That Overwhelmed Feeling

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Motomom34, Jun 12, 2016.


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  1. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Last night I strayed from SM. I was on another survival site and I read post that I keep thinking about.
    I have seen a few of these poss in the past and I always wonder what is the best way to respond. I wondered what my fellow monkeys would say also. Imagine this was one of our members. How would you respond to this person and what advice would you give to them. Encourage not discourage, advise but not overwhelm.

    Here is the post-
     
  2. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    I might suggest a bit by bit approach. Rome was not built in a day. FWIW, establish a priority list and forget everything past the next step. (Worked for me anyway.)
     
  3. GOG

    GOG Free American Monkey

    I think she has a common malady and the cure is to take a deep breath and realize you can only do what you can do. Be thoughtful, make the best decisions you can, take or don't take the action, then move on and forget about it, good or bad.

    She actually has a huge advantage in that she's awake and aware.
     
  4. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    @Falcon15 has a Program on his site SHTF Series / Radio KAOS | Radio KAOS Where you can just spend $5US Per Week, and after 52 weeks, (One Year) you will have Nutrition, for a Family of 4, FOR A MONTH..... a good Place, and WAY, to Start....
     
  5. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Let's play pretend.... let's pretend that was me that said that. What advise would you give me? How would you advise me to quickly build up 6 months of supplies on a tight budget? This woman was worried about screwing up but I think just by her being aware that something needs to be done is enormous. She has that panic that many first time preppers get.
     
    Dunerunner, GOG, Tully Mars and 2 others like this.
  6. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    "Quickly" is a budget dependent term. Tough nut to crack, but start with the daily use staples, flour, salt (pepper, some might say) and skills. (Water is a given --) Tell the poor lady that she cannot screw up unless she handcuffs herself with indecision. Mistakes can be fixed, but first, you gotta make them.
     
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  7. JC Refuge

    JC Refuge Emergency Essentials Store Vendor

    Bottom line--you need to start with an understanding that you need 2000 calories a day per person.

    You can go dirt-cheap to get that 2000 calories to accelerate your supply total to the 6-month level. Think bulk rice, wheat, beans, etc.

    Thing is, for Americans that kind of basic diet is going to be a challenge ... how to prepare those foods, how to deal with same-food fatigue, etc.

    My suggestion would be to combine some of those bulk staple purchases with long-term foods that you can mix with the staples to make them more palatable and familiar (soups, meats, cheese, veggies, fruits, even prepared entrees). Shop for those foods on sale. Long-term storage foods are always on sale these days. That's the state of the preparedness market niche at this time. Take advantage of it and do some smart shopping.
     
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  8. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    Caloric bang for the buck? Peanut butter.
    Bulk bang for the buck? Rice / beans
    canned veg when they have it at less than 2 for a buck.
    I'm kinda fond of sardines / salmon in a can when it's on sale (ditto for the retort packs)
    bulk salt
    and spices.
    yes the above is going to be boring as all get out. but it'll keep you alive.
    just my thoughts
     
    Dunerunner, GOG, Tully Mars and 6 others like this.
  9. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    Peanut butter... not my personal fav but completely doable

    AND as @VisuTrac mentioned rice and beans, wheat

    there is a whole lot of nutrition in dried grains.... sprouting, I keep repeating myself but ...sprouting

    Using Stored Grain, Nuts, Seeds to Optimize Health - Sprouting | Survival Monkey Forums

    and because most people are not use to eating these basic supplies, consider that you will either be constipated or have diarrhea. One of the cures for this is enzymes

    Best enzyme recipe in the world

    REJUVELAC
    Enzymes and good micro-organisms are at their highest when Rejuvelac is still fermenting. Refrigeration slows down their activity.

    (1) — In Jar One, soak one-third of a measuring cup of wheat berries on Saturday night.
    Drain all the water out of Jar One on Sunday morning, then rinse and drain on Sunday evening, and again on Monday morning.
    Then to begin your Rejuvelac in first jar:

    (2) — Fill Jar One with water Monday night. Give sprouts a final rinse before filling jar, to wash away unseen mold (you can't see it with naked eye).
    At same time, start Jar Two by soaking seeds overnight Monday night to Tuesday morning, then rinse/drain these every 12 hours, morning and evening.

    (3) — On Wednesday night, pour off Rejuvelac (fermented water) from Jar One and refrigerate for next day Thursday, refill Jar One with water, leaving in the old sprouts. You use each batch of sprouts twice over to make two jars of Rejuvelac.
    Also on Wednesday night, fill Jar Two with water — that's the one with new sprouts. Begin Jar Three, soaking seeds overnight.
    On Thursday morning take Rejuvelac out of refrigerator so you always drink it at room temperature.

    (4) — On Friday morning pour off second batch of Rejuvelac from Jar One and throw away the wheatberries, rinse out jar. Use Rejuvelac that same day so no need to refrigerate.

    (5) [repeat of Step 3] — On Friday evening pour off Rejuvelac from Jar Two and leave in refrigerator for Saturday, refill Jar Two. Fill Jar Three with water. Begin Jar One again, soaking one-third cup of wheatberries in it overnight.

    This way you use each jar of wheatberries twice for two lots of Rejuvelac (not three as in Ann Wigmore's method — it gets too weak) and you have a fresh jar every day — for use in blending Energy Soup and seed milk or yogurt.
     
    Dunerunner, GOG, Oltymer and 3 others like this.
  10. Capt. Tyree

    Capt. Tyree Hawkeye

    Several years ago I saw a co-worker go through the transformation of not knowing much of anything going on with the economy, politics, and the manipulation of news events into sudden awareness. Somehow, she came to realize everything within the space of a couple days. The light of awareness went on in her brain, and she was not the same afterward. It was all too much in one large chunk.

