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  • wakosama

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    Got robbed a few years back. Lost alot of stuff. Moved for work, Little kids are grown up, rent in the burbs now, no bugout place, etc. Starting over as an oldster, "retired". Any recommendations for 'senior' prepper sites, local eqpt sources, share gardens, the usual stuff. Not very affluent. No bunker in the backyard. Fast traffic and no real sidewalks or bike paths to the store either. Fairly heat tolerant. Things seem different now. Tks.
    Hurley's Gold
     

    no2gates

    These are not the droids you're looking for.
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    For food preps, what we did was to add just a few cans each week to our grocery shopping. After a few years, we made enough of a stockpile for nearly a years worth of food. Just do things slowly so you don't feel it in your wallet.
    Make sure to get a way to filter water. You can live for weeks with no food, but only 3 days without water.
     

    pronstar

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    For food preps, what we did was to add just a few cans each week to our grocery shopping. After a few years, we made enough of a stockpile for nearly a years worth of food. Just do things slowly so you don't feel it in your wallet.
    Make sure to get a way to filter water. You can live for weeks with no food, but only 3 days without water.
    That’s exactly what we do.

    When we go to the store to buy ingredients for the stuff we eat often, we buy a few extra of it.

    To your point, it’s easier to build this way without shocking your wallet.

    And it also ensures the stuff we’re stockpiling is stuff we actually eat.
     

    OutlawStar

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    That’s exactly what we do.

    When we go to the store to buy ingredients for the stuff we eat often, we buy a few extra of it.

    To your point, it’s easier to build this way without shocking your wallet.

    And it also ensures the stuff we’re stockpiling is stuff we actually eat.
    My (ex) girlfriend made fun of me for having like 20 cans of beans in my pantry, pickled beets, corn, and other stuff I sometimes eat. During snowmageddon she stopped making fun of it because I had plenty of pasta, spaghetti sauce, and random stuff to nibble on despite most roads being closed. I started doing this shopping many years ago; just buy an extra can of beans, an extra jar of sauce, an extra pound of dry pasta, you end up spending $1-5 extra per grocery store run, but after a few months you have a decent stockpile that could sustain you if theres a storm, flood, aliens landing, anything. If you continue this for years you end up with more food than you could eat in a month, and still be able to help neighbors if necessary. It also doesn't have to be expensive and realistically everyone should be doing it. A can of veggies, pasta, or a can of spam is a couple dollars. Hell, even a case of water is a couple dollars and helps fill up the fridge and can be frozen for using as an ice pack. If you eat it regularly or eat it camping there is no harm in being ready and I encourage OP to start.

    @wakosama Its very overwhelming trying to start over anything: just start slow but don't make it a weird addiction of accumulating crap you're not likely to use ever. Start with food security, a few alternatives to stay comfortable in the heat or cold. Have a case or 2 of water bottles in the house, then start branching out into the other prepper items. No sense in getting a camp stove and mess kit only for it to collect dust.
     

    1911'S 4 Me

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    For those that don't think it is beneath them go to food pantries, or Food Bank senior boxes.
    I have been to some, and your stockpile will add up VERY quickly. I don't go now because I have enough can goods (and freezer meats and canned meats that I have bought) to last probably a year or more.
     
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    benenglish

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    baboon

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    For those that don't think it is beneath them go to food pantries, or Food Bank senior boxes.
    I have been to some, and your stockpile will add up VERY quickly. I don't go now because I have enough can goods (and freezer meats and canned meats that I have bought) to last probably a year or more.
    While we have never had to exploit a food pantry, food bank I did send the wife down to the dome for FEMA ice water & meals.

    The meals were not thought out very well being a box of salt load on top of salt load. Mr Salty pretzels, Planters Peanuts, Hormel chili w beans, some funky fake squeeze cheese, saltines with nothing to drink.
     

    1911'S 4 Me

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    While we have never had to exploit a food pantry, food bank I did send the wife down to the dome for FEMA ice water & meals.

    The meals were not thought out very well being a box of salt load on top of salt load. Mr Salty pretzels, Planters Peanuts, Hormel chili w beans, some funky fake squeeze cheese, saltines with nothing to drink.
    While I don't think it is exploiting, I call it reparations for working for 60 years.
    I realize some think it is a free hand out, but if I don't get some of it then the illegals and people that have never worked show up in their new SUV's claiming hunger while weighting 300 pounds.
    Too each their own, as I said those that don't think it is beneath THEM.
     

    wakosama

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    Been practicing the a little bit every trip method on purpose lately. Might have to clean out the garage a bit. glad it's getting cooler. Saving up for a real costco trip. no heavy lifting for another couple weeks per doc. thanks
     

    wakosama

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    Just got 22 canned soup and 6 jars of '100%' fig honey in mark down bin. all 1/3 of retail; all close to expired. Alot of perishables get serious last day markdown at most Krogers too. thanks for the tip.
     

    leVieux

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    Dried beans, rice, pasta, etc. keep well w/o refrigeration, but one needs a way to cook them. Peanut butter & canned meats are good. We keep some 20 gallon jugs of drinking water in garage. I should buy a large CNG tank, but haven’t yet. If the Globalists keep on, our only way out would be to attack them, and we’d sufffer many casualties ourselves. . . . . May be hopeless, but we must try. “Bugging-out” is silly; the equipment and room to succeed in that would cost a fortune.
     

    Grumps21

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    Honey lasts forever. There’s a market that sells locally grown nuts, veggies and stuff just outside of Hempstead on old Hempstead Hwy. They have locally produced honey from 2 or 3 different hive farms, and I’ve stocked up 5 of the larger jars just to have since they don’t go bad. I also repurpose distilled water bottles with screw caps for tap water. I’m on city water with no control over availability, so I have several gallons stored in the garage for non-drinking needs. I’ll pick up a few extra cans of food each trip and put them in our separate storage room. I’m careful with the dates and look for at least two years shelf life, and absolutely will not buy anything less than 1.5 years unless I plan on eating it now. Tuna seems to have the longest expiration, with my newest cans dating to 2025. As a hedge against inflation, we also over-buy non edible durable goods whenever there in an exceptionally great sale or promotion. Think soap, detergent, blue shop towels, TP, furnace filters, hygiene stuffs, trash bags, paper towels, automotive fluids, ziplock bags , etc. If it is something we will need over the next year or two, and it’s a good deal, we buy it today even if we don’t need it right away because it will be notably more expensive tomorrow. In Costco two weeks ago and wife commented that the brand name paper towels (Bounty?) went up by $3. We use the Kirkland brand, and it was still the same price it’s always been, but a price hike for them wont be far off so we threw a 12 roll pack onto the cart even though we already had 4 full packs and some single rolls at the house
     

    OutlawStar

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    Just got 22 canned soup and 6 jars of '100%' fig honey in mark down bin. all 1/3 of retail; all close to expired. Alot of perishables get serious last day markdown at most Krogers too. thanks for the tip.
    Sometimes the grocery stores will have a clearance section for "old" food that didn't sell well. Some of it you can see why it didn't sell because who wants candy flavored oatmeal? Other times its just at the expiration date, spices missing the lid but still has the freshness seal, and my favorite of soup cans that were dropped and so severely dented they can't sell it at full price.

    Nice find though grabbing heavily discounted non-perishable foods. Just get in the habit of eating these once in a while as your cycle through to keep them as fresh as possible, and hold yourself honest of actually eating these if you had to. Mom fell in the trap of buying random stuff in a can then when there was no other food in the house decided to try Spam for the first time discovering she just didn't like it.
     
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