Commonly referred to as prepping, being equipped to deal with an unexpected event or disaster is important, and can provide peace of mind in uncertain times. Whether your 'event' is economic collapse, job loss or a destructive hurricane, gathering items to ensure your family's safety and comfort should be a priority. However, it can be difficult to even consider prepping when your current budget is already stretched too thin.
It is surprisingly easy to begin prepping with just $10 a month. This can be achieved by briefly cutting back on meat, switching to the store brands for a few items, or even selling unwanted books, DVDs or CDs on Ebay or Craigslist. Take a close look at your purchases each month and really consider their necessity. Could you push back buying a new frying pan and instead buy a couple pounds of dried beans? Instead of spending $5 on a tub of ice cream, take that money and buy an LED lantern. Keep an eye on local sale flyers and stock up when items are cheapest.
I found it helpful to begin with a list of what my family would need for one week without electricity, running water, heat, or the ability to go shopping. This is what my basic list looks like for my family of two adults and one breastfed baby:
3 lbs dried beans
a couple bags of quinoa
28 cans of vegetables (2 cans each for 7 days)
28 cans of fruit
Can opener
First-aid kit
antibiotic ointment
band-aids
gauze
aspirin
tweezers
Benadryl
Rubbing alcohol
Hydrogen peroxide
Hand crank radio
Extra blankets
LED lanterns
Flashlights
Batteries
Candles
Filled gas can
Matches and/or a fire starter
Ax or machete
Extra cell phone with car charger
Trash bags
Toilet paper
Feminine hygiene products
Cash
Canned cat food (for our cats, not us!)
You will have to consider your unique circumstances when compiling your list. For example, I did not include water as we have an artesian well that can be manually pumped. I also did not add diapers as we use cloth and are willing to deal with hand-washing them if necessary. We have a charcoal grill and lots of wood on our land, so I did not include a cook-stove. When our baby begins eating solid food, I will have to include additional items for her.
Never count on your regular supplies being stocked. Something could happen right when your tube of antibiotic ointment runs out, or the day before your big grocery shop. Everything you prep should be separate and secured in a waterproof container if possible, such as this giant tote from Home Depot. Also, make sure to note the expiration dates on food and medications and swap them out accordingly.
Once your basic list is complete, you have a choice. You can either continue by padding your current supplies, or move up to the next stage and begin prepping for the long term. This can be a bit scary, because you need to start imagining worst case scenarios. People in the direct path of the recent hurricane Sandy were without power for many weeks. Job loss can affect a family for months. If economic collapse is something you think about, that requires a whole new level of prepping and would be an entire article unto itself.
Don't let yourself become overwhelmed; the goal is to start small with what you can manage. Jot down basic items as you think of them, then begin whittling the list down to the essentials. It can take many months to prep on a budget, so don't be discouraged! A good prepper's work is never done!
Find even more articles on stockpiling!
Do you prepare for the unexpected? What are some items that you have on your essential list?
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I think this is a great start – and great that it can be done on a budget!
However, I would caution you against not having bottled water on hand. In cases of flooding, your well water could become contaminated, leaving you not only without water, but without a way to cook one of your primary food staples. If your well water was contaminated, you wouldn’t want to wash clothing in it either, so I would also recommend a few disposable diapers – if only for the convenience during a stressful situation.
I would also recommend having a landline. When the power goes out, sometimes cell towers get knocked out, too. When that happens, you have no means of communicating. Get an old school corded phone to use in emergencies.
I agree with bottled water. We were very lucky to have some on hand a year ago when a fire destroyed our water source for days. The water coming out of the well was black and yellow, very gross!
That’s a great point, thank you!
Or water purification system, filters, tablets, etc. Lots of ways to make your water clean again if you have access to the well water (won’t work without electricity so you need a manual pump for the well). Boiling water is an option but the list doesn’t have a propane or gas stove on it, so that makes me wonder if it was missed on the list (dried beans are hard to eat without being cooked).
I have a solar oven that is AWESOME. And I have a camp stove (propane, but can be used with natural gas as well), that I use for canning in the summer and fall. My solar oven gets used about once or twice a month, more in the summer months when I don’t want to turn on the oven.
For water storage, a great option is to re-fill 2-liter soda bottles after cleaning them. We don’t drink soda, but when we host parties or go to parties that have the 2-liter bottles, we collect the empties. If you have room in your freezer, it is wise to freeze these soda bottles filled with water for two reasons:
1. Your fridge/freezer acts as an ice chest even if the power is off. You can use these blocks of “ice” to give yourself a few more days to eat your perishables before they go bad. It will keep your fridge and freezer cool.
2. When it melts, you have drinking water!
We also have water purification systems that take out the bad stuff in dirty water… and as a last resort we have water purification tablets, and bleach, and also colloidal silver that acts as water purification. Oh, and iodine drops work, too, but make the water taste yucky.
We also have a couple smaller solar panels that allow us to re-charge batteries and also have a USB plug so that we can re-charge our small electronic devices. This will give us something to do (play games on our cell phones or read books or use apps on our tablet) if we get bored.
Another tip that is pretty inexpensive but works well… you know those cheapo solar lights you can get for outdoors? Many times you can find them at WalMart for only $1. Buy a dozen or so… if the power goes out, during the day keep them outside to soak up the sun, and then when the sun sets, bring them inside — they won’t give off a lot of light, but they can be placed in the hallways, in the bedrooms, bathrooms, etc so that you can see to get around your house. Great for kids nightlights, too!
Just some simple tips I hope you guys can use
Great advice!
I really like this list. Although I tend to avoid the word prepper to categorize myself, I do try to keep a stocked pantry and essentials in case of whatever might happen. Last year, we lost power in Northern Virginia for about two days. Seems like nothing, but it was the height of summer, and we melted like crazy. I was nearly knocked down by an old dude walking into a store to buy a small generator. Because some machine systems were down, I’d also recommend stashing a bit of cash, when/if able. Just in case!
We stockpile as well to help prepare for an unexpected event. In addition to the fruit and veggies, we stockpile those handy tuna and salmon pouches from the grocery store which is an easy protein source that lasts for years (obviously one should always keep an eye on expiration dates, and use up/replace as needed). Also, we buy a huge 30 lb bag of rice and store it in washed juice bottles and washed peanut butter tubs. I can store 7 cups of rice in a plastic peanut butter tub and it’s air tight! Also, a flint, and of course fishing gear/ammo are always a great idea as well!
Be sure the food you store is food that your family normally eats. You don’t want to introduce something new that your kids may not like or something that can upset tummies. You will be under enough stress without adding hungry bodies and runny bottoms to deal with.
Plan one extra meal a week on our grocery list. Make it one that can be made without very much “fresh” items. Then store it back. At the end of the month you will have 4-5 meals ready for an emergency and you’ve only spent a little each week.
Your list was very helpful and has given me a few more things to pick up. I’ve found a place to purchase a handcraned radio that has an outlet to charge your cell phone, so my college daughters (now that they are actually leaving!!) will each get one for Christmas in case they have power outages in college over in Montana!
This is an awesome post. Prepping so often turns into a monotonous, money pit of a process that people are turned off to the idea of being prepared for unexpected events.
Budgeting and planning, in a realistic sense, are the keys. I hadn’t seen anyone else take a look at what might actually be needed for a set period of time. Often, it’s tons of water, an excessive emphasis on weapons, and more dry goods than a person or even a small family could ever hope to eat.