Confessions of a Prepper

The Beginning Preppers Guide to Prepping on a Budget

D.B. Fletcher

©2012 D.B. Fletcher

All rights reserved

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are my own.  Do not try any of the listed medical advice except under the duress of a catastrophe. Never administer unknown medications to anyone.

Contents

Confessions of a Prepper

Introduction

The List

Putting the list to work

Food storage

The beginning preppers shopping list

Everything else you may need

In the end

Introduction

I’m thirty-two years old, a house wife, a mommy, a writer, and I am a Prepper.

I took to “prepping” a little over a year ago. It wasn’t because of any doom's day prophecy either. It was because I stopped one day and took a good look around me. The world has turned into a very scary place, a place where an estimated 12.5 million people in America are without jobs. Where the gas prices are the highest they have ever been, which in turn raises the prices on the food we need to survive.

I knew something was coming. A lot of people know.  The prepping movement wouldn’t be as prolific today, if there wasn’t something there. If people weren’t terrified that one-day everything, we hold dear will be gone.

I look at prepping kind of like wearing your seat belt, or having a smoke detector in your home. You pray you’ll never need it, but you’ll be damn glad you had them if you do.

I have five mouths to feed, a mortgage, and mediocre income, so I have to prep on the cheap. I’m not one of those people that will tell you to go out and buy a ten thousand dollar bunker, or amass a storage unit with preps. The purpose of this article is to help people prep, on a budget. So I’ll get right to it.

The List

• First thing, make a plan for every possible scenario. If you need to bug in, (staying inside your home for an indefinite period of time), what will you need? If you have to bug out, (leaving your home for safer ground for an indefinite period of time), what will you need? Where will you go? How will you get there?

• Find any way you can to cut corners on everyday house hold needs. Most people in this economy already do this. I’m going to show you how to do it, and still have enough for preps.

Buy cheap, look for sales anywhere you can find them. If you live in a metropolitan area you probably have five supermarkets within a five-mile radius. Use those sale ads! Any time you find a great sale on anything you could use for prepping buy double. I do the one for home, one for the bug out bag.

• Any time you are in a store look for items that would be a good addition to your preps. There will be a list at the end of this article of things you should consider buying in terms of food.

• Don’t forget first aid! Buying a ready-made first-aid kit can be rather expensive. A number of things that are great for first-aid kits can be found at your local dollar store. Band aids, gauze, gloves, pain relievers and medicines. Just because you don’t find them the first time you go, keep going back. Inventory at dollar stores varies from week to week, even day by day.

• Whether you are a gun enthusiast or the gun weary type, I highly suggest you make the investment in fire arms, and learn how to use them. This will be the biggest expense you will have in your road to being fully prepared. Many preppers use the 9mm clock because it’s the most popular gun out there. The theory is that if need be they can scavenge ammo. I, on the other hand, prefer my trusty .22. Don’t laugh. There is a theory to my madness. It may take more bullets to put someone down, but I have a lot of them. They are cheap. 550 rounds for twenty dollars. I also recommend that if you wish to have more than one gun; try to keep them in the same caliber. In an emergency, you won’t have to hunt for the correct ammo to the right gun. Any way you go, invest in that piece.

Putting the list to work

Here is where I am going to talk about the actual prepping. You’ve read the list, thought about things you might need, now here’s how you are going to do it. When prepping on a budget you have to have a system. Taking and keeping inventory is the key. In terms of food supplies, you want to keep things balanced. You don’t want to have a lot of proteins and no starches or sugars, or vice versa. Trail mix is probably one of the best things you can ever buy in terms of prepping. Light weight, balanced, (Don’t buy mixes that add chocolate or yogurt), you want maximum nutritional value.

For Bugging Out: You need to consider weight and space when preparing things for a Bug Out. Food stores should be kept light and easy to carry if need be. I live in an un-securable home. No amount of fortification will keep anyone out, so my only plan is to bug out. Remember when bugging out that, if catastrophe hits, freeways and major roads are most likely impassable. Finding a route to your predetermined bug out location that avoids these danger areas should be the first thing you do. Use roads that generally don’t have a lot of traffic to make it out of town. Once you’re out of town find old trails, or dirt roads that will lead you to your safe zone.

