Budget Preps is LIVE!

It’s official, I’ve started blogging over at

http://www.budgetpreps.com

So, everything will be over there from now on 🙂 Hope you make the move with me!

Exciting News!!

These last 3 weeks of blogging has been more successful than I could have ever imagined. I have received over 1,000 views! So, I’m taking the next step and self-hosting my blog. This will give me much more control over what I currently have in regards to all aspects of the blog. However, I won’t be able to keep the same URL 🙂 The new URL will be: 

http://www.budgetpreps.com

I’m in the process of getting everything switched over, but at the beginning of 2016…we will be operating from http://www.budgetpreps.com! I sure hope you’ll bear with me through the transition. I appreciate you all so much! 

 

Online deals on prepper items

I wanted to share some deals that I’ve come across this week through emails and other deal websites that might be of use to preppers.

Up to 35% off Rubbermaid Tractor Carts

8 pack of 18 gal Sterilite storage totes for $36 shipped. This is only good for free shipping day, today! That comes out to $4.50 per tote, amazing deal!

Cabela’s Fishing Utility Bag for $7.99. This bag is normally $24.99, so this is a smoking deal with no shipping charges. You can use this as it’s intended OR it would make a heck of a first aid kit 🙂

Black & Decker Drill w/ 100 Accessories for $63. Originally $139, this is over half off! Great deal if you need a drill around the house.

I’m sure there are plenty of other deals with the Holidays approaching, but these are what I found today!

Did you find any good deals this week? I’d love to hear about them! 

2016 Prepper Events

One of the things I truly love about the prepper community is just that…it’s a community. Everything I’ve read from books to blogs to websites places so much emphasis on the fact that there is strength in numbers. You may be able to initially survive through a crisis, but in an extended disaster situation you will almost certainly need the help of others.

We prep not only to ensure the safety and health of our families; but we also prepare to be there for our friends, extended family, and neighbors when they need it. One of the (many) items on my prepping to do list is to make several small emergency kits to hand out in the case of a crisis.

Before really jumping into the prepping world, I had no idea there were shows and conventions. The inner nerd in me totally geeked out!

Check out Prepper Shows USA for a full list of what’s going on in 2016. There are a few on the East Coast/Midwest that I will most likely be dragging my husband to, especially those in Michigan and Ohio!

I will have family emergency binder and survival candles (that will double as pretty Christmas gifts) updates next week! Enjoy your weekend, and be safe!

 

 

 

 

This week in preparations

I’m sad to say that we didn’t do much prepping work this week. Those weeks before Christmas are just hectic, you know what I mean. We had engagements Tuesday and Wednesday, and are taking our daughter to see Christmas lights tomorrow evening after work.

I did, however, manage to spend my budgeted $10 per week on prep and stockpile items 🙂 I stopped in to Big Lots on my lunch break to browse for some Christmas gifts and happened to stumble (luckily!) upon their medicine and first aid isle and…..jackpot!

Y’all, these items are stock up price all the time!

1.) Here’s a rundown of what I got to bulk up our first aid kits:

Aspirin (acetaminophen) = $2.00 for 120 capsules.

Pain Reliever = $1.50 for 100 capsules

Anti-Itch Cream = $2.00

Antifungal cream = $1.50

After Bite = $3.00

TOTAL: $10.00 for all of this! I definitely feel accomplished about this!

2.) I started reading One Second After by William R. Forstchen. It’s about surviving trough an EMP that completely knocks out the electrical grid. I’m going to be honest, the first few pages have been rough to get through. It’s setting up the back story and the plot, but I want to get to the action! I’ll be sure to keep you all updated on my thoughts as I get through it.

3.) I researched some venison stew recipes for the fresh venison we have thanks to my husband’s hunt. I’ve never made one before, so it will be interesting. Look for some photos next week 🙂

4.) I have been working on our Family Emergency Binder slower than I wanted to, but it will be complete this weekend! I’ve given myself a hard deadline.

5.) I also have to finish up some homemade candles for my prepper Christmas gifts. Look for photos for that next week also!

Not too busy of a week, just how I like it!

