I am STILL soooo not prepared having come off a tough year...just in past couple weeks coming out of the woods...though very pleased to be getting on track again...they are saying the most time might be two or three years before the whole thing blows. Not much time and no gurantee that long.
So how does one prioritize with time running down?
Food , Water, Protection...then what? Seems the lists on line are endless!
Going on day 4 with no power.
Here is what I did not have:
gasoline
Enough cash
A freakin radio ( I know, stupid)
A switch installed in my furnace to hook up to a generator
No need for ammo, but based on the lines at the gas station, it would not be far away...if there was no end in site.
I have plenty of food, but the stores are open a few miles away. But they had no produce.
Just a quick list from a pretty tame emergency. Good practice. The list grows every day.
You can get a cheap .22 marlin model 60 out of pawn shop for $100, and buy 1000 rds of ammo for $50. I recently bought 6,000 rds on special, online, for $170.
Getting to know your neighbors takes a little time, but no money. It is likely some of the best “prepper” preparation that you can do.
Then start throwing extra cans in the cart every trip to the grocery store. (Start with the biggest cans of peanut butter you can find).
We also have a monthly delivery of about $100 worth of freeze-dried meat from "Shelf Reliance" each month. That's for putting into the beans and rice so that it's actually edible (and it also has an extremely long shelf life).
Next, set your sites on a "Big Berkey" water filter with at least 4 "Black Berkey" filter elements. That'll go a long way towards taking care of the water need.
Once you've done these fairly modest things you can at least breath a little easier.
BTW, it's also good to put back a good supply of raw honey (preferably from a local beekeeper). Also some candy bars might not be a horrible idea to put back just as a pick-me-up during difficult times (I've read that suggestion several places).
Forget precious metals, but there seems to be a concensus that in the worst case that bullets will make a decent medium of exchange.
I've been preparing since Nov. 2008, and I still have plenty more I need to be doing. This is at least a start. Once you do get started...just keep at it. We may still have a couple of years before the wave hits.
Shelter: if you're up in Michigan, or Minnesota, and it is fall or later, rank equal to water.
Food: Yup, need that too, unless you're built like Jabba the Hutt and without diabetes.
Guns: to fight off those who want your food.
Friends/relatives: to take turns watching.
But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of preparation.
Vote out Obaama.
Educate your neighbors.
Cheers!
Consider Sauerkraut....sounds weird....but, it’s cheap, and nutritious....and if you can’t get fresh veggies, it could be a lifesaver. Oh, and it lasts a LONG time, too.
OK, I screwed up, was watching MNF and sent my response to caww to djf instead.
What I wanted to send to djf was a commment on the lifetime of c-rats v MREs. The US Army indicates the nutritional value of MREs begins to degrade after a few years. I have a good supply of canned goods and plan to eat the MREs first. My plan is to supplement the MREs with vitamins but, of course, there is also an expiration issue with vitamins. djf’s tag line suggests a further reason to stock up on vitamins.
try buying two of something each time you shop.
Please go to SurvivalBlog.com. There are hundreds upon hundreds of really good articles there written by folks who have done it, are doing it and are just starting. How to prepare, prioritize, etc.
I'm good at it but I have found a wealth of info I never knew about. In fact, in preparation for a world without electricity, I have printed out a ton of material from Jim Rawles' site and put it in a 3 ring binder for reference.
Go there and read while you can. You won't regret it.