The 1-Up System for Food & Money

Posted On 9 April 2020

Last updated on April 10th, 2024

It amazed me how people were panic buying when COVID-19 spread its way around the world. It got me wondering if that many people really have so little food at home. An alarming number of people live paycheck to paycheck. It makes sense that they might do the same thing with food.

When a company utilizes this strategy, it is called Just-In-Time inventory. While Just-In-Time inventory is very adaptive and agile, it is not able to weather a crisis very well. Don’t get me wrong, Just-In-Time is wonderful when things are going well. The problems show up when things don’t go as expected.

When I was a teenager, my stepdad bought cases and cases of #10 cans of dehydrated food storage. It wasn’t food we would normally eat. My Mom and I thought he was crazy! We wondered when we would ever use food like that. At the time we were living in southern Missouri. A year or so later we moved from Missouri to St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. Hurricane Hugo devastated the island about a month after we moved to the island! The hurricane destroyed the island! We did not get electricity back for 3 months. It took 5 months to get phone service back. Stores didn’t have much food for quite a while after the hurricane. Luckily, we had a gas stove in the house we were renting. We also had that food storage!

All through my adult life I have heard about having a food storage. I have seen the benefits first-hand several times. Hurricane Hugo was the biggest crisis. Other crises have involved times when there was no work, and no money coming in. The crises in life are not bad in my opinion. They are not enjoyable at the time, yet there are benefits to adversity in our life.

I am a believer in food storage! Now, I have helped people move, and have seen them with a “Food Storage” that is looked upon as something sacred and not to be touched! In my opinion, they are going about food storage in the wrong way.

I started calling my food storage system the 1-Up System. It is so simple that anyone can use the system. It doesn’t matter if you have a big house, small house, or live in an apartment. If you’re in an apartment, it will take some creativity, but it can still be done!

Ok, here it is! The 1-Up System is simply to have at least 1 unopened container of a non-perishable item that you regularly use at your home. It doesn’t matter if it’s ketchup, mayo, pickles, baking powder, sugar, or flour. When we open a new container of that food item, it goes on the shopping list. Now, a word of caution. Pay attention to expiry dates. Don’t have too much on hand.

For items like flour, rice, & sugar, we use 3-4 gallon size plastic buckets with lids that seal. The buckets will hold approximately 10 kg (25 lbs) of each item. We only have 1 bucket per food item. With these items, we apply the 1-Up System as when we fill a bucket with flour, then flour goes on the shopping list.

Weather Life’s Storms

When using the 1-Up System, it allows us to weather the storms in life no matter what kind of storm comes your way. It could be weather related, it could be unemployment, or it could be a virus. There is a comfort to know that there is food at home.

Even it the crisis is a rough season. To have a full freezer can definitely help to reduce your grocery bill during the lean times.

Reduce Your Stress

Even during good times, the 1-up System works wonderfully! It is such a stress reliever because we tend to have the items we need, when we need them. Even the Just-In-Time system works with the 1-Up System. It is very rare that we go to the cupboard or pantry to open something only to find out that we forgot to put it on the shopping list. It does happen, but it is rare.

We have the items that we need on our list. I know which items I must get, and which items I can pick up if it fits in the budget for that shopping trip. If the store is out of the item we are looking to have as an extra, no problem! If we have a month’s worth of that product at home, I’m not in a rush to get it. We can wait.

Save Money

The 1-Up System allows us to look for replacement items when they are on sale, which saves us money. We can look for the item when it is on sale and save money. I will often look for good sale prices and purchase 2 or 3 of that item (providing we will use it before it expires).

We usually buy our canned goods when the store has a case lot sale. When we open a case of items like tomato soup or beans they are added to the shopping list. Yes, I count canned goods that we use regularly by the case in this system. This system is very flexible and can be adjusted to meet your personal needs.

Storage of Wealth

Food and supplies that you have are a form of wealth storage. They are even more important that having liquid assets as they are one step closer to use than liquid assets because they don’t even need to be purchased. You are also in control of what you already have – you’re not dependent on the stores or effected by people panic shopping.

You can apply the 1-Up System to your bank accounts! If you have a month’s worth of expenses in the bank, there is a peace of mind that comes with that. Since money does not expire, feel free to increase the amount in the bank to 3 or 6 months of expenses. For example, direct deposit is much better than getting a paper check. One time, there was a banking problem and my direct deposit paycheck was deposited a couple days late into my account. It was inconvenient, but I was not panicked like my co-workers were.

Extra money in the bank works like a shock absorber to help you through the bumps of life. I recommend that you implement the 1-Up System in your life. The benefits of this system range from financial to psychological to emotional. When we look at life in a longer term, the short term tends to get better.