With the Permission from our fellow monkey @Falcon15 I decided to post one of his blogs. He wrote a blog then broadcast The 52 Week Prepping Challenge. As we all watch Greece spiral and we cannot help but think could this happen here and if, when. This month’s TOTM is Thrifty Prepping. Well IMO @Falcon15's 52 week challenge is thrifty, a good list and variety. If you are on a budget, you can still afford to prep. The article can be found here- SHTF Series | The 52 Week Prepping Challenge there are also other blogs written in the cheap prep category. So here is the 52 Week Challenge: Tonight on In Case Of Emergency, I posited that no matter how “poor” you may be, you can prepare. The challenge is not one designed to goad someone into being a “better” prepper, but instead be a mindful prepper. The only competitor is you. The only winner is you. So what is so challenging about the 52 week “challenge”? The challenge lies in being diligent with your expenses. The challenge lies in depriving yourself of Starbucks once a week or not eating at McFastfood once a week. Even if you are on full government assistance, SNAP, Welfare, the whole nine yards, you can prepare for a disaster. How? Simple: spend $5.00 a week of your grocery budget to buy the weekly item. Let me give you an example: Week one, you buy $5.00 worth of Ramen noodles (whatever flavor you wish). Right now a case of 12 Ramen packets (Maruchan brand) run about $2.50. That would be 24 packets of Ramen for $5.00. Some weeks you may spend less than $5.00. You may only spend $4.50, but it is vastly important that you stay at or below the $5.00 mark. No going over. That is the challenge. Let me list for you the 52 items I recommend. You can make your own list, if you wish. Ramen noodles Cans of vegetables (your choice) Cans of fruits Cans of Tuna Cans of diced tomatoes Rice (I recommend converted AKA parboiled rice) Dry kidney beans Cans of baked beans Cans of chili (beans or not, your choice) Cans of cream of mushroom soup (generic is the best bang for your buck) Cans of tomato or chicken noodle soup Cooking Oil White vinegar Sugar Salt Pasta Raisins Honey Molasses Baking soda Spices Bottled water Canned juice Peanut (or other nut) butter Mac and cheese Cans of flaked ham Cans of turkey Cans of chicken BBQ sauce Tea bags Herbal tea Instant iced tea mix Generic Kool-Aid Instant Pudding Generic Jell-O Cans of corn or green beans Cans of beef stew Onion flakes Garlic Powder Gravy mix pouches Spam Vienna sausages Beef jerky Flour Corn Meal Dry black eye peas Saurkraut Powdered milk Brown Sugar (the darker kind has more flavor) Bullion Cubes Spaghetti Sauce (canned) Canned “whole” ham This is not the end-all, beat-all list, nor is it accounting for any particular dietary needs, which you should always keep in mind when you are prepping. What this is, however, is a guideline. Take this and run with it. This is also an excellent way for college students to start prepping. A single burner camp stove and a couple of pots thrown in, and this is a great dorm prep list. Stash the foods in some crates, cover them with a sheet, toss a lamp on top and poof, no one knows you have food stashed. So there it is. A 52 week challenge to get you started for just $5.00 or less per week. It is never too late, and no one is too poor to start prepping. Got preps? Pray for the best, prepare for the worst. SHTF Series | The 52 Week Prepping Challenge
I remember buying Ramen 10 for a buck. I can get a 5 pack for a buck now, or sometimes it's on sale for .89. Still cheap though.
We bulk shop for Salt, flour, sugar and beans then repackage in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers and 5 gallon buckets with sealed covers. Watch commercial flour and corn meal they will hatch bugs if they sit too long. Back in school I worked at a large commercial bakery one summer and flour directly off the tankers from the mills in Minnesota had bugs. ................................................................... Scarily, these evil blighters are already in the flour and corn meal when you buy it. Their eggs are present in the wheat and meal and survive milling, and hatch if they have been hanging around for too long, or sitting in warm or humid conditions. How to Get Rid of Weevils (Flour Bugs): 9 Steps (with Pictures) How to Get Rid of and Prevent Flour Mites (with Pictures) Flour Beetle Facts & Control - How to Get Rid of Flour Beetles
A Note for RAMEN / storage... (forgive me if you guys already know this...) I remember buying Ramen in bulk once, and thinking that b/c they were packed in plastic... they'd last a "Long" time... - they did not last very long at all. I found that most (well... a PERCENTAGE of...) Ramen-packaging is quite 'leaky'. A lot of my bulk-Ramen went stale in a very short (month or 2) time. The original (commercial) packaging is not well-suited to long term storage. So you may need to repackage it... I do realize all you pro-preppers probably already know this. (and I'm new / naive here) but I thought I'd throw that in here... you may wanna store'em in buckets pumped with N2 / seal the buckets well... and then maybe that would last... or... maybe you can vacuum-pack them. (or some other way). If the packages "Leak" air...... they may not last that long anyway... even if you (just) re-wrap in well sealed plastic. But.... I DO LOVE Ramen... and was thinkin' it'd be good to have tons of it .... you can add anything to Ramen and make a decent soup. ---------- forgive me if this is (quite) redundant info for you all... I just joined / am looking around / learning the lay of the Land here. oh... another "silly" Ramen note... (it may or may not be of use to you-All) when I use Ramen, I sometimes prefer to break it up when it's dry BEFORE I prepare it. (that way you aren't dealing with the long long noodles as originally produced) What I do is I "break up" the noodles while it's still INSIDE the Ramen packaging (be careful not to "burst" the package) I carefully crush the packets by hand... -and if you pre-break the Ramen, you can just pour the broken noodles into a bowl and heat it all... OR... - if you do end up packing it all into buckets, for long term storage you may / may not retain the "servings" as individual packages and then pack them all into buckets. THEN... it will conform to the curve of the bucket (no longer a square block of noodles) and not waste space. but- after crushing the noodles, you almost certainly have also stressed the original commercial packaging. But, when you are putting the Ramen into use, you do still at least retain the commercial packaging for temporary containment in a backpack, or just thrown on a table until used... --- but again... the original commercial packaging really is not suitable for long term storage.
