Preppin' for Leaner Times

This week I did some quick internet research to see what food items we could buy in bulk, and how much it would cost for a year's worth of supplies.  I plan to stock up before 2014, so that the transition to cheaper living is an easy one.

Here's a quick estimate on how much of it we'd go through per year, just 2 people, while trying to mix it up and not be boring:

• Steel cut oats, 50lbs (honeyvillegrain.com), $53
• Flour for sourdough bread, sourdough pancakes, etc (Costco), 80lbs, $35
• Dry garbanzo beans for hummus (honeyvillegrain.com), 25lbs, $44
• Dry lentils (local grocery on sale), 50lbs, $50
• Dry black beans (local grocery on sale), 50lbs, $50
• (Costco pinto beans are $14 cheaper, but we LOVE black beans)
• Basmati white rice* (Costco), 60lbs, $51
• Cornmeal, 50lbs (honeyvillegrain.com), $44
• Quinoa, (Costco) 12lbs, $30
• Pasta, (Costco) 13lbs, $13
• Costco membership, $55 
• Honeyville shipping, $5
• Honeyville 10% off coupon (sign up on email list, coupons come every few months), +$14

Total:  7.25** meals' worth per day, 390lbs of dry food, $416, = $1.14/day for everything
(Warning:  not all Costcos carry the same thing!  My list made for less than $1/day before I visited our local Costco to check it out.  I'll be visiting the one near my parents later for the quinoa and rice).

Once I actually go stock up on these things, I'll do another post to show exactly what the prices were.  If you have a better price for any of these things, I am interested in hearing it!  I am going to try out some other grains like barley and millet, because these can be found for under $1/pound. 

Considering that the average daily diet for one person on minimum wage is $5, my ideal goal is to average out at $10/day for both of us.  This leaves $8.81/day for meat, homemade yogurt, fruit and veggies (some from the garden), condiments, and beverages... it should be doable, and not too painful.  I should also mention that my husband is totally on board with this frugal whole foods experiment.  He's a trooper!

The garden is already reducing food costs... 

these 2 gallons of produce made some canned and sun-dried tomatoes for winter! 

We'll also be eating as Paleo-ish as possible on the budget, while soaking the flour and grains to reduce phytates (which, according to most sources, is the scientific reason to avoid grains on the diet).  The pasta (can't soak) and quinoa (can't fully avoid saponins) can't be Paleo, but we love 'em, so they are present as a smaller percentage of the year's dry foods.

We do have a few airtight 5-gallon food-safe buckets with gamma lids already, so we'll be storing some of it in those to keep it fresh throughout the year.

Hello, Lentil Loaf.
Everyone asks for my meatloaf trick, so I might as well add it in here:  Double the spices.  For the topping, add an equal amount of BBQ sauce to the ketchup, and stir in a tsp of dry mustard, and apply liberally.  Bathe in the impressed gazes of your diners.

*I picked basmati white rice for a reason... lower glycemic index (58, while jasmine is 109), and white keeps well in storage longer than brown.  It also has a lower level of arsenic than some types (and arsenic levels can be reduced by a further 30% by soaking until it is clear, then cooking 1C rice in 6C water and discarding the water). 

**7.25 meals' worth of carbs per day is an over-estimate for what we'll eat, considering that my husband often has free meals on business trips.  But who knows, maybe we'll have more time to be social and will host dinner parties once I'm at home.  Better to go over than under, where dry goods are concerned.

What cheap staples would you stock up on?