Shelves

If you haven’t heard of “The Seven Day Challenge,”  click here to learn more. Every week, a new baby step will be highligthed. I will focus each week on how to help you make an educated decision to complete that baby step.

This last week’s highlight was shelves. Click here to view the post - below is a breakdown that will hopefully help you and your family with your goals.

 

Build Your Own - Cheap & offers the most flexibility, but time-intensive

• Free plan for building cardboard rotating can racks
• View the resources section below for other plan options.  
• Don’t be afraid to check out local listings (i.e. - freecylce.org, craiglist). Often when people are moving, they do not want to break down shelves so they sell them really cheap, or give them away for free.

Inexpensive metal or plastic shelving (i.e. from Walmart) - A cheap and easy way to get started, shelves may not be as durable

•  Plastic & Metal - these shelves cost anywhere from $15 - $50. Click here for a link to check out some shelves.

Higher quality metal shelves - Heavy duty hardware store shelves should have no problem with bowing or collapsing under heavy weights.

• Home Depot, Lowes, Sam’s Club, and Costco offer heavy duty shelves for reasonable prices, you can get them anywhere from $60-$100. There is a wide range of selections you can make.

Deluxe Can Rotation System - Most expensive option, but very convenient for easily rotating through foods. Shelf Reliant is the most common deluxe can rotating system. You can find coupons for their products all the time. Before you purchase one, make sure you do a google search for a coupon. Don’t pay full price!! Right now they actually have a free giveaway. Click here for more info.

 Let me know of any way that you store your food storage. Have you built your own system? How much did it cost?

Thanks!

Gamma Lids

Storing some of your long term food storage in buckets is a great alternatvie to canning. You can purchase the dry items in bulk, saving money! Using a gamma lid is a great way to keep your food safe from bugs,rodents, and moisture.

A gamma  lid is a lid that will fit most 12″ diameter buckets, and will trasform your bucket into a wonderful storage container. The lid is special because it has  two polymer gaskets, giving the bucket an air tight seal. You can also stack buckets easily. Another great feature is that the lids come in a variety of colors and so you can color co-ordinate some of your food storage. A lot of people also use these lids to store their pet’s food. Campers enjoy these lids because you can keep items nice and dry.

Cost of gamma lids:

You can purchase gamma lids online anywhere from $4.58 to $12.95. A lot of internet sites offer discounts on the more you purchase. The $4.58 price is if you purchase 12 or more. Remember to factor in the cost of shipping!  A couple months ago, Macey’s put on an “Emergency Prepardness Sale.” They sold gamma lids for $5.99.  If you are interested in these lids, I suggest buying a couple for a discounted rate - that way you have room to build your food storage. Remember, now you can buy food storage items in bulk rather than in cans, which makes it more cost effective!

A Great Tip for Buckets!

A lot of readers are interested in storing some of their food storage in buckets. Plastic buckets can be used to store food items that are dry (10 % moisture or less) and low in oil content. For information on how to store these items in a bucket, please click here.

You must get a food grade bucket, and a lid that has a gasket (the plastic round lining). You may also choose to use a gamma lid (more on that next week) for convenience.

Here is a great tip from a Caroline in Florida:

“ I’ve been collecting food grade 5 gallon buckets from my local grocery store for the past couple of months.  They use them for frosting in the bakeries and then they just trow them away.  Fortunately they have been kind enough to give them to me instead!!! :)  All of these grains were put in to 17-  5 gallon buckets.  If you buy the buckets brand new they are appx $5, with a lid, if I remember correctly.  I sealed them with Dry Ice according to the instructions on provident living and now they should be good for 20 years!

These buckets also fit large bags of flour, sugar and rice purchased from stores like Costco and Sam’s Club.  I keep buckets filled with those items in my storage room and then fill my kitchen containers from them.  All together collecting buckets from the stores has saved me over $100 (I have gotten 21 buckets total) and I am sooooo grateful for that savings that I can put towards food for my family.”

You may also want to try your local ice cream shop. I was able to get buckets for 50 cents!  I could not use the lids because they do not have a gasket in them, but I am going to buy some gamma lids and that will solve the problem.

Do you have a tip you would like to share? Please let me know!