What is your on your own, live in an apartment and is living paycheck to paycheck? Are there any ideals how to prepare? How can I stock up when again I’m living paycheck to paycheck?
That's a serious question, and deserves a serious answer. Granted, I may be a little flippant sometimes...
But actually, single, celibate, and sane is a great place to start off.
I'll suggest that you scour every mailer and newspaper you get/find to look for sales.
Something you like will be on sale. Generally for about 14% off.
Buy it. Lots of it. All you can afford.
Sucks to have to live on it until next paycheck, but payday, you can buy the next thing on sale and the first thing is mostly still stored and not eaten.
This doubles as a weight loss program, depending on your tastes and physiology, and the sales.
After a couple of years, you find that you are having to moves stacks of stuff that you bought on sale. And your grocery bill is about 20% less.
Never eat at a restaurant, they are scams, I know. I'm qualified to run one.
/johnny
/johnny
A little at a time. Start with stuff you eat and buy a little more each week when you find a sale. $5 a week can add up over time.
Do what you can. But to do nothing is certain failure.
Aside from the obvious coupons and sales, it is hard to tell without asking questions. Also, magazines always advise to buy in bulk to save money.
This just happens to fit right in with preparing for the long term. The link below claims that you can live on $225.00 - less than $500.00 per year per person sticking to the basics and buying in bulk, and a year’s worth of vitamins.
The book “Eating off the Grid” is a similar nutritionally sound program that has been tested on people and was written by a nutritionist. Very cheap eats, and lots of tasty recipes.
http://www.provident-living-today.com/Bulk-Food-Storage.html
So this month maybe you just buy one of those items in bulk. Say 25 lbs of sugar for $15.00. Thats almost 6 months worth sugar. That is also about $2.40 per 4lb bag (that’s what our store uses).
So then you should be looking for sales that are around $1.99 per bag. Frequently a loss leader during the holidays. Buy 3 bags for 3 month’s worth. Buy more if you can afford it.
Now go over your expenses with a fine tooth comb. Ask yourself, if I had no food to eat, would I buy this item, or would I choose to eat? Maybe you eliminate some cable/satellite choices any expenses you can so that you get a little more money to put toward your plan.
Maybe you cancel magazines, and or fast food etc. Maybe you go vegan for a few months. That is guaranteed to to reduce your food bill. Beans and Rice are a lot cheaper than meat. Add some cornbread, or wheat bread instead of rice for variety.
How about the deductibles on your car Insurance, maybe you can raise them and save a few bucks?
Last but not least, if you have a south or west facing window or a patio where you can put some pots, grow some food. A 68 cent packet of seeds can give you a lot of lettuce, spinach, or bell peppers for example, you don’t have to worry about things like pesticides or E-coli either.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Also, I forgot to mention, when I find a sale or open one of the foods, I like to buy one to eat and 1-3 for the pantry; more if I can.
If I open a jar of peanut butter for example, it goes on the list. I watch the sales, and try to replace it and buy some extra by the time the jar is empty.
It is also one of the basic 6 food groups(oils). It is not a required oil, but it does provide some variety and a little protein, and we all love it.
I only buy foods that we love in each of the food groups:
Grains, Dairy, Sugar or other sweetners, salt, fats & oils, dried legumes. That’s the basic 6 foods. You’ll need a few miscellaneous like baking powder and soda, yeast, boullion etc. But the “survival” storage basics are few and pretty cheap.
Build that first, a week, or month at a time if necessary, then add lots more of your favorites for variety. Stay focused on your goal which I think is to get the basics as quickly as possible.
25- 50 pound sacks of rice and almost every other staple can be had at Asian stores, as well as cheap canned meat & fish, and lots of dense, 2-3 pound packages of noodles (not the ramen stuff, which is more costly, less tasty, and bulkier to store.
25-50 pound sacks of beans and barley and salt and sugar and such can be bought online or at CostCo-type stores.
Walmart and Home Depot-type stores will have those nesting/stackable translucent plastic containers with snap-tight lids, and most of the 25 pound sacks of stuff will fit in there unopened and stay vermin-and-pest-free and good to eat for years.
Get a rice cooker and a crock pot on Ebay or at a Goodwill or Salvation Army store cheap.
Hope that helps.
Prepping on a Budget
http://offgridsurvival.com/preppingonabudget/
Prepping On A Budget
http://www.shtfblog.com/prepping-on-a-budget/
Prepping on a budget, part 1 – food
http://www.off-grid.net/2012/10/08/prepping-on-a-budget-part-1-food/
additionally check out the Apartment Preppers blpg
Lastly prep knowledge! Seriously if I was a woman living in a city today and was worried about SHTF and I had no family or no way or place to bug out to I study something in the medical field EMT, nurse something. Some of that training you can get free or low cost, but medical treatment will be worth far more than gold during SHTF! Ask a veteran there are plenty on here no one screws with the medic ‘Doc’ because no one knows when they are going to need him. Selco a survivor of the Bosnian war one thing that helped him was his being able to trade his skills as a EMT to help get him and his family through.
You might chat/FReepmail my fellow Preparedness Adviser Marcella she has advance EMT training and is very knowledgeable on the subject.
Good Luck and God watch over you.
Take a look at your budget as well. Do you have a cell phone with a data plan? Going to a feature (dumb) phone will save you about $30 per month. Do you have cable TV with all the bells and whistles? Going to basic cable can save you some $$$ as well.
Please don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to preach. Just ask yourself a question with regards to your finances. What is more important to me?
If you choose to spend on item “A” rather than on preps, then item “A” is more important to you than survival.
As an aside, you can store quite a bit of your preps under your bed(s).
One of the best ways to prepare is to purchase things that save money while making you healthier.
For example,you can buy a grain mill and some grain from www.waltonfeed.com
Then you can make your own multigrain flour for a fraction of what they charge in the store. If you are lazy, like me, you put the ingredients in the bread machine and...Voila! Healthy, cheap, very tasty bread, the staff of life.
By eating low on the food chain with complex carbs such as homemade bread, organic rice, beans, lentils, etc. you save hundreds of dollars per year on your food budget.
As you save, prep better by buying in bulk. Walton packages foods that last over 20 years if you don’t open them. A small closet can hold enough to keep a family going for a year at a cost under $1000. IMHO, much better than freeze dried food.
As for some of the other preps, start with a .22 rifle or 12 gauge shotgun from a pawnshop. Right now the prices are fairly low since everybody is putting their money into pistols and ARs.