What did you do to prepare this week? I’d love to hear from you! 

 

FREE Shampoo at Rite-Aid! Starting 12/20

If you are a Rite-Aid Wellness+ Plenti Points member (free to join, so simple) you can snag this deal:

Finesse Shampoo, Conditioner, or Stylers are 2/$4.

When you buy 2, you get 400 points on your rewards card which is equal to $4 to use on a future purchase making the shampoo free. 

What a great way to add to your stockpile for free!  I like to save up my points (they do expire, so be careful) and use them on future deals. For instance, this deal will be totally free for me because I have points waiting on my card 🙂

So, get out to your local Rite-Aid and get some free shampoo!

On Mental Preparation

As I was doing my daily blog reading this morning over on Thoughts from Frank and Fern, Fern wrote something that for some reason struck a nerve central to my emotions:

“Mental preparation is the most important aspect of preparedness and survival”

I’ve stated before that my husband and I are beginner preppers, and very much so. This concept is not only new to us, but new to our family and friends. When they bring up the books I’m reading, the supplies we’re buying, and the many other things we’re doing…there is an obvious sense of discomfort coming from them. Which in turn, makes us feel uncomfortable sharing our journey.

We get various responses from being laughed at, a few curious questions, but mostly just being blown off. We hear things like:

“I’m not a survivalist, I’ll just give up.”

“We’ll just leave if a crisis ever hits our town.”

“The government and Red Cross will help us.”

And my favorite:

“We’ll just come to your house.”

Scenarios quickly start coming to my mind…

You’re not a survivalist? What about the children you’re responsible for, how will they survive? Will you give up on them too? When your town, your state and your world is ready to rebuild, do you not want to be one of the people helping do that?

What if you can’t leave town? What if the roads are blocked? Do you know alternate routes? What if it is unsafe? Can you walk miles to safety?

What if there is no one to come save the day and you’re responsible for yourself? What if there is no food left in the stores? No water left in the pipes? The government is not a knight in shining armor, I think we all know this.

The daily headlines are enough to make me want to lock up in my house, crawl under a rock, and hide from the world. But, avoidance and denial won’t solve anything. Ignorance is definitely not bliss. Civilization has collapsed in one form or another how many times in the history of the world? We’re still here, because there are survivors among us.

Survivors persevere. Those who are willing, prepared, and determined to survive do.

I’ve been told I’m a pessimist because I’m “preparing for the end of the world” (not my words). We still live our lives. We have date nights. We get on the floor every evening and play with our daughter. We visit family, cook dinners, and enjoy time with friends.

Life is all about balance. I balance enjoying the right now and being grateful, while preparing for the worst. Rather than watching 3 hours of television after my daughter goes to sleep, I read. I research. We talk.

My to do lists keeping getting longer and yes, some days it feels overwhelming. A friend I’ve made throughout this blogging gig, Dayna, summed it up perfectly in her comment on this post. She said:

“It is good to have a fire lit under me to prepare. However, the enormity of it can paralyze me. I have an overwhelming urge to have it all in place RIGHT NOW!”

 At first, I felt somewhat insulted when people would react by throwing the sensationalized stereotypes and assumptions at us. But that insulted feeling turned to frustration, then to pity, and now worry. I worry that the people I care for most in this world will not be ready when they need to be. I fear they will be caught with their pants down, frozen with no idea what to do next. Me on the other hand, I’ll be ready to run and ready to survive and feel satisfied, even if only for a moment, that I’ve done all that I could leading up to that moment to prepare my family and give us a better chance.

Frank and Fern said that fear is a powerful thing. It can paralyze you or motivate you.

I also believe that life is just time made up of choices we make.

I choose to be motivated. I choose to live the best life I can, while preparing for the worst.

Maybe that’s the real reason why I started this blog. Maybe there are other people out there who feel a little insecure about what their choices are, maybe this will serve as a safe place for them to openly talk about it. Or, maybe this will serve as inspiration to those that currently don’t have a desire to survive.

