Posted on 05/12/2022 10:41:48 PM PDT by blam
A storage room stacked with food is seen at a preppers ranch in Mathias, West Virginia, on March 13, 2020.
Most people don’t bother to prepare for uncertain times until it’s too late. It’s the “ant and the grasshopper” parable written on a human scale.
“The problem is that while fear is a great motivator, it isn’t conducive to smart decisions,” said Diane Vukovic at Primalsurvivor.com, an online personal preparedness website.
“No matter how terrified you are about a certain event happening, you still need to go about prepping in a calm, logical way,” Vukovic told The Epoch Times.
Once considered a fringe “conspiracy theory,” the idea of preparedness has gone mainstream as global events unfold. Many online “preppers” have said that only a small percentage of Americans prepare for potential food shortages and civil unrest. However, the concern among would-be preppers on a limited income is the cost of preparing in an inflationary environment.
The good news is that prepping is still relatively inexpensive to do, Vukovic said.
“Chances are you don’t need an expensive gas mask, bulletproof vest, or other hyped-up survival gear. You’ll see that most preparedness supplies are very cheap,” Vukovic said.
Rule number one is don’t buy out of fear or panic.
“I suggest writing a list of the most likely disasters for your area. For most people in the United States these will be earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and power outages. Then, make a list of what items you would need to be prepared for these disasters,” she said.
What’s On The Menu?
Prepperwebsite.com host Todd Sepulveda recommends budget-minded preppers start with a menu of necessary items such as dry food and canned goods, which are still plentiful at the grocery store.
“People trying to prep their food storage sometimes go to the grocery store and start buying random items. Later, they have to try and figure out how it will all work together and put dinner together,” Sepulveda told The Epoch Times.
“Starting from a menu takes out all the guesswork and ensures that you won’t buy unnecessary items at the grocery store.”
Sepulveda advises making a one-week menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner of what your family usually eats, making a grocery list, and keeping a clean copy for the following week.
Empty shelves for pasta are seen at a supermarket on Jan. 13, 2022, in Monterey Park, California.
“If you want to stock up a month’s worth of food at one time, just quadruple your list,” Sepulveda said. “You can bring more variety to your family food storage if you make a two-week menu and double that. That way, you are not eating the same foods every week.”
Food storage isn’t hard and doesn’t have to be expensive—”you just need to plan it out,” Sepulveda said.
Other websites that cater to preppers of all experience levels include Graywolf Survival, Apartment Prepper, Bioprepper, Mom With A Prepper, The Prepared, and many others.
These sites cover a full range of topics on disaster preparedness—from creating emergency kits and bug-out bags, medical and first-aid supplies, water filtration, cooking without electricity, solar power, and living off-grid.
“Even if you have zero money to spend, you still have a budget—it’s just zero. And, yes, it is possible to prepare with absolutely no money,” Vukovic said.
She said once you have a list of everything you need, prioritize the items—trash bags and buckets, for example, are inexpensive or even free.
“To make sure you don’t forget anything important, divide your list into categories. As you buy supplies, make sure you get items from each category.
The critical supplies categories include food and water, water purification, health and hygiene, heating, lighting, electricity, disaster cleanup, personal safety, and emergency radio communications.
Live Within Your Means
Even if you have no money for prepping, you’ll need to know about wilderness survival and how to make supplies even on a shoestring budget.
“For example, you can get free buckets from local stores. In an emergency, these buckets could then be used for things like collecting rainwater or making an emergency toiler, which is incredibly important but something a lot of people forget about,” Vukovic said.
If you have a small budget, divide your list into expensive items: propane camp stove, propane heater, personal safety, and inexpensive items such as canned food, tarps, tape, and bleach.
“Buy a few inexpensive items every week and set aside a certain amount of money each week or month to go towards pricier items,” Vukovic said. “Consider shopping at thrift stores, flea markets, and yard sales for lower prices on gently used items.”
For those fortunate to have a large budget, Vukovic recommends that beginning preppers resist the urge to buy “fancy” or “cool” gear and supplies at the outset.
“Instead, do your research and invest in quality items that have good reviews [or] come highly recommended by those who have used the item. Otherwise, you might find the item you bought is unsuitable for your needs and have to buy another,” Vukovic said.
It’s also important to back up all essential documents in a significant life-altering event, she said.
“Having backups of your important documents might not be a life-or-death issue, but it will make the aftermath of a disaster much less stressful,” Vukovic said.
“For example, if your entire home is destroyed in a fire, knowing your insurance policy number and having a list of valuables in the home will make it easier to get a refund.
“Likewise, if your children had to switch schools after a disaster, you’d be grateful you backed-up copies of their school records.”
Backing up your documents can be done cheaply or at no cost, she added.
