# Unprepared Society – Tips for the totally new poor or broke prepper.



## stonewallbaby (Dec 24, 2016)

You have decided to get prepared ! Great , now where to start? One day. One day of water 
is one gallon for each person and pet of dog size . My way is wash and bleach soda bottles. 
Two two liter bottles are a bit over a gallon.

Next is food buy a box of instant oats count the packets two for each person , two cans of canned pasta for each person. Yes it is boring but it can be ate cold. Yes even the oats. Get can opener.. Don’t forget the pets .One day of feed for them sit aside as well. 

Do you have empty day pack or book bag? Great get it. Put one set of old clothing you don't wear in it .every thing from the skin out. No ? Got a spare pillow case ? Drop a bottle top , a small smooth rock or marble in the bottom corner and tie a rope around repeat at the top. What? No pillow case ? Take the pair of pants you was going to pack and tie or whip the cuffs shut. Fill the legs with the other clothing , fill the rest as we go. Now take rope , or any thing you can use as rope to close the pants and make shoulder straps.

Let us recap . If you have the bleach and drink sodas . The cost of the water is to replace the bleach .
The cost of the food so far should be three dollars or less for each person . 
Your new bob should be almost free as well the contents so far. The cost of the rope .
Where do you stand now? You can now last one day longer in home or car than you could. What? All this for just one day? Yes One day longer 
Isn’t that the point ? To live one more day.

Here I'm going to upset more than a few of you. The whole trend of “ But my kid's wont eat that.” is for the most part is just not true long term. I have been there. You may grow to hate it and never want to eat it again , but if you are truly facing real hunger you will eat it. Now that is not to say go out and buy up food no one in your home not eat at all , or that a child or adult with special dietary 
needs should be discounted . 
My next post will cover the 72 hour mark.


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## tmttactical (Nov 23, 2015)

Stonewallbaby;

Thanks for the post. I look forward to the 72 hour post.


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

I believe that concept was called a Hudson Bay (kit?).

You understand versatility, adaptability, creativity are all strong survival skills. 

(This is not my original reply, my hot spot likes to just magically "off" itself).


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Good tips. It was a struggle when I began to prioritise. Especially because I was a broke college student in a crappy apartment. I focused on spending an extra $10 everytime I went to the store. I bought rice, campbells soup, oatmeal, salt and brown sugar. Water I did differently as Im not a soda drinker. I got 5 gallon water jugs and a water cooler with a hot tap. It was my big purchase that year. Between that and organizing all my camping gear and old military stuff and buying ammo when I could I was far better prepared than others around me. Good thing I already had a truck and some self defense items.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

In the USA today what do you called ,POOR?Air Conditioning, Cable TV, and an Xbox: What is Poverty in the United States Today?
http://www.heritage.org/poverty-and...le-tv-and-xbox-what-poverty-the-united-states
As a kid I eat plenty of "hutias", you don`t know what that is but is a kind of a RAT that lives in the Cuban forest, we also had no electricity nor running water we had an outhouse and a river ,I can go on and on but explain what do you call poor in the USA today please?


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

I would say TRUE poverty in America is when circumstances "beyond your control" result in your inability to provide for your (and/or your family's) basic needs (food, shelter, etc.) while you work diligently to regain the ability to do so (if you can). As opposed to self-inflicted poverty which is when you let old Uncle Sam provide for your basic needs because working is no fun and the gov't teat provides such sweet sustenance. But none of that has anything to do with the OP's post. 

I never considered prepping to be a thing growing up, having extras and being somewhat sustainable was just a part of life. Everyone I knew had emergency supplies, candles, lanterns, heavy wool blankets, kerosene heaters, canned food, guns, ammo, a cribbage board, etc. in preparation for whatever life threw at them.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

My father says that by today's standards you are below the poverty line if you do not own a home. This includes paying on a mortgage as 'own' a home.


