Food During Out of Town Moves and Fringe Benefits of Stocking Supplies

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Someone asked about what I do with stored food during moves. The fridge/ freezer stuff is easy it gets eaten, given away or tossed. The long term shelf stable stuff like 5 gallon buckets are easy, it sucks but you move them. That might not work for an international move but the effort and cost to buy then sell a ton or two of food multiple times is unpleasant. The mid range pantry stuff (rice, canned goods, boxed stuff, etc) is a bit more complicated. I try to eat up as much as I can and move as much of the rest as I can.

Military movers will take unopened shelf stable stuff (CONUS). I wouldn’t suggest taking anything fragile (glass jars, etc) but cans and buckets are fine.

[Do note that if you are pushing the limit this sort of food is heavy and busting your weight allowance is expensive. I would not be moving a dozen cases of canned food and a ton of rice n beans if we were anywhere close to the limit. For lower enlisted folks weight allowances are pretty low so this probably be a good plan. The amount of food I will move is probably a third or half a lower enlisted guys total weight allowance. One of the many places where the military is not fair.]

Right now I am in the eating it up phase. However since I had food for 4 and there is 1 of me it isn’t going great. I’ll probably end up taking some stuff to good will or giving it away. Losing a few hundred bucks of food every couple years is a cost of being a survivalist in the military. One of the many places where that is a hassle. Such is life.

Also moving my ammo stash sucks.  Get a bit of .308/7.62×51, decent stash of 5.56 and 9mm, a bunch of 7.62×39 and 12 gauge and it adds up fast. Ammo I have to haul myself which is a hassle.

I am open to input here but as I’ve done this a couple times so odds are high my plan is about solidified.

I am also trying to work through some other stores such as gasoline before the trip.

A fringe benefit of this stuff is for the last 2 weeks my grocery bill has been very low. Until I leave I will only be buying milk and fresh fruit/ veggies at the store so the bill will be even lower. Also started using up the gasoline. So my bills for fuel and food are going to be very low for awhile. A happy accident as finances are in a state of flux.

I also realized this could be a fringe benefit of preparedness. If you have a months food and gas stashed that means you could live off stores and put cash to stuff you definitely have to pay for like say rent and utilities. In a personal SHTF this would let you stretch existing cash reserves to keep things going longer. Of course you would be depleting stores which would either need to be replaced or your preparedness level would drop. Options are a good thing.

So stocking up on food, fuel, etc all has a variety of benefits. You should do that.