Hurricane Season Starts Tomorrow

Hurricane season is here, and I am hoping the experts are wrong about this year being an active hurricane year.  The last I heard, 14 to 23 storms and eight to 14 hurricanes are predicted this season.  Last year was pretty quiet, but 2008 brought us Hurricane Ike.  That was my first hurricane experience and although the high winds and piercing rain did not bother me too much, it was the long lines for gas and empty grocery store shelves that spooked me.  While we were lucky not to be affected as much as the Galveston residents, it was the realization that things could go bad quickly when disaster strikes that bothered me.

To prepare for hurricane season, we picked up a few extra canned foods and a few more gallons of water to add to the stockpile.   Also stopped by Lowe’s and bought a few more propane canisters for the camp stove.  Our apartment is all-electric, so no gas to cook with if we were to lose power.  We have extra batteries and flashlights;  saved up some light sticks from Halloween as those come in handy too.

I plan to keep adding more bottled water and canned food each time we go grocery shopping; plus some comfort food like chips and crackers.  I’ll also pick up a few extra packs of toilet paper and pet items next time I got to Target.

Will also need to start working on assembling the bug out bag, but that is for later when the budget allows.  Another day, another dollar, another prep.  Hopefully no hurricanes or other events will force us to bug out in the meantime…

Read Full Post »

Using Less of Everything

Many preparedness sites talk about stockpiling large quantities of everyday needs.   Besides food and water, many preparedness experts recommend storing multiple products such as toilet paper, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, sunscreen and many other personal hygiene products.

I am definitely finding room in my small space for food, water, first aid kit, toilet paper etc., but I am going to have to be more selective of what quantities to store, since we do not have a lot of room.  As I thought more about it, I decided, I can start using less product to make what I have last as long as possible.

I started my experiment with toothpaste.  The toothpaste commercials show about an inch worth of toothpaste covering the entire toothbrush.  Well, you can use much less.  I now use half a pea size worth of toothpaste and found that it will still foam and feel fresh.  I know you can use baking soda instead of toothpaste; I tried that but it did not taste so great.  While I have toothpaste I will use a small amount and make my small stockpile last as long as possible.  I can always use baking soda if the SHTF and there is nothing else.

Now I am trying this experiment with shampoo.  How much less can I use?  I wash my hair daily, since we live in a hot and humid area.  I previously used about a half dollar worth of shampoo.    That makes lots of suds, and a longer time to rinse.  Then I switched to organic shampoo, which does not create a lot of suds, no matter how much you use.  That took a lot of getting used to.  I still like the bubbles of “normal” shampoo, but have learned to get used to less suds.  Now I am down to a nickle worth of shampoo and the hair still comes out clean.  I will use even less tomorrow.

I will keep trying to use less of everyday products and still get the maximum benefit.  This way, I can be used to using less, and I can make my small stores last as long as possible.  Even if nothing happens, I still end up saving money from not having to buy stuff so often.

Read Full Post »

Awaiting the Book: Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It’s Too Late

Congratulations to Scott B. Williams over at Bug-Out Survival  (http://www.bugoutsurvival.com/) whose book Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It’s Too Late just got released.  Lucky me, I will be receiving a copy soon, and will be writing a book review on this blog and on Amazon!

We’ve been wondering about this subject since we started our prepping adventure.  I know that an apartment in the big city will not be the safest place to be if the SHTF.   So I am definitely looking forward to reading this book.  I can hardly wait!

Read Full Post »

Self Sufficiency and Seeds

Earlier this year I  started listening to a podcast, The Self Sufficient Homestead, run by Johnny Max and the Queen.  Their website is sshomestead.com.   They have been doing all the self-sufficient homestead activities I someday hope to do:  growing a large garden, raising chickens, raising fish through aquaponics, home brewing, bee keeping and many more.  For now, due to space limitations in the apartment I can only manage a small garden, I still continue to listen for information and down to earth ideas and humor.  I do enjoy their shows.   They recently started a seed exchange website, where participants can trade heirloom seeds, which are non-hybrid, non genetically altered seeds that can propagate themselves for generations.  I am new at this, and only recently learned that this is the kind of seeds that you would want in your garden.  The website is:  http://www.heirloomseedswap.com

Since I am just starting out and have no seeds to swap, I checked the site for seeds for sale and found they had Stevia herb seeds.  Stevia is used as a healthy sugar substitute, as it is sweet and all natural with no side effects.  Not sure how it will work yet, that is why I am trying this out.   The description said the seeds will cost only $3 for 100 or so seeds.   That is a good deal.   I emailed Johnny Max to find out where to send payment.    I actually did not expect a quick response, after all, I am sure they are busy working and running a homestead. I am happy to report that he responded quickly and was more than willing to help out.

Now I am just waiting for the seeds and will update at a later post.