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

I would like to point out that the Phrase "if you're facing real Hunger you will eat it". Most People in this Country don't know what real Hunger is. The fact is that the OP's comment is true, I have eaten things that most People would turn their Nose up to, For example how many would eat a Possum, Muskrat, Beaver or a Snake, or Mussels gathered from a muddy Creek Bed. The fact is that if you're facing true hunger/starvation you will eat anything you can find under a Rock or in a Rotten Log, not to mention the things that Kids or Adults say they don't like.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

camo2460 said:


> I would like to point out that the Phrase "if you're facing real Hunger you will eat it". Most People in this Country don't know what real Hunger is. The fact is that the OP's comment is true, I have eaten things that most People would turn their Nose up to, For example how many would eat a Possum, Muskrat, Beaver or a Snake, or Mussels gathered from a muddy Creek Bed. The fact is that if you're facing true hunger/starvation you will eat anything you can find under a Rock or in a Rotten Log, not to mention the things that Kids or Adults say they don't like.


This is why I don't buy into the "prep what you eat" theory. Cause if they are truly hungry they will happily eat whatever I provide or whatever is available.

The greatly diminishing pet and feral animal populations in Venezuela proves all of the above.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

I'll agree most adults will eat whatever is available, this is not necessarily true of kids or the elderly. I have seen an elderly person starve themselves to death by refusing to eat & I've seen kids cause themselves health problems by not eating enough. Lucky for us some really yummy food can be made out of long term storage foods cheaply. If you're going to prep, no reason to prepare to have to force feed our families & friends. We can prep so food can be a source of comfort instead.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

The Easiest and most valuable way to prep when poor is to get in shape.
Few, if any, other factors will impact your ability to survive as much as this one.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

camo2460 said:


> ...most People would turn their Nose up to, For example how many would eat a Possum, Muskrat, Beaver or a Snake, or Mussels gathered from a muddy Creek Bed....


I'm munching on a bunch of wild raspberries...mmm good. Took a handful in to the wife, she refused to eat them because they came from the outside! Guess she doesn't want to know where the raspberries she buys in the store come from?


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## alwaysready (May 16, 2012)

camo2460 said:


> I would like to point out that the Phrase "if you're facing real Hunger you will eat it". Most People in this Country don't know what real Hunger is. The fact is that the OP's comment is true, I have eaten things that most People would turn their Nose up to, For example how many would eat a Possum, Muskrat, Beaver or a Snake, or Mussels gathered from a muddy Creek Bed. The fact is that if you're facing true hunger/starvation you will eat anything you can find under a Rock or in a Rotten Log, not to mention the things that Kids or Adults say they don't like.


As my great grandmother used to say "what don't kill ya will make ya fat."


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## Seasoned-prepper (Aug 27, 2013)

Stonewallbaby I think this is a great post... many people are overwhelmed at first... a desperation comes over them and they are searching for the most bang for their buck... They want as much food as they can get for as many days as they can afford... I think we should all post our ideas for the cheapest way to help these people get prepped... 
If you're new to prepping and reading this... My suggestion is get rice... 25 pounds of rice will feed one person for 14 days... Do you want to eat rice for 14 days? No, but you can if you have to... grab some spices like garlic, chili, pepper, onion powder etc... anything to change the flavor so you can stand it... 25 pounds is less than $10 around my area... I'm sure we'll see some more prepping on the cheap ideas here...


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

There is an old story of a Chinese village during a famine. 

The village elder said, "I am making rock soup." "Would you like to share?"

The other villagers said, "yes!" 

"Good," said the elder, "bring me something for the pot and you can eat."

One villager brought a big bag of rice and the elder dumped it into the pot.
Another villager brought some cabbages, one brought some eggs, another brought some carrots. 

As each villager participated, another villager brought something. Each villager only brought two portions or servings, the elder cooked the ingredients in his large pot with his fire. 

