So, my wife comes home, she found this place called "Swans" - it's kind of an island of misfit toys from the supermarket - closeouts, scratch and dents. Well, I went there for the first time with her last night and there was this glorious assortment of "longer life" products - meals in a pouch stuff, very much like MRE's, plus ample canned goods - and the prices were insanely low (a 32 oz can of pork and beans was $0.79). In addition, they had ample paper goods, foils, and all that.

Well, of course, I got to thinking about how well this would go toward creating a budget emergency pantry, and after some noodling with the calculator and a review of the prices, it looks like I can create an emergency pantry of the brands and foods we like and use for about $600 - that's a 3 month pantry, which is pretty darn incredible.

Anyone else have a place like that near them? I never knew this place was around, yet I've driven by it scores of times.