Ideas For Prepping On A Budget

4 Super-Cheap Prepping Resources

Author: The Survival Mom
TheSurvivalMom.com

Our family is simultaneously trying to become debt-free, save as much money as we can, have at least six months of food on hand, and take care of some badly needed DIY home projects. Believe me, I need every cheap resource I can possibly find to help me toward my prepping goals! The four cheapest resources I have found are all available to you, too!

1. Garage and Estate Sales

Been there, done that? Aren’t thrilled about buying other people’s junk? When you’re prepping, your shopping will have a focus, and I think you’ll find these sales a useful resource. Keep a list of items still needed for your 72 Hour Kit or general preparedness. This list will help you visit more garage and estate sales in less time because usually, with a quick glance, you can tell if a sale has what you need.

Even better, use online garage sale locators. Google “local garage sales” or something similar. You’ll be surprised at what pops up! Often, these sites will list items at the sale, and this can help you choose which sales to visit. You can also find estate sales in your area here. I prefer estate sales since everything in the house will be sold, down to half used bottles of Windex. Here are a few things I’ve been looking for:

* tools — I don’t want to count on, “Made in China” if we’re ever truly in a bind. Tools made decades ago will be high quality with lots of years still left in them.
* backpacks, gym bags — I need two more backpacks for our personal 72 Hour Kits and miscellaneous gym-size bags are great for holding all kinds of gear to take camping.
* camping equipment — we have a tent but nothing else. My husband is hardly Grizzly Adams! I would especially like an outdoor cook stove.

Remember, once you know what you want, the search goes much more quickly!

Oh! BONUS TIP! Retirement communities often run their garage sales Thursday through Saturday.. You can get a jump on all the other bargain hunters by heading to these neighborhoods early on Thursday mornings!

2. Freecycle.org

Freecycle is exactly what it sounds like. Recyling things you own by giving them away for free. Once you’ve signed up with a Freecycle email group in your area, you’ll begin receiving regular notices from other members with offers of free “stuff”.

I’ve seen some great items offered on Freecycle that would help out any prepper. Watch for glass canning jars, camping equipment, water barrels, dog crates, and so much more. Usually what is offered is mentioned in the email’s subject line so you can scan through them quickly. Remember to offer things hanging around your house or garage that you no longer want or need!

3. Dollar Stores

Don’t forget to visit your local dollar store! Apparently, dollar stores are becoming quite trendy. Who would have guessed?

I took a stroll through one near my home last weekend, and here are some of the best bargains I found.

* binders starting at just $2
* a package of 8 small memo books for $2. These are great for keeping in your car, your 72 Hour Kits and your purse.
* vinyl shower curtain, $2 Multiple uses for this including a ground cover and a quickie tent.
* can opener, $1.25
* chess game, $4. Would be useful in providing entertainment during a crisis.
* triple antibiotic cream, $2.30, along with a good variety of other pharmaceuticals
* large bottles of spices for $1
* a can of Quick Flat Fix, $3
* a 6-pack of Top Ramen, $1.10

Not everything is a great bargain, but you won’t know that unless you’re paying attention to prices at regular retail stores. Would you believe, I didn’t think my town even had dollar stores until I checked out these websites. What a find!

* Dollar Tree
* Family Dollar
* Big Lots!

4. Friends, Relatives, Neighbors, Casual Acquaintances…

You get the idea! Every one of us has stuff around the house, in the attic, out in the garage, in a storage unit, etc., etc. that we’ll never use again, and so do your friends, relatives, neighbors, and so on. When you get to the end of your prepping list, and you still have items you need, why not ask around?

Consider a casual barter agreement to get what you want, such as a few hours babysitting in exchange for a tent or a set of sleeping bags. Here’s a great article on the age-old practice of bartering.

We don’t know when an emergency will happen, and it just makes sense to get your preparations in order as quickly as you can. If you’re like me, your don’t have an infinite amount of money to prepare for everything, perfectly, all at once. I decided to jump in and do what I can, when I can, and I’ve been pretty impressed with how quickly my prepping has come together with these four money-savers!

Check out these four cheap resources and see if your dollar doesn’t go a whole lot farther! Soon, you’ll be ready for just about anything!

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Prepping: It is the most important thing you will ever do..

1. Learn to garden and use whatever space you have available. From a back yard area, raised beds, container gardens on a deck or small herb pots in the kitchen window, people can grow more than they think with a little creativity and effort. Use edible landscaping for plants that are decorative as well as that provide food. Need a couple shade trees? Why not use fruit or nut trees – they will supply shade as well as food. If not, visit a local farmer and buy what you can put away. Learn to can!

