How does someone with few funds prepare for SitX

Just wondering if anyone here on these boards has some suggestions for people wanting to to prepare survival wise for a possible SitX. Here is my situation......

I am currently in college as a 30 year old. Was force to try and re-educate myself last year for a new carrer as a sickness prevents me from being able to work in my old field. As such I am on government grants and such to support myself, wife and 2 children. As a result I have little to no funds to go towards preparing for a SitX situation.

I have been looking at a few things but most require a small amount of money to get started, all of which I cannot afford at the moment. The impending sence of a economic collapse and such has me quite worried about how I'm going to be able to provide for my family as well as fend off possible mobs.

Any suggestions


Also I live in Canada if that helps anyone.

reply to post by Trayen11


what is a SitX, please pardon the question...???

Originally posted by vkey08
reply to post by Trayen11

 

what is a SitX, please pardon the question...???

SitX is any situation that may arise..."Situation X".

reply to post by Trayen11

I know its tight when in school however a few things that I do. Hit the yard sales, look for things that you might need. An Ax, camping gear, stuff like that. I get stuff at yard sales for cents on the dollar. Also at end of term check the dumpsters, a lot of good things get 86ed because the kid can not get the stuff home. Look for canned goods and dried foods that are on sale that your kids will eat and buy a couple of extra. Sign up for an archery PE class learn to shoot a bow if you don't know how and find out where you can get access to a bow.

Dump your bad habits and save the money for SitX toys. Make it a learning game with your kids. How does your wife feel about it? If she is on board with this it is a hundred times easier.

All the cool stuff is no substitute for having a good mind set. figure out what you will need to do before it happens. If you do not know how learn to start a fire in the outback, cook a meal on an open fire. Learn what plants you can and can't eat.

Best of luck

some basic things i myself would do, is look for a nearby source of fresh flowing water, plant a garden, and make sure i have something to keep myself busy if the internet/power goes down. since you dont have millions of dollars to spend, just make sure you have some basic tools/equipment around the house.

-flashlights
-spare batteries
-spare clothing
-something for defense (baseball bat or something.. you never know)
-some medical supplies
-etc

you dont need to go over the top with supplies. the average household already has the things i have suggested.

Originally posted by Trayen11
Just wondering if anyone here on these boards has some suggestions for people wanting to to prepare survival wise for a possible SitX. Here is my situation......

I am currently in college as a 30 year old. Was force to try and re-educate myself last year for a new carrer as a sickness prevents me from being able to work in my old field. As such I am on government grants and such to support myself, wife and 2 children. As a result I have little to no funds to go towards preparing for a SitX situation.

I have been looking at a few things but most require a small amount of money to get started, all of which I cannot afford at the moment. The impending sence of a economic collapse and such has me quite worried about how I'm going to be able to provide for my family as well as fend off possible mobs.

Any suggestions


Also I live in Canada if that helps anyone.

Here is what you can start doing.

Find a couple of 5 gal paint buckets and lids. When you go to the store, pick up some extra rice, dried beans...long term stuff. Seal them good and store away.

You have a wife and two kids, right?

So ask yourself, can we get through 72 hours of crisis? Do a home inventory. If you can ghet through 72 hours...the next step is can we get through a week?

Make sense?

Food
Water
Shelter
Protection

Keep it in perspective, and start doing a little every day. It will add up.

I would have to suggest.tally up what 'hard'' items you have on hand,and then make a list of possible other items needed..There are plenty of threads in this section that have list made up to read over...

Food items..That depends greatly on your budget..Is there any community food banks in your area? I know where Im from if you make less than X amount of money your entiteled to a couple of bags of grocheries..

Originally posted by waterdoctor
reply to post by Trayen11

 

I know its tight when in school however a few things that I do. Hit the yard sales, look for things that you might need. An Ax, camping gear, stuff like that. I get stuff at yard sales for cents on the dollar. Also at end of term check the dumpsters, a lot of good things get 86ed because the kid can not get the stuff home. Look for canned goods and dried foods that are on sale that your kids will eat and buy a couple of extra. Sign up for an archery PE class learn to shoot a bow if you don't know how and find out where you can get access to a bow.

Dump your bad habits and save the money for SitX toys. Make it a learning game with your kids. How does your wife feel about it? If she is on board with this it is a hundred times easier.

All the cool stuff is no substitute for having a good mind set. figure out what you will need to do before it happens. If you do not know how learn to start a fire in the outback, cook a meal on an open fire. Learn what plants you can and can't eat.

Best of luck

Thanks for the info.

To be honest the Idea for Yard sales is great that never really occured to me at all. Will do that one for sure! Canned good are a great idea as well considering the tight budget we eat mostly non perishables as it is, everything needs to last as long as possible. Been trying my hardest to stash what i can in the basement just in case. I have a small amount of food but nothing that will last very long.

