Stocking Up

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I actually expect of emergency preparation. I think it's important to think about it before you do anything, just to get a handle on what you can achieve, given financial constraints and space. My goal is to have a stockpile of the things we need for a year. I'd like to be at a point where I can purchase things only when they are on a great sale. I'd like to have that because it will accomplish two things: first, I'll get the best deals on everything I use (thus saving us money in the long run), and second, I'll have that year supply of necessities should tragedy strike.

But. We don't have a basement or a crawl space; the water table is a bit too high where we live for that. So, what do we do with a year's worth of stuff?

I've been thinking a lot about this, and I've come up with some ideas that will hopefully enable me to accomplish my goal without bursting at the seams.

1. I don't use my kitchen space effectively AT ALL. Part of this is that I didn't really know how I wanted to organize my kitchen when we moved in, and I've never revisited the issue. We have a lot of space that is used poorly: for instance, in one of my cupboards, I have my cookie sheets, cutting boards, and cooling rack stored flat. That wastes at least eight inches above those items. I plan to move them to vertical storage in my pantry. I think I'll also invest in some bins so I can get similar usage out of my pantry shelves. 
2. We have shelves in all of our closets that aren't used well. For instance, in our entry way closet, we keep scarves, hats, and gloves on top (above the coats) These aren't organized, they're just thrown up there, and they again only take a few inches vertically, while I have probably two additional feet above them that is unusable right now. Similarly, we don't have anything on the floor in that closet, so we are wasting about three feet below the coats that could be used. I plan on moving the scarves, gloves, and hats to bins (on a shelf system) in the garage, since we keep our cars in the garage and typically leave through the garage anyway.
3. We don't use our garage effectively. We've been able to keep both cars in there mostly because we don't have too much junk yet. But, I don't want to keep any junk! We have typically saved lots of boxes, which stems from the amount of moving we did when we were first married. However, we are settled now, and while boxes are nice, the space is more valuable, so we'll be getting rid of a good number of boxes. Additionally, we have a shed with extra space; we can move a lot of things out there that we don't need on a regular basis, and for a while, I'm sure I'll keep it covered with a tarp, just in case our shed isn't weatherproof. This should open up more space for storing, and even though I won't be able to store food out there, I can store paper goods. I hope to store a good amount of our year's supply of toilet paper, paper towels, and other non-perishables out in the garage.
4. In addition to the hall closets that are being underutilized, our bedroom closets are a disaster. The one in the nursery is pretty full of baby stuff, but ours has a shelf above and space below, and we have a large closet in the office that is full of--yep, you guessed it, junk. Some of that junk (the sentimental stuff) will be moved out to the garage to make room for the less heat-tolerant items. 
5. In addition to clearing stuff out and making more room, there are some spots where we could hide things. Such as under our bed. We have some boxes storing things under there right now, but there is still more space. We also have some bookshelves with cupboards on the bottom, and then there are the couches, where we can slide things under. 

All in all, I think we have just enough space. We'll see of course, but it makes me hopeful to get started.