2. Learn to “put up” food – canning, food dehydrating and other methods are easier than ever with modern gadgets designed to preserve food. It takes a little effort – but on a kitchen counter you can dry enough herbs for a year; you can make real powdered and flaked pepper, garlic and onion.

3. If you freeze food, be sure you have a means to keep it going in a crisis. If the electricity goes off you don’t want to lose a year’s supply of food! Have a generator and fuel, get a propane freezer, have some means of keeping that food cold. Putting food aside is only part of insuring your food supply – storing it safely is the other issue.

4. Be discreet. Don’t brag about your food supply and don’t spread the word you have six months of food in your basement. If you do, and there’s a crisis, you may be overrun with people who know you have plenty stocked away. Are you then prepared to defend your food supply?

5. Storage a problem? Use areas most don’t think of. The pantry is good for many things but if you’re putting up dozens of jars of spaghetti sauce, preserves, soups and other sauces you’re going to need room. Have a protected corner of the basement up off the ground (enough that a wet floor won’t damage the food!). The attic is also a good place to store jar/can goods.

6. Along with your food supply have a means to prepare food including water, grill and gas/wood/charcoal, etc. If a storm knocks an area down for 2-3 weeks be able to rely on your own resources for those 2-3 weeks. Have on hand not only necessity items but a few luxury items as well. These could include a little candy, or cookies or something that just makes things a little more like home.

7. Don’t forget storing personal hygiene items – you can make a ‘composting toilet’ from free plans online…having this available with sawdust or shavings, toilet paper and other items can greatly increase the comfort in an emergency.

8. Don’t rely on the government helping – or on people being friendly. A catastrophic situation such as New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina showed the government cannot handle it – people have got to be able to rely on themselves. Prepare and have plans in place for tornado, fire, emergency evacuation and sheltering in place (being confined to home). Remember a train derailment or other issues can change things in a hurry! Practice that evacuation. You have 10 minutes- what do you grab? Hesitating can be deadly…having a plan can mean survival.

9. Be able to cook from scratch, make bread and do other skills to get through if you had to. If you have the food stocked up it doesn’t do any good if you can’t use it. If you rely on mixes make your own mixes in Ziploc ™ bags that seal tightly – label with a marker right on the bag with how much liquid, egg and oil to add. In a pinch, that bag can be the bowl – simply put wet ingredients in and mix, then pour into a baking pan. Experiment with your grill to make things before you have to.

10. Being able to hunt and fish can mean having an ongoing food supply. Having fishing gear and hunting supplies can mean the difference between eating or not. In the depression some spoke of having a small dog that would go through culverts and flush out rabbits while the large dog at the other end dispatched the rabbit as it ran out. Sporting? Perhaps not…but if it comes to eating or not, how ethical will you be after not eating for 4 days?
Get prepared now. Work on getting things growing, on learning the skills you have to in order to survive. When the public food supply is interrupted it will be too late.
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I've been busy

I want to tell everyone I am sorry for not staying active here. I have been busy with other things related to the TeaPartyPatriots. I went up to Washington on 9/12 to add my voice and presense to the other Patriots that went. It was one hell of a turn out.

The H1N1 (swine flu) is a hot topic. I don't believe anything coming from the "elected officals" anymore. I will not be taking the vaccine, period. Vitamin D and stay away from anyone showing symptoms. It can't be worse than the 1976 Flu and a old Tennessee woman in Marysville saved my butt on that one.

Keep buying ammo, a box here and there. You don't have to buy 10,000 rounds at once. Pick up a shotgun, rifle and a sidearm if you haven't already. Pack a couple of dufflebags with items (clothes, medicine etc.) for quick grabbing in case you have to leave sudden like. Plan ahead of where you will go if the SHTF. Large cities will be in chaos so make sure you know the back roads. Road blocks will probably be a problem.

There's alot of talk about a global currency coming, buy some gold if you can afford it. Most of you are probably on the ball already, talk to your neighbors, feel them out on their opinion but keep your preps a secreat until you're ready to talk about it. You don't need some wannabe thugs trying to take yours away. Besides, dead bodies are a health hazzard...

As a sidenote, if you are on facebook - look me up at tnl_legal@yahoo.com - Theres alot of good info coming out about the current situation in America. Most of my friends there are good Patriots from all over the Country. We also have a Alarm and Muster Group (kinda like Paul Revere) so word will spread quick if anything kicks up somewhere. God Bless!

compare future(present) with the past

Comparing history to the future (present?). With the simple replacement of just the names of key individuals the facts ironically remain the same.“Nazi Germany under the leadership of Hitler soon became a dictatorship. A dictatorship requires one person and one party to be in control of a nation and a climate of fear - this was provided by Himmler's SS. Personal freedom disappeared in Nazi Germany.When Hitler was appointed chancellor on January 30th 1933, it was at the head of a coalition government. It was very clear in his mind that it would not remain this way for long. By the end of March 1933, he had acquired much greater powers than the former leading politicians of the Weimar Republic could ever have foreseen when they supported his appointment as chancellor.”
(http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Nazi_Germany_dictatorship.htm)

The same paragraph but with the names updated to reflect possible future (current?) events in America.“The United States, under the leadership of Barak Hussein Obama soon became a dictatorship. A dictatorship requires one person and one party to be in control of a nation and a climate of fear - this was provided by Acorn. Personal freedom disappeared in America.When Obama was inaugurated President on January 20th 2009, it was at the head of a thin Democrat majority government. It was very clear in his mind that it would not remain this way for long. By the end of March 2009, he had acquired much greater powers than the former leading politicians of the Bush administration could ever have foreseen when they preceded his inauguration.” History is a subject that has gradually lost its importance in American academia over the past few decades. The lack of historical awareness, as a nation, has enabled a mass of “useful idiots” who have no historical perspective on current events, much less the future. “Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.” - Machiavelli

I don't like the direction this Country is headed in. My food is ready, my location is very secure and secluded so for the most part I am prepped and ready.

Domestic Terrorist

I received this from a affiliate, it is re-posted with his permission:

ATTORNEY GENERAL TO CLASSIFY PRO-LIFE, PRO-GUN AMERICANS AS TERRORISTS

http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news152.htm

An amendment to a bill swiftly moving through the US Congress will allow the Obama Administration's Attorney General to classify Americans as domestic terrorists if they are pro-life, pro-gun and anti-big government.Impeached Florida judge -- now a Democrat Party member of the House of Representatives -- Rep. Alcee Hastings introduced what some claim is a disturbing piece of legislation. Hasting's amendment calls for the Attorney General to have discretion over who is called a terrorist and what groups will be treated as terrorist groups."This is arguably one of the worst pieces of legislation to come down the pike in a long, long time.
In essence Attorney General Eric Holder -- a Bill Clinton retread -- will have the discretion to label Americans terrorists. Hastings is a dangerous man and should be forced to resign from congress. He's also proposed the creation of "emergency camps" that are nothing more than prisons," warns political strategist Mike Baker."This amendment is part and parcel of the trend in this country to suppress dissent by patriots by calling them domestic terrorists," he added.In an unclassified report entitled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and her agency included the following description of "extremists:""Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.
Last Thursday, Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ) made the following remarks on the House Floor regarding Congressman Alcee Hastings’ (D-FL) amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill:"The Hastings Amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill (which now is being considered en bloc) prohibits the recruitment, enlistment, or retention of persons with known affiliations to "groups determined by the Attorney General to be of a violent, extremist nature. Members on both sides of the aisle support the purpose of this amendment because "we recognize that there are legitimate concerns about the enlistment of persons who may seek to use their military training to cause harm to innocents", but we should take pause to consider the breadth of this amendment carefully. I just want to express concern about the language of this amendment, and my concerns are shared by many in this House," said Rep. Franks. While the amendment seeks to keep gang members and members of violent groups out of the military, the amendment by its language is much more broad. Specifically, it confers upon the Attorney General the ability to categorize groups as hate groups, and this sounds an alarm for many of us because of the recent shocking and offensive report released by the Department of Homeland Security which labeled, arguably, a majority of Americans as "extremists," warned Franks. I take extreme offense that the federal government -- through a report issued under the authority of a Cabinet-level official -- would dare to categorize people who are "dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition or abortion or immigration" as "right-wing extremists" and it begs the question of whether the Attorney General, under Mr. Hastings' Amendment, can look to the Napolitano report to decide who is an extremist, or can make the same categorization of the majority of Americans as extremists who may then be kept from joining the military, or who may be discharged," said Rep. Franks. I want to state unequivocally that I believe that it is not the intent of this Congress to label pro-lifers, federalism proponents, and pro-immigration enforcement groups and their affiliates as extremists under the bill. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle should make a strong effort to assuage these concerns and make our intentions clear.
If the intent of this amendment is to go after citizens because of their political views and moral convictions, then the amendment is unconstitutional. I hope that the sponsor of the Amendment will make clear tonight that this is not the intent," he added.Rep. Alcee Hastings also introduced what many say is another disturbing piece of legislation. That new bill calls for the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to build at least six facilities that can be designated as "emergency centers. Hastings rationale for such facilities is to gather and "house" civilians on what are basically detention centers guarded by armed soldiers or paramilitary troops.The House bill (HR 645) -- National Emergency Centers Establishment Act -- is not even on the radar of members of the elite media. According to critics of the plan, if passed the government will create camps or centers that by their nature restrict the activities of US citizens herded into them.In fact, one provision -- Section 2 (b) (4) -- states: "[To] meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security."One critic, political strategist Mike Baker claims the idea of such detention center smacks of the type of concentration camps for political dissidents, such as occurred in Nazi Germany, Americans find repugnant."Why aren't the news media covering this story? Could it be because they fear being the first occupants of these so-called emergency installations? Where is the outrage by our nation's Fourth Estate?" asks Baker.Hastings bill is suspected of attempting to help expand the President Obama's military and law enforcement powers.
While Hastings pushes this bill, even Republican congressmen are hesitant to remind one another and the nation that this Florida congressman was impeached while he sat on Florida's federal court bench.Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, he became the first African-American federal judge in the state of Florida, and served in that position for ten years. He’s still called “Judge” by some of his colleagues, but one would think he’d rather forget his days on the federal bench.In 1989, Judge Hastings was impeached by the US House of Representatives for bribery and perjury. The Democratic-controlled Senate convicted Hastings of accepting a $150,000 bribe in 1981 in exchange for a lenient sentence and of perjury in his testimony about the case. Hastings said the charges against him smacked of racism.Even Rep. John Conyers, who is also black, said he “found no trace of racism during the investigation.” He urged his colleagues to remove Hastings from the bench. He said, “[Hastings] is unfit to serve.
When the ultra-liberal Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi nominated Hastings for the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee, even members of her own political party balked."The prospect of Rep. Alcee Hastings becoming the chairman of the House of Representative’s Intelligence Committee was proposed by Congressional Black Caucus, who had been pressuring the new House Speaker Pelosi to appoint blacks to key leadership positions and Hasting benefited from the pressure on the radical left Pelosi, said former Detective Sidney Frances (NYPD-ret.), himself an African-American.

This is a trend that keeps bobbing to the surface, Progressive liberals want this passed to keep us from re-taking the Goverment from the Socialist Agenda.

Food storage

The fruit tree's are producing good, all except the pears, for some reason their not doing too good on the fruit. Black berries are plentiful, blue berries are coming along good. Squash and tomatoes are doing their job but other veggies are slower.

For those that can't wait, find a produce stand. Here we have "Tattnall Fresh" stands, these are from select farmers. The trick is knowing which use heirloom seeds and those that use hybreds. Anyhow, if you're in a hurry to start canning, buy from the produce stands and start putting up.

Nobama is pushing us into a hyper inflation mode. IMO, we are gonna feel the shock waves by mid-October. The cost of everything is going up, except wages. The less food you have to buy will mean extra money in your pocket, the food you're getting in stores is exported in from other countries.

In Georgia, homestead exemptions are stopped so expect higher taxes, another good reason to prep now.

Stay Focused

I have been busy trying to get more People involved in what the goverment is doing and of ways to fight back. I am posting a link to what happened to a member of one of the groups, that wrote to his representive.
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99352

I guess this is something to be expected in the upcoming months. I fully expect the SHTF to occur around October or November of this year. IF, obama passes the 25% national sales tax there will be alot of People unable to afford to buy food, or anything for that matter, it is highly possible that there will be civil unrest across the Country. Preppers won't be as bothered by the crunch but we have to be prepared for what will follow.

By now, gardens should be going strong and food will be added to the pantry. I would suggest that attention should also be focused on home security and self-protection. Buy extra ammo and firearms when you have a little extra money. If you live in the city, take the time to plan where you will go -IF and WHEN- food riots begin. When this happens it will be hard and dangerous to travel. Don't wait until the last minute.

Our money is getting less valuable each day. The more obama has printed up the less it is worth. He, and congress, are close to achieving their goal in turning this country into a socialist country. I, for one, will do what is required to fight it. I am slowly building a network in my county of like minded people so that we can rely on each other should the need arise. I encourage everyone to write their representives and let them be aware of your concerns. I haven't been contacted by any FBI, or the like, but it is possible. This won't stop me from what I am doing to show my displeasure at the goverment.