How do you prep when you are poor?

[Patmark]

Hi everyone, you know I have finally got my wife to start to see the danger that we are facing. I think that she has finally gotten past the anger that we are all feeling from realizing that it's all a big lie and that we have been being lied to all along by our governments, big business, wall street, ect. She's finally gotten past the shock of what's coming and has started very slowly to accept the situation and become a useful ally in preparing to keep ourselves safe. This has only taken me 5 years and like I said I still get the feeling sometimes that she still thinks that the government will step in and fix everything after a crisis but at least she is starting to face it and help.

She does have a really good point however that I just can't seem to answer to her satisfaction so I thought I would ask for a little help here on how to reassure her that we are doing the right thing. Her point is and has always been how the hell do we buy extra supplies, and do all of this stuff that you want to do to keep us safe when we can just barely pay our bills? I mean she's absolutely right about this and I just don't know what I can tell her. It's not that we are in danger of losing our home like most Americans are, or that we aren't paying our bills and feeding everyone. The reality is though that to do that you know we have to really juggle things because we start out with 300.00 less a month than we need to do this. I mean I have tried all of the stuff I've learned others are doing like buying a little at a time, garage saleing, stuff like that but really with not much success. I mean while I might find great stuff real cheap at a garage sale ect. It does me no good if I don't have 5 bucks to give for it ya know what I mean? Hell it's kind of hard to go garage saleing or anywhere really when you are limited to one tank of gas per month to go everywhere you have to go.

I have managed to get some staples of course by scrounging, friends, ect. and I built this 550 sq ft garden with very little money by share tenacity and hard work but while the ability and confidence to grow my own food is a great skill to have I would feel a whole lot better if I could afford to build a safe room in my house and get more water stored. Oh ya and it would be nice if I were able to go fill up my five gallon gas cans so that I could run my generator for at least a few days in the event of a hurricane this year but I just don't have the 70.00 that it would cost me. Maybe you guys wouldn't mind sharing with me what you have done in this regard, or if you are in the same boat what you are doing about it. Thanks

PM

[TEOTWAWKI13]

When I made good money, $60-90k a year, I wasn't of the prepping mindset. I blew through money stupidly. Now that I am of the mindset, I'm not making that kind of money, but for whatever reason, I am able to put some things away. I'd offer this...

Cut expenses, get a second job, or a better paying job if that's feasible. Sell some of the garden's production to others. Sell anything you don't need anymore. I go to the dollar store a lot, and usually I can get 5 boxes of pasta, 5 jars of spaghetti sauce for $10. Doesn't sound like a lot for $10, but I can eat for a couple of weeks on that if I had to. Little things...

[Katrina]

Don't know if this would help but if you are a fairly handy person maybe a neighbor or two might be willing to put some cash your way for doing minor repair jobs like hanging shelves or something. Pop lost his day job when company went belly up when I was little. He kinda became the neighborhood fix it guy and mom did hair for extra cash, She was hairdresser before they got married. That and his part time job at Sears put food on the table and a roof over our heads until Pop got another job. Not saying you are in same boat, just an idea.

[rentprop1]

skip the safe room ...........you just asked us how to prep if you are poor ????

here is my .02.....if you if you have a flat screen TV sell it , if you have cable, drop it and read books, stop going to Starbucks, stop drinking soda, drink water, instead of buying cereal at $ 4 a box buy 2 -18 packs of Eggs for the same amount, learn to cook in the crock pot and stretch meals into leftovers the next day, skip a meal and drink a protein shake and add fruits or vegetables, don't waste money on things like video games and DVD's expensive deodorant and shampoos, use something natural and cheap instead, shop at thrift and second hand stores

rice is $10 for 20 lbs or $20 for 50 lbs, save milk jugs and fill them with tap water, tap is better than no water, locate stores like Save a Lot and Aldis that sell off name brands they are just as good.....my son who just finished school and got cut off his mother and I, was told the same thing last week when he called asking to borrow money to buy some preps.....we have paid his rent and covered some bills for the last 4 years taking money out of out pockets and savings accounts , so I know what that extra $ 300 you gave as an example is like....but its sad when he comes to visit with a new top of the line phone and tablet and card in his phone large enough to store the library of congress, and his stories of hanging out at the hippest places with $ 13 hamburgers and all the cool beers, yet always cries poor ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

I told him its time to make some changes....I know people who are self-reliant and prep on a fixed income of about $ 1200 a month , that includes rent-utilities and food...you just have to make due

[LUNCHBOX]

I'll throw in an idea or two...Just went through this with some friends. Do you smoke? Do you drink pop? Do you eat out alot? I told them to cut out or at least cut down on these pleasures and you could help yourself. (not saying you do any of these things) The idea of cooking a family meal (spaghetti, lasagna, chili or stew) can go along way foe less money. Plan some of those meals and use the extra savings if possible.

