1. Go through your recipe books, favorite recipes websites, etc. and write down all the meals you are planning for (I looked for easy easy meals or meals that would be good frozen either as whole meals or in components to put a quick meal together. I also used several of the meals from the Deals To Meals weekly meal plan since those items were all on sale that week)
2. Make a grocery list of all the ingredients you will need to purchase.
3. Log in to Deals To Meals and add everything to your “cart” that is on sale that is also on your shopping list. (View Julie’s video tutorial to see how EASY it is to do!)
4. Print out your Deals To Meals shopping cart list and your entire shopping list.

1. Go to Wal-Mart or any other store that does “price-matching”. Grab all of the items from the Deals To Meals list and go to the checkout.
2. Show the cashier your printout from Deals to Meals and you should be able to get ALL of the low prices without even having the actual store ads. (Please note: Check your Walmart for their policie but so far it has worked for 5 different ones that Julie and I have tried).
3. For the rest of your “non-sale” items, you can either purchase them at Wal-Mart too, or go to your favorite discount grocery store. (I have found that Winco is generally cheaper than Wal-Mart so I do the rest of my shopping there).

Just to give you an example of how much money you can save … I was stocking up on freezer meals so I bought ten pounds of ground beef. I like to buy the 93% lean variety but it is normally $3.47 per pound at my Wal-Mart. Well I found on Deals To Meals that it was on sale at a store I NEVER go to for only $1.99 per pound. I saved $15.00 JUST on the hamburger alone! This service is worth every penny. And if you use their weekly meal plans you save even more because then virtually ALL of the items you are buying will be on sale. So cool.

When we first heard of Deals to Meals, they were only in Utah, but now they are in 12 states! We hope they become national, because they are awesome. Even if you don’t live in one of the 12 states, the meal plans can be used wherever you live – so go and check them out FOR A FREE TRIAL, and don’t forget to tell them we sent you –

p.s. We became affiliates for Deals to Meals because we love their service so much and are way excited about promoting it!

This list was put out by BeReadyUtah.gov but we have included our own links and comments in italics along with it.

Plan for the types of disasters that can happen in the area where you live. You may need to plan for a snowstorm instead of a hurricane.
 
There is no need to purchase preparedness items for disasters that are very unlikely to happen in your area. Check this post to find out the common disasters that occur in your area as a starting point.
 

Create your own personalized list. You may not need everything include in “ready made” kits and there may be additional items you need based on your personal situation. For example, if you have pets, you may need special items. Don’t forget to have supplies in your car and at work.
 
Another special circumstance is if you have small children or babies. You will need to plan differently. Check out our ideas on disaster kits for toddlers/babies.
 

Budget emergency preparedness items as a “normal” expense. Even $20.00 a month can go a long way to helping you be ready. Buy one preparedness item each time you go to the grocery store.
 
You may find that you working on your food storage can actually end up SAVING you money. Read our post about food storage and money savings to see how!
 

Save by shopping sales. Make use of coupons and shop at stores with used goods. Don’t replace your ready kit items annually, just replace and cycle through those items that have a shelf life (e.g. batteries, food). You may want to test the radio and flashlight every September to make sure they are in good working order.
 
Use a service like Deals to Meals to help you save money on your groceries so you can buy even more food storage!
 

Store water in safe containers. You don’t have to buy more expensive bottled water, but make sure any containers you use for water storage are safe and disinfected.
 
One of the most cost-effective storage containers (besides “free” juice and pop bottles) are the water storage boxes. Read our review about the ones from Emergency Essentials.
 

Request preparedness items as gifts. We all receive gifts we don’t need or use. What if your friends and family members gave you gifts that could save your life? Don’t forget to protect them by sending preparedness gifts their way too.
 
Julie’s mom gave her and her sisters the ultimate food storage gift a few years ago … WONDERMILLS for them all! Check out the picture of the happy threesome
 

Think ahead. You are more likely to save money if you can take your time with focused and strategic shopping. It’s when everyone is at the store right before the storm hits that prices are going to be higher. Use a list to avoid duplicating items when you are stressed or panicked.
 
Our Emergency Preparedness Plan can get you started with a basic list of items you may want to include in your emergency prepping.
 

Review your insurance policy annually and make necessary changes. When a disaster strikes, you want to know that your coverage will help you get back on your feet. Renters need policies too, in order to cover personal property.
 
Recently Julie was offered earthquake insurance in addition to her regular homeowner’s policy. She asked if it was worth it on our facebook page and discovered that it was actually a fantastic deal and she bought it right away. Find out what limitations or additions your policy has or you might want to include.
 

Update contact records. Have an accurate phone list of emergency contact numbers. If you are prepared, you may be able to help friends and neighbors who need assistance. By sharing preparedness supplies, you can help each other.
 
This is great to include in your emergency binder and also to print out and stick on your fridge.
 

Trade one night out to fund your 72-hour kit. Taking a family of four to the movies can cost upwards of $80-$100. Just one night of sacrifice could fund a 72-hour ready kit.
 
This can apply to many things. If you are already on a tight budget you are probably not spending that much on entertainment. But there is always something you can trade or cut in your budget to add a little to your preps. Even if you have to do it gradually.
 

p.s. If you have any more ideas that have worked for your family please share them in the comments. If we get enough ideas we will add them to this list and make a follow-up post with a hand-out!

