I don't have much money, need to know cheap ways to survive !!!!

I don't have much money, need to know cheap ways to survive !!!!
Where to get food, what can i do, what are my options ....

I don't have a home of my own, just a rented room.
So ...given my options, how can i survive in an economic collapse ? There must be a way. there is always a way..

Give me options of cheap tools or stuff i can get...anything...this might help a lot of people who cannot really stock food/farm as they don't have a home for themselves....

all i have is this book, a knife and a rope and a brain which can keep calm as i've gone through a lot..

Foodstamps, they are there for those who need them.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by maddy21


Two words...
Extreme Couponing.

Depending on what state you are in. You can almost eat for free. And food is of course one of those things you will always be spending money on.

If you can reduce your spending on food you can afford other items.
Coupons are your friends. I think that I save roughly 200 a year just casually using them. I could save more if I tried harder.

I would start with cheap essentials. Water purification, fire starting, axe,used army knife like a k-bar. Go to dollar stores and get there can food. Cheap and lasts for a long while. Read expiration date first. Go for protein products, salt, sugar if you can store it. Read that book and then improvise... There is survival gear all around you all the time if you put your mind to it. Petroleum jelly and cotton balls make many fire starters, make charcloth. Take care of water purification and fire starting asap.

reply to post by maddy21


I don't have a lot of money either, but I usually go to Dollar General every month and buy a bag or two of brown rice, and dried beans to store away. I also buy my spices in bulk on the internet. So really, with some hunting skills and rice and beans, plus little cans of tomato paste, I have enough food to last me for quite awhile.....

Some sort of water filtration device I would also recommend having...

reply to post by maddy21


Hit up the local Happy hours, most serve food. Eat and be discreet. Food Banks and your local church.

reply to post by maddy21


Learn to fish. Hunting is great, but if you dont have a way to store or smoke the meat its a waste anyway.
Fishing you can catch what you need for the day, eat a good meal, and not have to carry any extra weight.
Plus its a good way to get out and relax.

Depends on where you life as well, and what season it is.

But food banks and churches are a good idea as someone mentioned.

Run a add on craigs list, barter labor for food, bartering can get you a long way if you are handy at things.

Also look into the army survival manual and the sere manual. Remember if your not mentally prepared, its going to be really tough.

reply to post by maddy21
One year's supply of food for under $300 here.

I also like the Doug Ritter survival kits for possible wilderness stays - this is the smallest ones but he's got impressive ones all the way up to amazing.

Always remember the rules of 3 - you can survive roughly 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food (adjust these priorities as conditions demand).

Get & print some survival instruction - I got a big collection from somewhere pirates dwell.

Learn, prep, and stay safe out there.

Originally posted by strafgod
Foodstamps, they are there for those who need them.

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

Yup easiest way (legally) EBT n they might even throw in some cash aid... Kind of a dumb question really....

Originally posted by maddy21
I don't have much money, need to know cheap ways to survive !!!!
Where to get food, what can i do, what are my options ....

I don't have a home of my own, just a rented room.
So ...given my options, how can i survive in an economic collapse ? There must be a way. there is always a way..

Give me options of cheap tools or stuff i can get...anything...this might help a lot of people who cannot really stock food/farm as they don't have a home for themselves....

all i have is this book, a knife and a rope and a brain which can keep calm as i've gone through a lot..

Sounds like you are about as prepared as most people are. Don't panic. Use your brain. There is one thing in common here on ATS... We all believe the S#$# is going to hit the fan. But no one really knows what kind of Sh## it will be. So here is my advice and it is free. Every day go for a long walk around the surrounding area. Go in a different direction every day. Try to see as much and remember as much as you can. Try to learn every nook and cranny of every street, every bush, every hole,, every hill, every intersection, every building. If TSHF you will know where to go to get what you need to survive.

Then there is surviving if the Sh## doesnt come along for a long time. If you aren't working keep looking for a job until you find one. Then keep trying to improve your position. Life will knock you down but you have to pick yourself up and keep going. And don't be afraid to ask for help. If someone can't give you a job ask if they know someone who is hiring. Ask to do odd jobs. try to barter.

Don´t eat for two days a week, like say, on monday and thursday. In a month thats 8 days cut from your food budget. Lot´s of saving that can be done that way. Drink lots of water these days instead, and to get your water, go in to your local pub, resturant whatever with a backpack filled with empty bottles and fill them up in the toilet (not the toilet ofcourse, but in the sink).

You can also stop buying toilet paper, instead, if you get junkmail, use that.

And if your out on the street, kicked out from your house or whatever, sleep at airports!

reply to post by maddy21


The best advise I think I can give to anyone is ... Get your hands on as many editions of The Fox Fire Book as you can find.

The later editions are getting expensive, the first ones are getting hard to find.

I would go to a libriary or find a friend with atleast the first three.

Read and study everything in these; then come back and let us kow how hard it is to survive.

Originally posted by maddy21
I don't have much money, need to know cheap ways to survive !!!!
Where to get food, what can i do, what are my options ....

I don't have a home of my own, just a rented room.
So ...given my options, how can i survive in an economic collapse ? There must be a way. there is always a way..

Give me options of cheap tools or stuff i can get...anything...this might help a lot of people who cannot really stock food/farm as they don't have a home for themselves....

all i have is this book, a knife and a rope and a brain which can keep calm as i've gone through a lot..

