Fairly new to prepping

Well you found the right place.
:welcome:
Just go through the different categories of the forum and you'll find tons of information.

 

Welcome.

Best thing ta do is sit down an decide what emergency is most likely ta occur first in yalls area. Earthquake, tornado, flood, financial er what have ya.

Then start settin back some food an water. It don't have ta be some a that high priced years supply in a bucket kit lessin yall can afford that. Canned goods keep fer quite a spell as do boxed dry goods.

Gather equipment as ya find it on sale er at flea markets er second hand stores. There be lots a lists here an on the internet as ta what ya can use an need. Put tagether a good first aid kit an learn how ta use it properly.

Read alot. The more ya know about survival the better. Practice, build a fire kit an learn how ta use it. Learn how ta sharpen a knife. Learn ta fish, hunt an trap. Might not be easy in a urban settin, but can still be done.

There be alot to it, but don't let it overwelm ya, take it one step at a time. We been workin at it fer years an don't feel we be "comfortable" where were at just yet. We just keep pluggin away at it.

 

Welcome to the forum! Glad to have you with us! You definitely found the right site if you're on a tight budget! Nearly all of us on here are on a tight budget, so there's lots of good information and tips for prepping without going broke!

Good luck!

 

Welcome

Hello and welcome. You've come to a good place, look around the different forums and you'll find a good bit of prepping info.

Take care

 

And remember, all the "stuff" in the world is just stuff without knowledge and skills.

 

I am not sure of your circumstances as far as living and or transportation, but in your shoes , I think first I would start building a bug out kit. It needs to be able to support you for food, water, shelter and warmth for at least 3 days. Then you can add to it as you can afford it. It starts building fast after the first 3 days supplies. Sit down, make a list of what you think you need. Make sure water and food come first. You can't live or go long without those two items.

 

Welcome Citizen, I'm also new here in the past couple of weeks. I too have to filter out the world-ending-stuff so I know what you mean. But even though I don't share those beliefs, I think it important that all of us who think in terms of being prepared, share what we know and have learned. I began "homesteading" back in 1972 in response to the oil embargoes and a recognition of our vulnerability. I actually became more concerned and educated about public panic when Johnny Carson of the Tonight Show did a monologue that began with something like "say, have you heard of the latest shortage? ...... It's toilet paper!" He went on to make a pretty funny story but of course, it was all a made up JOKE. Next day after work, I went into a Safeway store and found an entire isle was stripped bare of every last roll of toilet paper (the opposite side was filled with tissue boxes!). My take away from that was that I wanted to make sure I was never in line for necessities when others needed (wanted) them too. So for things I considered vital, I gradually built up a reserve stock at home - a few months worth of those things I preferred not to be without. Of course, I also began gardening, canning, and gathering tools but most importantly, I was gathering the knowledge of how and what to do to take care of myself and others.

In the almost 40 years since I began, I've lived through those oil embargoes, inflation rates of 15 to 20%, a flash flood killing 145 people followed by months of recovery, outages due to ice storms, wind storms, and floods. Never have I felt the need to grab up supplies and ammo and fight to defend my stash. In all my experience, I have never seen circumstances move in that direction. Instead, people generally pull together and help out others as best as they can and share what they have. I see vastly more heroes than villains. Humans are social (i.e. herding) animals and cooperation is built into our DNA. But so is self preservation. I have weapons and ammo, have hunted for food, have even pulled a gun once to stop a guy beating a woman, but prepping for a Mad Max type of world seems way beyond the realities I've seen or expect. Still, I appreciate those on the forum who have weapons expertise and advice because I have a hole or two in my system that I need to fill - eventually, as a low priority in my view. My greatest concerns are a subduction zone earthquake off the west coast similar to Japan's recent experience and the associated disruption of infrastructure, a global pandemic with a virulent H5N1 or similar strain, requiring extended "social distancing", and a deflationary depression which I see in our near future. To deal with all of these circumstances, one needs knowledge, skills, supplies, and the ability to be self reliant and willingness to share and help others. It is hard to help others if your own needs are great so the first thing to do it to make sure you can care for you and yours, so you are freed up to help out your community. Together we stand, divided we fall. Information for all those "preparations" can be found here, freely shared by people of different values and belief systems, but who share a common view that being prepared for uncertain times, is important.

 

Better start thinking about a food shortage (inevitable for several reasons)and the price of food rising 400-500% in the next couple of yrs. Most won't be able to afford it at that point and guess where they are gonna want to go to feed their families- your place.
Saying that- I dont mind bartering food or fishing equipment for labor or items I dont have, so folks can feed their families (the ol' "teach a man to fish" thingie), but they can't make a habit of showing up after that, unless they have something to trade (perhaps fresh fish for oatmeal or cornmeal or cooking oil). I have made up alot of barterable boxes full of pkgs of stuff folks may need at that time- or maybe something they just want.. like coffee, tea or sugar.

 

I found dollar stores to be useful I was building several BoB's for family members. I got alot of personal hygene stuff there toothbrush, toothpaste, travel sized deoderant and hand sanitizer type stuff. Just don't go cheap on the things that your life might depend on.

Lastly I bought packages of Mountain house food at Wal Mart. A meal here and there add up pretty quick and they last 5 years. Oh and it tastes great too. Good luck and welcome.

 

Yes, what Najda said. A simple kit with enough "stuff" to get you through three days is a great start.

Plan ahead and practice: Set aside three days to practice at a campground nearby, with only what you have in your kit. Last as long as you can with what you brought, but make a list of what you find out you missed the most. This can be a VERY enlightening experience!

 

Welcome, here are a few items to get you started. Start by listing things you use everyday. Don't worry about huge amounts of wheat and beans and rice if you don't eat that now. Any canned foods that your regularly conssume is where you start. Water is very important. Think how many times a day you use water, to drink, to wash etc. If you can't afford to buy cases of bottled water, start saving juice containers, milk jugs, wash well use just a tiny amount of bleach and fill with water from the tap. Personal hygene items, buy an extra bar of soap, tube of toothpaste, tooth brush, what ever you use every day. This will get you started and in no time you will be ready to expand your preps in other areas. Read all you can, this forum is a great place to start, life is a learning experience.

 

Part of prepping is budgeting. Keep everything in perspective. Try and put some $$ away for the hard times. Also budget for your preps. Even on a tight budget try and put away $5 a week or more of prep items. Buy stuff on sale. If its not on sale look at different items. Be careful of expiration dates though, sales are often done to rotate old store stock.

One thing that helped me in starting my preps years ago was to make a list of everyday items we used in our home. Date when you open packages to see how long they last. How many rolls of toilet paper do you go through in your home in a month? Set your goals for how long you want to prep for.
A good place to start is to get all your preps up to 3 months. 12 rolls of TP per month X 3 months= 36 rolls. Pick another item and put that away. That is the way I started, and pick one item and put it way and it is amazing how many different preps you will have in a year.

Most of all USE YOUR PREPS. As you use them they get replaced. Rotation, especially with food is important. Store what you eat, eat what you store. It does not pay to spend hundreds of dollars on MRE's to find out you cant stand to eat them. Overall, keep it simple........