My family would have to more than double this amount, but I did find this preparedness hack to be quite impressive:
“This plan is THE fastest, cheapest and easiest way to start a food storage program. You are done in a weekend. AND there are no hassles with rotating. Pack it and forget. It’s space efficient – everything is consolidated into a few 5-gallon buckets. You’ll sleep content in knowing that you have a one-year food supply on hand for your family should you ever need.
With the exception of dairy and Vitamin B12, this bean soup recipe will fulfill all your basic nutritional needs. It won’t fill all of your wants, but using this as your starting point, you can add the stuff that you want.
All of the food and storing supplies listed below plus 2 55-gallon recycled barrels to be used for rain catchment cost me $296, including taxes. I purchased rice, bouillon and salt from SAM’s Club. You can buy small bags of barley at the grocery, but if you don’t mind waiting a few days, special ordering a bulk bag from Whole Foods was cheaper. All of the beans I purchased from Kroger’s in 1-lb bags. Buckets, lids, Mylar bags and rain barrels were from the Lexington Container Company. Their prices are so good, with such a great selection that it’s worth a drive even if you are not in the local area.”
Hey, bean soup might get tiresome but it would keep you full. It’s a great idea to have plenty of food stored away in case of a crisis. Consider it cheap insurance in an increasingly unstable world. Additional greens could easily be grown or wild foraged for nutrition. Fresh or dried moringa leaves are also good for adding to soup. Maybe some Bidens alba, too.
I actually miss that prolific “weed.”
If a year of nothing but bean soup isn’t up your alley, my book Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening has what you need to know about survival gardening, plus information on what grocery store seeds and plant material can be used in a crisis to grow a serviceable garden if things get tough.
* * *
O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
-Psalm 7, ESV
10 responses to “Feed a Family of Four for ONE Year for Less than $300”
And free gas for a year too! Just saying.
Truth!
How free gas?
Beans are very good at making gas. Yes, it’s a bad joke.
Those Jelly Beans in bucket 8 wouldn’t last me a month… :)
I’d consider ditching the rice for something I could also plant and grow. Lentil?
Great idea, I hope this gets more people prepping since it is so easy. The only thing I would do differently is to also buy some quart mylar bags and pre-measure the ingredients including seasonings. In an emergency you will have to open 1 or 2 buckets at a time instead of 3-4. You can also mix up dry cake mixes (spice cake mix is good and cheap to make) or brownie mix to store in quart mylar bags. Use chia seeds instead of eggs, and store some cooking oil in the 8th bucket. This is assuming you still have power or a way to cook for a long time and have stored a lot of extra water.
Good suggestions, dt. Cooking oil would indeed be valuable.
Though I have not analyzed this exact recipe, it looks very similar to this one that I did analyze which is not nutritionally complete, nor can it be made complete with the addition of a multi-vitamin. It’s definitely for STARTING out only.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/recipe/2775940/2
Definitely. It would keep you alive, but I’d definitely be craving some kale before long.
The list you describe seems to be missing from the page?