How Long Could You Go Without Shopping?

[blissful]

If the water kept running or we could get it at the artisian spring, meaning we have gas in our car. If the electricity continued so we had heat and refrigeration/freezers. It wouldn't be pretty but we would take 2 years to starve before we had to go to the store. The end would be grim, wheat berries, pinto beans, no herbs or spices, no milk products, we'd have to barter for a chicken or 10, we'd kill deer in our back yard to butcher. We'd start wearing deer skins for clothes, we would smell bad most of the time. Sounds like great fun.

 

[GotGarlic]

If the water kept running or we could get it at the artisian spring, meaning we have gas in our car. If the electricity continued so we had heat and refrigeration/freezers. It wouldn't be pretty but we would take 2 years to starve before we had to go to the store. The end would be grim, wheat berries, pinto beans, no herbs or spices, no milk products, we'd have to barter for a chicken or 10, we'd kill deer in our back yard to butcher. We'd start wearing deer skins for clothes, we would smell bad most of the time. Sounds like great fun.

Sounds a lot like the recreated Indian compound near Colonial Williamsburg [emoji2]

 

[blissful]

Ugg.

 

[Aunt Bea]

This is an interesting thread. We are all foodies in one way or another yet it appears that most of us don't place a high value on fresh food. I'm not being critical it just surprises me that we tend to stockpile our food instead of marketing for fresh food every two or three days and using it up before we buy more. I wonder if this is a slight case of affluenza, what do you think?

 

[blissful]

Aunt bea, what is a case of affluenza? The shopping for fresh food every few days or the stockpiling of food?
I'm not following you at all. We are very frugal.

 

[Andy M.]

This is an interesting thread. We are all foodies in one way or another yet it appears that most of us don't place a high value on fresh food. I'm not being critical it just surprises me that we tend to stockpile our food instead of marketing for fresh food every two or three days and using it up before we buy more. I wonder if this is a slight case of affluenza, what do you think?

It could be Aunt Bea. Grocery shopping in most of America is a weekly event. Some folks buy extras when stuff is on sale as a means of saving money.

In parts of Europe, folks often stop for dinner ingredients on the way home from work. I don't think the difference is based on relative affluence.

 

[Dawgluver]

I guess I was looking at it from the POV of a survivalist/prepper.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Aunt bea, what is a case of affluenza? The shopping for fresh food every few days or the stockpiling of food?
I'm not following you at all. We are very frugal.

As I said in my post, I'm not trying to be critical and I didn't mean to offend you.

I consider myself to be very frugal also but I can't really say that keeping three weeks food on hand is truly frugal for a single person in my situation. I can walk to the market or stop at a local market while I'm out doing other errands and buy what I need every couple of days. Every day something is fresh and inexpensive in my local markets so I'm wondering why I need to maintain a three week supply of frozen, boxed, bottled and canned food in my freezer and pantry. This thread is just making me think that I should make an effort to reduce the inventory and eat fresh.

Keeping a supply makes sense to me if you have limited transportation, garden, can/preserve, hunt, fish, etc...

 

[caseydog]

I often contemplate not going to the store, and cleaning out my freezer an pantry of stuff I have an abundance of. But, I never actually do it.

I bet I could go a month, maybe more. I have frozen and canned veggies, which would do the job, even though I prefer fresh. And, eggs actually have a good shelf life, especially organic eggs. Organic milk is good for a month or more, too.

I think to actually find out, there would have to be some kind of crisis where I couldn't buy food for a while. If I really had to, I'm sure I could stretch out my food resources.

But, I don't really have to, so I don't try.

CD

 

[larry_stewart]

I have a decent supply of canned goods do to the biannual ' can can' sale. Extremely good prices, makes sense to me to take advantage of that, and the shelf life allows me to do that.

I have a lot of dried ingredients (rice, beans, mushrooms, grains...). Many recipes only call for a fraction of the amount of a package, so the rest is stored. ( also has a long shelf life if stored properly.

Freezer has vegetables from the garden ( string beans, leeks, tomato puree, pumpkin..)
Also has rolls, bread, other frozen veggies sore bought. Ravioli, tortellini..
***In addition, some prepared foods veggie burgers, other veg / meat substitutes that we eat, bought in bulk ***

Root cellar has potatoes and onions from the garden ( ad surprisingly holding up really well 4 or 5 months post harvesting).

Pantry has the basics Flour, sugar, salt ( all bought in large quantities), some crappy prepared/ boxed stuff, that the kids like to eat, like kraft man and cheese, some lipton rice packages, and a whole lot of Pasta , all shapes and sizes)

From a spoiled point of view, I do enjoy having most ingredients on hand, so I could cook what I want, when I want.

Each week, my shopping primarily consists of produce , and a significant amount. I would say it takes up 50 - 75 % of my fridge after I go shopping, and progressively decreases as the week goes on and it is used and eaten. Occasional midweek shops to restock on a few items that must be bought last minute for freshness purposes.