When the soup was ready, every participating villager had a full bowl of good soup and none of them went hungry that evening. The point of the story is that there may be only enough for one, but combing resources can make enough for everyone contributing to an effort.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

VoorTrekker said:


> There is an old story of a Chinese village during a famine.
> 
> The village elder said, "I am making rock soup." "Would you like to share?"
> 
> ...


They use to tell this story in grade schools and even ask the students to bring in something for the pot. It was fun.


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## fteter (May 23, 2014)

Rome was not built in a day. Ditto for the preparations most of us have made. We've all struggled with limitations of one kind or another. I think the trick is to do what you can, when you can, and recognize that it's a process...you'll prepare in increments.

So far as "store what you eat", I'll buy into that to some extent. Because I rotate my food reserves into our regular eating routines and subsequently shop to replace what we eat. Eat the oldest stuff and go buy new replacements. However, there is an underlying foundation to my food reserves: beans, rice, wheat, spam, canned ham, powdered milk, dehydrated meals. If I served those things up tomorrow, I could find plenty of folks who won't eat one or more of those things. But if real hunger ever sets in, I'll wager that those same folks would eat it and be grateful for the chance to do so.

My folks were both children of the Great Depression. I grew up on stories of how they'd hunt, clean and eat possum, rabbit and squirrel...maybe served up with a little corn meal paste when they could get it. All too often the fare was dishrag soup. Everybody was hungry and so ate everything put in front of them, and they were grateful for it. If it ever gets bad enough, people will eat whatever they can. And, if their children are hungry, they'll feed them whatever they can get.

Bottom line is that I will store what I eat, and I'll continue to rotate. And I'm also socking away enough to share with others. But most of what I share will be the foundational staples mentioned above. Because that's what I can afford to store in serious bulk. And, I suspect if things ever get bad enough that people are truly hungry, they'll happily eat those staples and be grateful for the meal.


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

TheLazyL said:


> I'm munching on a bunch of wild raspberries...mmm good. Took a handful in to the wife, she refused to eat them because they came from the outside! Guess she doesn't want to know where the raspberries she buys in the store come from?


Hahaha! Did she really say that? She was being sarcastic right? City girl? My nephew didn't know that beef came from a cow when i asked him what the hell he thought beef was he said i don't know you just go to the store and get it. My 4 year old daughter looked at him kinda funny and said i love cows, they taste delicious. I almost peed myself.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

RedBeard said:


> Hahaha! Did she really say that?


Yep.



> She was being sarcastic right?


Nope.



> City girl?


Nope.

She has a phobia of almost everything.

We was taking her morning walk down our paved country road. She doesn't like to walk alone because there is woods lining both sides of the road. I spied a almost new "L" receiver bolt lying on the edge of the pavement. I said, "looky there" and pointed. Her reaction was to put her hands up in a defense mode as she took several steps backward, "WHAT IS IT!"


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## Seasoned-prepper (Aug 27, 2013)

When I talk to someone just beginning to prep... I like to stress Balance... What I mean is, don't buy a months worth of food without having a months worth of water... start with a week, then 2 weeks etc... Consider all the possibilities that could happen... have a plan in place for the scenarios that you feel are the most likely to occur when shtf... Your area of the country will have different circumstances than other areas... and your family will have different priorities than maybe your neighbors... So, along with your food and water, you should consider ... Protection, shelter, bugging in , bugging out, etc... All these things are the balance that I'm talking about... Many of the people on this forum can add to this, and I'm sure they will be happy to help anyone that is just starting out with any questions you have...


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## Seasoned-prepper (Aug 27, 2013)

Caribou said:


> I also stress balance but I point out that sometimes you run across a sale that is really good. In that case I buy a years worth if I can. Yes that makes me heavy on that item but in the long run I wind up with more stuff for my dollar.


Yeah, I agree... but I was trying to keep with the title of this thread... for those beginners with little to no money... But certainly if you get a great deal on something even being a newcomer, take it...