Either way, whatever purpose this blog serves, I hope it helps someone. 🙂

A Prepper Christmas: 25 gifts under $25

Do you have preppers on your Christmas list? Or maybe someone you’re trying to lure to the dark side? Keep reading for my top 25 prepper gifts under $25!

You may have noticed in my previous posts that I have a very long wish list; I think most preppers do! Being a budget prepper though, it’s oftentimes difficult to find a high quality item for a reasonable and cheap price.  I’ve put together a list of 25 items that won’t break the Christmas budget. We try to budget $25 per person on our list (besides parents and our daughter, we think they deserve the world!). With some planning and patience, you can really stretch $25!

 

Here are my picks:

1. Reliance Aqua-Tainer: This 7 gallon rigid water container is a dream. We have plans to add several more to our stash. They are sturdy, come with a spout for convenience, and are still movable when full.
2. LifeStraw: this personal water filter is highly regarded in the prepping world and a must have in your bug out bags! When you are unable to find a water source that you are 100% sure about, these can be life saving little straws.
3. 2-pack Edible Wilderness and Wilderness Survival Playing Cards: How cool are these? Having a form of entertainment in a crisis situation is a necessity in order to keep your sanity. These playing cards with neat tips and tricks on them is perfect! 2 birds, 1 stone.
4. Mylar Blankets (pack of 10): Mylar blankets are another necessity for your various bug out bags and emergency kits. These blankets fold up small and can be stored almost anywhere.
5. SE FS374 Magnesium Fire Starter: Having a means to start fire if you had to GOOD (get out of dodge) could mean the difference between life and death; and having a reliable fire starter is the foundation. I recommend having several fire starters: a traditional lighter, some matches, and a fire starter like this magnesium fire starter. Be sure to practice with it – you don’t want to be trying to figure out how to use it when it matters most!
6. Survival Mylar Thermal Reflective Cold Weather Shelter Tube Tent: This handy tent can fit 2 people to help hold in more body heat. It is reusable, lightweight, waterproof and windproof.
7. Safe-T-Proof Solar, Hand-Crank Emergency Radio, Flashlight, Beacon, Cell Phone Charger: Talk about a multi tool! During a disaster scenario, having a means of communication to the outside world will be essential to knowing how to handle the crisis and how to move forward. There are tons of emergency radios on the market, so take your pick…I just like this one 🙂
8. Grocery Gift Card: I would love this as a gift! Extra money to build up my food storage? Yes, please!
9. Expanded view 5 Gallon White Bucket & Gamma Seal Lid – Food Grade: We have several of these buckets in our stockpile that contain various items like packaged pasta, flour, sugar, salt, bags of rice, etc. I prefer the gamma lids because they are reusable. When I first saw the price, I was taken back a bit but I think it’s worth having high quality, safe, food grade buckets to store your food.
10. The Encyclopedia of Country Living: This one was on my Christmas list this year. We can store all the food we think we’ll ever need, but it will eventually run out. Knowing how to live off of the land and be self sufficient is one of the reasons I am passionate about being a prepper. There’s so much satisfaction in knowing that my family and I can survive in our own. Having a quality collection of reference books will be beneficial in an extended crisis situation.
11. Paracord Survival Fishing Kit: This kit includes a compass, fire starter rod, eye knife, weights, swivels, fishing hooks, floats, line, tin foil, and carabiner.
12. A quality pocket knife: There are so many options out there and each person has difference preferences. My husband is a total pocket knife snob. It’s pretty obvious as to why having one of these is important.
13. Pocket Chainsaw: Pretty self explanatory here, it wouldn’t hurt to have one of these around.
14. Heirloom Vegetable Seeds: Heirloom seeds are essential because the seeds can be re-harvested for use again. I still have a lot to learn about gardening, but I do know this one thing.
15. UltraFire 7w 300lm Mini Cree Led Flashlight: These flashlights are small enough and cheap enough that they can be stored anywhere and everywhere. You never know when you’ll need some extra light!
16. Paracord: This is one of those poster-child survival tools that has so many uses. Check out this article on 44 ways to use paracord.
17. Conflicted: The New World Series Deck 3: Ok, so this may not be useful during an actual crisis, but is something I really want to use to prepare for a crisis.
18. Pepper Spray: Never underestimate a good can of pepper spray. Make sure you know how to use it so that you are ready when it counts.
19. Essential Oils: my dear friend Tracy has been slowly educating me on the uses of essential oils. The multiple uses for essential oils is staggering. Check out just one of many resources on preppers and essential oils here.
20. A good set of cast iron cookware: I don’t have a link because this one of those things I like to scour yard sales and thrift stores for. These pans are great for cooking over fires with.
21. Nalgene Water Bottle: Again, pretty self-explanatory. If you have to bug out, you’ll need something to carry water in when you stumble across it. At least one of these for each family member is a good place to start.
22. Coleman 5319-700 MicroPacker LED Mini Lantern: small and convenient. A great alternative when the lights go out.
23. Clear Water Bottle & Survival Kit: I stumbled across this on Amazon, and while it only has 1 review I think it’s awesome inspiration if you want to get creative. This would make a great gift for a new driver, the beginner prepper, the camper, the hunter…and so many more!
24. Where There Is No Doctor: Another essential book to add to your collection.
25. Homemade candles: No link because I am making these later this week and will have a post up about it 🙂

