Superpails vs. Homemade Storage

To make the shipping from Rainy Day Foods worth it, it means getting about 2 years' worth of dry goods.  I had been wanting to go with them for the popcorn, and their Superpails.

That one extra year of dry goods needs to be packaged properly so that it stores for 25 years, just in case it takes us much longer than expected to go through the dry goods.  Here's what you need for one basic "Superpail" long-term storage bucket:

• 5-gallon mylar bag (air-tight and moisture-proof)
• 2000cc oxygen absorber (without oxygen, any bug eggs in your dry good cannot survive, and food doesn't oxidize)... work quickly as they lose potency within 15 minutes.
• 5-gallon pail with lid (keeps vermin from getting in, supports the mylar bag's weight so it doesn't rip, stacks well, easily transportable)
• About 35lbs of the dry food
• A method for sealing the mylar bag (lay a piece of wood over the top of the bucket, fold the mylar over it, then use an iron to press the bag closed)

I was planning on getting some Superpails (basically 6-gallon pails already set up with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers) from Rainy Day Foods.

Then I discovered that the Home Depot near me has the lowest prices for food-safe 5-gallon buckets with handles that I can find, and I did a price comparison.  Technically your bucket doesn't even have to be food-safe if you are using mylar bags.  At $3 per bucket and $2 per lid (Home Depot), and $2 per mylar bag and oxygen absorber (sold in packs of 10 from Amazon), it will cost me $8 apiece to make my own pail.

Lentils, for an average example:

• 6 gallon superpail:  43lbs lentils = $50.50.
• 5 gallon homemade pail:  50lb lentils (35 fit in bucket) = $46.00.

So, I am getting 7 extra pounds of legumes, and saving $4.50.

Considering that I would like to have 1 pail each of 10 items stored long-term, if I make them myself, I am saving approximately $45 and getting an extra 70lbs of legumes and grains.  Definitely not going to pay them to make the Superpails!

Now, if I just buy 1 year's worth of food every year from Honeyville Grain, and don't pack anything into long-term storage?  I'm saving 70 bucks of packaging material right there, and half a closet's worth of storage space, and don't have to put down twice the money at once.  Guess I have to decide whether an emergency stash is that important!

I'm glad I started planning so early, because I keep finding little ways to improve the bulk food plan for 2014.