Read Full Post »

Book Review: Possum Living

I admit I never heard of the book Possum Living:  How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) no Money, by Dolly Freed, until I saw it mentioned in the Oprah Magazine.  I know, I know, Oprah magazine is not exactly prepper material, but hey, it was a free copy lying around in the lunch room.  But that is for another topic.   Back to my review…

Possum Living was written in 1978, way before I was ever aware of the state of the economy, self-sufficiency and commercialism.  While some of the comments in the main body of the book will seem dated, the philosophy expressed behind quitting the rat race, renouncing commercialism and becoming self-sufficient is highly applicable to today’s living situation.

The author lived in a rural area at the time, with lots of access to fishing and hunting.  I on the other hand, live in the middle of an urban environment, so I doubt I would be fishing and hunting to find my food.  On the other hand, we do plan to buy some fishing rods and try out fishing one of these weekends.

The section on Gardening is definitely interesting to me, since I started a balcony garden.  Foraging is also interesting to me and I plan on checking out books from the library on recognizing edible plants.

While I doubt my current space limitations would allow me to build a still to make moonshine, I do have some interest in home brewing beer.

There is also a section dealing with canning and preserving food, some things I will be trying out.

As you read the chapters, you may find a few references that will sound strange or bordering on illegal, such as the section on how to change someone’s mind.  Later comments by the author indicate she no longer agrees with some of those methods.

The author says, “We live this way for a very simple reason: It’s easier to learn to do without some of the things that money can buy than to earn the money to buy them.”    I heartily agree.  Most of the ideas and tips presented in the book are practical and timeless.  It is up to you to decide whether you agree with the ideas or not, as well as pick and choose which sections you can reasonable apply to your daily life.

I bought this book with the idea that I can always sell it on Amazon or Ebay if it doesn’t work out.  If you were to ask me “Keep or Sell?”  This one is a Keeper.

Read Full Post »

Coming up with Cash for Preps

I was talking to my brother recently and buying supplies for emergencies came up in the conversation.  He said he has the usual 72 hours worth of supplies.  I asked him, “Don’t you want to stock up more?”  He said, “As long as it doesn’t cost me more money.”  Money is tight for everyone and it is not easy to come up with extra cash.    Plus, we avoid credit cards like the plague, so we have to be creative.

Here are a few ideas:

–Set aside $5-$10 of the weekly grocery budget to buy extra cans of soup, canned meats or extra gallons of water.  Use coupons and take advantage of sales to get the best deal.

–If you have tax return coming up, then save some of that for supplies.

–Sell your used stuff on Ebay or Craigslist.

–If you receive any store gift cards such as Target or Walmart, or birthday cash,  use them to buy extra supplies.

–Cut down on some of your regular controllable expenses such as eating out or entertainment and apply toward prepping.

Now that  preparedness is a new priority for us, we are always on the lookout  to find ways to raise up some cash to buy supplies.

Read Full Post »

Growing Vegetables in the Balcony

My husband and I were arguing about how to protect my new tomatoes from getting pecked by birds.  I was watering the plants, and got excited when I saw these little baby tomatoes peeking out; then I spotted a bird building a nest over the balcony next door.  I think covering the plants with a makeshift net made of pantyhose or something similar would work, but he thinks it’ll look weird and the neighbors will report us for having unsightly things flapping in the breeze.   I will have to research this further and which brings me back to the subject of today’s post.

To become more self sufficient, a common piece of advice is to grow your own vegetables.   Ideally, you would have a nice sized backyard to start your garden, but apartment dwellers have very limited space.  So we decided to try growing some vegetables in the balcony.   I don’t have a lot of plants:  just a few tomatoes, peppers, mint, rosemary, basil, green onions, parsley and cilantro.

Here are some ideas to get started:

-Check apartment rules regarding growing plants in the balcony or porch.  Our building has no restrictions regarding plants in the balconey, so we were all set.

-Container gardening is the best way to grow vegetables in a limited space.  I bought wire boxes that can hang from the balcony, plastic containers that fit in them, as well as large pots,  and filled them with Miracle Grow soil.  Since I am new at this, I need all the help I can get!  I planted the tomatoes in a hanging Topsy Turvy planter that I got as gift.   I may also start a few more vegetables cheaply in five gallon buckets.

-Starting plants from seed is cheap, but will take longer to see results.  As a beginning gardener, I chose to buy live tomato and pepper plants from the garden center, but started herbs from organic seeds purchased at the same time.  Herbs grow quickly.  It is a great feeling to see those little shoots growing out of the soil.  Some good choices include tomatoes, peppers, zuchini, herbs that you like to use such as mint, oregano, rosemary, chives. Here is a quick tip about green onions:  do not throw out the roots that come with the green tops, stick them in water or soil and they will grow fresh shoots, you won’t have to buy it again for a while.

-Read the instructions that come with the plant or seed packet, and research your chosen plants in the internet.

