1 – STORE WHAT YOU EAT. If you don’t eat something now (like dried beans), you won’t learn to love it when TSHTF. If you don’t know how to cook it now, you won't learn to cook it then, either.

2 - Since emergencies come in all shapes in sizes, BUY ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF ITEMS WITH VARYING SHELF LIVES (like whole milk, canned milk, powdered milk and long shelf-life milk). For most emergencies, you won’t need to open a #10 can with a 20 year shelf life (and once it’s open you can kiss that 20-year shelf life goodbye). I buy for four storage durations: Short Term, Medium Term, Long Term and Doomsday.

3 – EAT WHAT YOU STORE (rotate your stock). Except for Doomsday items, rotate your stored food through your everyday pantry and replenish it on the other end. That will also give you a chance to learn how to cook unfamiliar items and experiment with recipes.

4 - LEARN HOW TO STORE FOOD PROPERLY AND HOW TO RECOGNIZE WHEN SOMETHING HAS GONE BAD. Here's a hint: you may be putting your best storage containers out in your recycle bin.

[Been There. Done That. Made lots of mistakes, but I'm getting better at it.]

GOOD LUCK!!