Your safe zone should be some where no one else knows about. A secluded area in the mountains, or woods. Even a desert hideaway. Where ever you choose, make sure it is somewhere you can get to within a reasonable amount of time, on one tank of gas. (Keep gas cans full and at the ready if possible. You may not be able to stop at a gas station or always have a full tank in your car.)

Some preppers suggest that you have stop points along your route, where you may bury or hide some essentials like gasoline, and food and water. For many that is impossible, so you must be super prepared from the start.

Water is the one thing our bodies cannot live without for more than a few days.  Be sure to have several bottles of water in every bug out bag, along with water purification methods. Do not rely on only one source of water! You may not live to regret it! I would also suggest choosing a bug out location that has a natural water source nearby. Water purification tablets are fairly inexpensive. I highly recommend Clor-floc.  It can be used over a longer period of time, and removes Guardia, bacteria, and viruses. One pack can treat up to eight gallons of water.

For Bugging In: In addition to everything you need for a Bug Out, you have to make sure you can fortify your home on a moment’s notice. If you have security bars on your doors and windows, you are already a step ahead. If not, I have one simple, inexpensive solution. Plywood. Make sure you buy pieces that are several inches bigger, all the way around, for the windows you intend to cover. Furthermore, make sure you have a box of nails and a hammer inside the home.

The best solution for water during a Bug In, is going to be a bath tub water collection container There is only one brand that I know of, and it’s called a water BOB. Made of heavy-duty food-grade plastic it can store a hundred gallons of water for up to a month. It can be picked up at cheaper than dirt dot com, for about twenty dollars. As I said earlier, never count on only one source of water. My advice is to pick up a few gallons of bottled water at a time until you run out of space.

For Bugging In having as much canned food as you can store is ideal. My preppers’ rule of thumb, one for home, one for preps, has amassed a large quantity of food in a relatively short time.

Food storage

Something to be considered for either a Bug in prep or Bug out prep, is to dehydrate your own food.  Remember this is prepping on a budget, so I’m going to tell you how to do this without buying any expensive machines.

Materials:

A large cardboard box

Aluminum foil

Duct-tape

Window screen (home depot 7$ for a 36x84 inch roll)

Box knife

Clear plastic wrap

Cover the bottom of the cardboard box with aluminum foil. Cut a hole in the front near the bottom of the box, cover hole with screen using the duct-tape to secure it. Do the same for the opposite side. Tape a piece of the screen to the walls of the box to create a shelf for the food to dry on. Place your food on the screen and cover the open top with the plastic wrap. Place it in the sun for six to eight hours. Any food you wish to dry in your dehydrator should be sliced thinly for minimum drying time.

Now, some climates are just way too humid for a solar dehydrator, (there are advantages to living in the south west). In those cases, I can say that microwave drying is a good option. Yes, you heard me right, in the microwave! It’s really simple and fairly quick. It will also use less energy than if you tried to dehydrate in the oven.

Materials:

Paper plates

Wax paper

Nonstick spray

Your microwave

Cut the food to be dried into slices no more than ¼ inches thick. Spray a sheet of wax paper with non-stick spray and place on the paper plate. Lay your food in a single layer, not overlapping, and place in the microwave. (Make sure the rind or skin of fruits and vegetables are facing down.) Microwave on high for about ten minutes. Turn the food, and microwave on low for about fifteen minutes.  Add a few more minutes on low if the food is not yet dry.

Any way you choose to dehydrate, the best way to store is using a vacuum sealer. I know those are expensive. Cheap alternative, use regular Reseal-able plastic bags and suck the air out. Reseal-able plastic bags are a budget preppers best friend.

Space is limited when you are prepping, unless you live in a large home with extra bedrooms. Any time I buy anything for preps that comes in space stealing containers, I bag. Not only do I cut down on the amount of space, but I am extending its longevity, because I suck out the air. Everything from powdered milk, to pancake mix, to cornmeal, is stored in plastic bags. (I double bag just to be sure.)