Also, think about your priorities or what you might need more. If your holding onto some silver/gold, maybe sell a little to get yourself the added food stores or ammo stock you need. Maybe you have two or three shotguns or rifles and don't need them all. selling one could get you a few months of dry goods (same with a handgun or two) I don't really know where your strong points are so these are just some ideas off the top of my head.

[Sniper-T]

Seems to me, that the best prep you could focus on is the one mentioned in the title. "POOR" Not having $5.00 in your pocket for an incidental purchase is not a good thing. Not only does being poor affect your ability to prep, but it affects your life and your quality of life on a daily basis.

You haven't mentioned what you do for a living, or your wife. But you may want to re-think that, or at the least, add to it. I've illustrated in many threads that the cost of preps is staggeringly more expensive up here than down there, and yes, both my wife and I have decent jobs, but that wouldn't be enough on its own to buy the extras, or to have a comfortable standard of living.

I have a small business on the side, plus I do odd jobs. A buddy is a roofer/builder, when I have some spare time, I work with him. I don't always have a lot of time, because I often work 60-80 hours per week, for the overtime, and to bank overtime, so I can take time off to work for a week with him.

My wife also has a side job, and a small business.

Sure this all cuts into 'our' time; but we made the choice to do what we could to pay off our debts, and to live more than a substinance existance.

And yeah, cutting down on the 'luxury items' like Starbucks, is a good first step. All of the meals I show in the dinner porn thread, are made quite cheaply, and are enough for dinner, and lunches the next day.

I agree on selling off extraneous items (2nds and 3rds), but not necessarily things that are part of your daily life (tv), unless you replace it with a smaller one. If you try to totally re-vamp your whole liife to save money, you may just find that you are not happy. Start by watching less tv per day, and having tv free days. If you can wean yourself off of tv, then sell it. (substitute 'tv' for anything that you might have that is 'unnecessary')

IMO

good luck

[The Stig]

Lots of great ideas above....

When it comes to money to prep there's only two things you can do: increase income or reduce expenses. Without knowing your personal situation I won't belabor the point here. If you'd like us to delve into this more we'd be glad to offer advise.

As far as prepping, it doesn't have to be expensive.

As noted above use your milk/soda containers for water storage. Don't have those? Use a bathtub, sinks, buckets, laundry tubs, etc and fill in the early part of an event.

Food storage? Buy rice, pasta and beans for your regular diet. Use half to cook. But the other portion in a ziploc bag and seal tightly. Put that bag inside another and seal again. Place whatever you can fit into a box, tape it up, and put it in a cool, dry place. "Sauces" can be made from ketchup packets, dipping sauces or even that 1/2 empty salad dressing jar at the back of the fridge. It won't be great food but will keep you going in a pinch.

Bandages? Take an old bedsheet and tear/cut into long strips. Roll them up, put in a ziploc bag and instant bandages and wound packing materials. Not sterile obviously but would work in a pinch. Cut another strip about a foot wide and three feet long. Fold it over width-wise three times and sew down the edge. With that strip and an old screw driver you've got a tourniquet. Cut another sheet into one foot by one foot squares: instant triangle bandages which are useful for a bunch of trauma situations (slings, tourniquets, wound packing, etc).

Need a chest seal for a sucking chest wound? Ziplock bag and ductape works.

Now you've got water, food and medical covered (albeit in rudimentary fashion).

Need to cook? Take tinfoil and a cardboard box to make a solar oven. Yes, you need a sunny day and it ain't gonna be fantastic but you can do something with it. You can at least get the water hot-ish to cook the pasta and beans you've stored away.

Know anybody with kids in scouts? Ask if they have any old flints/fire starters laying around. If so you now have the ability to start a fire. Use some rocks off your land to build a small fire pit. Start storing branches and twigs now, stack near said pit, and let them dry........firewood.

