E-Mail 'Homesteading or Prepping with Very Little Money- Part 1, by M.C.' To A Friend

19 Comments

1. Use whatever term you want,I prefer to call myself a responsible adult.

2. The LDSs are a great resource for knowledge and food for long term storage through their online store. I have found no place less expensive to purchase the items they sell to the general public. If it hits the fan and I was unprepared I would go to them first for help.

3. We buy auto insurance, home insurance, life insurance ( which is really death insurance). Why not food insurance? Because, no big corporation makes billions of dollars off of it !

4. M. C. great first part look forward to reading the rest.

5. The feed store, never thought about that! Thanks!

6. Thanks! Looking forward to reading more!

7. Another great commodity from the feed store is salt. A 50 lb bag of salt can be had for about 5 to 6 dollars. Non-iodized, I use this product primarily for salting sheepskins but would not hesitate to consume it.

8. Another great commodity from the feed store is salt. A 50 lb bag of salt can be had for about 5 to 6 dollars. Non-iodized, I use this product primarily for salting sheepskins but would not hesitate to consume it.

9. I used the LDS pantry to get my first load of long term storage goods as well. They have several forms of packaging, from small bottles of honey, to #10 cans, to 25 pound sacks of red and white wheat. There are cheaper options than the LDS pantry, or Home Storage Store. But for 50 bucks you can pick out 6 assorted cans and put them in an original box.

   One big aspect here is the ease of acquisition and durability of storage. The box of cans is strong, easily stackable or fits under bedstead perfectly, and the cans are rodent proof. One additional step I learned and followed is to put My long term storage grains and beans in My deep freeze for 2 as soon as I got them. It kills any possible insects or mites.

   My first boxes were then labeled with their assdortment: quick oats, red wheat, dehydrated carrots, dehydrated onions, spaghetti bits, red beans, for example. Next month i went back with 50 dollars again. I got 6 more cans of black beans, white beans, wheat, oats, boxed them, got spare plastic lids (10 cents each) and money left over so bought one of their filtered water bottles, and spare filter for another 5 bucks.

   Then I started buying discount store can openers for 88 cents and cans of Treet (low grade Spam-type meat) and added one opener and can per box. Now I know a better option is a bucket of one hundred P51 can openers from Sportsmans Guide for 28 bucks.

   I also was buying canned goods on sales for short term storage, but after a year at 50 bucks per month, I had 6 months of long term food in number 10 cans, all easily stored under my bed, out of sight and out of the way.

   Thanks for sharing here M.C. It is easy for some people to be so intimidated and in denial that they don’t even try to lay something away.

10. Thank you for the good reminders in your article. I am looking forward to part 2.

    One Second After is a good read. I would recommend researching books by JWR as well. Liberators And Patriots are two of his fiction novels that are always in the living room for a re-read.
    JWR’s How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It is in our bug out/ bug in bag with a Bible. Cannot memorize this stuff so I keep it close.

    I have also very much enjoyed the A. American series that started with Going Home. Fictional series with really good character development. The lead character is a Joe Average with the common sense of people who visit this blog.

    1. JWR and A American are good novels for their technical qualities. Weather it is gear, commo, weapons or tactics, it is quality info that you can use. I get some some good ideas from these books.

11. An excellent post, and you are to be commended for showing that it can indeed be done, with only a little money. As the saying goes, most do not plan to fail, they just fail to plan. Being aware of what happens a few weeks after it goes sideways is truly the mark of an adult and a good prepper. I especially appreciate the frugal preppers, since they show that they are intelligent even in the face of difficult conditions, which is the definition of courage. I and my wife prep all the time, and learn new skills when we can. We don’t have to be frugal, but we prep frugal anyway, because you don’t know from one day to the next what dawn will bring. I can remember when we first started, and I could only buy one silver dime at a time

12. Liked your comments about the food pantry,glad you had a good experience

13. Greatly enjoyed and can’t wait for the second part. Never thought of the feed store.
    The only thing I slightly disagree with the LSD recommendations is the amount of dry milk. It use to be a much greater amount, and you would want more if you have small children.

    I’d want more simply to make cheese, cottage cheese and such to break up the monotony.

14. Most people who read this blog probably already know this, but, make sure any grain you buy in bulk is meant for animal feed rather than for planting. Those meant for planting are often treated with chemicals that protect the germinating seed and would make you sick if you consumed them.

15. Thank you for a very common sense (which is not so common anymore) article on why it’s good to be prepared for what life ordinarily throws at everyone but too many have forgotten due to the various safety nets. If you ordinarily eat some of that good food, it won’t give you digestive troubles when you switch over to more of it. Something to be aware of for those of us eating mostly processed food. Fiber will out, so to speak.

16. Great article. Part of my cheap preps are buying things at the grocery stop only when they are on sale. I get Chunky soup for $1.25 or 1.50 a can. That added to rice at about .45 a pound makes a filling and tasty meal for several people for little money. I get the 16oz jars of Jiffy peanut butter for about 1.50 on sale. I only buy sugar when it is between .39 and .49 a pound on sale. That is cheaper than Walmart. I save my Ocean Spray juice bottles for storing the sugar in. Works great, I get almost 4 pounds in a 60 oz bottles. Also using the store rewards card, I saved about $2800.00 last year buying mostly on sale stuff a little extra each time.

17. GREAT article, MC. You are a jewel and a treasure. 🙂

    I’ve done most of what you mention in the 1st part of your article. I find that having a food saver device that allows me to vacuum pack rice, beans, pasta, and other dry foods is of considerable help in stocking my larder. Adding an O2 absorber or two to each 2-3 lb package is also helpful in getting these foods to last as long as possible.

    Another tip, if available, is to shop for preps at the local dollar store and also at the local thrift stores, such as those run by Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Lots of good things can be had there for very little. My wife found a name brand silk blouse there once for $12. It was brand new and still had the original $65 price tag on it.

    A huge part of prepping for me is to get gardening skills. I helped my folks garden way back when, did a little after college, and then did other things for many years. About 8 years ago, I got back into it and it is a real joy to bring forth really nice looking nutritious food from the earth with my own two hands. It establishes both a physical and a spiritual connection between me and the Earth, which is wonderful. The tasty food that results is also a great benefit. Seeds are an excellent prep and I prefer the heritage type seeds because the plants that come from them will develop plant-able seeds of their own. Such seeds also have good value as a trading item, should the bad stuff hit the fan.

    Last by certainly not least is my own stubbornness. I simply refuse to hand over responsibility for the lives of myself and my family to some uncaring and potentially incompetent government agency. If they want to help and can help, fine. But I would not bet the lives of those I love on it.

    Cheers, all! 🙂

18. Great article. Just a reminder though that brown rice doesn’t store nearly as long as white rice. I think Brown rice is only good for 6 months to a year. White rice over 10 years

Comments are closed.