The Poor Man’s Prepping

[KnightoftheRoc]

Oh, absolutely, on the warehouse stores. We can, and do, do better on many items at Aldi's, for example. My point was that, you have to consider carefully before you opt into something like a membership to one, because the money isn't refundable- once it's gone, it's gone, and you'd better be real sure you can recoup that expense in savings on regularly purchased items, or you're better off not joining. In MY case, I do save enough to make it worthwhile, but not everyone will find that is the case for them.

We don't coupon, not like you seem to. My fiancee was moved around a lot of foster homes as a kid, and her education level isn't where it be otherwise. She's intelligent, just under-educated, and math is one area where this comes up very apparent. And I simply don't have the time to devote to the couponing. A friend's wife is one of those extreme couponers, and has been since long before the term came into use, and she often ends up getting PAID to buy the items she purchases, but the trade off is the amount of time spent figuring out what items to go after, and how to best use the coupons with sales, etc. As I said, I simply don't have enough hours in the day to fit that in.

[goofygurl]

Oh, absolutely, on the warehouse stores. We can, and do, do better on many items at Aldi's, for example. My point was that, you have to consider carefully before you opt into something like a membership to one, because the money isn't refundable- once it's gone, it's gone, and you'd better be real sure you can recoup that expense in savings on regularly purchased items, or you're better off not joining. In MY case, I do save enough to make it worthwhile, but not everyone will find that is the case for them.

We don't coupon, not like you seem to. My fiancee was moved around a lot of foster homes as a kid, and her education level isn't where it be otherwise. She's intelligent, just under-educated, and math is one area where this comes up very apparent. And I simply don't have the time to devote to the couponing. A friend's wife is one of those extreme couponers, and has been since long before the term came into use, and she often ends up getting PAID to buy the items she purchases, but the trade off is the amount of time spent figuring out what items to go after, and how to best use the coupons with sales, etc. As I said, I simply don't have enough hours in the day to fit that in.

I am the same as your friends wife. I've been doing it since 2004. I run a coupon/deal blog that has a total reach of around 25,000 people when all is said and done. I did have the link in my signature here but took it off because frankly? Zombie preparation is not business and my blog is my career. It CAN be time consuming if you let it. I work 16-20 hours a day, 7 days a week with my blog. I spend MAYBE 4 hours a week on my own couponing, but I will say that at this point, I don't shop very often..I don't have a need to, but even when I did shop every week, I still spent no more than 10 hours per week doing it..10 hours a week spread over 7 days isn't too much of an investment. The laundry detergent I mentioned earlier? Yeah..I'll be hitting that deal but it's been since May 2011 since I had to buy any. I'm down to 5 boxes of powder, so around 100 loads and that's below my comfort level of 1 year's supply. I'll pick up around 10 of those 32 load bottles and be good for another year or so unless I suddenly inherit new family members besides me and my small one.

As for your fiance..anyone can learn to coupon..they just have to have the right teacher. Couponing, at it's very core is nothing more than taking a sale ad and matching a coupon to go with the sales. In truth, I am HORRID at math..ask TR. He was married to me for 2 years and can vouch for that better than anyone else. I can't even do simple fractions...but I can coupon with the best of them.

On the warehouse thing..I totally agree with you and yes, I did miss your point, but it's 3 am for me almost and I'm tired..so yeah..that's my excuse..lol. I know that my case is different than most.

[ZombieGranny]

Poor (wo)man's prepping tip -
Harvest those branches that fell in the windstorm for your fireplace or woodstove!

Eek! Oh dear -
The new people were out burning the downed hardwood branches in a bonfire!
I wanted to stop and tell them 'you paid good money for that wood stacked over by your house, cut them up a little more and the branches from that old tree can be burned in your wood stove, too.'

CONGRATS ON THE NEW GRANDDAUGHTER, KOTR!

[goofygurl]

Poor (wo)man's prepping tip -
Harvest those branches that fell in the windstorm for your fireplace or woodstove!

Eek! Oh dear -
The new people were out burning the downed hardwood branches in a bonfire!
I wanted to stop and tell them 'you paid good money for that wood stacked over by your house, cut them up a little more and the branches from that old tree can be burned in your wood stove, too.'

CONGRATS ON THE NEW GRANDDAUGHTER, KOTR!