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

TheLazyL said:


> Yep.
> 
> Nope.
> 
> ...


Well my wife has a phobia of fish so i can kinda relate.


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## AmishHeart (Jun 10, 2016)

Exactly. Because our basic preps are good, I only buy sales. I get more for my dollar. Prices usually dictate what I'm canning, dehydrating, fermenting...and then I do alot of it. I would never buy peanut butter because the "charts" say it's May and I should buy 10 jars. I buy a case when it's $1.25 a jar, and it doesn't set me back much. I have a weekly grocery budget and stick close to it. If chicken thighs are 88 cents a lb, I'm going to buy 40 pounds, package it into our family of 6 size and freeze it. And I love it when canning jars go on sale.


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## Flight1630 (Jan 4, 2017)

RedBeard said:


> Well my wife has a phobia of fish so i can kinda relate.


My wife says she has a phobia about her part time weekend husband. :sly:Go figure  lol


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## Seasoned-prepper (Aug 27, 2013)

AmishHeart said:


> Exactly. Because our basic preps are good, I only buy sales. I get more for my dollar. Prices usually dictate what I'm canning, dehydrating, fermenting...and then I do alot of it. I would never buy peanut butter because the "charts" say it's May and I should buy 10 jars. I buy a case when it's $1.25 a jar, and it doesn't set me back much. I have a weekly grocery budget and stick close to it. If chicken thighs are 88 cents a lb, I'm going to buy 40 pounds, package it into our family of 6 size and freeze it. And I love it when canning jars go on sale.


I don't know if you are close to a mills fleet and farm, but they have jars on sale right now... https://www.fleetfarm.com/ I think you can order them online, but shipping may negate the savings if you're pretty far away.


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## AmishHeart (Jun 10, 2016)

Those are great prices! Too bad I'm not anywhere near there.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

TheLazyL said:


> Yep.
> 
> Nope.
> 
> ...


I know people like this and I think it is sad for them. Phobias are real, and it seems that people with them look until they find others like themselves.

Two women I know talk about how hard it is to drive somewhere they have never been before. One talked about driving several times by a place she wanted to go, know it was there, but since she had never been there before, EEEEEK!

These are the kind of people who will get us in trouble when SHTF and we need to be quiet and hide, etc.


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## terri9630 (Jun 2, 2016)

weedygarden said:


> I know people like this and I think it is sad for them. Phobias are real, and it seems that people with them look until they find others like themselves.
> 
> Two women I know talk about how hard it is to drive somewhere they have never been before. One talked about driving several times by a place she wanted to go, know it was there, but since she had never been there before, EEEEEK!
> 
> These are the kind of people who will get us in trouble when SHTF and we need to be quiet and hide, etc.


Those are the people that will die because they can't handle change. Growing up in the military I've seen many families torn apart because the spouse couldn't handle being away from their home town. I know a guy right now that got divorced because when he was transferred his wife refused to move more than 20 miles from her mother. She had never even left the county she was born in.


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## terri9630 (Jun 2, 2016)

AmishHeart said:


> Those are great prices! Too bad I'm not anywhere near there.


Those are good prices but once I added shipping they came back up to local prices. Canning jars NEVER go on sale here. To big of a demand I guess. 3 places here carry them and you can tell when the harvest starts coming in because the stores are short on jars and can't keep lids in stock.


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## terri9630 (Jun 2, 2016)

Caribou said:


> I learned a long time ago, the hard way, not to wait till the last minute to get my lids.
> 
> As most here know I am a proponent of Tattler lids. I stash the new lids off of new jars for gifting and barter. When I am given a jar of canned goods I like to replace it with a jar of something else. At the very least I replace it with a jar, ring and new lid. These spare lids come in handy for that. Most people don't return the empty canning jars but I do. I believe that I get more canned stuff because of that. Only my mom gets Tattler lids as I know she will give them back. Evidently I need to teach her that the rings are reusable also.


