Prepper?? What's the best/frugal foods?

[mks18412]

Are there any preppers in here?? Looking for some inexpensive ways to prep for whatever may come my way... Whats the best freeze dried foods?

 

[bearzabout]

The best advice is to store what you eat and eat what you store. I use coupons and sales to stock up on non perishables like health and beauty aids and first aid supplies. Other good, cheap items to to stock include oatmeal, rice, beans, chili with no beans (add them separately), powdered milk, tuna, canned salmon, canned fruit and veggies when on sale. Dried fruit and freeze dried items are great but expensive.

To save money, hit garage sales and look for canning jars, a pressure canner and a food dehydrator. Can your own veggies and dehydrate your own fruit. Make your own jam and preserves. You may find that your "preps" taste better and are healthier than products you buy from the store.

Some of the items we purchased to get through power outages are the things we use every day now. We love our D light rechargeable solar lights.

Do a search for stories on what worked well for people affected by hurricanes Irene and Sandy so you know which items worked best so you know where to start.

 

[bearzabout]

I forget to mention dried pasta. It can last a long time. Pasta sauce is another great thing to stock up on, but will only last a few years.

Make sure you have some way to get water if the power goes out for an extended time. I save a few milk jugs and will fill them if I have advanced warning.

Baked beans, green beans and Spam can be eaten without heating and are handy to have during a power outage. Kids may like Walmart mini raviolis.

Peanut butter and peanut butter powder is one of the best foods to store.

I read tomato powder is great. You can read more about dehydrated and freeze dried foods on Emergency Essentials web site.

 

[natenapril]

Personally, I have started canning. It's something I grew up seeing and I have found it to be a fun hobby. Also just buying extra every time you go to the store helps. I usually pick up extra honey, PB, toilet paper, small things that don't make a huge impact on your budget.
Also, If you use firearms it's cheaper to just pick up rounds of ammunition occasionally instead of trying to get it all at once. Try going once a month and buying a box or two and before you know it things can really add up.
Good luck!

 

[girli565]

I saw, in a costco ad a few months ago, a huge gallon bucket with 30 days worth of nonperishable foods. just needed to add water. It was about $75 and they were very hearty meals, they had about 2000 calories for a days worth of food. we bought it for hurricane season so we'd only have to buy water when a storm threatens.

Other than food, we buy paper goods in bulk, like TP, paper towels, and paper plates for those times we need them.

 

[worm761]

I do the same as PP in that I just buy a couple of extra things for my pantry/stock when they are one sale. One or two extras on the grocery bill won't hurt that bad. I also have an upright freezer and will purchase extra meat when on sale too. Like Target had turkeys on sale of .79/lb the other week. I picked one up. While it sounds expensive, that turkey will feed my family at least 5 meals and I will use the leftovers to make soups for lunches. I plan to purchase an extra ham or two when they go on sale near Easter. A ham can easily feed us for 4 or 5 meals. I just wrap up the extra, label and date it, and put it in the freezer.

One thing that I have found to be helpful to me is to keep an inventory of what I have on hand. I update my inventory every two weeks which is when we do our shopping. I keep it in my Google Drive account so I can access it when I am at the store.

As for disaster prep, I have several cases of water on hand at all times plus a few gallon jugs for the dogs. I have a generator that is regularly pulled out and started up. We have 3 propane tanks that we keep filled and rotate. I live in Florida. If a hurricane comes along, those are things that are the first to go from the stores. I can make just about anything from scratch and keep the goods on hand to do so. It is just how I cook on a regular basis though. I also make sure that I always have powdered milk. I also own and emergency radio that powers up by a crank. And several flashlights that you shake or crank to power them.

 

[Colleen27]

I think the freezer dried and dehydrated prepared foods are nothing more than a moneymaker for companies who realized they can exploit people's uncertainty. Those things are generally expensive, don't taste very good, and no matter how many you stockpile they will eventually run out. If you're serious about being prepared for a significant change in conditions you're better off spreading your efforts - stockpiling shelf-stable items like pasta, rice, and grain, but also learning to grow and can produce, hunt or raise meat, etc.

I don't consider myself a prepper because I don't believe there's some great doom and gloom coming our way, but I have spent the past few years learning some (very fun, though sometimes exhausting) old fashioned "back to the land"/self-sufficiency skills. And they're served my family well even without a zombie apocalypse because when money is tight it is that much less we're spending on food and essentials, and when money isn't tight it is that much more we have available for fun or saving. The only dedicated disaster prep we have is a few days' worth of stored water, some gas for DH's jobsite generator to keep the fridge going in an extended power outage, and a crank radio & flashlights in case our battery supply fails us.

 

[DisneyEater]

If you a prepping for a natural disaster where you may not have power/transportation for a week or two, a well stocked pantry and water should get you through as well as a way to keep the family warm in the winter.

If preparing for an apocolypse, well.......even the extreme preppers on that TV show only get an estimate of 12-18 months life expectancy. Do with that what you will.

 

[Colleen27]

If you a prepping for a natural disaster where you may not have power/transportation for a week or two, a well stocked pantry and water should get you through as well as a way to keep the family warm in the winter.

