Dehydrating Foods

I am new to prepping and have been reading, reviewing, and researching different routes i can take. i do not have much money and it would not be wise, practical, or logical for me to go out and spend 100.00s of dollars. not only would i not be able to afford it, but my wife would probably call me crazy, divorce me, and take the kids... lol.

i will be starting off small, you know, a week to a few weeks to a few months and so on.

in a thread i had opened up a few days ago a member had mentioned dehydrated foods. right then i face palmed myself and started reading. dehydrated foods is pretty straight forward and cost efficient and pretty damn easy. ive made jerky a handful of times. thing is, there seems to be quite a bit of back and forth when it comes to dehydrating and long term use. ive read that foods can last a few months and ive read foods, if packaged correctly, can last years.

most of you guys seem to know what youre talking about so im hoping you can clear some of this up.

when it comes to meat, how long can it last? any links or suggestions on drying it out and packaging it properly?

same question, but for fruits and veggies.

thanks again for all the help!