That’s it. What do you think? Is there anything I should have added?

What prepper Christmas gifts do you like to give?

And the bug hit us…

Our house got hit with strep throat AND a stomach bug over the weekend. And let me tell you, it was not pretty. I got hit with it last, so while the husband is at work and the baby is at daycare, I am taking some much needed time to relax and catch up on The 100 on Netflix.

I’ve got a post about prepper Christmas gifts that I’m really excited about! But for today, head on over to Food Storage Moms and check out her book on how to prepare your family for survival.

This week in disaster preps

Each Friday I round up what our family has done this week in to better our preparedness situation.

This week I focused much more on gaining knowledge rather than physical preps. In a real world SHTF (sh*t hit the fan) situation, you can have all of the things in the world you could ever need to survive, but if you haven’t learned how to use them or learned what to do once those things run out, you’ll be up a creek without a paddle.

Here’s what we accomplished this week:

1.Finished The Provident Prepper. This is a great resource for the beginner level preppers, maybe even a little past beginner. Now that I have finished the book, I’m going to go back chapter by chapter and apply their recommendations to our plans.

2. Purchased One Second After by William R. Forstchen with an Amazon credit I had accrued. I’ve come across several blogs and websites that stated this book is what caused them to start their prepping journey. Here’s a quick synopsis: “New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real…a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages…A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies.”

3. As directed in The Provident Prepper, took time to seriously evaluate all of our possessions. We finally finished sifting through our basement, cleaning, and organizing. We donated over 10 (!) trash bags of clothes, toys, and household items to the church-run store next door that helps families in need. The rest of the house is my responsibility, while the garage is alllll for my husband.

I think that it’s important to do this regularly, not just for prepping reasons, but for your sanity as well! As a society we tend to have an attachment to stuff (guilty here). What we are trying to do in correlation with our prepping journey is to live a more simple, less crowded life.

4. I spent my budgeted $10 at Aldi yesterday. Here’s what I purchased:

              5 cans of baked beans = $0.39 each => $1.95 (SCORE!)

5 cans of peaches = $0.79 => $3.95

5 cans of pears = $0.79 => $3.95

Total cost= 15 cans to add to our stockpile for just under $10.

5. My husband had a successful hunt during the short shotgun season! We added over 50 lbs of venison to our freezer and stock in the form of roasts, back straps (steaks), jerky, ground venison, and venison sticks (like beef sticks). We use all or as much of the animal as possible, I feel that it would be a great disrespect to that animal if we were wasteful. His hide and head have been taken to the taxidermist and my brothers took what was left of his carcass to bait some coyotes that have been killing calves from our family’s cattle herd.

Next week’s plan includes purchasing another Aqua Tainer for our water storage, making prep related Christmas presents for my family (I can’t wait to share this!), and starting One Second After. 

What did you do this week to prepare for disaster? I’d love to hear from you!