From my frozen stash and dried goods? At least a month, maybe a couple of weeks longer. However, even though we aren't vegetarian, we go through a LOT of fresh produce, bulky fresh produce. Today's cart had the entire front half full of produce. I passed on collard greens today because I knew by buying fluffy things like Swiss chard and escarole, I wouldn't have space for collards, too. After I puzzled all my refrigerated food in, though, I would have had room. *sigh*
Now, maybe I should have commented on each of these in its own reply box, but I figured why pad my post count!
...I'm fortunate that within a 3 mile radius there are 4 supermarkets and 2 fish markets. If I increase it to 5 miles I can add a couple more supermarkets, 2 meat stores, a produce market, BJ's warehouse club, Trader Joes, a few bakeries and specialty markets (Asian, Italian, etc.)...
OMG, you live in
heaven?
I would be in heaven if I had that kind of selection by us. We have a small, 3-store chain shop at the bottom of our development, but any other store I shop frequently is 8 miles or more away...
If SHTF, we could go for more than a month. Might be some odd freezer combinations, but lots of stuff available.
You don't need StoHTF, you come up with weird combinations already!
...How long I could go without shopping has nothing to do with my well stocked pantries. I NEED to go grocery shopping. This the only shopping I do live... So knowing that, about 4 days max.
Is this an "Ohio thing",
beth? I never go more than a week without hitting a grocery store, but since I shop in two (or three) different directions each week I often shop every 3rd-4th day.
...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...Keeping a supply makes sense to me if you have limited transportation, garden, can/preserve, hunt, fish, etc...
Some of us are planning in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse,
AB.
Everyone's situation, needs, and patterns are different. If I wanted to walk to the nearest (and only) store in town, it's 3/4 of a mile...downhill. That means I'm bringing my purchases uphill for 3/4 of a mile, hardly a pleasant thought with a hip that barks, knees that buckle every now and then, and sore ankles. So I drive. Once I'm in the car I'll head to the store with a bigger selection and smaller prices.
As far as pantry items go, I figure why buy a box of pasta when I need it when I can take advantage of a sale. That 89 cents a box looks good, even better when I buy four boxes so I can use a $1 off coupon. Beats buying one at the regular $1.29 (or more) price.
Also, when we're back home in OH I can take advantage of an Amish bulk store that is near our daughter's. Instead of buying perfectly fine King Arthur flour at the grocery store for $4 a 5# bag I can get however much I want of heritage wheat flour for 80 cents a pound. The same kind of flour bought online would cost me about $10 for a 2# bag. Plus shipping.
...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.
I put bells on Himself's shoelaces so I can find where he ran away...
...if you have water issues on a hill, the engineer and builder of your house didn't grade it properly...
bt, you're right about the slope of the land. Our yard slopes down back-to-front. Our bulkhead door is on the back wall of the basement. Every spring melt, and every heavy rain, water leaked in under the man door. People suggested everything from sump pump to digging around the foundation and laying in drainage tiles. We decided to have the yard re-graded from what the builder mucked up, had a slight swale trenched about 10-12 feet away from the foundation, and haven't had any problems in the decade+ since (fingers crossed).