Hi Scotty,

The first thing I did was seperate 72 hours worth of food out of my existing groceries. Then I physically removed it to another location in the house. And boom, I had a good start. To replace it, I started buying one or two extra items on subsequent shopping trips. It was alot of groceries to separate from our pantry for four people but I was very satisfied with the quick 'win'. Especially considering prepping can get pricey. And I, like you, don't have the money to casually throw around.
There are many websites that will give you great advice on budget prepping. Make some lists and buy what you can whenever you can. It's not going to happen quickly but every move forward puts your little family in better shape once the SHTF.

Good luck!

Thats a great getting started tip bitbybit, thanks. 🙂

Soup and water since both are cheap to acquire. Then rice and beans if you eat that stuff. You can get multivitamins and minerals to compensate for any loss of fresh veggies and fruit if need be. Quinoa is something you can buy for a complete protein instead of meat and it stores well.

Little blurb I found about Quinoa on wiki:

"Soil requirementsQuinoa does best in sandy, well-drained soils with a low nutrient content, moderate salinity, and a soil pH of 6 to 8.5."

That is pretty much our soil to a tee. Guess I know what I am growing next year in the open field.

Many, many years ago when I started to prep (without realizing it at the time) that is exactly what I did Bitbybit. Today it is an excellent way to get into prepping with zero initial cost! It also plays into prep what you eat and eat what you prep. As your stores build up it ensures that your food is always consumed before the best before date. At one point I let things get a little out of hand and ended up having to throw a lot of food items out. As your food store grows you need to develop a method for rotation and consumption. I failed to do this as I did not realize that a good supply is food is great but also a logistical nightmare. I learnt my lesson though and I am much more careful now. Building your supplies up slowly as you can afford also gives one a great sense of accomplishment.

No cost: save or ask others to save their juice bottles - fill with water and a little bit of bleach and start building your water storage for free.

Have a look around your home and get organized. Get rid of anything that just takes up space because you are going to need space to put the items you aquire.

Make a detailed list of the most basic things you need and start looking for them at thrift stores, kijiji or craigs list.

Do you have camping equipment that can be used in an emergency? Can you put together a Bug Out Bag with items already in your home? Find an old knapsack and start hunting for those random things that will make a difference if you don't have them handy in the car or on hand if you need to leave home in a hurry.

Clean out a closet or area and get it set up for your new pantry - even if you don't have much to put in it.

All these things will give you a sense of accomplishment as ICRCC said and will motivate you to continue working at it.

Some of us have been at this for awhile but we all started at the beginning..don't be discouraged! Keep working on it every day and continue reading here at IPN to learn new skills and ideas for moving forward.

Where does one find Quinoa?

Thanks folks for the replies... so far, so good. All beginners (myself included) will definitely be rewarded from this.

I want to ask about water and bleach. Is that safe? Obviously it is but tell me more. The bleach gives the water life? What ratio would you recomend?

Where does one find Quinoa?

Quinoa ( pronouced keenwa in case you need to ask someone!) is available at bulk food stores or helath food stores. It's hard to find in a regular grocery store. It is on the expensive side and probably not where I would start. It does store well but perhaps some canned fish, turkey etc. would be better until you have some more food storage and want to diversify.

Thanks Anita. I can ask at the store this question but for the sake of public knowledge on the forum... any idea what the shelf life is like and preperation methods for consumption?

Cheers

I want to ask about water and bleach. Is that safe? Obviously it is but tell me more. The bleach gives the water life? What ratio would you recomend?

Eight drops of bleach per gallon is a pretty standard suggestion. Water is water but sometime when it sits it can grow algae from contaminents in the container. It should be stored in a dark place - sunlight will cause algae to grow as well. Water can also taste flat after it is stored for awhile so it is suggested that you shake it it well before consuming to add some oxygen back to the water. If it smells like bleach - and it shouldn't at that rate - you can leave the container open for an hour or two and the chlorine will dissapate.

Quinoa cooks up like rice but tastes kind of nutty. I like it! Storage length is somewhere between 5-25 years depending on who you ask. I am most comfortable with Brigham and Young University studies because they have a vested interested in being right!

Here's a link with more information: http://preparednessadvice.com/food_storage/quinoa/

I think one of the things is don't be shy of "used" -thrift shops and used book stores, some get 5 gal buckets from bakeries, and LDS (mormon) food centres are great and a good price (look on line for their food list) Dollar stores have some good stuff-one near me has first aid supplies for $1.25 (sterile guaze, face masks, gloves, etc) And these days some of the grocery stores are trying to get people in by having one or two items in their flyers that they dont really make much on, but they are hoping you will buy lots of other things. Often those are canned goods. Just remember to mark your buy date on them,so you can rotate.

Thanks Anita.

Joy... good call. I have shopped at VV for about a decade and so much of what I own can be attributed to them. I regularly find wicking layers and quality fleece, wool and such at Value Village. Furniture is often overpriced. Shelves for example. You can get better shelves for cheaper at iKea. I have yet to locate some wool pants and have been looking for years. I want thick camper style wool, not the dress up in a suit type wool. I have seen them... know they are out there. Just hoping one day they will show up at the store when I do. 😉

Many times you will hear people say that it is better to spend money on quality items rather than just get what you can at the time. Personally, I think those folks have never been without a roof before. Hit the thrift store and get some of the things you need. Backpack, sleeping bag, tent, canning jars etc. It is better to have some crappy gear than no gear. THEN, start saving up and replace other quick gear with some quality items.

Also, get some seeds and try planting lettuce, and a few other things in pots. Even if you don't have a balcony, a south-facing window will do. There are some techniques to can at home without a full canning setup. Start canning some soup after you make a big pot.

The big thing is to start simple and build on that knowledge. It does take time to build up skills and gear but it goes a long way, once you do start. Don't worry about keeping up with anyone else.

Good luck and always feel free to ask questions, here and in the specialty stores. They like to talk about the things they do. You don't have to finish first in the race but you do need to start or you don't get anywhere.

Folks, a word of caution here. All of these ideas are crucial to long term prepping but let's remember ScottyRe's initial issue: dollar bills. At this initial stage it is better to buy cans to open, pasta to boil and medicine/vitamins for health. There is a certain infrastructure to preparing foods such as beans or dehydrating fruit that can be cost prohibitive.

About water... 2 drops of !-non scented-! bleach with water in a 2 litre pop bottle is enough to purify it. I use just that amount to treat my stored well water. Just shake the hell out of it before consuming.