In that piece we had a number of suggestions for prepping and survival with long term storage freeze dried emergency survival foods to supplement what readers already have stored, everything from meats and vegetables to powdered butter and eggs, but for those that are just beginning their preparations and are working with a minimal budget, those foods can get expensive fast.
Below we are going to go over some ideas for quick and easy preparations that do not cost a fortune, from grocery, discount or dollar stores, as well as great deals for bulk purchases from Amazon, delivered to your door.
Start by setting you and your family up for one solid week, then add enough to last a month. Starting slow helps maintain the budget while building a stockpile that can grow as you go.
First and foremost though, an article is generally not big enough to cover everything, so a book that comes highly recommended because it does cover just about everything, is the 6th edition of Holly Deyo's "Dare to Prepare," which has been updated with current information.
CHEAP PREPS
Dollar stores vary in what they carry, some offering a much larger selection than others, but most do carry the basics.
Medical supplies are great deals, from bandaids to tape. They usually stock pain relievers and fever reducers such as aspirin, Tylenol or Advil, and antibiotic ointments, anti-acids, anti-bacterial wipes, along with a number of other items to fill up your first aid kit.
Flashlights and candles for lighting, garbage bags for a number of uses, like covering your windows so neighbors and/or thieves do not see your house all lit up, or even lining an emergency bucket toilet. So stock up on garbage bags cheaply. I am betting readers can come up with over a dozen uses for garbage bags.
Which brings us to items that do have a variety of ways they can be used, such as coffee filters. They can be used as everything from paper to toilet paper, and a lot of uses in between. (See: 35 Reasons Coffee Filters are Survival Multitaskers)
Water at dollar stores is pretty cheap as well, usually you can find a gallon for a buck, where most grocery stores charge a little more than that.
Now food from dollar stores can be controversial because some will spend hours lecturing about the salt added to the canned goods, or the quality isn't quite as good as brand names that are more expensive, and they would be correct, but if a person is starving, at about 79 cents a can for most vegetables at a dollar store, one can see the appeal if on a strict budget.
While there is a wide variety of foods high in protein, one should always have protein powder stored, along with some powdered milk, whether non-fat dairy or whole milk. Sometimes conditions make it so you need protein fast, whether it is because you are on the move or you don't have the time to heat up other things.
Dollar stores are also pretty cheap for boxed food, from rice to pasta, although there are some amazing deals at Amazon on rice, such as 20 pounds of Jasmine rice for less than $24. Same goes for red beans where you can get 4 pounds for 10 bucks. So might want to do some comparisons before buying.
Peanut butter is another amazing investment. Can be eaten as any meal of the day, and depending on the reason you are forced to eat from your survival stockpiles, bread may not be available after the first week or two, so it can be eaten on almost any type of cracker and crackers, unopened, last quite a while.
The point is, walking up and down each aisle at a dollar store will give a good idea of how much can be stockpiled, fast, easy and cheaply.
While dollar store prepping is not ideal, nor the healthiest of foods for the most part, one can start their prepping, get a week, then a month stored up, along with some barter items, then start saving up for the more expensive emergency survival freeze dried buckets that will last far longer since most have a very long shelf life.
The point here is, if SHTF, water and food are number one and two on the list to survive, and if it comes down to a choice of buying dollar store foods or not eating and having nothing to drink, that shoud be a no-brainer.
As always, readers are encouraged to share ideas and tips, links to resources, videos, or anything else that could help a fellow prepper.
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