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More Tips on Prepping on a Budget, by S.T.
How do you manage the extra expense of prepping when you are already cash strapped? After all, it is like buying for two households. When you are cost conscious you are able to purchase more. I am going to share my experience with you.
I am a single Mom of three and started prepping about a year ago. I would clip coupons and pick up extra cans of veggies a couple of times a month. When I started looking a sites on the internet that listed all the items to have on hand, I became concerned that my cans of veggies were not going to last all that long. Not to mention my kids are picky eaters and feeding them peas and corn every day was a recipe for disaster.
I made lists of food items that added variety, fruit snacks, raisins, cookies, cheese and cracker packs. Individual juice boxes, tuna, Spam (of course.) Soups, canned and dehydrated, beef stew, tortillas, and lots of peanut butter. Individual serving size apple sauce and fruit cups are healthy and convenient. I buy jars of nuts when they are on sale because I have found nuts can fill you up really quickly. We have cereal bars and small boxes of cereal. I have been buying cans of evaporated milk and recently discovered a boxed milk (non soy) because I know powdered milk won’t get drank, not even by me! I felt comfortable when we had about a six month supply on hand. Most stores have their own brand instead of name brand items that can be purchased less expensively and when you are prepping every dime counts.
I have always been a bargain shopper. I love to snoop in second hand shops and garage sales. I made a separate list for tents, camp stoves, canning equipment, hand tools, etc. Every weekend I planned my garage sale route with the items that were listed in the paper. I have recently noticed a number of “man sales” and even though I was the only woman there I found items to stash just in case. Lanterns, radios, flash lights. When I buy these items I try to keep all with the same battery size. Saws, even a brand new packaged solar shower. I found an old cooking device that uses newspaper. Now granted I’m not putting steak on this unit but to use it to heat a can of soup on, this just might be the ticket. I found storage tubs to keep the mice out of the sugar and snacks. I found shelf units and always came home smiling at my good luck, crossing out my items from the list. It’s like God was personally delivering to me what written on my lists.
Wal-Mart is always a place to hunt for bargains, but use a list. The store is designed to make you buy and get distracted by all the latest and greatest. This is where I buy my small bottles of propane much cheaper than I have found at other stores.
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