass my Ham Radio Operator Technician’s test.  This is the test you have to take to get your Ham Radio Operator’s license.  Getting my Technicians license couldn’t have been easier either! I just studied online by taking the Technician practice exams at QRZ.com ( http://www.qrz.com/ht/), for 2 weeks, for about 30 minutes to an hour a day.  The actual test you take only has 35 questions and with study, is really easy to take. So if you’ve ever had an interest in being a part of the Ham community, I’d say go for it! I had absolutely NO knowledge of electronics and such until I started studying for my test, so If I can do it and pass, you can too!

I chose to get my Ham Radio License for a couple of reasons. First of all it’s a good way of communication when a telephone is not available. Second of all it’s a perfect way to communicate in emergency situations, such as natural disasters. when Katrina hit, there was no power and the cell phone towers were down, Ham radio was the only communications available.  Here are a couple of videos that show WHY
Ham Radio is so important in emergency situations.

How Ham radio was used for emergency communications in the aftermath of the Tsunami in South Asia

How Ham radio was used for emergency communications in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina