A quick tip on prepping:

One should take a strategic approach to prepping-especially when one is on a budget. First, as mentioned elsewhere, prioritize by importance (Water, then food, then shelter, then etc.) and by demand/scarcity-that is-how soon will certain prioritized items become scarce as we progress through the year.

My emphasis here is on not succumbing to the temptation to load up too much on any one item at one time. New G.I.'s tend to do this a lot, I suspect, out of a form of panic. Been there, done that! When your means are limited, just keep in mind this thought "get some of everything, not a lot of one thing" DURING EACH SHOPPING EXPEDITION. Spread out your net to avoid missing that one item that you may end up kicking yourself for not getting AT THAT TIME. Think of the parable that starts: "For want of a nail, the horse was lost...".

Also, there is no substitute for plain old leg work in pinning down the best deals. For example, I dropped into Home Depot ASSUMING that they would have competitive pricing on gas and kerosene cans. It was only later and to my chagrin, that I found out that Walmart had the very same gas cans for $3 less! By the way, Walmart is now selling micron-filtered, ozonated water for 55 cents a gallon (at least around here)! Stock up, but not to the exclusion of other needful things of course (see above) :)

What say you all?

-- Jeremiah Jetson (laterthan@uthink.y2k), May 25, 1999

Answers

Jeremiah:

I agree and as has been said many times on this forum, "only buy what you and yours will eat." For that reason, I have one can each of tuna and Spam. No one at my house will eat the tuna except me (I use it as a weapon on nights that I don't want to cook-"oh, look, all I have is tuna to fix") and the Spam was bought because it ended up costing me 29 cents after a coupon. The rest of my stash is stuff we will always be willing to eat.

I also think the concept of first preparing for 1 week, then one month, then two months, etc., is an excellent way for newbies to keep from being overwhelmed.

I've made exceptions to these rules, however, as when I have found canned goods on sale. In that case, I bought a number of cases of veggies and fruits and stuck them away in a closet. They are all dated well in '00-another one of those things we must be cognizant of when we purchase canned goods.

As for water, I've found that the 2 1/2 gallon containers of distilled water at Albertson's are the best buy-right now they are $1.58. One problem, 'tho, I've had two leak when I laid them on their sides.

Don't panic but do prepare. Linda

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), May 25, 1999.

Start early thinking about and researching the option(s) best for you regarding water and, if an issue for your location, alternative heat. There are so many, many options, some of which could be an unnecessary expense. Be thinking, for instance, about whether there are any possibilities to share these types of resources or skills in your neighborhood. (But don't assume someone will take you in - work out the arrangements ahead of time!) You might not need to store water at all if a neighbor has a well or if there is a relatively clean stream or pond which, for the price of a good camping filter, could be purified. Likewise, is there a home in your area where folks could gather to take advantage of either a generator or a wood or kerosene stove for heat? Food and other basic supplies should be readily available for some time, so there is plenty of time to take advantage of sales. And hit those spring yard and estate sales!

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), May 25, 1999.

I can't stress strongly enough how I feel about water. If storage is your only alternative, you are in serious danger if public water supplies remain disrupted for longer than you planned. I think you must have a plan to replenish your stored supplies. That means having the ability to capture rain water or transport it from a creek, spring, or something similar source. That means potentially filtering it or boiling it to be safe.

This problem worried me so much that I drilled a solar powered well. Not everyone can do that, but everyone needs to think of what they will do if they run out of stored water.

-- Doug (douglasjohnson@prodigy.net), May 25, 1999.

Excellent thread, all very useful and practical suggestions. Water is of primary importance, of course. There are a number of posts in the Food archive (use "find" button to search on "water"), but it bears repeating that your local bottling company will have used 5-gall food-quality syrup containers, usually at no cost. (The container you use to store drinking water MUST be food quality.) If you're lucky, you can get very large barrels, around 55 galls, from your bottler, but these are more rare. Also look into rainwater barrels sold by garden supply companies, not cheap, but will catch and store rain.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 25, 1999.

For what it's worth...the Sam's Club here in our town is selling 55 gallon water barrels for 22.95. The last time I was there they had A TON of them, I'm talking stacked from floor to ceiling10 or 15 deep and 20 or more wide. I didn't think anybody around here was really that interested but I've seen them re-stock them twice now. Check them out, maybe they have them everywhere.

-- Mother Hen (gathering@herchicks.com), May 25, 1999.

Watertanks.com sells a food grade 200 gal. water storage bag for $79.00.

Noah's Pantry sells the for $259.00 (24 gal./day) and $279.00 (30 gal./day).

No, I'm not involved with either firm. These are just the best items I've found for coping with dry faucets.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), May 25, 1999.

I have been involved in Civil Defense Emergency Radio nets for years. Thought I would mention a few "odds and ends" that sometime slip thru the cracks.

Old style Kotex type sanitary napkins make excellent wound dressings and cost less than commercial dressings. Make sure you have Betadyne and hydrogen peroxide. Clean wound with peroxide and treat with Betadyne then apply kotex.

Have a "hard wired phone" without power your cordless wont work. Wind up clock and watch. Non-electric coffee pot. Games and books for kids. Fun Foods, packets of Kool Aid etc for the youngsters. Take a first aid course at YMCA or local Red Cross. Find out NOW where the scanner frequencies for Police etc are and get familiar with them. LISTEN Before Something Happens.

Hope this might help the new people who are a little overwhelmed. I have been at this over 30 years and still keep learning.

Bruce

-- Bruce (bwblanchard@ems.att.com), May 26, 1999.

The cheapest bottled water I've found, amazingly, is at Kroger's. It's 50 cents per gallon.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), May 26, 1999.