I'm starting this blog to record our journey as we begin to live on our preps. Our finances are getting tight. We still have enough cash around to maintain the status quo, however, that seems unwise. Beginning today, we are on a spending near-freeze. We will be eating down our stores - which also stretches to paper products, soaps, detergents, etc. I am hoping this will be a temporary, short-term thing - maybe three to six months. I will share our menus and recipes with you. Hopefully, you will find new ways to "use what you store." I will also be sharing some information about things we do for fun - without spending money.

If you have ideas for me, please share them in your comments. Fresh eyes often see a situation in a different light and I welcome your input.

So, the basics: we are a family of four: two adults, two elementary-aged children. We also have a dog, two cats and six chickens. It is early summer and we just planted a vegetable garden. We also have a few established fruit trees and bushes. If I were to estimate our preps on hand, I would say about 3 months' worth of food. Probably more in shampoo and soap. Probably less in paper products. Foods include fresh, frozen, home canned, commercially canned, home dried, commercially dried, commercially powdered and so on. I think the only "category" we don't have is freeze-dried.

Off we go...