After a successful shopping trip on Monday the stockpile is up and running again. If you haven’t heard of this concept before, my aim is to have enough ’stores’ built up in my cupboard that I only purchase things when they are on special.
I have been doing this for so long now that I have a sense of the rotation of the specials, that is, that Vegemite may come on sale every five weeks and during that time my family will use 3 jars so when it comes on special I will buy 4 jars to cover it.
If you’re just starting out, take a percentage of your grocery money and use it to build up your stockpile. Each week you can devote more money to the specials and then you are left with a base line of weekly things that need to be purchased. If there are no specials to be purchased in a particular week the money just goes in the jar for next week.
I have found that I save so much money shopping this way and can ‘eat out of my cupboard or freezer’ any time I need to which is great in emergencies or when you want to save all your grocery money one week or if you are so busy you can’t go and do a ‘proper shop’. It prevents you from doing 4 runs to the grocery store a week to get ‘ just a couple of things’ which over the week adds up to more than your usual budgeted amount.

In our last swap, my partner Dee sent me a little calendar with a simple hint on each page. Here are a few of my favourites:

1. When you’re finished with something, put it back where it belongs.
2. Work out what cards you need throughout the year and make them, or buy them, in advance
3. Keep receipts in one place
4. Walk away from gossip
5. Buy clothing you can mix and match
6. Keep a list of odd jobs to be done
7. Lay your clothes out the night before
8. Have everyone have their own bath towel and beach towel
9. Shop for Christmas all year round
10. Keep your car clean and full of fuel
11. Sort your groceries as you put them in your trolley and as you put them through the checkout to make unpacking easier
12. It’s easier to stay healthy than to try and reclaim your health once you are ill
13. Buy extra when things are on sale
14. Plan ahead
15. Use a family calendar
16. Establish a plan for emergencies
17. Re- wear your clothes if they are not dirty
18. Teach your children to manage their own money
19. Have a gift wrap box
20. Have an annual retreat to renew your soul

I have always loved the idea of ‘being prepared’ as you know, but I have a certain amount of complacency. After all, I tell myself, we don’ t live in a hurricane area, nor a flood area and I often think that I should probably be ready in case the small airport we are close to ever has a terrorist attack or we are evacuated because of an explosive threat, but then I get side tracked and it goes back on the ‘ must do one day ‘ list.

Now my thinking has changed, and no, I am not burying weapons in the backyard or building bomb shelters. I don’t know what the disaster is that I am preparing for which greatly changes the way I prepare.

The biggest disaster we all face is personal. It could be that the breadwinner becomes ill and is no longer able to support the family, it could be a dramatic change is your small business, it could be that family member becomes ill and requires a full time carer. Sometimes you could never have seen the ‘disaster’ coming.
Hubbie and I were talking about this recently with the horse flu virus that has invaded our state. It has meant that all racing has been shut down and no horses are to be transported. I didn’t think too much of it at first, but it had now stretched on and the flow on affects must be terrible. What if you were the man who worked behind the bar at racing events, what if you bake bread for the canteen, what if your charity group runs the coffee stand at the local pony club. The flow on effects are enormous.
My point is….. we never know when disaster will strike, so we always need to be ready. Disaster may be on a large scale like a flood, hurricane, power outage or it could be on a personal level, like losing your job. It may be an instantaneous event or it may be a slow steady change.

Rhonda from Down to Earth recently wrote about the ABC interview she heard on the subject of peak oil http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2007/2028694.htm If you tune in, the story starts about half way through this audio programme.
We may not notice the changes too much at first. As they say, drop a frog into boiling water and it will jump out. Drop a frog into cold water and slowly increase the temperature and it stays there, oblivious to the danger, until it is cooked. The moral is be responsive to gradual change.
But wait…… what if I’m wrong ! What if peak oil is a myth, what if climate change is a myth…. what if I make all these positive changes for nothing ? LOL If I’m wrong, we have made our selves healthier wealthier and wiser for nothing ! ( read sarcasm) The reality is that you are a winner, whichever way it goes.
So, on a practical level, how do we make these changes. After all, not all of us are lucky enough to retire to the coast on acreage with just ourselves and our partner (like the lady in the ABC story). Some of us have to still educate our children, pay off houses, work to put food on the table and build a future. So we need practical advice. Stay tuned…. and send this site address to your friends and family so that we can create a network of support, for simple ideas that families can implement easily.