Cost per day - $2 to $5, depending greatly on your menu plan
Cost for six months - $360 to $900, with no shipping costs if purchased locally
Longevity - 30 years

4 Dry Goods and Grains: Cooking these foods and preparing palatable meals from them may be a bit of a challenge, but if you're familiar with cooking from scratch, this is the cheapest way to go. Dry pasta, rice, flour, dried beans, sugar, and many other staple foods can be stored for 30 years with negligible nutrient loss when properly packaged. They're also relatively easy to work into your regular meals. The drawbacks are that you'll need even more potable water than for freeze-dried foods, and you'll need to know how to cook. You can purchase these staples already packed in cans or buckets with oxygen absorbers and Mylar liners for maximum longevity. Or you can save a few dollars by buying the food in bulk and repacking it yourself. Depending on the staple food item, a 5-gallon bucket usually holds over 30 pounds of dry goods, which can represent over 40,000 calories. This means that 10 five-gallon buckets will hold enough staple foods for your six-month supply.