Northern Prepper
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How To Prepare For Food Shortages, Hard Times On A Shoestring Budget: Preppers' Advice
Most people don’t bother to prepare for uncertain times until it’s too late. It’s the “ant and the grasshopper” parable written on a human scale.
“The problem is that while fear is a great motivator, it isn’t conducive to smart decisions,” said Diane Vukovic at Primalsurvivor.com, an online personal preparedness website.
“No matter how terrified you are about a certain event happening, you still need to go about prepping in a calm, logical way,” Vukovic told The Epoch Times.
Once considered a fringe “conspiracy theory,” the idea of preparedness has gone mainstream as global events unfold. Many online “preppers” have said that only a small percentage of Americans prepare for potential food shortages and civil unrest. However, the concern among would-be preppers on a limited income is the cost of preparing in an inflationary environment.
The good news is that prepping is still relatively inexpensive to do, Vukovic said.
“Chances are you don’t need an expensive gas mask, bulletproof vest, or other hyped-up survival gear. You’ll see that most preparedness supplies are very cheap,” Vukovic said.
Rule number one is don’t buy out of fear or panic.
“I suggest writing a list of the most likely disasters for your area. For most people in the United States these will be earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and power outages. Then, make a list of what items you would need to be prepared for these disasters,” she said.
What’s On The Menu?
Prepperwebsite.com host Todd Sepulveda recommends budget-minded preppers start with a menu of necessary items such as dry food and canned goods, which are still plentiful at the grocery store.“People trying to prep their food storage sometimes go to the grocery store and start buying random items. Later, they have to try and figure out how it will all work together and put dinner together,” Sepulveda told The Epoch Times.
“Starting from a menu takes out all the guesswork and ensures that you won’t buy unnecessary items at the grocery store.”
Sepulveda advises making a one-week menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner of what your family usually eats, making a grocery list, and keeping a clean copy for the following week.
“If you want to stock up a month’s worth of food at one time, just quadruple your list,” Sepulveda said. “You can bring more variety to your family food storage if you make a two-week menu and double that. That way, you are not eating the same foods every week.”
Food storage isn’t hard and doesn’t have to be expensive—”you just need to plan it out,” Sepulveda said.
Other websites that cater to preppers of all experience levels include Graywolf Survival, Apartment Prepper, Bioprepper, Mom With A Prepper, The Prepared, and many others.
These sites cover a full range of topics on disaster preparedness—from creating emergency kits and bug-out bags, medical and first-aid supplies, water filtration, cooking without electricity, solar power, and living off-grid.
“Even if you have zero money to spend, you still have a budget—it’s just zero. And, yes, it is possible to prepare with absolutely no money,” Vukovic said.
She said once you have a list of everything you need, prioritize the items—trash bags and buckets, for example, are inexpensive or even free.
“To make sure you don’t forget anything important, divide your list into categories. As you buy supplies, make sure you get items from each category.
The critical supplies categories include food and water, water purification, health and hygiene, heating, lighting, electricity, disaster cleanup, personal safety, and emergency radio communications.
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ZeroHedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero