I have heard just about every excuse there it for not prepping. From I don't need to prep because nothing is going to happen, to Only survival nuts prep. And every excuse in between. Some people say they can't afford to pre then others laugh when you mention prepping. They think the government will step in and provide for them if any thing really bad happens. Well I like to spend my time making them face up to certain facts that are real.
One truth is that the government is not going to save you. Oh they will make you think they are saving you but in truth they will own you. They will be the ones saying how much you can get and how much you can have. They will decide what health care you can have, what foods you can have and how much money you can have. If you look at Michelle Obama's school lunch program you will see that I am right. The kids are no longer getting food that they like and will eat and are now getting food that they won't eat and it is being wasted and worse yet the kids are coming home from school starving. And if you think the government is going to stop telling people what they can eat with the school lunch program you are sadly mistaken. It will only move out from there. First to the nursing home and hospitals and then to the food stamp program and from there to the stores where they will be told what they can sell and what they can't. Your days of going to the store and picking up some cookies, a cake, icecream, soda pop, chips and so on will one day be a thing of the past and sugar and other "bad for us things" may well be rationed for our own good of course because after all the government knows what is best for us. Yeah Right! Oh and it you don't believe the government can step in and ration food supplies than you need to read up on the world wars and the great depression real quick and open your eyes.
Now for truth number two. A SHTF event does not have to affect the whole world to affect you personally. A sudden job loss, a death in the immediate family, a major illness of the main bread winner in the family, a major storm hitting your area leaving the whole community with out power so the stores are all shut down for days, weeks and even months on end. These are all true SHTF events that can really affect you and your family for week, months and sometimes even years to come. I bet every one of us knows some one who during the last ten years of this economy that has been with out a job for well over a year or more. I know a few of my own family members who have lost their jobs because the places where they worked closed their doors suddenly and it has taken them a year of two to find another job and even then it was not enough to cover all their living expenses because Obama care is forcing a number of business to only hire part time workers because they can't afford the healthcare coverage.
With all of the above said I would now like to give you a few of the reasons I prep. Maybe they will help you decide if you need to prep or not. My husband and I spent many, many years working is die cast plants that made automotive parts. Every time there was a down swing in car buying we would get laid off. Every time a major car company would ship the parts over seas to be made cheaper we would get laid off or lose our jobs completely along with a bunch of other good workers. If you have ever had to live on unemployment benefits you know that even though you are no longer buying gas to go to work so your living costs have gone down some they never go down enough to allow you to continue living as you were when you were working. You have to cut out some of the things you like doing, things you need but can live without, give your children less and cut out some of the things they like to do. It not fun when you have to deny your kids something they need or even wish they had so you can meet the bills coming in. And lord forbid if a major illness happens to some one in the family because you can afford the hospital bills because you lost your medical insurance when you got laid off. I have been there and done that more times then I care to count.
A few years ago our daughter and her husband both got laid off. They were working at the same factory. The recession hit the factory really hard so they had no choice but to close their doors. While my daughter and her husband did get unemployment benefits it was not enough to cover their rent and all their other bills. I was able to give them enough food to last them a month to help them get ahead enough that they could have the gas to find other jobs.
Three years ago a tornado ripped through our town and it took out the electric for a week. I was able to bring my mom and my aging uncle into my home and provide for all their needs. Especially my uncle's medical needs along with those of my husband because I had the foresight to buy a generator and store up some gas for it. This was during the month of July when it can get pretty hot. We could not run the AC because it would mean that we could not run the medical equipment that was needed but we could run the refrigerator and freezer for a few hours a day, a couple of lights, a couple of fans and the medical equipment all at one time. We even managed to use the tv and satillite box to watch tv at night. I had plenty of candles, oil lamps and flashlights with lots of fresh batteries to give us any extra light we needed and we had plenty of food so I was able to cook full meals every day and no need for sandwiches day in and day out.
When my step dad died I was able to provide most of the food for over 100 people at the dinner after the funeral. I made a huge roasting pan full of pulled pork, a huge pan of baked beans, a big pan of green beans and bacon, corn and a h,uge bowl of pasta salad along with ice tea, coffee, home made cakes and cookies. All of which came out of my food storage except for the fresh vegetable I bought to put into the pasta salad.
This past week another sudden death came up and once again I was able to raid my pantry and supply the family with some meals because I knew that none of them would be in the mood to cook and really they would not have to time with trying to make the funeral arrangements. I was able to provide them with homemade soups, beans, corn bread, home made french bread, spaghetti, a home made chocolate cake, chicken and dumplings and more. I even made a couple of sweet potato pies for the meal after the church service. All the food I prepared was from my food storage. I did not have to go to the store to buy any thing which is good because we do live on a limited income.