“You can put them on an encrypted USB and keep this in a bank safe or other secure location. There are also some secure cloud storage platforms you can use,” Vukovic said.
“While you are at it, back up all of your family photos. If your home is destroyed, at least you won’t lose all of your children’s baby photos and other memories.”
Bookmarking! And blam, thank you for the reminder. I have been slacking off lately (yes, I know, bad time to do that). Need to replenish several items in prepper pantry. Things will not take long to get worse.
bump
I’m seeing generators, propane, etc.
But eventually, one one run out of these things (gas, propane, and other carbon based products).
Is there a strategy for surviving WITHOUT electric power for longs periods of time?
“Knowledge” That reminds me of when I was fresh out of the academy with my “ship board medical class”. I walked into the medical locker on my first ship and saw a small operating room full of things I had never known existed. Plus all the medications.
Years later I was getting far superior medical training.
Shanghai
"“Even if you have no money for prepping, you’ll need to know about wilderness survival and how to make supplies even on a shoestring budget.
Live below your means”
Have an emergency reserve source of cash on hand if the banks are closed, or even shuttered.
“If you have a small budget, divide your list into expensive items: propane camp stove, propane heater, personal safety, and inexpensive items such as canned food, tarps, tape, and bleach. “
Camping supplies can be a god send ; many camping supplies and tools have multiple uses.
“For those fortunate to have a large budget, Vukovic recommends that beginning preppers resist the urge to buy “fancy” or “cool” gear and supplies at the outset.
Instead, do your research and invest in quality items that have good reviews [or] come highly recommended by those who have used the item.
Otherwise, you might find the item you bought is unsuitable for your needs and have to buy another,” Vukovic said. “
“It’s also important to back up all essential documents in a significant life-altering event, she said. “
This is where paper copies of birth certificates, licenses, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, contracts and business agreements, certificates, wills and marriage licenses will come in handy and available for instant recall.
On the other hand, a small compact USB thumb drive is able to electronically provide immediate copies, providing there is electricity and a computer available.
My garden isn’t planted yet, but soon.
There are a lot of things I’ve tried to grow over the years, such as watermelons, but I haven’t found a variety I like that grows well for me. This year, instead of testing one variety of each thing in order to keep the seed pure, I’m testing all the varieties that I think might work, all at once. Whichever ones do best, those will be the ones I grow next year. I’m doing that with lots of foods, including several grains. I even scored some seeds for a wheat variety that gets 7 feet tall!!! (Although I expect one of the shorter varieties will turn out to be a better match.)
Gardening has a learning curve, and it takes a lot of trial-and-error to find the right varieties for your conditions and growing style. Even if a variety works well for your neighbor, it might not work well for you if you have a different gardening style. In one of my plant-breeding books, the author mentioned a squash variety she was testing on that did great with overhead watering, but terrible with drip irrigation. Closer examination showed the surface of the leaves were textured in a way that trapped enough dust to interfere with photosynthesis, and overhead watering rinsed the dust off. The variety next to it that had a different texture on the leaves, did better with drip irrigation. That’s just one example of how a different growing style can effect how well a plant grows for you.
You do not want your first garden to be the one your life is depending on!
Non ethanol gasoline with PRIG additive. Will last years. If you have some gas that has gone bad (varnish smell), PRIG will rejuvenate it. That was a product claim that I got to test and it worked.
PRID for diesel
“I envy you...”
I understand the Northern border may be accessible.
NOTE : Wilderness survival is generally called "Bush Craft" and there are many resources available online through videos on youtube.com.
Do you own research since you alone know what your families needs are.
“Wish a country get away were affordable”
Real estate is wacko right now, but it could start crashing at any time.
My suggestion—do your homework now.
Visit those small towns you might want to live in and spend some time there.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be rice. Dehydrated potatoes work too, as does pasta, oatmeal, or other grains.
Personally, I have found that if I eat rice, I stay hungry. Hunger messes with your mind after a while, so my stockpiles tend to go heavy on pasta and potato flakes, with only a little bit of rice. If your hunger is satisfied eating rice, then rice is good.
Potatoes are also easier to grow than rice, at least in my area. My potato patch this year is going to be around 800sqft. If I had a marshy area on my property, I’d probably try to get wild rice established there.
VDH PREPS,,,
For later Thanks!
Valuable advice. Thanks for the ping.
I stocked a decent pantry a few summers ago by buying an additional $5 of canned goods every time I went to the grocery store. Not too painful.
There are a few more things I'd like to do, but my better half would need to get on board. Maybe that will happen, hopefully not too late.
At some point, you have what you have and must rely on the mercy of Almighty God.
Good idea!
Sadly, gross normality bias of the general public over the years has set many behind the 8 ball and it will take a greater effort and resources to work towards an adequate preparation level.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.