So I'm finally starting to take prepping seriously and I want to start stock piling things like dry oatmeal, pasta, and rice.

Once you buy it, how do you keep it from going bad? Vaccume sealing? Oxygen absorbers? Storing them in sealed containers?

What's a good resource for the basics?

Mylar bags with O2 absorbers is the standard for home packaging dry goods for long term storage.
Survivalist Boards has a lot of info on food storage.   SurvivalistBoards


I also dry can rice, pasta, oats, etc. in half gallon Mason jars. These leave the contents easy to identify for medium term storage and regular use.
 
My mylar bags of food in go clear waterproof storage bins and those go on shelfs in the basement.

https://www.target.com/p/ezy-storage-52-8qt-ip67-waterproof-storage-box/-/A-81967134#lnk=sametab


Augason Farms and LDS are a good source for staples that are already canned.
Azure Standard is also supposed to be a good source but I have not ordered from them myself.
Most of the basic dry goods I buy in bulk at Costco and then seal in mylar. Rice, beans, pasta, salt, sugar, oats, lentils. etc.

When you use mylar bags, do you use a vacuum sealer to suck out all the air?

No. I add an appropriately sized O2 absorber and squeeze out as much air as possible. Then use an impulse sealer to seal the mylar bag.
A flat hair iron or a clothes iron and metal yard stick also works for sealing the bags.
But I seal enough mylar that I spent the $35 for a dedicated sealer. This also means I'm not using my wife's hair iron to seal mylar.

Mylar bags do not have the air channels like vacuum bags have.
The air channels are the bumpy texture on one side of the plastic vacuum sealer bags.
Which means that all of the air cannot be sucked out by an external vacuum sealer, like a Food Saver.
Cheaper vacuum sealers do not have a temperature or time controller which means that thicker mylar bags are not going to seal. Higher end ones like the Avid Armor A100 do have adjustable controls and can seal mylar (see YouTube video linked below).


I also have a chamber vac which removes the air then seals the bag. Chamber vacs can be a bit expensive starting at around $300 and going above $1,000 for the larger ones.
An O2 absorber is supposed to be unnecessary when sealing mylar bags this way but I toss one in anyways.
This works for smaller mylar bags.

Here is a picture of rice in 6"x8" mylar bags done in a chamber vac.
I use the small bags for when I want a few cups of food for things like camping trips or when making my own backpacking meals.
Then larger bags, O2 absorbers, and an impulse sealer for bulk food storage.

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Random food storage pic.

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O2 Absorbers in cleaned out 2 Liter bottles has always worked for me, at least for rice and beans.  Just finished cycling through some 12 year old rice, and it was fine.  If you, or anyone you know, drinks out of 2L, it's a pretty cost effective and easy to stack method too.

We did the gallon sized mylar, O2 absorbers and a heat seal.  Then we stacked the bags in 5 gallon food grade buckets that a local bakery used to donate to us.  I'd write on the bucket what was inside, and with the handle its a nice way to stack, store and transport.

FPNI, exactly what we do. We do use a vacuum sealer to pull a lot of air out of the bags, but definitely
not all, the rest is done by the O2 absorber.

i still use my chamber vac on items that don't use an oxygen absorber but have went to oxygen absorber only on everything else

Gamma Seal is your friend.  Rodent and insect proof.

Yep. You can get the buckets in 5 gallon or i think 2.5 even for smaller things, and get the gamma seal lids.  Super secure and easy to open and close.

I like to vacuum seal and put in oxygen absorbers and then place into the buckets with the gamma seal lids.

Any links to a good place to buy Mylar bags and O2 absorbers?

https://packfreshusa.com/

Great way to get started; only two tools required:  A check and your pen.

https://store.churchofjesuschrist.org/new-category/food-storage/food-storage/5637169327.c

@Lowdown3 is our resident SME on long term storage of food.