Preppers

In some ways I prep OCDly.

In other ways, I've got no prep, no plan, notta.

As with everything else, I'm consistently inconsistent.

:)

Sometimes I'm completely mortified by how entirely unprepared I would be if anything ever happened. But not enough to stock up on any...what? water? batteries? I wouldn't even know what to get :-0

I wouldn't consider myself a prepper, but we always are very plentiful with bullets. Ya never know when you're gonna need them!

(Hoarding gold won't do us any good if the end of times comes. Food eh that's fine and dandy I guess. But we can shoot our dinner with all our bullets if need be.)

btw - I didn't know what a prepper was either. I thought it was maybe a typo and meant "pregger".

As in a "preppy" person

or...

A person who is always preparing things?

...or is there another meaning I don't know of?

=)

No, I'm not a prepper. I stock up for about two weeks... after that, if we're in that much trouble... good luck.

For us, it's an insane dilemma. We live on a fault line, if an earthquake hits (our most reasonably likely disaster), you'd have to be where the prepped supplies are. We have an older house, are on any of three levels at any time, and I would likely want to get outside with my son should something happen. So, where would I put it? There's no foolproof place.

I don't worry about the rest of it (besides earthquake), because if we're screwed, well, we're screwed.

What the heck is a prepper?

I guess that means I'm not O.!

No, I'm not a prepper, but I love the tv show, "Doomsday Preppers" on the Nat'l Geographic channel.

NOPE. I refuse to live in fear; I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I understand why some people do it, they have very real beliefs and it makes them feel better prepping, so whatever, more power to them.

As for me? I'd rather spend my money on things I need RIGHT NOW, not 'maybe' 5, 40, 168 years from now.

Not for "doomsday," but yes, for self-reliance reasons. We currently have a few months' worth of food and household goods on hand.

The reasons are many, but basically it boils down to being able to prepare and provide for our family, even if things get a little difficult. Example: my husband was laid off for a few months a couple of years ago. Because we had food stored, when he lost his job, we didn't have to go to the grocery store for anything but eggs and butter, literally. We ate normally and had several months' income in savings that covered all our other daily expenses. By being prepared, the only thing we had to worry about with the layoff was finding him another job as soon as possible. If you've never experienced a layoff, it's a big deal to be able to keep the kids from having their lives turned completely upside-down; we have four who didn't have to wonder when/if they were going to be eating during that time. If this is crazy or weird, I'm okay with being crazy and weird.

I grew up in central Washington where my father worked for the Atomic Energy Commission in Hanford. We had frequent drills at school during which we huddled under out desks. My parents kept a goodly supply of food in the house just in case we were attacked. They also stocked up buying canned food by the case when it was on sale.

I've continued with that mentality, stocking food and other items so that if necessary I could live for months on my own. Most of this has been done unconsciously. Now that I'm 69, I realize that I have canned food in the basement well past it's use by date. I, too, bought canned food because it was on sale. Unlike my parents I have not been good about using up the food as I went along.

I do feel some comfort knowing I could live on the food I have stocked. But I also feel some discomfort because of all the wasted food and the loss of money that could've been more helpfully invested.

lol i just thought a prepper was someone whose motto was "be prepared" like the girl scouts.

no but if i think about it sometimes i'm like, "yeah, if the time comes, we're screwed." lol!

I take it you've been watching the show Doomsday Preppers?

I am prepared. But not like that. Not for "doomsday".

This subject has been discussed before on here (MP) as well.

We have our guns and ammunition ready.
We have a backpack for each of us in case of an emergency. It has a flashlight, batteries, poncho, water bottle, MRE's, etc. Nothing heavy.
We have our camping gear ready should we have to evacuate. No, we don't live in a flood zone.

I'd rather be prepared. It's much better than waiting around for the government to come save me or my family. I'd rather not be O. of the people scrounging around for food, water, shelter should some disaster hit.

Are you a prepper? why do you ask?

Well my answer would be no, but if you walked in and saw my dining room right now with everything torn out of my pantry you might beg to differ!

Hi! We aren't prepared to stay here but we have been prepped to bug out for years and years. Funny how it's become "in". We can be out of here in ten minutes with all we need to never have to look back.

No, but I wish could be that motivated and organized. :)

My mom and grandma always had extra food on hand for when they had an economic problem, like loss of job or lay off or crop failure.

I have extra food on hand because I tend to shop the sales. (Mom and Grandma did the same and taught me well.) I know we will use toilet paper every day and a certain amount every week. When toilet paper goes on sale, I buy enough to last to the next sale. That way I pay for this necessity at sale prices, not the twice as much as it usually is when it not on sale and I "need" some in the house.

I do the same with other things. I buy enchilada sauce the week or two before cinco de mayo because its cheaper then than any other time of year. I by 3 or 4 meals of corned beef at St Patrick's Day because its 1/4 to 1/3 the price then than it is at any other time of the year. I buy charcoal at Memorial Day and the 4th of July.

Why do it that way? If you put your money in the bank on a CD, you may get 2%. AND you pay taxes on it. If I buy cream of chicken soup at $.50 a can at Thanksgiving and it lasts me throughout the year, I'm not paying $1.50 per can when I need it in March. I "earned" $1 a can on my money because I didn't pay $1.50 for it in March. AND I don't get taxed on the $1. I have tripled my money . . . Tax free. That's another why I have food stored.

I also have a 72 hour back pack, so incase something happens we can leave the house for 72 hours and be ok. I have 72 hours of water and food and medicine and toiletries and a change of clothes. Three years ago we were forced to evacuate because of a forest fire. We grabbed our 72 hour back packs and left in about 10 minutes.

Good luck to you and yours.