For those of you who have followed our blog for long you would know I LOVED couponing, I DID couponing, couponing SAVED me a lot of money – UNTIL:

• I had another baby last winter
• Albertsons closed down (my primary store to coupon at)
• Red Plum (one of the coupon booklets) stopped coming in the newspapers
• I feared my neighbors got irritated at my piled up newspapers on my driveway
• I got super busy with life, blogging, life, etc

So for the last 8 months, I haven’t couponed. Each time I went to the store – I cringed because I knew I was wasting money. If couponing is still working for you, more power to you – keep doing it – and I applaud you. For anyone out there who needs an easier way -that you’ll actually do- without training, I have to tell you what I’ve been doing lately. I’ve been using a site called Deals to Meals, it’s so easy, I’ll tell you how I do it in 3 minutes.

In case you don’t like watching videos, or your computer is slow, here’s the summary of how I use Deals to Meals:

• I sign in and pick my state
• I choose the best deals from all 12 grocery stores in Utah
• The items are added into a grocery list
• I print the grocery list and bring that one paper to Walmart
• I price match and get the best prices from all 12 stores at one store
• DID I MENTION I ONLY GO TO ONE STORE!
• I pat myself on the back because I save a lot of money with virtually no work!
• I even sent my husband with the list once… and it WORKED?1?!?

*Check your Walmart for their policies -it’s worked for me at 3 different Walmarts

Like I mention on the video, there are a ton more services that Deals to Meals offers, like making meal plans based on sale items, and letting you know which food storage foods are on sale that week. Jodi will share with you how she uses them (after she recovers from having her baby any day now! I can’t wait to meet my darling little nephew…) After trying the service for just TWO WEEKS we both were so impressed we knew we had to share it with you all. Here’s how it works:

When we first heard of Deals to Meals, they were only in Utah, but now they are in 12 states! We hope they become national, because they are awesome. Even if you don’t live in one of the 12 states, the meal plans can be used wherever you live – so go and check them out FOR A FREE TRIAL, and don’t forget to tell them we sent you –

p.s. We became affiliates for Deals to Meals because we love their service so much and are way excited about promoting it!

Want to know a secret? – I’m a counter snob! There has never been an appliance worthy of living on my counter – until NOW. Too bad I don’t own it yet. My mom got a BOSCH mixer for her birthday last December and because she’s trying to sell her house right now, she is crazy busy and hasn’t found time to use it. SO I STOLE IT. Ummm – BORROWED it. After making close to 20 loaves of bread in 2 weeks just because it’s SO EASY I’ve decided I can’t live without it (I gave a lot of the loaves away okay). This machine practically makes the bread for you.

The Deals To Meals Blog is doing a giveaway on one of these precious things! Details on entering can be found on their blog. Oh and while you are there, make sure you check out her recipes. I have a few family favorites I found on this blog – the best one being Beach Street Lemon Chicken Linguini.

Deals To Meals is a service that compares the prices of all of the major grocery stores to Costco and Walmart and tell you where the best deals are. With those deals they give you recipes and meal plans to use those foods. They are now in 12 states and Jodi and I have tried their service recently and have found it to be SO easy, and worth it. Lately we have gotten too busy to coupon like we used to.

Give them a try and let them know we referred you. In a couple weeks we’ll show you how each of us use their site to save a lot of money and TIME! You’d be surprised how differently Jodi and I use the same service.

1. Natural Disasters
2. Economic Crisis
3. Health Benefits
4. Everyday Emergency
5. Religious Reasons

Today we will be talking about the second reason, Economic Crisis, and encourage you to visit our Facebook Discussion on this topic. We learn so much more from each others real life experiences and opinions, so come on over and join the conversation. (You don’t need to be a member of facebook to read the discussions).

While Natural Disasters is what encouraged us to START our food storage, we have to admit – the concept of an economic crisis is what KEEPS us building our food storage. We feel that the likelihood of money being tight is MUCH higher then a power or water outage type disaster. Money being tight could come as a national, local, or personal emergency. You never know what could happen and it’s such a blessing to have food stored, and a plan in place for a time when you might have to live off what you have stored.

BONUS:  Food Storage Saves Money!

Awhile back we did a post on Food Storage and Money Savings. The post talks about how your 3-month supply can save you money by buying foods only when they are on sale and stocking up. You can also save on your grocery bill by actually learning how to use and cooking with your long term food supply. Buying grains and legumes and cooking things from scratch can save you a lot of money!

In light of the current economic situation, we wanted to share with you some ideas on how having your food storage in place can help you financially in both the short term and long term.

Short Term Food Storage
Your short term food storage consists of getting a 3 month supply of foods that you eat on a day to day basis. Once you have this in place you can start to grocery shop from your food storage and only replenish those items when they go on sale and/or you have coupons. This will actually reduce your grocery budget as you will only buy things that are deeply discounted. But those few dollars a month will not mean as much to you as the food will if you have a short term emergency. For example, my husband took a pay cut for several months and we were able to spend less than HALF of our usual grocery budget for those months because we had stockpiled so much of our every day foods.

Long Term Food Storage
Your long term food storage consists of getting a year’s supply worth of life-sustaining foods that have a long shelf-life. These are items such as wheat, white rice, dried beans, powdered milk, etc. Since the shelf life is so long you can gradually purchase the items when they are on sale and work up to a year’s supply. If you get brave enough to start using your long term food storage items in your everyday cooking, you can also save some money in the short term. Homemade bread is significantly cheaper than store-bought, especially if you grind your own wheat. Making other items from scratch such as muffins, pancakes, etc. can also save you money over buying packaged items.

In times of economic trouble you can rely on your food storage for long periods of time while other people are begrudging the high prices of rice and wheat. Prices will most likely come down before you deplete your stores. Lastly, if a major disaster, economic melt-down, or other long-term emergency were to occur, you can feel confident that your family will be able to survive with basic food and water for quite some time.