Another reason I prep is because it allows me to buy what is only on sale and saves me a good deal of money. I never go to the store with a list of everything I will need to make meals for a whole week, When I go I buy items that are on sale and then I buy a lot of those items. Like last week when I found Hunts spagetti sauce on sale for 69 cents a can. I bought 25 of them. Jiff peanut butter 18 oz jars where on sale for $1.29 each so I got 10 of them. Mustard was 69 cent for 14 oz bottles so I got 10 of them. I won't need to buy either of these items again for a year so I can spend my money on other things I need. Oh and I found sweet potatoes on sale again this week for 39 cents a pound. I bought 30 lbs which I baked half of them and froze. I also boiled, mashed and froze enough for 10 more sweet potato pies through the following year until I catch them on sale again. Another good thing about shopping this way is when a good meat sale in going on I can focus strictly on buying meat and build up a few months supply's worth at at times a year's supply on some meats. The savings I save by doing this helps us to keep our bills paid on time and helps us buy our meds that we have to have. Imagine what it is like having to decide what you are going to do with what little money you have. Either buy food or starve so you can pay bills or buy much needed meds.
One more thing I would like to mention is our grandparents that lived during ratoning and the great depression. Most of them were preppers before the word preppers was even thought of. They had food storage built up, garden for growing more food but they only had thoughts of prepping for winter when fresh produce was hard to come by. They did not expect something like the depression to hit them. But they were smart and learned fast that is why so many of them survived. But to many of them didn't. They did not learn fast enough or even prepared for the winter so in the end they did not make it nor did their families in most cases. They did not expect that most of the country's growing area would become one big dust bowl where nothing would grow. We are lucky in the fact that we can read and learn what they went through and learn the lessons on how they survived one of the worst times this country of ours has even lived through. And one of the biggest lesssons they learned we all need to learn to. And that is that a major live changing SHTF event can happen at any time, any where and to any body. No one is immune to one no matter what they think. And while it may not hit the entire country it could hit you and your family very hard.
So now you know what the question is what is going to be your answer to it? For myself the answer is to keep on prepping and prepare for the worst what ever may come or when ever it may come. How about you? Are you going to be ready for the worst if it comes?
Prepping Granny
One truth is that the government is not going to save you. Oh they will make you think they are saving you but in truth they will own you. They will be the ones saying how much you can get and how much you can have. They will decide what health care you can have, what foods you can have and how much money you can have. If you look at Michelle Obama's school lunch program you will see that I am right. The kids are no longer getting food that they like and will eat and are now getting food that they won't eat and it is being wasted and worse yet the kids are coming home from school starving. And if you think the government is going to stop telling people what they can eat with the school lunch program you are sadly mistaken. It will only move out from there. First to the nursing home and hospitals and then to the food stamp program and from there to the stores where they will be told what they can sell and what they can't. Your days of going to the store and picking up some cookies, a cake, icecream, soda pop, chips and so on will one day be a thing of the past and sugar and other "bad for us things" may well be rationed for our own good of course because after all the government knows what is best for us. Yeah Right! Oh and it you don't believe the government can step in and ration food supplies than you need to read up on the world wars and the great depression real quick and open your eyes.
Now for truth number two. A SHTF event does not have to affect the whole world to affect you personally. A sudden job loss, a death in the immediate family, a major illness of the main bread winner in the family, a major storm hitting your area leaving the whole community with out power so the stores are all shut down for days, weeks and even months on end. These are all true SHTF events that can really affect you and your family for week, months and sometimes even years to come. I bet every one of us knows some one who during the last ten years of this economy that has been with out a job for well over a year or more. I know a few of my own family members who have lost their jobs because the places where they worked closed their doors suddenly and it has taken them a year of two to find another job and even then it was not enough to cover all their living expenses because Obama care is forcing a number of business to only hire part time workers because they can't afford the healthcare coverage.
With all of the above said I would now like to give you a few of the reasons I prep. Maybe they will help you decide if you need to prep or not. My husband and I spent many, many years working is die cast plants that made automotive parts. Every time there was a down swing in car buying we would get laid off. Every time a major car company would ship the parts over seas to be made cheaper we would get laid off or lose our jobs completely along with a bunch of other good workers. If you have ever had to live on unemployment benefits you know that even though you are no longer buying gas to go to work so your living costs have gone down some they never go down enough to allow you to continue living as you were when you were working. You have to cut out some of the things you like doing, things you need but can live without, give your children less and cut out some of the things they like to do. It not fun when you have to deny your kids something they need or even wish they had so you can meet the bills coming in. And lord forbid if a major illness happens to some one in the family because you can afford the hospital bills because you lost your medical insurance when you got laid off. I have been there and done that more times then I care to count.