Thanks again on the idea for the bow as well. I will look around and see what i can track down. I live in a small city with lots of bush around so I should be able to find someone around that may be willing to teach me to use one.

As for my wife, She is on board somewhat to whats going on. I tell everything I know and everything I read here. She has been pretty open and she is smart enough to realise that things could get nasty pretty quickly. There is a company where I live called Abitiby/Bowater that pretty much runs the town. The mills here are directly linked to the company and it looks like the company may go bankrupt. If that happens this town will be demolished quickly. So people where I live are starting to realise just how bad things are and that it's not just a American problem which is all i heard for the first few months of this whole thing starting.

reply to post by Redpillblues


Yes there are some food banks here, the problem im having is not wanting to take from people starving now just to suppliment my stock pile should things go south. I know my family come first, but as of right now I just cant bring myself to rob families of food the need now to stave of starvation.

Keep us posted on how your doing. My wife and I are getting set up so that if bad things do happen we can be OK for a while. At my age the idea of running off to the mountains has lost a lot of the romance that it once had. Just take care of those kids and wife just by asking these questions you are a long way ahead of most.

Better than money is friends, if you have friends that are proper, tough-minded, loyal and self-determined types...talk to your friends and recruit them, see if they can share your vision about what might be happening and the advantages of forming a group for mutual et cetera post Apocalyptic Event...the nature of the benefits derived will depend on the individuals involved...one has a concrete concealed rootcellar, one has parents with an orchard, one is a nurse, one a sharpshooter, one a martial arts instructor...you need to get the concept in their minds now, so that as disaster occurs they will put their mental weighting towards you, whereas if you wait till the whole world has changed they may be freaked and see their relationship with you as belonging to the former things that have now passed away...Do not recruit your lame, dependent, whiny, unreliable friends, ask yourself "Is Harry good at/for anything at all?"...(you shouldn't have worthless or unskilled friends anyways, usually, what were you thinking)

reply to post by Trayen11

We bought a small bread maker off ebay and we make our own bread
for pennies! It is filling, easy to make, can be used with everything
and it tastes excellent!
Along with beans, veggies and some fried spuds or something? mmmm!
Grow as much of your own food as possible.
If its too cold, set up cold frames as I see your in canada. Eh?
Old windows work well for something like a mini greenhouse and sometimes
are just thrown away.
Otherwise, heavy clear plastic stretched over a frame will do the trick!

Watch for usefull "garbage" around the hood! Hey, free wood is free wood!
Create something to sell(birdhouses out of free pallets for instance)
or figure out ways to make bits of money you can use to prepare.
The dollar store works well to store away toiletries, first aid,
some tools, rope, gloves, tape, trash bags, soap, etc.

Watch the papers everday for free items, lowcost, trade, etc.
Even if you can only store one gallon of water away a week or buy one
can of food at a time, it will add up. Alot to be thinking of...
Purchase heirloom seeds for your garden and save seed for next year.
Hybrid seeds are designed to not grow every year! Hmmm, go figure!
If you can secure a wood stove and wood for heat your family wont freeze!
Check the survival forum on this site.
I will ad a few of my own favorites:
survivalacres.com...
www.survivalistnews.com...
www.survivalblog.com... (the tmm forum on this site is real good!)
www.backwoodshome.com...
There are good links on these sites also! Enjoy!
(I toured in Canada)


[edit on 30-3-2009 by dodadoom]

reply to post by nine-eyed-eel


Thats a great idea, and i have started the seed of that to an extent. I met a few epople around my age in college this year. All family men about my age all looking to reeducate for varias reasons. I slowly started telling them of my views and what may lay ahead. They have seem rather open to my ideas and even agree with them. I think I'll do as you said and speak to them soon about the possibility of lumping resources together for the good of our families.

Excellent idea Thank you!

reply to post by dodadoom


Thanks frr the links, ill begin reading right away. I can say one thing, My family are pack rats we never throw anything away, so going trhough alot of our old "crap" so to speak should rpove useful.

One thing We do have going for us is we have ALOT of medical care items. I've been keeping those well stocked. That more than anythiing happened as a result of my children and thier crazy ways.....lol

Buy lots of rice and beans. Those two, while not the most enjoyable diet, can sustain you quite comfortably. Both are cheap if you buy them in bulk, and both keep for very long periods of time. Seeds, which can be bought at your local home improvement store, will provide you with food after your initial supply runs out. Lighters and matches are very important, as the ability to make fire on command is one that some have trouble grasping the importance of.

