Discussions
Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted December 17, 2021
Reply to: Are you new to preparedness? Ask whatever you want here! Posted March 10, 2021

My emergency wasn’t a natural or man made disaster, but financial. My company was bought out and I took a 56% pay cut. I looked for a new job but at the time no one was hiring or if they where I wouldn’t make enough to support my family.  Six months later my well stocked pantry was bare and we where Ramen at least one meal a day if not two. I started telling my kid I wasn’t hungry right then, I’ll eat later.  At six months I also finally found a second job so I could support us.  I told myself that wouldn’t happened again and that’s why I prep. I’ll always be grateful that I was a frugal shopper and bought in big quantities when there where sales so I was able to last that six moths buying very little groceries but have taken it up a notch.  When the pandemic hit and I was laid off for five months and my unemployment didn’t come in we where well fed. Won’t mention how long it took me to get my utilities caught up so I have more to learn. I literally had 5 dollars to my name when my unemployment finally came through and a week later I was back to work. 

Reply to: Getting started into canning Posted November 27, 2020
Reply to: Lockdowns, part 2 Posted November 25, 2020
Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted November 22, 2020
Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted November 22, 2020
Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted November 22, 2020
Reply to: Lockdowns, part 2 Posted November 22, 2020
Reply to: Let’s hear your prepper/survival stories! Posted November 19, 2020

I wasn’t a prepper yet,  I just kept a very well stocked pantry. Lost my well paying job and could only find a restaurant job that paid barely above minimum wage. Luckily the job was full time but that doesn’t leave much money left over after paying the bills. I couldn’t find a better paying job for a year.  I repurposed my daughter’s clothes so much that year as she out grew them I’m eternally thankful she was only in kindergarten and didn’t realize. Dress too short? Through a cheap pair of leggings under it and it’s suddenly a long shirt. Pants suddenly high waters? Cut the legs off and have a new pair of shorts. Shirt too short and showing the belly? But a longer shirt on under it and have a layer shirt and she can wear the longer shirt another day with no one the wiser. Did this for years before she refused to anymore.  What really saved my hide was my pantry. I stretched those meals out and only bought staples for a whole year.  My grocery bill was never more than $60 a month. (This was only about 8 years ago groceries weren’t cheap.) With what I had on hand and the food  my job sent me home with we made it work.  If I hadn’t found my better paying job when I did I would of had to for the only time in my life ask for public assistance. I had just accepted that I was going to need to apply for food stamps when I received the call that I was hired. I’m not afraid to admit I cried that day.  And my pantry is once again stocked but I’m now learning about longterm storage and other preps so hopefully I’ll never be that close to being out of food again. I’m  beginner prepper but an old hand at making do. 

Reply to: What to say to kids instead of “be careful!” Posted October 26, 2020

When my daughter was little I would find my self using the word ‘stop’ constantly in everyday conversations. For example, we need to stop playing now and get ready for bed, type of comments. So if I ever needed her to stop something immediately because she could come to harm, i.e. not run into the street after that ball she was chasing without paying attention, I would instead yell ‘pause’, and she would immediately stop and look at me for further instructions. Saved her life when she almost ran in front of that car at less than 3 years old. I made sure to use the word seldomly and only when she needed to stop something immediately. Because it wasn’t used for every situation she never ignored pause when sometimes she would ignore stop because she heard it so often. She’s a teenager now and still immediately stops what she’s doing if I say pause. Though the word doesn’t get used often nowadays.  I’m going to try some of these other ways of saying things to her because as a teenager I find myself lecturing her and she tunes me out. Maybe saying things this way will open the conversations up and she’ll listen because she’s part of the conversation instead of ignore me because she’s not an active participant. 

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Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted December 17, 2021
Reply to: Are you new to preparedness? Ask whatever you want here! Posted March 10, 2021

My emergency wasn’t a natural or man made disaster, but financial. My company was bought out and I took a 56% pay cut. I looked for a new job but at the time no one was hiring or if they where I wouldn’t make enough to support my family.  Six months later my well stocked pantry was bare and we where Ramen at least one meal a day if not two. I started telling my kid I wasn’t hungry right then, I’ll eat later.  At six months I also finally found a second job so I could support us.  I told myself that wouldn’t happened again and that’s why I prep. I’ll always be grateful that I was a frugal shopper and bought in big quantities when there where sales so I was able to last that six moths buying very little groceries but have taken it up a notch.  When the pandemic hit and I was laid off for five months and my unemployment didn’t come in we where well fed. Won’t mention how long it took me to get my utilities caught up so I have more to learn. I literally had 5 dollars to my name when my unemployment finally came through and a week later I was back to work. 

Reply to: Getting started into canning Posted November 27, 2020
Reply to: Lockdowns, part 2 Posted November 25, 2020
Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted November 22, 2020
Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted November 22, 2020
Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted November 22, 2020
Reply to: Lockdowns, part 2 Posted November 22, 2020
Reply to: Let’s hear your prepper/survival stories! Posted November 19, 2020

I wasn’t a prepper yet,  I just kept a very well stocked pantry. Lost my well paying job and could only find a restaurant job that paid barely above minimum wage. Luckily the job was full time but that doesn’t leave much money left over after paying the bills. I couldn’t find a better paying job for a year.  I repurposed my daughter’s clothes so much that year as she out grew them I’m eternally thankful she was only in kindergarten and didn’t realize. Dress too short? Through a cheap pair of leggings under it and it’s suddenly a long shirt. Pants suddenly high waters? Cut the legs off and have a new pair of shorts. Shirt too short and showing the belly? But a longer shirt on under it and have a layer shirt and she can wear the longer shirt another day with no one the wiser. Did this for years before she refused to anymore.  What really saved my hide was my pantry. I stretched those meals out and only bought staples for a whole year.  My grocery bill was never more than $60 a month. (This was only about 8 years ago groceries weren’t cheap.) With what I had on hand and the food  my job sent me home with we made it work.  If I hadn’t found my better paying job when I did I would of had to for the only time in my life ask for public assistance. I had just accepted that I was going to need to apply for food stamps when I received the call that I was hired. I’m not afraid to admit I cried that day.  And my pantry is once again stocked but I’m now learning about longterm storage and other preps so hopefully I’ll never be that close to being out of food again. I’m  beginner prepper but an old hand at making do. 

Reply to: What to say to kids instead of “be careful!” Posted October 26, 2020

When my daughter was little I would find my self using the word ‘stop’ constantly in everyday conversations. For example, we need to stop playing now and get ready for bed, type of comments. So if I ever needed her to stop something immediately because she could come to harm, i.e. not run into the street after that ball she was chasing without paying attention, I would instead yell ‘pause’, and she would immediately stop and look at me for further instructions. Saved her life when she almost ran in front of that car at less than 3 years old. I made sure to use the word seldomly and only when she needed to stop something immediately. Because it wasn’t used for every situation she never ignored pause when sometimes she would ignore stop because she heard it so often. She’s a teenager now and still immediately stops what she’s doing if I say pause. Though the word doesn’t get used often nowadays.  I’m going to try some of these other ways of saying things to her because as a teenager I find myself lecturing her and she tunes me out. Maybe saying things this way will open the conversations up and she’ll listen because she’s part of the conversation instead of ignore me because she’s not an active participant.