# Beginner Prepper



## Jstrickland1988 (Aug 31, 2015)

Hello Everyone :flower:

My husband has been talking about prepping for years. We've lived in an apartment so we never took the talk seriously. But recently in April we bought a house with 7 acre's with a pond that's stocked with Catfish & Brim. 

My question to you, what kind of food do you guys start off prepping with incase SHTF .... Looking for any insight and thank you in advance! 

We've already started saving water in 2 Liter Containers that our soda's come in. And storing them in our freezer to help keep it cooler & to use in case of an emergency.


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## myrtle55 (Apr 1, 2014)

Please store the food you eat. You can dehydrate it, can it, freeze it, grow it, or buy pre packaged, please make sure it's food your family will eat


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

myrtle55 said:


> Please store the food you eat. You can dehydrate it, can it, freeze it, grow it, or buy pre packaged, please make sure it's food your family will eat


Dehydrated prepped meals are not always the best, they frequently contain hydrolyzed vegetable protean, (HVP), this is generally soy and is not like the real thing as far a flavor and nutrition are concerned. For this reason we use combinations of dehydrated and freeze dried foods, it's amazing how good they can taste. We use Emergency Essentials, www.beprepared.com or call 1-800-999-1863 and ask for a catalog to be sent monthly, they often have really good sales on their products, when you get a catalog look for the page that has Group/Bulk Items and you can get free shipping by ordering 12 or more of the same items. Watch shipping because it can really add to the cost of anything you buy. When we went to get our solar panels we saved over $200 in shipping, just by picking it up ourselves.


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## bigg777 (Mar 18, 2013)

Check out Augason Farms products at Walmart.com. (Cheaper than Amazon.com)

Rice, dried beans(especially lentils), canned veg. & fruit, Spam, canned tuna, canned salmon, canned chicken, canned roast beef, tea bags, powdered milk, sugar & splenda, salt, lot & lots of salt . . .

Buy your non-hybrid, non-GMO vegetable seeds, plant fruit & nut trees, learn how to sprout and buy plenty of sprouting seeds . . .

Yardbirds for meat & eggs, rabbits, goats for meat and milk, get to know your wild game and non-game species . . .

Welcome, congrats on the great move and best wishes to you & hub.


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

My advice would be to go the dollar store, get 3-5 days worth of canned food and bottled water, put them in a bag thats mobile, drop them somewhere out of the way in your house, and forget about them untill you need them. Dont get into this preping thing over night. You will spend all kinds of money on all kinds of stuff you will never need. Go slow and be practical. If you can buy it this week go ahead, if not wait till next week.


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## Starcreek (Feb 4, 2015)

One thing that works for me is to buy extra of anything non-perishable that I buy in my regular trip to the grocery store. This week I went to Save-a-Lot and bought two cases of vegetables -- one of black beans and the other of mixed vegetables. Just pick up the cardboard box the canned vegies are displayed in. I think there are 12 cans per box. Most of the vegetables at Save-a-Lot are 49c or 65c per can, so that's not a big strain. I also get bags of rice and dried beans. Those are kind of a basic staple. Together they make a complete protein.

I do buy canned meats, but mainly for barter. Spam, canned roast beef...and a little tuna fish. I don't eat much fish anymore because of the radioactive contamination in the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima.

Other than food, you really, really need an alternative water source -- a well or spring, if possible. And make sure to pick up some salt, pepper, and any spices your family likes. Salt is under a dollar a pound, so it's easy to stock up. Walmart usually has spices for $1 a bottle.


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

You are also just down the road from an LDS canning center...
4823 N Royal Atlanta Dr
Tucker, GA 30084 

I know of folks in another forum who brought there own foods to the center for canning. Maybe someone here can expound on this. And welcome to the forum!


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## Moose33 (Jan 1, 2011)

Start with what are you planning for? Weather, power outage, economic collapse. Will you have to leave home? Figure out your biggest issue and develop a plan around that. Having a plan and knowing what you are planning for will save you a LOT of money.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Try to come up with realistic lists of things you'll need for various scenarios... 
1 day power outage, 
3 day storm and power outage,
7 days storm power & water out, all roads blocked with trees, etc.

etc.

Don't try to be that Brent Bruns dude building the cinderblock "Doomsday Castle" on a mountaintop in North Carolina. 99.5% of the world would never be successful employing a strategy like that.

Start with enough food and water and clothes for a week. A small solar system to charge cell phones and portable DVD players will help keep kids entertained, along with some puzzles and games. Have a REALLY good first aid kit, and if you don't own any firearms, you might think of getting one that is used primarily for hunting but will also be dual purpose as a self-defense firearm as well.