It always amazed me that people would pay for firewood out near the camp grounds where I grew up at....uh..the campgrounds sit on the south side of a lake..that is surrounded..by wooded area!

Thanks for the reminder ZG! I don't have this issue quite yet, but hopefully once I get a move settled I will.

[zombiepreparation]

<snip> I learned today that canned goods, by everybody's account, even the manufacturers, have a much longer shelf life than the "use by" date. Eggs too, when there are no cracks and if kept refrigerated. There's a lot of info out there about that. I even learned today how to 'read' the markings on the cartons to actually know when they were packaged into the cartons. Pretty cool. I'll share if anyone is interested.

I'm interested. And as you experiment with best/sell/use -by dates, pop in to the Near-death Experiments thread and let us know how you fare.

The day of the year that the eggs are processed and placed into the carton must be shown on each carton. The number is a three-digit code that represents the consecutive day of the year. (the "Julian Date") For example, January 1 is shown as “001″ and December 31 as “365.” Typically, eggs are packed within 1 to 7 days of being laid. If the date number is “218″ it means that the eggs were packed on the 218th day of the year, or in this example, August 5.

Not all codes will have everything shown in this picture but the 'date packaged' will always be the last three numbers of the series of letters and numbers shown in this pic; the date packaged being the Pack Date (as Julian Date) part in the pic.



The last eggs I purchased are in flats so do not look exactly like this pic, but that series of letters and numbers is on the end of the flat. The last three numbers are 044 so my pack date is February 13th I think..

[zombiepreparation]

The Poor Man's Prepping: 'free' coffee maker filters for draining debris out of water in a crisis

Good score. If they are the Melitta-type cone filters, they will need a support to prevent the side/bottom seam from failing. I made a portable one from an heavy plastic bag after seeing the Aqua Pouch Plus pre filters.

How?

[zombiepreparation]

The Poor Man's Prepping: 'free' coffee maker filters for draining debris out of water in a crisis

Good score. If they are the Melitta-type cone filters, they will need a support to prevent the side/bottom seam from failing. I made a portable one from an heavy plastic bag after seeing the Aqua Pouch Plus pre filters. For home use, a pour-over brewer would work.

I found that a foldable funnel works well for these filters. The funnel I got was hanging on a display in the aisle at my grocery store, and has about a 6inch wide end, with a button type of closure molded in. I stick the filters into the funnel, and snap it shut for storage in my BOB.

Have been looking for this. Like the idea. Haven't seen one yet.

[goofygurl]

<snip> I learned today that canned goods, by everybody's account, even the manufacturers, have a much longer shelf life than the "use by" date. Eggs too, when there are no cracks and if kept refrigerated. There's a lot of info out there about that. I even learned today how to 'read' the markings on the cartons to actually know when they were packaged into the cartons. Pretty cool. I'll share if anyone is interested.

I'm interested. And as you experiment with best/sell/use -by dates, pop in to the Near-death Experiments thread and let us know how you fare.

Today is a gardening expense frustrating day so I am distracting by re-reading this thread because I feel so monetarily poor right this minute. I noticed I had not responded with the information on reading the markings on the egg cartons to know when they were packaged.

The day of the year that the eggs are processed and placed into the carton must be shown on each carton. The number is a three-digit code that represents the consecutive day of the year. (the "Julian Date") For example, January 1 is shown as “001″ and December 31 as “365.” Typically, eggs are packed within 1 to 7 days of being laid. The pack date in this example is “218″, meaning that the eggs were packed on the 218th day of the year, or in this example, August 5.

Not all codes will have everything shown in this picture but the 'date packaged' will always be the last three numbers of the series of letters and numbers shown in this pic; the date packaged being the Pack Date (as Julian Date) part in the pic.



The last eggs I purchased are in flats so do not look exactly like this pic, but that series of letters and numbers is on the end of the flat. The last three numbers are 044 so my pack date is February 13th I think..

You can store eggs for up to 9 months..

links with instructions here

http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=91865

[goofygurl]

Okay...since KOTR and I have been talking about bulk buys and I had to head to Walmart today anyhow with a friend, I snapped some photos of deals that actually make sense to buy in bulk just as a heads up for ya'll.