    I found out from her husband that she would shut herself into a closet at home and either cry or talk to family on her cell phone about what was going on in the world. She was having trouble coping with regular daily activity. At work we were able to tactfully advise her to not let all the negative world news get her down to being frozen into inactivity. There are small moves that anyone can make to reach a point of reasonable self-reliance. Address the situation in small bits, achievable tasks, and workable goals. Gradual progress gets it done...

    In the space of a few months she became our work group authority on food storage, canning, dehydrating, and sourcing of prepper food supplies and accessories. Throughout the metamorphosis she became a better co-worker, probably because there was an increased air of self-reliance. Overall, she had improved, changed for the better, but she was never again the carefree, spontaneous person as before her Great Realization. Too much too quickly?
     
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  11. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    I would advise this person to make their prepping a game that the whole family can play.
    A game that no family member can lose, except by not playing--which doesn't count, because there are no losers when it comes to prepping.

    That's the Ground Rule: It doesn't matter what you don't do. All that matters is what you do.

    Example, for someone just starting out:

    Water Storage
    Level 1: If the family uses one gallon of milk a week, wash the jug and refill it with water. Goal: Store 5 gallons of water.
    Level 2: Find extra jugs, and/or other free water containers to fill. Goal: Store 10 gallons of water.
    Level 3: Find a free, cheap, or bartered barrel and a place to put it. Goal: Store 50 gallons of water.

    Food Storage
    Level 1: Buy and store one 5 lb. bag of rice, sugar, flour, beans, or similar per week. Goal 20 lbs.
    Level 2: Buy and store one 25 lb. bag of rice, sugar, flour, beans, or similar per month. Goal 100 lbs.
    Level 3: Find free, cheap, or bartered canned goods and a place to store them: Goal 20 cans.

    Bug Out Bags
    Level 1: Find a suitable BOB for each family member and put a Wish List in each one. Goal: One for all.
    Level 2: Find one item for each Wish List per week and add them to the BOBs. Goal: Lists Completed.
    Level 3: Practice Bug Out Drill: grabbing gear, assembling, evacuating, and retreating to selected Way Point. Goal: 3 times by day, 3 times by night, and 3 times in the driving rain, sleet, or snow, with a faster time each time.

    The above is just a starting point. Each person/family should design their Prepper Game to suit their needs, and gradually expands it to include everything they feel necessary to be PUPG (Pup-Gee), which is Prepped Up Pretty Good.

    Done right, playing the Prepper Game will send the Players on many interesting expeditions to auctions, yard sales, estate sale, moving sales, and the occasional dumpster. And it will pay hugely when gardening goals get added, and when the money saved by bulk buying and opportunity shopping pays off the mortgage and gets the entire family completely out of debt.

    That particular goal is called The Touchdown.
     
  12. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Excellent post. My heart goes out to her at the beginning of your story but I smiled at the end. I am so glad she has your work group because I think that is very important. We talk so much about OpSec that we cannot really talk to those around us. We can talk to each other here on-line but it really isn't the same. Sad that she not as carefree as she was but it is hard to skip through life when you know the horrors of what could be around the corner.

    This is the coolest idea. How fun. Fun is good because kids can get scared. If it becomes a learning game and what we merrily do, I think it would become easier for children to accept prepping.
     
    Dunerunner, GOG, Ganado and 1 other person like this.
  13. Oltymer

    Oltymer Monkey++

    You will be more prepared if you scrounge and make your own gear, those who rely on the purchases of gizmos and food are in for some real shocks IMHO.
     
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  14. Seepalaces

    Seepalaces Monkey+++

    I would tell her that it's a very tall order, and anyone with a brain is overwhelmed. Every journey starts with the first step. In our area a fifty pound bag of rice costs around $15. I'd tell anyone who is thinking of prepping to start with that bag of rice and the water barrel. A twenty five pound bag of beans will set you back $10. That's next, imho. There are plenty of one year prepping calendars, but I'm about the basics. BTW: if you're allergic to rice, or you hate it, there's always barley or dehydrated potatoes. Oh, and for the record, I have given that $25 to neighbors to get them started. Because the more of them that are prepared, the fewer of them will want to kill me for mine.
     
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  15. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Prepping is not a race..... it is a journey to be ready for what may come. A person can only do today, what they can, to be better prepared for the next day. I would tell her, to take it one day at a time. Focus on the basic components as others have said... it is a cheap way to get months of food stored. And once you have that food stock to 3 months, then rinse and repeat until you have enough to meet your goals.
     
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  16. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    Exactly. How does one eat an elephant? One bite at a time.


    One of the best sentences I've read in a long time G.
     
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  17. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Put a couple of those gallons in the freezer. (I use half gallon jugs, they fit better.) Helps with short term power outages, which are FAR more likely than 50 months of no grocery stores.

    (Do the easy ones first---)
     
  18. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Do the easier ones first by all means...but don't put off the harder ones for ever. Making lists is easier than completing and achieving the listed line items, but if the lists and objectives are to have any meaning, solid and consistent effort over time towards objective achievemnent will also be required.
     
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  19. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Not to derail the thread with the milk jug debate but I heard do not use milk jugs because they contain bacteria plus break down (biodegradable). One article I read said even bleach wouldn't kill the bacteria.
     
  20. BlueDuck

    BlueDuck Monkey+++

    How prepared are you today compared to a year ago? 5 years ago. Few of us are where we want to be 100%. Looking back to where we were when we started can be a pretty good bench mark for the progress we have made. Looking ahead can sometimes be a little foggy. Live and learn and just keep plugging along.
     
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