The LDS folks are big into prepping, and have a lot of free info out there, including this free downloadable prepping manual.
https://www.ldsavow.com/PrepManualGeneral.html

They also sell a starter kit, which is a pretty good deal:
http://ldsintelligentliving.org/2009/07/17/family-home-storage-starter-kitsone-month-kit/


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Take a look at these sites to help you get started with storing food...

Prepared LDS Family
http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/p/12-monthly-food-storage-lists.html

Stockup Food
https://www.stockupfood.com/

Food Storage Made Easy
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/babystep-checklists/


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Hahaha, Mrs. Grimm and I think alike, and at the same time! 

BY ALL MEANS - store what you eat!

If you know you will have the power out, there are a LOT of cheap and simple suggestions we have for cooking and heating your food.

If you don't have a water well, you can treat the pond water very easily.

There's a lot we can add about suggesting different levels of preparedness. (to include heating, power, fuel, water treatment, etc.) I think there's a "5 levels of preparedness" article on here somewhere...

Similar to this:


> Prepper Competence Level 0 - Unprepared for SHTF
> Someone in level 0 has no surviving skills and no food skills. Basically speaking, they would be 'the walking dead' in a SHTF scenario. If you don't make it to level 1 then you are in this category and basically is not even at a level of competency.
> 
> Prepper Competence *Level 1* - SHTF and Prepping Novice
> ...


I forgot to add:
"Making the Most of Your Food Storage" by Michelle Lloyd
http://www.utahprepare.com/files/uploads/M_Lloyd_Handout.pdf


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Welcome to the forum.

Eat what you store, store what you eat. Set small goals so you can celebrate often. If you set a goal of five years worth to start you will never reach it. First get enough supplies and food for a week, then a month, then three months, 6 months, 9 months, then a year. When I come back from a shopping trip I put my supplies on the shelf then allow myself some time to stand back and admire the increase. Most people settle somewhere between one and seven years but you need to determine when is enough.

Read the LDS Preparedness Manual linked earlier. They will teach you a great deal. They also provide some lists as do many other places. Lists are great for reference but the only list that matters is the one you develop for yourself. No family has the exact needs and preferences as yours. Don't let others dictate your list but do learn from them.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

Jstrickland1988 said:


> Hello Everyone :flower:
> 
> My husband has been talking about prepping for years. We've lived in an apartment so we never took the talk seriously. But recently in April we bought a house with 7 acre's with a pond that's stocked with Catfish & Brim.
> 
> ...


1st of all,the 2 liter bottles is a good idea.i do the same.i also take some out and put them into the fridge.and swap them out when needed.and for the same reason as you.

as for foods.i suggest that yall go with foods that yall eat now.reason for that,is a small to large change in diet can mess with the digestive track.which will lead to extra restroom trips.and maybe other issues.learn canning if you haven't already..eat rotate and restock the canned foods that's you've stocked up on.also look into store bought canned foods that can be eaten as is,and straight out of the can.on account there'll be times that will be a all around great idea not to have a fire going,seeing how a fire can give away your location..


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

I started by purchasing a few extra canned goods every time we went grocery shopping. Then we started buying more food than we needed so as to create a rotational supply. Next came Augason Farms 30 day dehydrated food buckets. Then came more Augason Farms food products (lots more). Then we started buying meat in bulk and picked up a second deep freeze, again rotating oldest to newest. Then we joined a fruit & vegetable coop and started canning. Now we garden ourselves as well. Food storeage has been a constantly developing, growing and changing event over several years and I expect it will continue to grow and develop for several more. 

Not to disagree with the "store what you eat" crowd, but a hungry person will eat what's available. A starving person will eat just about anything. Just ask the Donner party. Our storage does take that into consideration, but cost and shelf life play just as important of a role for us. We do from time to time make a dehydrated meal but we rarely eat red beans & rice, yet we have a lot of that in storage.


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## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

biobacon said:


> My advice would be to go the dollar store, get 3-5 days worth of canned food and bottled water, put them in a bag thats mobile, drop them somewhere out of the way in your house, and forget about them untill you need them. Dont get into this preping thing over night. You will spend all kinds of money on all kinds of stuff you will never need. Go slow and be practical. If you can buy it this week go ahead, if not wait till next week.


Dont use the dollar store for food to store. The expiration dates are very close on dollar store food.
If money is tight the best place to start is beans and rice. Affordable and stores well.

If you have a pond and/or a well all you really need is a way to purify it.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

You really want to mix your food stores. If you plan to put things in 5 to 7 gallon buckets, look at LOWES for food grade buckets. They sell them for around $5 to $7 dollars usually. A regular lid will do if you can't afford a Gamma Seal lid. Go to Amazon and get a ten pack of Mylar bags and oxygen absorbents. You can save some money putting your own buckets together. Example a 20 pound bag of Mahatma White Rice is under $10 at Walmart. I would suggest you mix products in the buckets so you don't have to open a forty to sixty pound bucket of rice all at once. Rice, beans, soup blends, etc. in a bucket. 

buy canned goods you really eat and consider things you can mix in soup mixes. Don't buy a ton of Tuna if you do not eat Tuna. 

