11 Tips to Becoming Self Sufficient and Less Dependent on the Grocery Store

These 11 tips to becoming more self sufficient and less dependent on the grocery store will help whether you live in a apartment or on 100 acres, want to be self sufficient or just want to save a little money on groceries! Learn how you can save time not having to run to the store as often, save money by buying in bulk, and be prepared for an emergency or hard times!

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How to Become More Self Sufficient

 

Becoming more self sufficient doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself. Keeping it local and keeping a well stocked pantry so you don’t have to go the grocery store if you have a hard month financially or shelves are empty in a crisis are also valid ways of becoming more self sufficient!

1: Buy food in bulk. This both saves money and keeps your pantry fuller

2: Take advantage of sales to stock up

3: Buy meat directly from a local farmer

4: Rather than purchasing expensive emergency food, stock up on foods you normally eat and rotate through your supply to keep it fresh

5: Learn how to cook from scratch

6: Arrange with a local farmer for eggs and milk delivery. Many farmers are happy to deliver to your door

7: Grow your own perishables. To minimize trips to the grocery store, grow your own perishables such as lettuce and herbs

8: Plant edible landscaping rather than ornamentals

9: Grow food indoors if you can’t have a regular garden where you live

10: Visit local farmers markets

11: As part of avoiding unnecessary trips to the store, don’t forget to keep up your stock of soaps, cleaners, paper products, pet food, medications and anything else you can’t live without!

 

Tip #1: Buy Food in Bulk

 

 

Did you know you can often buy bulk wheat to grind, or even flour, at the feed store? I buy bulk gluten free flour, grains, and a variety of other healthy foods, garden and animal supplies from Azure Standard, a natural foods co-op that delivers to most of the United States.

You can also check with local farmers for bulk grains or produce. Although you are not producing these things yourself, keeping a well stocked pantry will still help you to be far more self sufficient!

You can read more about Azure Standard on our About Azure Standard Page. Or you can go straight to the Azure Standard website here! As you can tell, we are huge fans of Azure! We have been using their company for almost 15 years!

Stocking up on some bulk foods is a practical use for some of your tax return, or you can build up more slowly. I like to buy one or two bulk items each month, sticking to foods I regularly use. One month I might buy 25lbs of rice flour and a big bag of sea salt, the next I’ll get a gallon of raw honey, then the next a bag of almonds and a gallon of coconut oil.

This way I’m always a little ahead on non-perishable food items, which means when we have a month where the budget is tight, I can easily go a week or two without buying groceries, and in case of an emergency we would probably be fine for many months.

If you are a prepper, you can take this much farther and stock up on foods that will last years, storing whole grains and beans in mylar bags or 5 gallon buckets. If you are shopping at Azure, you can find all the supplies for long term food storage there as well!

 

Tip #2: Take Advantage of Sales

 

When you do go to the grocery store, keep an eye out for great sales on non-perishable items you normally use. If your budget can handle it, buy a few extras of those items.

Imagine you paid $5 each week for a jar of organic peanut butter. That same peanut butter goes down to $3.75 for a week. You buy one month worth that week, or four jars. You’ve saved $5 that month, just on that one item! Imagine if you used that strategy and saved the same amount on ten of the food items you normally buy, buying one month’s worth when each item went on sale. You would save $50 on your grocery bill that month!

 

Tip #3: Buy Meat in Bulk

 

Even if you can’t grow meat yourself, you can still become more self sufficient by purchasing local meat.

If you are able to buy meat in bulk, directly from the farmer, you can save so much money! Local farmers typically sell beef or pork by the whole animal, 1/2 animal or 1/4.

If you have access to pasture, consider buying a rodeo steer in the spring to fatten up and butcher in the fall. In my area, practice steers like this one get too tame for roping and are sold around the age of two for much cheaper than a purebred Angus steer. Craigslist is a great place to look!

Bulk meat can be canned or stored in an extra freezer. If you are storing a lot of food in your freezer, keep a generator on hand in case of a power outage. We like to keep nicer cuts like steaks in the freezer, canning the stew meat, broth and roast.

 

 

Tip #4: Stock Up on Foods You Will Actually Eat

 

I don’t buy the stuff that is marketed as “emergency food”, one, because it is expensive, and two, because I know I may never have to use it, so it will eventually go to waste.

Avoiding waste is a vital part of saving money and becoming self sufficient!

Instead I stock up on foods we actually eat on a regular basis, so my pantry gets rotated and replaced with new food regularly. I never have to worry about it going to waste, because my pantry is full of foods we actually eat.

