Food Storage Do-Over Week 13: Non-Food Items

We are excited to be starting week 13 of our Food Storage Do-Over 2015! If you didn’t catch last week’s post which talked about comfort foods you can see it here.

Remember this is a 17 week process that we will be going through together. If you want to join in with the group on Facebook click here. If you’d like to receive email notifications of each week’s do-over assignment you can join our mailing list here. Or you can always post in the blog comments with your progress as well! It is so much more fun and motivating doing it as a group so find a way to connect!

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In BabyStep 10: Non-Foods Items we discuss supplementing your food items with things that are necessary for cooking, eating, and cleaning.

If you are brand new to food storage, you may not have thought about the logistics of actually having to LIVE off of your storage. You will need dishes to cook and eat with, but might have limited water to clean up with. Paper and plastic products can really help minimize your water needs, even if they aren’t something you use on a regular basis. You’ll also need to store enough toilet paper, toiletries, and cleaning supplies to get you through an emergency. (We will be covering cooking tools, first aid, and sanitation in future weeks so don’t worry about those this week)

Ideas of What to Store

Personal Hygiene

Toothpaste/Toothbrushes
Shampoo/Conditioner
Deodorant
Facewash/Bodywash/Soap
Shaving/Aftershave

Paper Products

Toilet Paper
Paper Towels
Feminine Products
Diapers/Wet Wipes
Kleenex
Paper Plates/Plastic Utensils/Napkins

Cleaning Products

Laundry Detergent
Dishwasher Detergent
Bleach
All-Purpose Cleaner

Pet Care Products

Dog/Cat Food
Extra Water for Pets
Kitty Litter

Helpful Ideas to Save Space

Store ingredients to make homemade laundry detergent instead of storing 12 boxes of Tide.
Store ingredients to make homemade dishwasher detergent or dish soap
Store ingredients to make other homemade cleaners

Don’t forget to come over and share your progress in our Food Storage Do-Over Facebook Group!

If you are a food storage veteran you probably have a lot of random non-food supplies in your storage. Let’s take some time this week to inventory, re-evaluate, re-purchase, and add to our supplies! Here are some action steps for you this week:

Open up your three month supply worksheet and look at the bonus non-foods inventory page.
Fill out your inventory sheet with how much of each item you’d like to store and what amounts you already have
Make a shopping list of the items you need to buy more of (we use Deals to Meals to help us find the best prices on these, combine with coupons for even more savings!)
Experiment with making some of your own homemade cleaners to save money and storage space (see links under helpful resources below for ideas)

Don’t forget to come over and share your progress in our Food Storage Do-Over Facebook Group!

	Deals To Meals: A wonderful service to help you find the cheapest prices on all your toiletries and paper goods. At just $5 a month you break even with ONE shopping trip. Learn more and sign up for a free two week trial to test it out yourself!
	Homemade Cleaners: Quick-and-Easy, Toxin-Free Recipes: Book available in kindle or regular book format. Includes replacements for Kitchen Cleaner, Bathroom Disinfectant, Laundry Detergent, Bleach, Bug Killer, Air Freshener, and more.

helpful
Here are some resources both from us and all over the web that can help you if you want more depth on any areas or are looking for even more ideas of items to include in your plans. It’s always a good idea to look at multiple approaches and decide what will work best for you! And don’t forget to check out the discussions on our facebook group to catch anything we are missing or see what others are doing!