A few years ago our daughter and her husband both got laid off. They were working at the same factory. The recession hit the factory really hard so they had no choice but to close their doors. While my daughter and her husband did get unemployment benefits it was not enough to cover their rent and all their other bills. I was able to give them enough food to last them a month to help them get ahead enough that they could have the gas to find other jobs.
Three years ago a tornado ripped through our town and it took out the electric for a week. I was able to bring my mom and my aging uncle into my home and provide for all their needs. Especially my uncle's medical needs along with those of my husband because I had the foresight to buy a generator and store up some gas for it. This was during the month of July when it can get pretty hot. We could not run the AC because it would mean that we could not run the medical equipment that was needed but we could run the refrigerator and freezer for a few hours a day, a couple of lights, a couple of fans and the medical equipment all at one time. We even managed to use the tv and satillite box to watch tv at night. I had plenty of candles, oil lamps and flashlights with lots of fresh batteries to give us any extra light we needed and we had plenty of food so I was able to cook full meals every day and no need for sandwiches day in and day out.
When my step dad died I was able to provide most of the food for over 100 people at the dinner after the funeral. I made a huge roasting pan full of pulled pork, a huge pan of baked beans, a big pan of green beans and bacon, corn and a h,uge bowl of pasta salad along with ice tea, coffee, home made cakes and cookies. All of which came out of my food storage except for the fresh vegetable I bought to put into the pasta salad.
This past week another sudden death came up and once again I was able to raid my pantry and supply the family with some meals because I knew that none of them would be in the mood to cook and really they would not have to time with trying to make the funeral arrangements. I was able to provide them with homemade soups, beans, corn bread, home made french bread, spaghetti, a home made chocolate cake, chicken and dumplings and more. I even made a couple of sweet potato pies for the meal after the church service. All the food I prepared was from my food storage. I did not have to go to the store to buy any thing which is good because we do live on a limited income.
Another reason I prep is because it allows me to buy what is only on sale and saves me a good deal of money. I never go to the store with a list of everything I will need to make meals for a whole week, When I go I buy items that are on sale and then I buy a lot of those items. Like last week when I found Hunts spagetti sauce on sale for 69 cents a can. I bought 25 of them. Jiff peanut butter 18 oz jars where on sale for $1.29 each so I got 10 of them. Mustard was 69 cent for 14 oz bottles so I got 10 of them. I won't need to buy either of these items again for a year so I can spend my money on other things I need. Oh and I found sweet potatoes on sale again this week for 39 cents a pound. I bought 30 lbs which I baked half of them and froze. I also boiled, mashed and froze enough for 10 more sweet potato pies through the following year until I catch them on sale again. Another good thing about shopping this way is when a good meat sale in going on I can focus strictly on buying meat and build up a few months supply's worth at at times a year's supply on some meats. The savings I save by doing this helps us to keep our bills paid on time and helps us buy our meds that we have to have. Imagine what it is like having to decide what you are going to do with what little money you have. Either buy food or starve so you can pay bills or buy much needed meds.
One more thing I would like to mention is our grandparents that lived during ratoning and the great depression. Most of them were preppers before the word preppers was even thought of. They had food storage built up, garden for growing more food but they only had thoughts of prepping for winter when fresh produce was hard to come by. They did not expect something like the depression to hit them. But they were smart and learned fast that is why so many of them survived. But to many of them didn't. They did not learn fast enough or even prepared for the winter so in the end they did not make it nor did their families in most cases. They did not expect that most of the country's growing area would become one big dust bowl where nothing would grow. We are lucky in the fact that we can read and learn what they went through and learn the lessons on how they survived one of the worst times this country of ours has even lived through. And one of the biggest lesssons they learned we all need to learn to. And that is that a major live changing SHTF event can happen at any time, any where and to any body. No one is immune to one no matter what they think. And while it may not hit the entire country it could hit you and your family very hard.
So now you know what the question is what is going to be your answer to it? For myself the answer is to keep on prepping and prepare for the worst what ever may come or when ever it may come. How about you? Are you going to be ready for the worst if it comes?
Prepping Granny