Being new to prepping in an apartment , or being more established with land and storage, what you store remaining viable to eat is an issue . I keep a little extra of everything we eat and just started adding a bit of this and a bit of that for antipasto type meals rather than keep great quantities of ingredients . I suppose I have three months stored if we rationed which is not as much as I could have accumulated but I cannot afford to waste money on food sitting and going off . Also that stored food may not be as healthy as foraged weeds. I once tried to eat the storage food and about day three I was feeling queasy . Maybe look and take a well rounded approach as you build up your prepping. Hiding things in plain sight is an excellant idea which may take some handiwork to modify things to accomodate more efficient storage of even a little extra here and there ? Room under table tops etc . With the approach of capitolizing on sales and stocking a bit extra to save money and have a bit more convenience as well as a hedge if you hit a bump in the road is a healthy start . If things went ape shit and you had to live only on your supplies , you can bet things would dangerous and damn hard to have stuff others would not come after if it were that severe a crisis so any stockpile of a full years supplies is questionable in my mind in place in your apartment and others mention having some networking to keep some stuff in another location and having a place to go where you contribute, is sound . A bit of this and that stored securely in your vehicle and storage locker is not that bad an idea . Everyone preps for different things , in different ways so if you are new to it, take a deep breath and start small and practical and think it through what exactly will help you through situations you foresee.

Don't worry, none of your comments have put me off at all. I welcome all the advice you've given me so far, as it's made me think of things that I hadn't considered. I'm going to concentrate on building up my short-term solution (3 months storage) right now. Then in the future, I will look into more long-term prospects like gardening and surviving without a stockpile, along with bugout plans and making contact with like-minded people. A move to a different location may also be in the plans. I appreciate all of the ideas you've given me.