Bush's Baked Beans - 117 oz can (I know you can't see it in the photo) - $6.58 or .06¢ per oz



Bush's Chili beans - 117 oz can - $4.48 or .04¢ per oz



Country Time Lemonade Powdered Drink Mix - $9.44 (136 servings) or .07¢ per serving



Ragu 8.5lb - $6.92 or .05¢ per oz (If you don't just make your own sauce)



Heinz Ketchup, 7.2 lbs - $4.98 or .04¢ per oz



Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake mix (again if you don't do it from scratch), 10lb (approx 270 pancakes) - $7.42 or .74¢ per lb or break it down further and .03¢ per pancake

[ZombieSoldier01]

good stuff never would have thought about it..

[zombiepreparation]

GG and I disagree on this one a little bit, but only a little. While cost per unit (ounce, whatev) is a huge factor, ultimately what matters is cost for what you use. Since this varies a bit from one family to the next use best judgement. Generally speaking (9 times in 10) GG's way of doing things will save money overall but there are times when the cost per unit runs a tad higher for Item X at Store A, but Store B is selling it in a larger size than I can use before it expires so I go to Store A.

YMMV, as always.

I find I fall into this category; best cost I can find for what I can use.

This means I see the usefulness of couponing. I try and still don't catch on (or keep up or organize well enough or etc etc) My head often swims with all the info out there that I 'could' use to be more effective.

So I am frequently dreaming of better cost per ounce while reality alerts me to remember the other side of my coin; what is healthy for me, what I do eat, how much storage space available, discretionary funds available for prepping.

[goofygurl]

GG and I disagree on this one a little bit, but only a little. While cost per unit (ounce, whatev) is a huge factor, ultimately what matters is cost for what you use. Since this varies a bit from one family to the next use best judgement. Generally speaking (9 times in 10) GG's way of doing things will save money overall but there are times when the cost per unit runs a tad higher for Item X at Store A, but Store B is selling it in a larger size than I can use before it expires so I go to Store A.

YMMV, as always.

I find I fall into this category; best cost I can find for what I can use. One person, one small income, one tiny apartment, no storage availability, lots of apartment rules. When I prep I must stay within certain boundaries: this building has a no hoarding clause for sanitation and safety so what I store has to be disguisable within my tiny apartment (hoarders and preppers look the same to a large number of people even though we know they are different) and for long term planning my food prep needs to be consumable before it becomes dangerous in an Event where there is no electricity to keep food at safe temperatures. This mostly means smaller pkging than would give the best prices. No buying big lots of a product, no buying the large cans of what I eat.

This means I see the usefulness of couponing. I try and still don't catch on (or keep up or organize well enough or etc etc) My head often swims with all the info out there that I 'could' use to be more effective. My head often swims about how and where to learn what works, ie. some say this, some say that, so many experts saying opposite things. My head often swims wit dietary restrictions vs what is affordable. I mix the affordable in with the necessary of course, eating poorly and fillingly is so much better than hunger. And I must not rely on or build my preps with foods I should not eat. Especially since there is the prep rotation I also need to take into consideration.

So I am frequently dreaming of better cost per ounce while reality alerts me to remember the other side of my coin; what is healthy for me, what I do eat, how much storage space available, discretionary funds available for prepping.

Are you using the space under your bed? On top of your kitchen cabinets? (I have stuff up there that I RARELY even look at until I need it)? in a crawlspace area (if safe and habitable for storing things)? top of your closet shelves? bottom of your closets? Make your bookcase look a bit untidy (untidy, NOT unsanitary) and shove a few cans here and there or a roll of paper towels in it and no one will notice, under your couch, behind the couch, that fake fern in the living room? Pull it up, cut half of the weight off and use the space that's made to store whatever, under the kids beds? Under the bathroom sink (just remember no paper products in case of leaks), in the bottom of Great Aunt Martha's curio that you inherited and no one gets in EVER?, the dishwasher that no longer works?

My point? I live in a house but it's apartment sized. It's a 2 bedroom home that used to be a 1 bedroom guest cottage. It's tiny. Storage space is there, without looking cluttered or unsanitary..you just gotta get creative.

