Preparations

HOME

Getting Started

Food

Water and Energy

Miscellaneous Preparedness Supply Sources

Self Defense

Items to Have on Hand  Before a Possible Pandemic

What to Buy in Preparation For a Pandemic

Pratical Items to Have on Hand For the Flu

Emergency Preparedness Checklist

Various Preparedness Links

Preparation Information and Links
posted by dpfan

Prepping on a Budget

It’s not practical for everyone to go all out. Here is my thought on a “medium ground” preparations:

1) A package of freeze dried & dehydrated food from a preparedness company – they sell packages for 1 month to 1 year for one person. Obviously a year for one person equals 3 months for a family of four. Pray about it, and buy for as long a period as you feel led to and can afford. I like Mountain House and Emergency Essentials for freeze dried food and Waltons for dehydrated. A good idea would be to buy a low cost dehydrated package from Waltons and a higher cost freeze dried package of Mountain House and combine the two.

Shop around on these as there is a big variety on pricing. Also, some companies don’t allow for enough calories per day, so watch how they measure their servings. Augment this with cooking oil (important), canned or packaged foods your family likes and you will be better off than 99% of the population.

2) Stored water and a good survival water filter. I don’t think it is possible for most to store water for more than a few weeks. If you have a good water filter and some bleach, you can drink anything – rain water, roof runoff, lake water, etc. and it will be as good or better as what comes from your city tap right now. You can pick up a good one for a few hundred dollars or less. I like the British Berkfeld.

3) A means to cook your food and keep warm in the winter. I looked at this hard and for me kerosene heaters and cookers were the best choice. Propane tanks such as used in an outdoor grill are not safe to use indoors, and it’s not possible to store enough for any period of time more than a few days. Camping stoves put out poisonous fumes and are not meant to be used indoors. I found out both of these things the hard way…

4) A means of self defense.

The above can be done on a reasonable budget, and almost everything listed here has a long term or unlimited shelf life. It’s like a one-time payment on a lifetime insurance policy – do it once, then you can forget it.