Thank 😊 you I'm not some crazy doomsday American prepper honest.
Our cupboard under stairs just used be cupboard of doom.
Its valuable space.
Husband used old bits bed cut different lengths and cheap brackets screw fix to place shelves on back wall under the eaves it's quite a small cupboard wish it was bigger but I just try and keep big things and bulk stock same item in there the everyday I keep in dining room cupboard we built in alcove using cheap ikea wall cabinets stacked and secured to wall.
We don't keep much food in kitchen as it's fairly small.
We also have big ikea cupboard in bathroom which is so handy for all the toiletries and loo roll.
We learnt hard way in 2008 when Husband lost his job
That the council did not care
Housing and universal credit can take 6 weeks and all we got offered was food bank vouchers which we dident use.
I remember going to big tesco with 60 quod last entire month and foraging as it was summer.
Luckily Husband quickly got a new Job but was scary as I did not work we had 3 tiny kids, non understanding landlord we did a pay day loan to pay the rent.
We told no family or freinds and even in work was another month before he got paid .
The next big wakeup call was 2020.
We always do big pantry/ freezer challenge in jan and feb as low paid months usually worked well except covid hit march 2020 exactly time when we were low on everything and everyone's was panic buying.
Then 2020/ 2021 kept up with shopping so we always had 2 weeks food in house in case we had self isolate
I then extended that to a month now I'm aiming because silly price rises, working more days and some shortages/ availability issues split food into different categorises
1 months worth drinks cereal and biscuits
2_3, months bathroom items and cleaning as they dont go out date.
1 months worth meals , meat and bread in freezer.
years worth tinned tomato pasta rice ketchup oils herbs and spices
don't have space keep years worth of every food or the budget.
I don't stockpile loo roll
or crisps due to space and fact too many treats family eat them all so I ration and buy crisps/ treats weekly alongside my fresh shop.
weekly shop is mostly just chilled items and reductions mostly packed lunch bits.
We only run 1 car so doing bulk shops heavy items really saves effort ? Time and money as can shop around more in car I go several food shops loyal to no one many aldis and lilds close to each other.
Then in Feb 2022 the HMRC decided we owed them money and to claw it back through wages by changing code which left us skint.
I was so glad that every December we do big stock up and buy as much reduced as can to fill freezers as made things less stressful like a food savings account.
If you worried about health or job security a food savings account gives peace of mind.
If I get covid work won't pay me.
That's a loss of £240 a week.
If the car plays up one month and we spend loads then we can buy less food and exist on what we have.