The beginning preppers shopping list

I’ve touched on a few things in this article that I believe, every prepper should have. Whether Bugging In, or Bugging out, this is some more essentials that should not be forgotten.

Food (the essentials)

• Cream of wheat (hearty, a little goes a long way, good source of calcium and iron)

• Powdered milk

• Cornmeal (can be used to make corn bread, turned into mush, or thicken soups and add nutrients)

• Rice(long grain is good, instant is better)

• Beans (protein and iron. It can also be cooked and dehydrated for faster preparation down the road)

• Beef jerky (it coasts about the same for prepackaged or do it yourself.)

• Trail mix

• Potted meats (not the best tasting, but it is packed with calories and protein)

• Instant mashed potatoes

• Dry cereal in a bag

• Dehydrated fruits and vegetables (dry all of them, you can at home. You get way more for your money.)

Medicine

• Tylenol and other pain relievers (ibuprofen is an anti inflammatory. This means it will help relieve swelling along with pain. I highly recommend that it go in your first-aid kit.)

• Cold remedies

• Vapor rub (read up on the powers of this one little jar. You will be amazed)

• Splints

• Gauze (budget tip, gauze is expensive, find a thrift store and buy up some old white bed sheets. Take them home and bleach the heck out of ‘em.  Cut into different-sized strips, you shouldn’t need anything wider than a half an inch, and roll them up. Store in a plastic storage bag.)

• Gauze pads (maxi pads work just as well, and they’re cheaper. More absorbent too.)

• Triple antibiotic ointment

• Iodine, alcohol, and peroxide

• Nitrile or rubber gloves (box of one hundred runs about seven dollars. Sometimes you can find them at the dollar store.)

• Butterfly bandages

• Super glue (it sounds weird but super glue can be used to close deep wounds that require stitches. NEVER PUT SUPER GLUE INSIDE A WOUND. It should be lightly applied to the outer edges, and the skin squeezed together until it holds. There is less risk of infection, not to mention the pain, if you tried to suture a wound on your own.)

• Fish antibiotics (Wait, don’t laugh. While I would not recommend running out and buying these from the local pet store for a sinus infection, in the event of catastrophe, where hospitals are not an option, these could save your life.) I’ve done extensive research into fish antibiotics as they are the choice of preppers. Everything I have come up with lead me to believe that they are the same thing you get from your pharmacy. While purity cannot be guaranteed, I would risk it if a cut on my foot turned gangrene.

Everything else you may need

• Hopefully your Bug out location has a shelter. In the event that it does not, you should also make sure you have a tent big enough for your family to sleep in.

• Sleeping bags unrolled and sealed, as many as possible, into a space bag (if you don’t have sleeping bags, I would recommend gathering extra blankets and sealing them in space bags.) This allows for you to take them all in one fail swoop if a bug out is needed, and cuts down on space.

• Candles

• Flashlights

• Batteries

• Matches, lighters, and flint and steel (yes all of them)

• Pocket and hunting knives

• Glow sticks

• Put together a small cooking bag that includes a few pots and pans, along with a mess kit for each person. You can also buy small kits at sporting-goods stores that are a pan, plate, forks and spoons all with each other.)

• Powdered laundry detergent (store in plastic storage bags, this can be used to wash hands, clothes and dishes.)

In the end

Some of the things I have suggested may seem like common sense, but it is easy to forget the things you need most in an emergency. All of your bug out preps should be stored with each other, if not in the same space, at least in the same room. Don’t forget to put together a small back pack that contains at least one change of clothes, and a sweater or jacket. The collapse of society may not wait for beautiful weather; you need to be prepared for the cold, even if you’re prepping in June.

The lists above may look daunting, but if you slice away at it, you will have everything you need in no time. Take care to procure at least some of the food and medical supplies first. The other stuff will make things easier, but they won’t do much to keep you alive.

Set your budget at the beginning of each month for preps. I have consistently set thirty dollars a month aside for preps for the past year. I buy everything I can on discount, at the dollar store, or with coupons. I now have enough food and medical supplies to keep me and my family of five, alive and healthy for a year. And I’m not stopping any time soon. For me, every day, is another day, to make sure my family will survive.