Im off several days during the week, which is when I do the majority of my cooking. Partially for dinner that night, and also for the other days that I work, come home late , and only have time to reheat things ( made the day before). These prepared dishes also take up room in the freezer .

 

[caseydog]

This is an interesting thread. We are all foodies in one way or another yet it appears that most of us don't place a high value on fresh food. I'm not being critical it just surprises me that we tend to stockpile our food instead of marketing for fresh food every two or three days and using it up before we buy more. I wonder if this is a slight case of affluenza, what do you think?

I would love to be able to walk to a store and buy food for today's meals. On my trips to Europe, I love the fresh food markets, where people shop daily for their meals. I dream of living like that.

But, in the suburbs of a major city in America, going to the store requires driving to a supermarket, waiting in lines, and other things that waste time -- and increase my carbon footprint. Walking to the closest grocery store to my house would require me to walk most of the way in streets with the cars, as there are no sidewalks. The burbs aren't made for walking.

CD

 

[blissful]

As I said in my post, I'm not trying to be critical and I didn't mean to offend you.

I consider myself to be very frugal also but I can't really say that keeping three weeks food on hand is truly frugal for a single person in my situation. I can walk to the market or stop at a local market while I'm out doing other errands and buy what I need every couple of days. Every day something is fresh and inexpensive in my local markets so I'm wondering why I need to maintain a three week supply of frozen, boxed, bottled and canned food in my freezer and pantry. This thread is just making me think that I should make an effort to reduce the inventory and eat fresh.

Keeping a supply makes sense to me if you have limited transportation, garden, can/preserve, hunt, fish, etc...

No no no, I wasn't offended by what you said, I just didn't understand. Right now, Dh buys milk, sometimes fresh veggies, meat on sale. Some weeks we need nearly nothing, some weeks we run low on something and he picks it up. We garden, preserve/can, hope to have another hunting year and more fishing, hope to barter with our barter friends.

Last week he bought milk on sale, as I'm making cheese....but then what else? He wanted some apples and bananas for his lunch. I had enough green food, either left from the week before or from the freezer, garden, canning to get by. The first thing to go if we couldn't go to the store would be soda for DH and DS, and 'fresh' doritoes, ha ha.

 

[caseydog]

Pantry has the basics Flour, sugar, salt ( all bought in large quantities), some crappy prepared/ boxed stuff, that the kids like to eat, like kraft man and cheese, some lipton rice packages, and a whole lot of Pasta , all shapes and sizes) .

Is that legal?

CD

 

[blissful]

Larry, I thought you were a vegetarian, and now this 'man and cheese', ..... wink smiley, gotta chuckle out of that.

 

[larry_stewart]

Gotta get my protein somehow
But trying to fit a Kraft man in the pantry is a real challenge.

 

[blissful]

ha ha haha....that kraft man, he's cheesy! Who doesn't love that!

 

[Cheryl J]

Larry....
-------------------------------
I just did a quick look-through, and could probably go 6 weeks to 2 months using what's in the freezer and pantry. That's not including once or twice a week picking up perishables, though.

 

[rodentraiser]

Depends on when you ask me. At the beginning of the month, I have enough to last till the next month. By the end of the month, I usually need to do a complete shopping again. But it's a pretty flexible situation.

For instance, this month with one week to go, I still have a chunk of beef, 2 pork roasts, 6 lbs of bacon, 9 lbs of hamburger, 4 chicken breasts, and beans, tostadas, and tortillas, plus potatoes and pancake mix. I'm out of eggs, garlic and bread, although I can make my own bread if I need to. Oh, yeah, and I have a huge bag of rice. So I may have enough at this time to bring me through the next 3 weeks, give or take.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

The town I live in has no grocery store, the nearest is 8 miles away, but their prices are outrageous so my food shopping is saved for the every other week visit to the "city". I buy more than enough to last me the two weeks in fresh produce, dairy, meat. Canned goods I try to buy by the case. Good prices and less shopping time. I also have the constraint of a spouse who does not tolerate shopping and people look at me funny when I make him wear a leash so he doesn't wander off.

 

[dragnlaw]

This thread is amazing! I don't even remember the original question but the variety in answers is terrific....

Somehow I think of an apocalypse... how would I fare? again it depends... perhaps not an apocalypse but other emergency situation such as... no power?... or what? car broke down? (remember I live in the country) out of cash/credit? (oops there goes the internet! by-bye DC lol) 15 'long-lost' relatives just 'dropped' in for a week? (now that's an extreme apocalypse)

if you lose power... better cook up all that 'reserve' in the freezer! (or hope it is winter and you can throw the stuff outside? - I was about 22 days without power in that ice-storm of .. umm.. 199??)

and the list goes on... it's mind boggling.