Paycheck 1-The Basic Preps
Here are a few of the basic preps you will need to buy with your first paycheck to get started on your prepping journey. Remember it’s about the simple things first. You need water, food, and warmth. That being said, you should buy a few extra tins of food and matches before buying a year supply of long-term food and a wall tent for your back yard. You need to crawl before you walk, so start small and grow over time. Many of us are on a tight budget so it’s an adjustment to buy those extra items until we see the true benefit in having a well stocked home store.
Preps- First things first:
- Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System
- Emergency Blankets
- AMK Spark-Lite
- Wise Foods Wise Ultimate 72 Hour Emergency
- Solo Alcohol Stove
If you just buy these preps alone you will be off to a good start. These preps will give you the ability to filter water, stay warm, start a fire, boil water, and cook food for the first three days of your survival situation.
Pantry Preps – The Basics
You need to always be on the look out for deals to stock your pantry. Remember when you buy pantry items to buy the things you and your family actually eat. A case of sardines will do you no good at all if people hate them to begin with. There is no doubt that when faced with starvation or sardines you will choose to eat the sardines. However, your pantry should be made up with items that your family enjoys so you can eat your way through the products to keep them for spoiling. Your pantry should be looked at as an ever-growing and rotating home store. Here’s a few food and gear suggestions to get you started:
- 1 gallon of water per day for each family member (But enough for 2 weeks and remember that having more water stored up is better than being short on your supply)
- 2 jars of peanut butter
- 3 cans of juice per family member
- 4 cans of meat per family member
- 3 cans of soup or stew for each family member
- 3 non perishable items such as saltine crackers, graham crackers, etc.
- Permanent marker
- 1 hand-operated can opener
- Additional supplies for infants or elderly – 2 weeks worth (diapers, wipes, children’s medication, formula, protein/calorie drinks, prescription medications, extra pair of glasses)32-gallon garbage can or a sturdy storage box to hold disaster supplies
- Flashlight with alkaline-batteries or a hand-crank flashlight for each member of household that is over the age of 6. (Don’t forget extra batteries for the flashlights). Flashlights should also be purchased for each car, as well.
- Batteries in multiple-sizes.
- Heavy rope
- Duct tape
- Bic lighter
- Matches- to be stored in a waterproof container
- Multi-tool
Survival Library
You need to start building a survival library of knowledge. Remember that knowledge weighs nothing and you will be able to take that with you to any bug out location. My first recommendation is “Survival Theory by Jonathan Hollerman and you can read my review of his book here.
In Short, I recommend this book because Hollerman takes you through the common reasons for prepping, laying them out in easy-to-understand ways and providing evidence to support these theories—all while underscoring his primary theory that we should all be preparing for an upcoming grid-down scenario. Also he reviews gear and challenges you to really start thinking about the journey of preparedness. Also if you have a significant other that is not on the same page this is a great book for them to read to open them up to the realities of the world of prepping.
Suggested Projects
- Set aside money for an emergency cash fund. Make sure to have your money in small bills as people will be less likely to make change after the SHFT. Again, set aside change and add to this over time there is no reason to suffer to build this SHFT cash fund up.
- Find a few light weight products to have for barter, For example; coins, tampons, booze.
- Make a Family Emergency Plan and decide what types of disasters you are planning for (weather related, natural disasters, economic or personal disasters)
- Decide upon an out-of-area contact who can coordinate information with friends and family members during emergencies.
- Once you pick your out-of-area contact be sure to email or call them and provide phone numbers and names of family members for them to call
- Date all perishable goods with a marker. I know that most items have this date for you to use but it fades over time and this is a great way to be familiar with whats in your pantry. For example, you may have bought an old can of chili from the store. Since you checked the date to write it on the can you will recognize the need to eat it and place it to the front of your canned chili section. Use the restaurant idea of first in first out when it comes to your inventory.
Pro Tip
- Remember if you can’t afford everything now just keep an ongoing list of items you need to still buy. You can watch amazon, Ebay, and stores for discounts or specials to save you money in the long run.
- Read our articles on building your bug out bag and creating your EDC (every day carry bag).
- Learn how to use subscribe and save on Amazon to help build up your preps.
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Wishing you all the success in the world…small steps and you’ll be there in no time!