Beginning at the Beginning

After having sat back for a bit and taken a deep breath, I’ve decided to attack my prepping in a very systematic way. I was finding myself getting quite overwhelmed with everything I wanted to learn and acquire, especially since I’ve been feeling such a sense of urgency to get as prepared as I can. So, I decided to start at the beginning and work my way forward from there. So, where is the obvious place to begin? I suppose where life itself began: water.

If anyone has done any reading about surviving or preparedness, then he or she knows that the most important necessity is water. People can live 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water. So, it is imperative that I have at least 3 days worth of water on hand at all times, although my plan is to try for at least a month’s worth of water. I’ve been picking up bottled water whenever it is on sale- which for me is less than $2.99 for a 24 pack. But, I know that I don’t have nearly enough water, especially because we grab bottles on a daily basis whenever we are running out of the house and need some.

So I did some researching online and, while I would definitely like to invest in a 55 gallon drum for water storage, that is just not feasible right now on our budget (because I’m still out on maternity leave and not getting a paycheck), and it is not feasible for the amount of storage space we have at the moment. So I decided to go with 4- 7 gallon water storage jugs from REI, where I also got free shipping. REI had them the cheapest (at $16 for 1 storage container).

These 4 containers will fit in the space that I currently have, and it will provide enough water for my family for 3 days. So I hit my first goal! Or at least I will when the containers arrive in a few days. Enough water for 3 days for my family of 4 plus 4 of my extended family members.

I will continue to buy bottled water when it is on sale, but at least I know that what is in those bottles is there all of the time.

I’m feeling refreshed already! It’s nice to see some real progress towards my goals, and it is nice to feel that I am organized and have a plan of attack for this giant task of prepping.

A Very Busy Week

Wow! I can’t believe that’s it’s already been almost a week since I last posted. Time sure does pass quickly when you are busy, and that is what we have been around here. Here are some of the things that have kept me away from my blog this week:

1- Doing a lot of organizing around the house- the better organized I am, the easier it is for me to think and function. It is also helpful for me to see what we have and what we need so I can make sure that we are staying on track with our preparations as well as with our every day existence and budget.

2- Doing some inventory of what we have in the freezers, stock room, and pantry and still trying to get my household management binder together. (Thanks to Foggy and ThePreppersWife for getting me off on the right foot.)

3- Doing some GREAT coupon match ups for my shopping trip this morning. The ShopRite that I patronize is having their can can sale right now, and I took full advantage of it this morning! I got about 300 dollars worth of groceries for $140. That included 24 cans of veggies and beans- for about 8 dollars, 12 cans of tomato sauce (the big 29oz cans)- for $6.99, 3 (25oz) cans of crushed tomatoes- for $3.00, 8 cans of diced tomatoes- .88 cents each, 4 cans of refried beans- $3, and 4 cans of chili- $2 after coupons and the sale. I also stocked up on Olive Oil- which was only $3 for 16oz after coupons, enough kids shampoo to satisfy my “five-year itch” (what I’m calling my overwhelming desire to have enough to live on for five years), diapers, Cheerios- for about $1.35 after coupons, four FREE tubes of toothpaste, two FREE toothbrushes, and two FREE bottles of mustard. I got a whole bunch more, but those are the highlights of my trip today.

4- Researching and purchasing some items to aid in our stockpiling and self-sufficiency (more info on this to follow in other blogs as I review the items we got.) I’m especially anxious to get my Shelf Reliance rotating can rack that I got when they were having a GREAT sale online. And we are also waiting for an Excalibur Food Dehydrator to come in- my husband’s anniversary gift to me.)

5- Working out in the garden- the tomatoes, squash, and bean plants all look great! All of our herbs are doing really well, and the scallions are absolutely beautiful! The pepper plants, however, look very sad, and I will need to be giving them some TLC in the next few weeks. My only regret about our garden this year is that we should have made it bigger. I didn’t want to take on too much with our first year of really doing a garden, but now I regret it because it is going so well and because we have learned how to can.

6. Canning chicken! That’s right, I said “Canning Chicken!” Although I’m not quite sure how it turned out. We’ve been a little busy, and I’ve been meaning to break open a can and give it a try, but it just hasn’t happened yet. I’m planning to dedicate an entire post to the process we used (and I even made sure my hubby took some pictures while we canned so I can post them as well), but I just don’t like the look of the chicken. It’s a bit dark- which I’m sure you’ll be able to see in the pictures, but I think that’s just from the type of chicken bouillon we used. I don’t know……my husband thinks that we should wait a little longer before opening a can, just so that we’d definitely know by then if it was no good. The jars sealed, and the pressure cooker wasn’t NEARLY as scary as I thought it would be, but I guess I’m still just a little leery about chicken in a can.

