You can always tell her you have cats 🙂

I picked up 3 head lights on headbands from Costco at 10 bucks and, because I planned a months menus and shopped in bulk at costco I managed to cut the weekly grocery bill from 200 to 100 bucks for each week. I have allowance for milk and fresh fruit each weekend but other than that, I'm not going near the stores.

Hubby and I got in on the 1 dollar sale at No Frills.

6 flakes of chicken

6 flakes of turkey
12 Del Monte pears
12 pasta sauce
6 spaghatinni

Also added 32 litres of water in new Aquatainers. Some of my older 12L containers froze and split, when a cold snap caught me off guard. Managed to salvage the water to use for toilet flushing, then recycled the old jugs. Also ordered from Costco online, 12 6Gal food grade buckets with gamma lids. Getting them cheaper than buying individual lids and buckets elsewhere. I will be able to put away the 40 pounds of rice, and the 10 pounds of oatmeal I got last week.

Cleaned up and sorted out my food shelves. I'm glad to see that I only have 3 cans close to expiring (to the food bank they go!) meaning that despite the poor organization we had, we did good on FIFO discipline. Now everything is clearly arranged and with the extra room now available, I can probably add another 20% more on the shelves. NoFrills dollar dale, here I come!

Received my order of 6gal buckets with gamma lids from Costco online. Was told they would take 7 to 10 working days to get here, but to my surprise , the order got here in t
hree days. I am very impressed with the service I got. The rings for the lids are really hard to put on, so a friend, who we split the order with(I do not have room for 12 more buckets at this time) and put them on for me. Got busy and filled all but two of them.

Went to the Hunting, Fishing and Camping show on Saturday.
Stocked up on some fishing lures and got a new, bigger tackle box.
Oh ya, and this too...

Here are the specs...
http://www.carbonexpressarrows.com/crossbow/crossbows/x-force-350

Nice, Bolts are reusable. Good thinking.

Tar paper and wood siding on the front of the house (added a bunch two years ago). Also had two motion detector lights installed; hopefully they will deter the cougar that has been in the area for the past few weeks. I can now say that we are warm and cozy, and can see the light.....ha ha ha!

Woohoo! I ordered my pressure canner yesterday! Can't wait to start canning my own soups, pasta sauces, stews, baked beans, salsas, and more! I also bought a large stock pot and added meds to my medical supplies, specifically ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and polysporen. Got extra pet food and supplies and food for the pantry. I also cleaned out and organized my pantry, which was a MUST DO because I had a case of pantry moths 😥 Excited for the new gardening season! Next weekend will be adding seeds to my stores when I hit Seedy Saturday.

I inherited my Moms pressure canner, but have never used it, as it is older than I am.....and I am pushing 60. I think maybe I should get an older neighbour to walk me through using it. I would really like to be able to put up stews, meatballs, etc., as we can not always trust the power to stay on. Besides that, both our freezers are full, and seem to stay full no matter how hard I try to use it up. I dehydrate a lot of fruit and veggies as well. Did up 20kilos of green peppers before Christmas...it all fit into one large jar. Then did 4 bunches of celery, which fit into a small canning jar. I can eat the dried mushrooms like candy, they are so good...I have 3 gallons of them in stock. I think now I need a walk in pantry, instead of 4 big shelves. We do not have a basement because we are too close to the river. One other thing that is marvelous dried, is canned pineapple, rings or chunks, in very light syrup. The stuff is almost addictive.

I picked up a doggy backpack, so that my girl can carry some of her own bug-out stuff (instead of me hauling everything 🙂 ) I also ordered a dehydrator, a holster for my bear spray, a dental emerg kit with some extra filling, a solar shower and a camping pot. I went looking for door bars (to bar entry from the inside) but couldn't find them anywhere. I also stocked up on extra t.p. 😆 I plan to test setting up my old tent as I haven't used it in years, so don't know if all the pieces are there.

Also, I am currently trying my first batch of making salmon jerky...

Nothing.... I'm cut off!

Absolutely no prepping until we move to the new house at the end of April (DH has decreed it), so now I'm living vicariously through the forum.
Post more.....

Nothing.... I'm cut off!

Absolutely no prepping until we move to the new house at the end of April (DH has decreed it), so now I'm living vicariously through the forum.
Post more.....

I know the feeling Dolly! We're being relocated to the States this summer (Yikes!) so I'm putting all new purchases on hold for now. While I'm possibly more likely to need my preps there, I can get comfort knowing that my hard earned money will by me more stuff out there.

What are the regulations for taking the preps you have now across the boarder. I would not want to live down there, even with the food cost being a little less than here. My mother in law lived down there, so I visited a few times, but was not comfortable just being there. I did manage to get a few things for the pantry that are not available in B.C. Mom in law has since passed on so have not been back, and really have no interest in going back.

So.. the salmon jerkey did not work out..could use as charcoal firestarter perhaps. I think my oven burns hot, so I will wait & try again with the dehydrator. The dog loves her new backpack 🙂

For border issues, check the CBSA & US Customs site - usually there are restrictions on loose foodstuffs, esp seeded food (fruit, nuts, etc), even dog food if it's in the original/commercial sealed packaging. And of course the usual restrictions on firearms and weapons.

So...

I've been trying to find that info. Seeds and loose food, fresh food and all are out - no hig deal, I can easily replace. Other food preps are coming, not a problem. All the fuel-like stuff will burned in the weeks leading to the move, the kerosene will likely come in my own "little trailer", along with the usual house chemicals and other fluids the moving companies won't take. Ammo will come with me and I will probably stock up on .22 since it seems to have become rare state-side. As for the guns... Well... I've emailed BATFE 2 months ago and haven't heard back from them, I've sent an official letter 2 weeks ago and if I don't hear back by next month, will have to call. I've started reading on firearm rules and, they are obviously much more permissive than in Canada, for the most part. Any other preps are rather innocuous so i Leona think there would be any issues.

So, as an amateur prepper, it's an odd move to relocate to the US from Alberta, but I have to go where the boss sends me. I'm planning some mitigation elements into the move while embracing the opportunity. With readily available online shopping for any possible kind of preps and goods being around 30% less expensive, I'm surely going to come back in a couple of years a winner in this.