I use tattler for most things. My kids have that problem with the Rings to. I had to order extra boxes of them.


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

I was pretty darn broke broke when I started prepping; one of the greatest things for me was to go to the local library and learn things for free from books or later the library computers; prep skills, new ideas for low or no-tech ways to get things done. I had a good basic set of skills learned from my frugal parents, but I also learned new penny pinching skills (meals under $3 a day for two people; how to make my own soap from saved fats; how to make good bread, how to re-cycle & re-use darn near everything). I prepped skills, not stuff, and in doing so managed to squeeze out a few prep dollars from my meager budget. 

I concentrated on getting the cheapest stuff first; water (free in my saved bleach jugs), salt (plain old iodized house brand), ditto house brand baking soda, flour, and white sugar. Now I could make biscuits, eggless pancakes, dumplings (to put in my stock pot/leftovers/bone soup). That and using weeds as vegetables saved even more on the budget (and I learned that I could serve an old shoe for dinner if it came with hot fresh bread, LOL). I saved the eggs to use as a main dish and got VERY good at omelets (French or American), poached, schirred, scrambled, baked and fried. My noodles were home-made for even less than the cheapest store brand pasta, and I leaned to make marinara sauce from tomato paste, water, flour & spices, costing 40 cents for $2.50 worth of sauce. (Luckily we loved pasta.) We scored big time finding a reliable source for cases of veggies in slightly dented cans. Nothin' fancy, peas, corn, beets, snap beans, carrots & peas...but they added variety to our menu for cheap. (I still go a couple times a year to stock up.)

A call to the local parks dept got me permission to pick up the windfall apples in the park that used to be an old homestead. (They were mystified as to why, but said it was OK.) After cutting away the bad parts, I canned applesauce in recycled jars (I did splurge on new lids, though) using a pot I rigged with a rack on the bottom to make a water bath canner. I made black raspberry jelly (seedy, but yummy) from a wild patch, mulberry pancakes, muffins and pies from another park tree where the children would follow me to see me make it rain mulberries by shaking the tree. I canned some mulberry sauce, too. The wild greens were steamed, then dehydrated on a pizza screen set atop my water heater (nice & warm in that closet - 'bout 90 degrees). I met other foragers cruising the outdoors that were usually looking for wild herbs and learned some new things from them, too. Now I could expand our diet with more free stuff and roll those pennies into more preps- beans, rice, oatmeal and pasta. I did find good prices at the pick your own farms and canned corn, green beans, and even made some sauerkraut from cabbages marked down at days' end at a farm stand. My homemade jellies from wild fruit were accepted in trade for other home grown items from neighbors who had gardens, which I did not the first few years.

And no, I didn't drive all over, I rode my thrift shop (ugly but cheap & serviceable) bike. I was a thrift shop frequent flyer - even my first pressure canner (cost me all of $12) came from there. I got the pressure gauge checked by the local univ. extension lady for free, and it was perfectly accurate!! I had a particularly good thrift shop, eventually finding excellent American made hand tools, 100% wool blankets, lots of cast iron cookwear, and even a treadle sewing machine (1927 model) for cheap. 

What I'm trying to say, is that its kind of a bootstrap thing, prepping while low on funds. But the more you learn, the more you can do yourself, saving yourself more and more pennies as you go. Not hard, but it does take a while and some effort. And you might even have fun while sharpening your skills. You will definitely learn to think outside the box!


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

kappeydell thank you for the excellent advice so well worded, living the lifestyle instead of buying freeze dryed MRE teachs skills, most times one has to do these things for real in a comfortable world to gain the comfort level that will make most peoples scary just scraping by survival into comfortable living.


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## Flight1630 (Jan 4, 2017)

Kappydell. Wow all good info and easy to do, now to try and convenience my wife, that's the hard part lol


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Resources vary by your location*

There are a few places that I have used to help me get set with the preps I have.