If you plan to have a garden get a GOOD dehydrator and a FOOD SAVER vacuum unit to store your goods. If someone tells you to buy a Freeze dryer unit remember those things cost over $4,000. If you plan to include some ready made Freeze Dried meals try sample/camping pouches first to see if you like them. Stick with name brands you can trust: Mountain House, Ready Reserve, Augason Farms, Thrive. Watch out for fly by night companies trying to cash in on new preppers. Back in 99 we saw a massive number of start up companies that disappeared after a few months. Later found out that they shorted many products they sold and packing methods were poor to say the least. Stick with people you know and trust. 

Don't forget to bring in some staple products that will not be available. Powdered Milk, Powdered butter, etc. Also don't forget whole grains to store along with a good grain grinder. (you can find a grinder like back to basics for under $70) 

Build you food stores slow. Don't do panic buying. Prep for a couple of weeks and then a couple of months and so on. 
For long term food sources store in Heirloom SEEDS in vacuum sealed cans for future gardens. Learn to save seeds as well. 

If you plan to have animals start with chickens. They are the easiest to take care of and produce both eggs and meat. Most of all find good resources like books on Pantry prepping. James T Stevens books are really good (Don't Get Caught With Your Pantry Down). 

Best wishes and good prepping. GB


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## ksmama10 (Sep 17, 2012)

Sentry18 said:


> I started by purchasing a few extra canned goods every time we went grocery shopping. Then we started buying more food than we needed so as to create a rotational supply. Next came Augason Farms 30 day dehydrated food buckets. Then came more Augason Farms food products (lots more). Then we started buying meat in bulk and picked up a second deep freeze, again rotating oldest to newest. Then we joined a fruit & vegetable coop and started canning. Now we garden ourselves as well. Food storeage has been a constantly developing, growing and changing event over several years and I expect it will continue to grow and develop for several more.
> 
> Not to disagree with the "store what you eat" crowd, but a hungry person will eat what's available. A starving person will eat just about anything. Just ask the Donner party. Our storage does take that into consideration, but cost and shelf life play just as important of a role for us. We do from time to time make a dehydrated meal but we rarely eat red beans & rice, yet we have a lot of that in storage.


I hear what you're saying about eating what's available.. along that line, I've stocked some canned chili I found on discount, with the thought that it would be good if the power goes out. What it wound up going for was a few times the older kids needed grocery help..chili is recognizable, and easy to fix...so those got rotated quickly. I've bought other soups that they won't necessarily eat today, but might appreciate later...sometimes a can of tomato soup sounds really good with a grilled cheese sandwich, and sometimes the only thing that sounds good when a stomach bug hits, is a little chicken noodle soup. I've been paying attention this past year, so I can shop a little more wisely..


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

I like Emergency Essentials (www.beprepared.com) they offer those who are just starting out an option to buy 1 years worth of dehydrated food in 12 monthly installments of $150. There are lots of ways you COULD go: buying canned food, buying bulk food and storing it wourself, MREs, etc. Some of these options are considerably cheaper, but the prep as you go program offers you some benefits: I chose this option because most of the food they send you has a 20-25 year shelf life, it's professionally stored, and if you want to buy food beyond what they are sending you you get free shipping on the order when they include it with a regularly scheduled order.


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## Marcus (May 13, 2012)

Cotton said:


> You are also just down the road from an LDS canning center...
> 4823 N Royal Atlanta Dr
> Tucker, GA 30084
> 
> I know of folks in another forum who brought there own foods to the center for canning. Maybe someone here can expound on this. And welcome to the forum!


For bulk rice and beans, their prices were *lower* than Wal Mart. But, you have to buy 50# at a time.

I do know they changed their canning policy a while back and cut back on the number of sites that do canning. The Dallas center still does canning, but I understood that only a handful nationwide still do. Someone reported them to the health department or something was the story I got. Maybe a LDS member here can give us the whole story.

The LDS also has some really good survival books available. The big one I'm thinking of you could download and print out yourself. It's called the LDS Preparedness Manual.

If you're cash constrained, the easy way to do it is to buy (invest) in an extra can of something. So if there's one on your grocery list, buy an extra one and don't count it as being in your pantry. You can do the same thing with TP, toothpaste, and other personal items. The idea is to build your stockpile slowly with things that you eat. Once you get a month or two ahead on your groceries, then you can start looking longer term.

One thing you'll find as you progress is you'll start really noticing price increases and portion shrinkage. That will generally motivate you to start looking for deals and stocking up when you find them.


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