For us, that includes dry beans. Actually, I need to share my easy recipe for crock pot refried beans one of these days, because we eat a LOT of them! My kids love refried beans from scratch, seasoned with gluten-free Nacho Cheese Popcorn Seasoning.

Update: You can find our recipe here for Easy Refried Beans From Scratch!

 

Tip #5: Learn How to Cook From Scratch

 

 

Cooking from scratch not only saves money, it can help you to eat healthier, less processed foods, and can save you many trips to the grocery store!

Unlike a loaf of store bought bread, flour will last for many months, and whole grains for years. This is a great way to reduce your trips to the grocery store and become more self sufficient!

We eat a lot of simple, whole foods, including meats, veggies and fruits. I occasionally buy bread when I am short on time, but most of the time, I make my own gluten free bread, hamburger buns and tortillas. I don’t buy expensive  bread or cake mixes, but usually have a variety of gluten free flours on hand to make them from scratch. If I am missing an ingredient, I can often tweak the recipe a little to use what I have and save me a trip to the store!

 

Tip #6: Arrange With a Local Farmer For Eggs or Milk Delivery

 

I you live in a rural area, you might be able to arrange with a neighbor for weekly deliveries of eggs or milk (if legal in your state). In some states where you cannot buy raw milk, you may still be able to purchase a “share” in the animal that gets you a certain amount of milk every week.

This is another way to become more self sufficient by simply keeping it local!

In the past we have run a vegetable delivery service in our town with our extra vegetables.

 

 

Tip #7: Grow Your Own Perishables

 

To save trips to the store, consider growing your own perishable items, such as lettuce and fresh herbs. Even if you don’t have garden space, these can easily be grown in pots on a porch or balcony. They can even be grown indoors if you have a nice, south facing window or a grow light.

Growing at least a little of your own food is one of the most important things you can do to become more self sufficient!

Microgreens are an easy way to grow lots of fresh, nutritious food in a small space!

You can reading more about indoor gardening here!

 

 

Tip #8: Plant Edible Landscaping and Fruit Trees

 

This is an especially good (and fun!) option for those of you who live in town to be more self sufficient. A wide variety of edible perennials can be incorporated into a landscape that will produce food year after year. It’s a great step towards becoming less dependent on the grocery store every year!

You might plant fruit or nut trees, maples, berry bushes, perennial herbs, evergreen bunching onions, asparagus, edible flowers, even heirloom rose varieties that produce lots of rosehips for jelly or syrup!

 

 

Tip #9: Apartment Gardening

 

If you live in an apartment, you don’t have to be limited to buying all your food from the store! Almost any vegetable can be grown in a container on a balcony or patio. Dwarf fruit trees have even been developed for container gardening!

If you don’t have space outdoors, a variety of edibles can still be grown indoors in a large, south facing window or under grow lights. Some plants I grow indoors here in Montana include cherry tomatoes, peppers, green onions, aloe vera, herbs, dwarf citrus trees, dwarf pomegranates and dwarf bananas. You really can become more self sufficient anywhere!

You can find a great selection of dwarf fruit trees, including a true dwarf banana from Wellspring, a company I have used and recommend: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FTruly-Tiny-Banana-Plant-Live-Fruit-Tree-Plant%2F122372285446%3Fhash%3Ditem1c7df4e406%3Ag%3AkKUAAOSw~AVYsqk3&campid=5338331041&toolid=20008

We also have a well researched list of the best grow lights available right here!

 

 

Tip #10: Take Advantage of Farmers Markets

 

If you don’t have a garden, you can still head down to your local farmers market and ask around for farmers who sell cases of fresh produce. Even though I have a large garden, there are always crops that didn’t do well for me that year, or that I don’t have on my property yet, like fruit.

You can look for produce to can or freeze (fruit for smoothies!), or stick to crops that will store in a cool part of your house without any processing, such as potatoes, squash, storage onions and garlic. This is a great way to still be self sufficient even if you aren’t able to produce much of your own food.

A crawl space can be used as a makeshift root cellar for a variety of vegetables!

 

Tip #11: Don’t forget about these for becoming more self sufficient!

 

As part of avoiding unnecessary trips to the store, don’t forget to keep up your stock of soaps, cleaners, paper products, pet food, medications and anything else you can’t live without! I either make my own or pick up extras of these items when they go on sale!

A vital part of being self sufficient is to keep clean water on hand in case of a power outage or emergency. Rather than buying bottled waters, I use five gallon buckets and replace the water every year. For both water storage and dry foods, I LOVE these screw on lids from Azure!

 

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Thanks for reading!