Teaching others to prepare on a budget!

Traveling … preparedness style

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For me, during these uneasy times really isn't the time I want to be away from home, but I have to be. So, I'm traveling next week and looking for travel tips. My "preparedness minded self" made a list but I feel it's missing some things.... I threw this out on FB with a lot of good comments and wanted to post the questions here too. I'll do a follow-up when I return home! From my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prepping-On-A-Budget/217615264949049 I'll be traveling next week and wanted to throw some topics out for discussion... I'll be traveling by car about 300 … [Read more...]

The Simple Life?

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This past weekend, as my husband and I were planning, plowing, and planting... he said, "This is the simple life!" His comment kinda stopped me in my tracks because simply - to me - it's really not the simple life! If you've ever listened to me on Blog Talk Radio, read this blog, read my articles in Prepare Magazine (PrepareMag.com) - you already know I was raised and lived in an environment of self-convenience for basically 40 years! Cleaning out a chicken coop, hauling wood to the house, learning to cook on anything less than an electric stove, learning to can food, etc....  does … [Read more...]

Where Is Your Food ‘REALLY’ Coming From?

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Today I had the chance to talk to Vickilynn the owner of RealFoodLiving.com and in our conversation the topic of the Country of Origin Labeling came up. Well, honestly, I've seen some of the labels on some produce at the major stores (which is why I'm always touting "BUY LOCAL Food") but again, I never thought too much about the canned goods. I decided it was time to do some detailed research on where did that food really come from? Before my internet research started I decided to look at some store bought canned goods I have on hand. My first pick was a small can of mushrooms that … [Read more...]

M.E.L.L…. What would YOU do?

Trash Bin Against Building

MELL is my new term for preparedness efforts. It is copyrighted so please save us both the problem and don't even think about it - without my permission - which I will give gratefully if you simply ask! So, what the heck is MELL? We're all going to meet MELL one day. We actually meet MELL daily but when it comes to surviving or preparedness or prepping, some folks forget MELL. I'm involved in forums where folks have an insider at the hospital slipping them supplies on the sly or just as the expiration date rolls around, I've seen some folks talking large amounts of pens and paper from … [Read more...]

People are Returning to Community!

I caught an article the other day, as I was researching produce (trying to make some upgrades to my produce stand from last year) and I thought, "Wow... folks are returning hmmm...." Did you know Whole Foods considers local as "traveling less than 7 hours by car or truck".... http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/locally-grown Since my husband is in the trucking industry and I've been in the transportation AND produce business... this 7 hours can't include harvest time, drive time to packer, sitting in a warehouse waiting on a transporter, travel time, unloading, and merchandising. Buy … [Read more...]

Creating Your Own Layers of Preparedness

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I've been asked a lot of questions in the past, but the most recent one was... "If you grow and can your own food, why do you store store-bought canned food?" That was a legitimate question. My answer is, "In order to sustain life - we must eat (and have water). I also believe our preparedness efforts must be layered. Have you looked at the layers of your own preparedness? Layering your preps is the Plan A/B/C. With the food for example.... If we had to up and leave our primary home... carrying those heavy glass Mason/Ball jars is going to be impossible... so we have the cans we … [Read more...]

Canned Smoked Sausage Today!

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Last week my local grocery had Hillshire Smoked Sausage on sale for 3/$9.00. a savings of $4.77 for 3. I decided that I'm getting too comfortable with all the stuff I keep craming into the freezer and I thought it would be nice to can this. I really don't want to go through the heartache of a freezer fiasco ago! There's a couple of things to point out here... these packs 2 years ago were 16 oz. size, last year they were 14 oz., and now they are 13 oz. The price 2 years ago (because I track the prices of what we buy) was $2.49... now they are 3 ounces smaller and the price for 1 pack … [Read more...]

Name my new Produce Stand!

Vegetables

Last year I fell totally in love with providing my local community with 'homegrown fresh produce!' I was readily welcomed at several flea markets as I peddled tomatoes, okra, cantaloupes, watermelons, greens, grapes, muscadines, scuppernongs, cabbage, etc. This has turned into a true passion of mine as well as another income stream. I talk a lot about creating an extra income stream - just in case you have to fall back on it or use it to help out with your own preparedness effort. So, I need a name. I want the name to reflect fresh, local, and homegrown. I have a handful of names I … [Read more...]