Want a "safe room"? Does your house have an interior room such as a big closet or bathroom? Bathroom would be best since you'll have a tub full of water. Save up your nickels and pennies and buy a lockset to put on the door and lock from the inside. Use trashbags and ductape to seal up the gaps around the door. Use scraps of wood to reinforce the walls or door. Not going to stop bullets but it would be a place to hideout and stay low-profile for a bit.

Want a bug out bag? Take an old bedsheet (seeing a trend here?), place belongings in middle, pull edges of sheet to the top and tie off with string or a belt.

Need gas for your generator? Got a garden hose? In the first few days of a temporary event siphon the gas in your gar into your generator to run it.

I'd suggest looking at items you already have and trying to purpose them as best you can. Look online and see if you can find an old scout handbook or similar survival book. Steal ideas from them and try to use items you already have.

Get creative and think outside the box. It doesn't always take snazzy gear and fun toys to accomplish the goal.

[Taz Baby]

When my three kids were, little we feel on hard times and only had $50 a week to spend on food. Remember that was not for food. It was the paper and cleaning stuff too. That is all we had left after paying our bills. That is not much when you are trying to feed a family of five and three of those are ages under six. But, we did it. Here are some of the things we did. Food was a gallon of whole milk that I diluted with water to make a gallon and a half, 1 bag of mixed beans which I made a soup from. Nothing was added except salt and water. 2 bags of rice, 1 loaf of bread for making sandwiches using one piece of bread instead of two, peanut butter, mayo, bananas which I sliced and made PB and Mayo sandwiches. Each child got a half of banana each. 1 bag of carrots and 1 bag of potatoes. That’s it. We fished for our meat, dug claims, harvest weeds from the yard for salads,(wild onions ,garlic, dandelions, ect), We had 3 chickens for our eggs, picked fruit from the woods, blackberries, blue berries, wild plums, ect. This was on in South Florida so I know you have all this where you are. We watched TV once in the morning and once at night for a 2 hrs each, no cable just antenna, gas for the car we used out of lawn mower, weed whacker and anything else that we had laying round. Lights were not turned on except at night to take a bath. We used the Light from the TV, and candles that I made from yard sale burnt candles, I home schooled my kids so the only time the car was used was to go get food. We were commercial fisherman so we worked from home. (Boat was in the back yard). I did this for 6 months. I ironed neighbor’s clothes and cleaned their houses, mowed grass and did yard work to pay the bills also. When we went to town We stopped at McDonald's to get 1 large fry. We went in and then got ketchup packets, napkins salt, pepper, all the condiments we could get. Us grownups ate supper only, no coffee, tea, just water to drink. See where I am going with this? My favorite saying is: Where there is a WILL there is a WAY. You just have to have the WILL to find the WAY. I know you have a garden, so save the seeds from that for next time planting. Don’t buy seeds. CL where you are has free curb alerts everywhere there. I know because when I am down there I go to them on the weekends. It is all free stuff. , Pick up as much as you can and if you can’t use it, sell it. Make a list of what you need to stay alive Like food and toilet paper ect, what each item costs. Then make a list of your bills, what you have to have, like gas, lights, water, phone. If you have home and cell phone drop one. No need to have both. Cut back on using lights, walk where you can, shop at the Dollar Tree. YOU CAN DO IT. I know you can. CL also has free chickens get some. Free is better than Cheap.

[realist]

We were luck to have some ducks and chickens growing up that was our primary food. If you can have a couple of chickens will supplement your diet. They will give you a lot of eggs that will help. Take a close look at your garden and figure out how you can get it to progress better. Contact you local Ag office they should be able to help. When you get an overabundance then you can sell or trade. BTW if you let the chickens have the run of the garden then you will not have bugs.

When I got out of College I didn't have squat. I worked three jobs to get ahead. If it is just you and the wife it is easier then if you have kids. Take care of the basics and then take what is left to deal with your priorities. Did I say make "The List" of your priorities. Unless you don't have food always keep some extra money out for emergencies and under no circumstances spend it. It came down for me that I had a jar of change to start with and that was my emergency cash. It all adds up good luck. It will take a while but you will get through it.

[TEOTWAWKI13]

Keep the change...put it in a jar, or your car's cup holder, or I have a bank account with Bank of America, when I make a purchase, it rounds up to the next dollar and throws it into savings. Usually end up with an extra $50-100 each month. Use that to buy supplies. It sounds silly, but it works.