-Save on water usage by collecting water that usually gets wasted, such as the cold water from the shower as you’re waiting for it to warm up, water used to wash vegetables and fruit, water used to boil eggs, etc.   So far my water bill has not increased in the month that I have had the garden.

-Water only when one inch of soil has dried out.  Then give the plants a deep watering.  Depending on your climate, you may need to water every other day or every three days.

-Once the herbs have grown a few inches, pinch the tops to encourage growth.  After only a couple of weeks, my herbs started getting sturdier, I was able to give some away to friends.

I used to think you needed a large backyard to plant a vegetable garden, but now that I have tried it, a small space will do just as well.

Read Full Post »

Sidetracked by Strep!

The day after I started this blog, my husband and I woke up with the worst sore throat I ever had.  We had no energy and felt achy all over.  At first we ignored the symptoms, and as most parents do, we just tried to just “walk it off.”  The next day, we felt even worse, bad enough that we went to the doctor.   With a throat swab, the doc confirmed the diagnosis:  strep throat.  My husband got checked and he had it too.  We were not too surprised, our son had it a week earlier.  But we thought we would avoid it:  we stayed away from each other, and used antibacterial wipes and Lysol spray on everything.  But we still caught it and suffered through it the rest of the week.  The family did stay away in different rooms most of the week to avoid passing it back to each other.

Needless to say, I did not get much done this past week.

But while being sick did sidetrack me from my blogging and prepping plans, I was grateful for the few supplies we had on hand when my husband and I were  too sick to go to the store:

–extra toilet paper rolls and tissues so we did not run out

–lots of canned chicken soup in the pantry

–extra pain relievers, which I bought on sale when Walgreen’s was having a 2 for 1 special.

–herbs for home remedies (will discuss this in another post)

–gas in the car when we drove to the doctor’s office

Now that we are feeling better, we can go back to our normal routine.   The first thing I did was drive to the gas station to fill up the tank.  One of the first things I learned from reading the prepping blogs is to keep the gas tank filled to no less than half a tank.  Today I plan to stop by the store to restock the supplies we used up, such as canned chicken soup, toilet paper and pain relievers.

The week of being sick reinforced to me that even if no large-scale emergency happens, even if things continue along normally, these extra supplies are a blessing to have on hand for our daily life.

Read Full Post »

How it all Started

The day before Hurricane Ike was predicted to reach Houston, I was talking to co-workers on what to expect, as this was going to be our first hurricane.  We had recently moved to Houston due to a job transfer.  Several people described the horrors they experienced trying to leave the city for Hurricane Rita, about getting stuck in freeways that turned into parking lots, so most people were staying put.  I left work early thinking I would stop by the grocery store to pick up water and toilet paper.  When I got to the market around noon, the place was packed with wall-to-wall shoppers; you could not even move the shopping cart.  I searched for water and found the shelves were bare.  Checked for toilet paper and managed to snag the last 12-pack.  Getting gas was also an ordeal, with lines snaking for a block.  This got me thinking I don’t want to experience this madness again.

A few weeks ago, I happened to notice my husband reading a book called One Second After by William R. Forstchen.  He got pretty engrossed in the book and finished it quickly.  He then told me the book was about how a family survived after an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) that takes down the country’s power grid and the chaos that people had to go through.  While I normally do not read the same type of books as he does, I got curious about it.  I picked up the book and became involved in the story.  I started relating to the characters and worrying about their fates.  Most of all, I started to think, what would I do if the same situation were to occur right here, right now.

I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who wants to read the book, so I will not go into a detailed description.  Just to give a small idea of the book’s premise, the characters wake up one day and find that an EMP has brought down the electric grid, and anything electrical would not work.  Cars with any typed of electrical system stop running, planes fell out of the sky, cells phones and computers stopped working and there was no means of communication.  The reactions by the characters portrayed in the book are quite realistic; their actions were where something I can see myself doing if something like that were to happen.

Now I would be the last person who would want a disaster like this to happen, in fact, the whole idea terrified me.  I like my comforts and conveniences, and would be sad if they were to go.  But the alternative of burying my head in the sand and not pay attention to what is going on in the world would be a mistake.  Instead of being afraid of not being able to cope during an emergency, I started to think about ways to prepare instead.  My husband and I had a discussion about what we can do.  As it turns out, he was also thinking the same thing:  how would we prepare our home and family, should a disaster occur and disrupt our way of life.

We started reading about emergency preparedness on the internet.  There is so much to learn, so many supplies to buy; it can be overwhelming.  We have limited funds, as we are trying to pay off debt and live within our means.  We also realized there is only so much we can do to become self-sufficient while living in a small apartment.  But there are SOME things we CAN do, and I am not doing to waste any more time worrying.   We will do what we can in the space and resources that we have.  This is how our journey started.

Read Full Post »