If given the hindsight, I think $85 for a month's supply would have been a justified expense, just to see if you liked the selection....I started out without a plan, just putting away staples that were cheap (typically less than $1 per pound for beans/rice/cocoa/pasta), and quickly figured out that the storage container was going to be more expensive than the actual product being stored...I could store a bunch of rice in a 5gal pail, but was not very practical for a single old guy..

that is the reason I suggested the Wendy DeWitt video mentioned in the Urban Preparedness forum... since then, I've switched to vacuum sealed glass jars... little more money, but for my situation more practical... and they store under the bed

at $.26 a packet, that's cheaper than a brass cased 5.56 round or two 9mm reloads