[duodecima]

We don't coupon, not like you seem to. My fiancee was moved around a lot of foster homes as a kid, and her education level isn't where it be otherwise. She's intelligent, just under-educated, and math is one area where this comes up very apparent. And I simply don't have the time to devote to the couponing. A friend's wife is one of those extreme couponers, and has been since long before the term came into use, and she often ends up getting PAID to buy the items she purchases, but the trade off is the amount of time spent figuring out what items to go after, and how to best use the coupons with sales, etc. As I said, I simply don't have enough hours in the day to fit that in.

Yeah, um, it's hard to describe me as other than highly educated, and I am VERY good at math. I still can't get what GG does out of couponing. I think some of it is a time-spent issue - KotR has spent many years learning his trades, he's going to be lightyears better than the guy who just started 6 months ago, especially if that guy is only doing it part time. GG has spent a minimum of 8 years learning her trade. She's naturally a couple orders of magnitude better at it than me, especially as she's been doing it full time for a bunch of those years, and this is a very part-time endeavor for the last 6-9 months or so for me. Let's face it, guys, no matter how intelligent and/or educated we may be, experience in a specific field matters quite a bit.

Time spent matters - even tho GG's not working on her own coupons that many hours, she's picking up knowledge that's useful for those hours when she does. And 10 hours a week spread across 7 days is still significant time - if we all spent that much time working out, we'd be all buff and totally up on our cardio when the zombies show up. That's a lot of learning I just haven't done yet.

Which is why I shall make notes of her pricepoints on stock-up things like TP and toothpaste - I am, of course, pretty well stocked up on these things, no hurry to buy. Those pricepoints give me a benchmark. For example, I'd just figured out that I could get some toothpaste for $0.50/tube. To me, this seems like a pretty good deal, but now I can learn from somebody else's experience, and I will keep looking for a better one. Even if I hadn't had GG's wisdom to learn from, $0.50/tube is still better than what I used to pay!

ZG, I agree - the branches that fall off my oak tree get trimmed up and piled. The stuff off the sycamore goes in the rocket stove or the camp fire.

KotR - congrats on the grandbaby!

[Tater Raider]

in reply to zombiepreperation's post:

To avoid the hoarding issue while still stockpiling, keep things extremely organized. This means sealed in original containers or processed for long term storage, like items with like on shelves, everything fronted as if in a store display, clipboard visible itemizing what is what, how much of what, and where what is. Hoarding is cumpulsive collecting and it's own thing. The two get confused but if you take those steps you can get a lot further with your preps and use your preps to bulk purchase when things come up for sale on their cycle.

Yes, there is a cycle to when Items go on sale. GG has a ton of info on that.

[goofygurl]

We don't coupon, not like you seem to. My fiancee was moved around a lot of foster homes as a kid, and her education level isn't where it be otherwise. She's intelligent, just under-educated, and math is one area where this comes up very apparent. And I simply don't have the time to devote to the couponing. A friend's wife is one of those extreme couponers, and has been since long before the term came into use, and she often ends up getting PAID to buy the items she purchases, but the trade off is the amount of time spent figuring out what items to go after, and how to best use the coupons with sales, etc. As I said, I simply don't have enough hours in the day to fit that in.

Yeah, um, it's hard to describe me as other than highly educated, and I am VERY good at math. I still can't get what GG does out of couponing. I think some of it is a time-spent issue - KotR has spent many years learning his trades, he's going to be lightyears better than the guy who just started 6 months ago, especially if that guy is only doing it part time. GG has spent a minimum of 8 years learning her trade. She's naturally a couple orders of magnitude better at it than me, especially as she's been doing it full time for a bunch of those years, and this is a very part-time endeavor for the last 6-9 months or so for me. Let's face it, guys, no matter how intelligent and/or educated we may be, experience in a specific field matters quite a bit.

Time spent matters - even tho GG's not working on her own coupons that many hours, she's picking up knowledge that's useful for those hours when she does. And 10 hours a week spread across 7 days is still significant time - if we all spent that much time working out, we'd be all buff and totally up on our cardio when the zombies show up. That's a lot of learning I just haven't done yet.

Which is why I shall make notes of her pricepoints on stock-up things like TP and toothpaste - I am, of course, pretty well stocked up on these things, no hurry to buy. Those pricepoints give me a benchmark. For example, I'd just figured out that I could get some toothpaste for $0.50/tube. To me, this seems like a pretty good deal, but now I can learn from somebody else's experience, and I will keep looking for a better one. Even if I hadn't had GG's wisdom to learn from, $0.50/tube is still better than what I used to pay!