If preparing for an apocolypse, well.......even the extreme preppers on that TV show only get an estimate of 12-18 months life expectancy. Do with that what you will.

Ah, but remember that estimate comes from a company that sells prepping-related supplies and "consults" to help preppers develop a plan. They have a vested interest in telling people that they aren't prepared enough. I loved the episode where the guy's reaction to their analysis was basically "Kiss my posterior". The guy had an entirely off-grid setup, was an experienced hunter/fisherman, and was living in nowhere, Alaska and they still faulted his security, food supplies, etc.

 

[Sandy61]

I had stocked up this fall and now we have to eat our stockpile. We go camping so we know how to start a fire, have a big supply of firewood and we use cast iron skillets.

One thing I got that I really like is dried eggs. There are a dozen eggs in each sealed package. We have had them several times and they are fantastic. The kids can't even tell they aren't fresh eggs. I have also used them in recipes with no problem at all. I will take them camping next summer and will be very happy not to have a big mess with fresh eggs.

 

[mks18412]

Thanks Y'all.... I am def not a doom and gloomer but think its part of my responsiblity as a parent to try and tackle anything that comes my way.

 

[worm761]

Thanks Y'all.... I am def not a doom and gloomer but think its part of my responsiblity as a parent to try and tackle anything that comes my way.

I am not a doomsday prepper. But my DH is a federal employee and facing a furlough which results in a 20% pay cut. And I live in hurricane country. I try to keep supplies on hand in case of a hurricane at all times. When Hurricane Ivan came through I lost my home. A good friend took my family in but her house had no water for 6 days and no electricity for 21 days. It was my very first hurricane and I learned a few very valuable lessons. Number one being always be prepared for it.

 

[pat fan]

No doom and gloom here, but we lose power and sometimes for a couple days, so we like to be prepared.

I stock up on paper products (tp etc...), and we do have some "add water meals", but I'm bigger on bulk/easy. Rice and dry beans last forever if stored properly, so that's what I do. Plus, we all have sensitive tummies and rice is always good for that, LOL!!!

Always a good idea to have gas for the grill, candles, matches, extra blankets etc...A stack of cases of water comes in handy for many things, and included in the tp list are things "just for the ladies". I don't understand how women know they need this stuff, but don't keep a healthy supply on hand. I've rescued more female neighbors! Good grief!

A solar radio with charging for cell phone is a good idea too, as is a walkie talkie. No need to go nuts, but a little prepared goes a long way!

 

[girli565]

A stack of cases of water comes in handy for many things, and included in the tp list are things "just for the ladies". I don't understand how women know they need this stuff, but don't keep a healthy supply on hand. I've rescued more female neighbors! Good grief!

THIS!! My husband doesn't undertsand why I buy feminine items in bulk during hurricane season, until I explained to him why

When Hurricane Katrina passed through Miami at a category 1, we hadn't had a hurricane in so long that people were very calm about a small category 1 coming through. Well it caused a lot more damage than anyone would think. Then a few months later we get hit by Hurricane Wilma at a category 3 that devastated some areas that still weren't recovered from Katrina and left a lot of people without power for weeks and weeks. my bulk supply of lady products came in very handy when I went back to work at my middle school.

 

[pocomom]

I'm not a prepper by any means... but I do think it is smart to be generally prepared for likely situations. Like having a can of fix a flat, or jumper cables in your car. Frankly, if it were the apocalypse I wouldn’t want to be around on earth after kwim? Here we mostly deal with snow/ice storms maybe some power outages every few years. But illness and my bad back acting up are something I can guarantee will crop up every year, so I keep a bunch of easy to cook or pre-cooked meals handy, paper goods, and stuff the kids could prepare on their own, we keep the gas grill tank full (have a spare) . I try not to ever run out of dog food, cat food or anything else essential especially in the winter months. If I do, I can be sure we'll have a storm and the kids will get sick! I agree the best food to store is food you eat, so it doesn’t go to waste sitting on your shelves for years. We have batteries and solar chargers we use for camping. In addition to freezer foods, pasta and beans and rice are always on our shelves, cereal hot and cold, and we have a good selection of trail mix, nuts and granola we eat and replenish frequently. We picked up a few extra gas cans recently , because we needed to rescue some family after the last round of storms and had no way to bring gas out to them. Oh and we have a very small portable generator, just for the sump pump. I don’t mind roughing it but I don’t want my basement to flood!

 

[torinsmom]

If you are stockpiling canned foods, don't forget to make sure you have a manual can opener handy, LOL

I have things like peanut butter, crackers, dry cereal, canned fruit, etc in case we get homebound for a week or so, but I don't stockpile. I figure if there was a real disaster like the Doomsday Preppers people prep for, someone would just come and take it from me.

 

[Amii]

Sprouting seeds are an inexpensive and extremely nutritious. They are easy to sprout on a counter on table.

 

[disney1990]

We have a fully stocked pantry and could probably live a year on what's in our house - my girls will actually come over to grocery shop out of our pantry. LOL