We need to know a bit more to help you:

1: What country are you in? ATS is an international community, we can't just presume you're in the US.
2: Are you in an urban area or in a rural area? Do you have easy access to farmers fields?
3: Roughly, what is your disposable income, we don't need a spreadsheet with all your bills, just a rough figure we can play around with.
4: Do you have dependants?

Although I am not a believer in a massive "SHTF" scenario there is not a damn thing wrong with being prepared. Sometimes life will throw you a curve ball. Perhaps you could start purchasing small additional items on your shopping trips? Buying 4 cans of beans? Why not buy 5 and put the 5th in an "Emergency Box?" Just finished a 2 litre bottle of something pleasant and fizzy? Rinse that bottle out, fill it with water and rotate them out weekly from the tap.

reply to post by seeker1963


I would actually avoid storing anything canned with tomatoes in it, as the acid in the tomatoes causes BPA to leach out of the can lining and into the tomatoes. Unless you feel like walking around with man-titties, that is.....lol.

ahh..sorry i did not post a lot of info

I am in India, Bangalore.. some of you might have heard that city.. I do have a job but i definitely cannot store any food as i live in a rented room.. I got really no clue what so ever what might be the situation when the SHTF..

Not gonna be pretty..its a heavy Urban area lots of people..lots of drunk people and honestly am afraid of the people far more than anything else, as they will never be able to keep calm...(sheeple)

I don't know if there ever will be a massive SHTF scenario down here but if there is..I will need to somehow survive for 1st 1 month..
think 1 month is enough for all hell to break loose and then calm back down after everything is..........dead.........

soo..if i where to carry something of 15-20 Kg's worth of stuff around..what would be a good idea....

reply to post by maddy21


You dont really say what sort of environment you live in, ie: a city, the suburbs, the country, your Mom and Dad's, lol, so I will assume you live in the city.
First, if in the city I would recommend not trying to remain there in the event of TSHTF scenario.
With that said, You can do these things....and you can do them right now!

Find a food bank in your area. Many churches offer this service to people with low income/little money. They will give food that is usually non perishable like rice, beans, canned goods, noodles, powdered milk, etc...as well as bread and that sort of thing. Most will allow you to come by for a box once a month. This way, you can cut your food bill and also begin to stock up on your emergency supply.

Buy some heirloom seeds (they really arent much more than regular Hybrid seeds) and begin an indoor vegetable garden. If you have a patio or some outdoor area you can use for gardening, take advantage of it!


Indoor Veggie Gardening
Also, you can try Vertical Veggie Gardening which is a real space saver and really cool looking too!

How to Build/Begin a Vertical Garden
Also with Heirloom seeds, you can harvest your vegetables and if you save a few of the seeds from them, you can use them to plant more. Hybrid seeds are sterile...they produce infertile seeds.

Go to your library and learn all you can about:
- Edible and Medicinal plants in your area
- Trapping animals- skinning, gutting, and preparing them
- Emergency 1st aid

Save as much money as you can and visit a Surplus Store and get basic equipment
- Water purification System and/or Tablets...(both are better)
- Firestarting tools
- A backpack (for your bug-out bag)
- A green/camo tent...small nothing fancy just to protect you from the elements if you find yourself out in them
- Fishing line and hooks and materials to make traps/snares

As you know, the list can go on and on, but these few ideas can help get you started, will help you save a little money and are easy to do.
Hope this is helpful and Good Luck!

ETA: I dont know how helpful this post may be to someone in India, as I'm in the US. But perhaps you can take something from it and hopefully it will be helpful to others as well

reply to post by maddy21


From what I know of your part of the world, you are way ahead of a lot of others.

As well as the Fox Fire books which I mentioned, Go on the net and look up military survival books.

I spent a little time in S E Asia when in the military, believe me you can go into the jungles and get fat IF you know what to look for.

I do feel that you are not as worried about food as those around you when thing fall apart. This gives me an impression that the best thing you can get is distance between you and them.

A good bicycle will be far better than going on foot. I would not get a new or pretty one which someone else may want. I would also work toward getting some type of "alternate" power which I could adapt to it outside the city so longer distances are easier. I would conceal this for safe keeping until it is needed.

Any chances you have to get out of the city would be well spent looking for future shelters. It may be possible to store up some modest amounts of food stocks in various places in case you have to make a last minute break and can not go to any one location first.

Thinking along these lines may seem paranoid to some, but it is always better to be prepared "just in case".

Originally posted by seeker1963
reply to post by maddy21

 

I don't have a lot of money either, but I usually go to Dollar General every month and buy a bag or two of brown rice, and dried beans to store away. I also buy my spices in bulk on the internet. So really, with some hunting skills and rice and beans, plus little cans of tomato paste, I have enough food to last me for quite awhile.....

Some sort of water filtration device I would also recommend having...

I'm cooking chicken breast and white rice now. Very tasty. Cheap. Cats will eat, too.

Think different about you finances. Old days, credit and manana. Now, cash and today.

reply to post by maddy21


Are you in a rural area, or in an area where there is a lots of nature?

Edit, I see you are in a big city. If the S really HTF, to be honest, it is not the place to be. I guess you already figured that much though.