ZG, I agree - the branches that fall off my oak tree get trimmed up and piled. The stuff off the sycamore goes in the rocket stove or the camp fire.

KotR - congrats on the grandbaby!

I've been meaning to do it for the blog anyhow so I will write up a list in the next couple of days on my price points. Keep in mind though that mine are VERY (and I do mean very) strict..play with yours..what I can get, you may not be able to, and vice versa. I have double coupons, you may not..I only have double, you may have triple..things like that, along with regional price differences will chance your final OOP (out of pocket) costs. They'll give you all a starting point though.

Duo..are you following me on FB or the blog? That's where I post the deals and what coupons to use to get them.

[prepper7]

<snip> I noticed I had not responded with the information on reading the markings on the egg cartons to know when they were packaged.<snip>

Thank you for this.

[prepper7]

<snip> this building has a no hoarding clause <snip>

No-hoarding clause, okay... wait, WTF?

[prepper7]

I found this "living within a budget" blog called Frugal Upstate[/quote]

[goofygurl]

I found this "living within a budget" blog called Frugal Upstate

You can also check my blog out at http://www.adventuresincoupons.com

There's some good info there..TR has written a stockpiling series and hoarding articles, you'll find deals, do it yourself posts (although they're rare b/c I forget them), and general frugal living tips.

[goofygurl]

TR asked me to share this. It's his guest post on the difference between hoarding and stockpiling.

http://www.adventuresincoupons.com/why-do-you-hoard-the-difference-between-stockpiling-and-hoarding

[KnightoftheRoc]

To go off of GG's bookcase idea-
You don't have to have it look untidy- if you have a bookcase that is deep enough for you typical hardcover books, but you read/keep paperbacks, bring them to the front edge of the shelf, and looky there- all that space BEHIND them! Pick up some additional shelving to match, hangers if you need them, and you can add in shelves for better storage space use. Front your books to line up neat, and you just look organized.

For a budget minded person, consider how you decorate- going with a plywood furniture look doesn't mean it has to be ugly, and working with plywood can be easy, not to mention allowing you to get really creative. For instance, a plywood coffee table- simple, cube-ist construction, that goes all the way to the floor. Reason? clean and neat Cubist design, and the full floor contact means no moving it to clean under it. Real reason- the hollow box is actually full of canned goods, or guns and ammo, or toilet paper- whatever you are looking to store, hidden in plain site. Decorative containers can also work for the 'hidden in plain sight' approach, you just have to remember what's where.

Antique trunks can look nice, and give a ton of storage, and, if they are flat on top, some more for visible things. You don't have to decorate like you're paranoid, hiding everything you own, but if you shop with storage ability in mind, you can make your home look as you like it, and still manage to have plenty of places for your stuff.

[ZombieGranny]

Thusly -

[duodecima]

You don't have to decorate like you're paranoid, hiding everything you own, but if you shop with storage ability in mind, you can make your home look as you like it, and still manage to have plenty of places for your stuff.

This is true for so many non-preppers, that even if somebody figures out you've got storage in your coffee table, ottoman, couch, bed, etc., that it's not unusual. I'm blessed with plenty of room for the preps but I still buy any new furniture for maximum storage space - because there is no such thing as too much storage in a house, ever.

(I suspect the anti-hoarding lease clauses that zombieprep is dealing with are meant for the mentally ill - if you haven't watched the show on hoarders, just check out an episode. Landlord wants to be able to evict people like that. There can be fire, structure, and pest issues. Well organized preps/household storage shouldn't look anything like that...)

[zombiepreparation]

TR asked me to share this. It's his guest post on the difference between hoarding and stockpiling.

http://www.adventuresincoupons.com/why-do-you-hoard-the-difference-between-stockpiling-and-hoarding

Thanks GG for printing the link. Am reading with great interest in hopes of learning something. (btw- on page http://www.adventuresincoupons.com/coup ... almart-101 which is Walmart 101, Step 1: Go HERE and HERE..... the first HERE is not working. Got the second HERE printed to carry with me always but the first HERE says the page doesn't exist. What was there? Does a just-out-of-the-egg baby chick level couponer need it too? Please, PM me about this if you would so I don't hijack this thread with coupon minutia.