A hand saw, hatchet, claw hammer, crowbar and pair of bolt cutters are all fairly inexpensive, and all of them will be tools you'll be glad to have. Utility and hunting knives are also important for a variety of uses. Canteens can be made at home using gallon jugs and re-using water bottles.

And, in spite of many insisting to the contrary, you do NOT need a gun to survive a worst case scenario.

Nothing I've listed ( Individually ) should cost more then thirty dollars ( The highest single expense being a good knife ), and can be collected over the course of weeks or months.

Originally posted by TheDustman
Buy lots of rice and beans. Those two, while not the most enjoyable diet, can sustain you quite comfortably. Both are cheap if you buy them in bulk, and both keep for very long periods of time. Seeds, which can be bought at your local home improvement store, will provide you with food after your initial supply runs out. Lighters and matches are very important, as the ability to make fire on command is one that some have trouble grasping the importance of.

A hand saw, hatchet, claw hammer, crowbar and pair of bolt cutters are all fairly inexpensive, and all of them will be tools you'll be glad to have. Utility and hunting knives are also important for a variety of uses. Canteens can be made at home using gallon jugs and re-using water bottles.

And, in spite of many insisting to the contrary, you do NOT need a gun to survive a worst case scenario.

Nothing I've listed ( Individually ) should cost more then thirty dollars ( The highest single expense being a good knife ), and can be collected over the course of weeks or months.

Thanks for the reply, The Rice is a good idea, one that I have been trying to work on over the last little while. I told my wife even though rice tastes like crap, it's better then startving.

As for the tools you mentioned, I have most of what you mentioned, except for a good pair of bolt cutters (good idea btw). The one thing i do have that I actually spent quite a bit of money on was a very good hunting knife as well as 3 swiss army knives(just in case).

reply to post by Trayen11


Most excellent. Most of the items I mentioned are things most people have, but simply don't think of in a moment of crisis.

If you can, store your rice in a resealable container. Instead of one very large sack, consider dividing it among gallon sandwich bags. This will keep it fresh much longer, and it will prevent something like a leak destroying all of your emergency food. ( That ones from experience. A flooded basement ruined half a years worth of hoarding. )

Another good thing to consider for your emergency kit are shoelaces, a sewing kit, duct tape, shoe soles and socks. A ruined pair of shoes can make overland travel difficult, and it would slow down your entire party if you are traveling by family. And a tear in one of your bags can be a disaster, so remember to bring fishing twine for the sewing kit instead of simple thread.

So far your looking to be in good shape with overall materials. The main thing I would save for right now is a pair of military surplus backpacks. These are going to be a lifesaver if you need to get out of dodge.

Most important thing is knowledge and its pretty much free. Find books or search the internet to learn about different ways to survive in your area.

By smaller items one at a time (I'm doing this now)

Crank flashlight- like 20 bucks

Heirloom seeds- Rand from .25 to 3 bucks for most. Check out tomatobob.com... They are cheap and ship very fast.

Food stores- Learn the basics and then buy them in bulk.

Protection( you can make much of this or find it at a garage sale)

Tent( online you can find them cheap or just get a tarp and some rope)

These are just some easy basics to begin with and they dont cost much.

reply to post by whoshotJR


All excellent idea's thanks for the heads up on the crank flashlight, another thing i completley forgot about but saw one at the local hardstore for about 10 bucks.

Originally posted by TheDustman
Buy lots of rice and beans. Those two, while not the most enjoyable diet, can sustain you quite comfortably. Both are cheap if you buy them in bulk, and both keep for very long periods of time. Seeds, which can be bought at your local home improvement store, will provide you with food after your initial supply runs out. Lighters and matches are very important, as the ability to make fire on command is one that some have trouble grasping the importance of.

Rice and beans and cheese and hot sauce and you are good to go. If you learn to make tortillas even better.

OP: I'm tapped as well. Getting a gun just isn't going to happen this year unless I come into a fortune. Saturday mornings get up early and hit the yard sales like these guys say. You'll learn to be picky and score some real treasures. If you will be moving about some nice back packs are in order otherwise hunker down like the rest of us. I load up on beans, pasta, tomato paste, rice, flour, etc. If it is on sale and nutritious and in a can or jar it will usually last at least a year or two. Check your dates - may be why they are on sale. Maybe score an ammo box, clean it out real good and load it up with dry goods.

More good food to have on hand:
powdered milk
oatmeal - fills you up
grapenuts or something similar
honey/maple syrup/sugar/spices - makes stuff taste better
canned vegetables by the case

Don't use all your stores before you need them and rotate your stock.

If no one said fishing pole yet, fishing pole.

Water filter would be a good expensive toy but iodine or bleach or boiling water works too.

Yardsales are great for books. If power goes out have books for the family and you can loose yourselves in adventures.