7. Swimming and enjoying my kids as we’ve had some very nice summer days.

So, more posts to come. I’m definitely going to do some reviews of the new prepper toys that we got as they come in and we put them to use, and I’m also planning a book review section for my blog. Since I’m an English teacher and a book snob at heart, I thought it might be fun to merge my passion for literature with my love of prepping.

Until the next post, happy prepping!

– A Prepared Mom

What I Did To Prep Today

Today was a somewhat productive day, unfortunately most of what I did today just reminded me of all the things I have yet to do. Some days it seems that the more educated I become and the more I prep, the more I realize I need to do to get my family ready for whatever may come. I suppose all I can do is set short term goals and meet them as efficiently and productively as possible so that they all get me closer to my long term goal of a safe and sustainable lifestyle for me and my family.

So here’s what we did today:

1. I started a family binder with all of the important documents and information that we should be able to pick up at a moment’s notice and leave with in case of fire, crisis, etc.

2. We washed, dried, sorted through, vacuum sealed, and froze 6 pints of blueberries that I got on sale this weekend.

3. We blanched, cut off the cob, vacuum packed, and froze two pounds of corn from some very yummy (and cheap) ears of corn that we bought this weekend.

4. I went through and sorted, re-organized, and took inventory of the kitchen cabinets to see what we had, what we needed, and what could maybe be gotten rid of to make room for something more practical. This was probably the best thing I did all day because I found 3 large containers of baby formula that I had put aside after my son finished with it in case we had another baby. Well, we did have another baby, and my 3-month old daughter just happens to be on the same formula as my son was! Yay! Finding that formula was pretty much the equivalent of finding $60 dollars in the cabinet!

Up for tomorrow? Oh boy, I don’t know if I want to think about it…….but, I’ve got to finish the binder- which means I have to locate my marriage license, and order copies of the kids’ birth certificates, and find my missing passport- among other things. I should also can the chicken that I got for .99 cents a pound on Sunday- although I must admit that I am a little afraid of the pressure canner 🙂 That should make for an interesting post when I’m done. And I have some peaches that are just dying to be canned as well. If I can get those things accomplished tomorrow I will feel good.

For now, the babies are in bed, the house is quiet, and I’m going to catch up on some much needed reading and sleep!

Oh! I almost forgot! Yesterday we had a little gathering at our house, and I was talking to my brother about how I am going to can the chicken that I got on sale because I am almost out of room in the freezer. Thank God we had this conversation because…..he offered me a FREE chest freezer! That’s one of the larger items that my husband and I had on our list of preps, and I am very happy and thankful to be able to cross it off without having had to spend any money! That money can definitely be used elsewhere to help get our family ready. Gotta love free prepping supplies!

Happy Prepping!

How I Came To The “Prepper” Mindset

Hello Readers,

So, like many people out there, I always watched those “doomsday” shows on the history channel along side of my husband (an avid “prepper”) and thought, those people are crazy, nothing like that is ever going to happen. I think that I preferred the ostrich belief system, which was that if I simply buried my head in the sand and refused to see what was coming, then it would never happen.

Then, about a year or so ago, I read the book One Second After by William R. Forstchen and it really forced me to contemplate what our world would be like without power. Now, I don’t have the most faith in the human race to begin with, 8 years in a civil service job will do that to ya, so I really started to consider what people would do in the case of no electricity, no food, etc. I decided that I didn’t want to be stuck in a chaotic world, unable to defend or provide for my family.

I’ve recently, in the past six months, also begun using coupons when shopping. I never used to shop sales or use coupons, but when I realized the amount of money that I could be saving, I decided that it was worth a few hours of my time a week to devote to saving my family hundreds of dollars. This couponing has also led to my full-fledged devotion to prepping. By combining the “prepper” belief system with my ability to stock up on items at a very low cost, my husband and I have started quite a nice stockpile for our family in the event that we will ever need it.

The shopping and stocking have only continued to snowball into other ways to save money and prepare ourselves to be self-sufficient and reliant. We started a garden this spring, and have recently begun canning our own food. I believe that these are just two of the important skills that one would need in post-SHTF situation.

So the purpose of this blog? I suppose I’d just like a place to record my thoughts, trials, etc. as we go through the process of preparing our family for when the SHTF. I’ve also found so many other blogs helpful, and I’d like to do my part to pay it forward (if there is anyone out there even interested in my humble ramblings.)

Happy Prepping 🙂
– A Prepared Mom