1. *Craigslist Free *section: Where I live, this is a very busy place. If you see something posted, you have to jump on it immediately, and contact the person posting. I have seen woodburning stoves, tents, camping gear, travel trailers, mobile homes (must be moved immediately), mobile builldings, canning materials, food, food storage, clean 5 gallon buckets, 55 gallon blue barrels, IBC totes, 5 gallon water jugs, fresh fruit and veggies for the picking, sewing machines, backpacks, suitcases, bags, and so much more.

I don't watch CL much anymore because I now have so much stuff. I do have it setup to receive emails from them when woodburning stoves and gas stove tops are listed. I am looking to set up a summer kitchen of sorts or a portable stove (besides my camping stove) with the gas stove top.

2. Craigslist, sales: You can find things for pennies on the dollar. I make goal lists for myself and search until I find what I want and need.

3. Garage sales: You can see listings for garage sales on Craigslist. Some mention what they have for sale and that helps to narrow down your drive and search time. But, you never know what you will find.

4. Thrift shops: Prices at our local thrift stores are rising, but you can find lots of interesting stuff.

5. LDS Home Storage Centers: You can shop at your local one (if you have one) or you can order for delivery. file:///C:/Users/rmsporrer/Downloads/HomeStorageOrderFormEng.pdf

https://providentliving.lds.org/self-reliance/home-storage-centers?lang=eng

6. Set goals, watch sales, read sales ads.

7. Shop warehouse stores.

8. Follow forums and others who have been prepping for a while.

9. Watch Youtube videos about prepping.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

If you are trying to stretch your budget to help afford prepping couponing can help. Some rules I follow are...

Only clip coupons for items you currently use. Just because there is a high dollar coupon for an item you don't use or like does not mean you have to use it.

Factor in your time when clipping. If you spent an hour and only have coupons that value $5 in savings you have to figure out if your time is worth $5 or more per hour. If you value your time above the small savings try only clipping higher value coupons. I don't clip anything below 50¢.

If you don't want to waste your time looking for coupons try LOZO.COM. You can enter in your grocery list and the site will find printable coupons that match. If you narrow your list by brand it will even allow you to sign up for alerts when coupons are available.

I spend less than 30 minutes a week printing and cutting out coupons and save an average of $10-20 per shopping trip. I combine these with the Ibotta app and Target Cartwheel app. Apps like Ibotta offer rebates on 'any brand' products like milk and ground beef.


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

Flight1630 said:


> Kappydell. Wow all good info and easy to do, now to try and convenience my wife, that's the hard part lol


Good luck, hopefully she does not think money grows on trees, and that credit is supposed to be maxed out. Maybe you could stress the money saving angle....but nowdays frugal is an alien concept for so many folks. Especially if there is no emergency at hand requiring it.


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## sewingcreations15 (Aug 19, 2017)

Hello everyone and a good subject  .

We have been prepping for a number of years and like most when we first got married there was not a lot of funds at all.

When we started out we started small and when we ate 1 tin of soup we replaced it with 2 and we did that with most things. It is surprising by just buying one more of one item per week how fast your stockpiles will increase without spending a fortune.

I am also an advocate for searching and learning new prepping skills and implementing them as they all come in handy.

We continue to build our stockpiles and always wait for sales as we now have enough stocks to be able to do that. If we see a good sale then we still will increase our stocks on that item. If it is a terrific special we will buy a years worth.

Although we stick to a budget we will exceed it if there is a good sale and take the expenditure out of the next shopping days budget instead.

My best tips are wait for sales and stock up on that item, constantly price check to get the best deals, take advantage of club grocery discounts/coupons/vouchers that you may have and when prepping don't go wild and keep within the budget that you have.

I am going to say it and live by it, stock what you eat and eat what you stock, date all the items as they come into the home and eat the oldest first and put the newest stocks to the back of your pantries (FIFO first in first out).


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