DenimDaze

...rumors of a shortage are a good enough reason to stock up on the item. And if the rumor isn't true, who cares? you have another prep! That is never a bad thing...

you are pleased to find that 5lbs of flour in its store bag fits nicely in a gallon ziplock bag. This will help in stacking and you won't have to write what kind of flour and what the expiration date is on the bag. Its a little extra insurance against breakage too. Who wants to clean up flour?

So, there the bag is all ready to go in the freezer for a few days when you find yourself wishing you had a vacuum sealer to get the nasty Oxygen out of the bag....then you realize, you can do it yourself...and that sucking the air out of a ziplock baggie is just not a story to tell ANYONE except MrsS friends.

So, You might be a Survivalist if sucking out the excess air you couldn't smoosh out with your hands from a baggie seems a rather clever thing to do.

Yes, this financial situation is not a normal one. I would be tempted, if I didn't already have my 3 months reserve of cash now to charge my groceries until I did have it.

This is NOT generally a good idea, of course! But right now? with the unsteady financial system? when you would have the cash onhand to pay off the credit debt if you have to? It is an option to think about.

I would really like to have 6 months food. That would get me through the long hard winter we have up here in the North. I have more then 3, but I'm not sure how much more.

Stephanie, that makes a lot of sense.

Cecolia, that was worth more then 2 cents.

If you can do that Stephanie, will you come do that for me? I am having to work hard to stay in place with the price increases.

for example, meat went up, I'm figuring it'll settle at about .50 cents increase a pound. At 2lbs a dinner, and meat 5 times a week, that is about a 5 dollar a week increase. To stay level, I'm giving up our yummy 9.99 a pound coffee and stepping down to the Duncan Donuts brand in BJ's which is about 6 a pound.

The problem is, I am running out of substitutions like that. The good coffee was pretty much out last luxury item. any further increases will start hitting my prepping money.

I am over the 3 month mark for food, so perhaps I should work to just hold in place and save the prepping money as cash?

Here is another question.

I have not found a good reasonably priced source for fresh tomatos, but I can buy crushed tomatoes at a decent price. Can I put them in a strainer (and save the juice ) and then use that?

My family loves salsa and the price for already made stuff is, of course, going up.

---staying very quiet----

and trying to design a protection system really quickly

These tests are fun. This one, as has every other test of this type, pegged me as an Architect. DH is either the 'Field Marshal' or the 'Mastermind'

INTP

distinctively expressed introvert

distinctively expressed intuitive personality

moderately expressed thinking personality

slightly expressed perceiving personality

Architects need not be thought of as only interested in drawing blueprints for buildings or roads or bridges. They are the master designers of all kinds of theoretical systems, including school curricula, corporate strategies, and new technologies. For Architects, the world exists primarily to be analyzed, understood, explained - and re-designed. External reality in itself is unimportant, little more than raw material to be organized into structural models. What is important for Architects is that they grasp fundamental principles and natural laws, and that their designs are elegant, that is, efficient and coherent.

Architects are rare - maybe one percent of the population - and show the greatest precision in thought and speech of all the types. They tend to see distinctions and inconsistencies instantaneously, and can detect contradictions no matter when or where they were made. It is difficult for an Architect to listen to nonsense, even in a casual conversation, without pointing out the speaker's error. And in any serious discussion or debate Architects are devastating, their skill in framing arguments giving them an enormous advantage. Architects regard all discussions as a search for understanding, and believe their function is to eliminate inconsistencies, which can make communication with them an uncomfortable experience for many.

Ruthless pragmatists about ideas, and insatiably curious, Architects are driven to find the most efficient means to their ends, and they will learn in any manner and degree they can. They will listen to amateurs if their ideas are useful, and will ignore the experts if theirs are not. Authority derived from office, credential, or celebrity does not impress them. Architects are interested only in what make sense, and thus only statements that are consistent and coherent carry any weight with them.

Architects often seem difficult to know. They are inclined to be shy except with close friends, and their reserve is difficult to penetrate. Able to concentrate better than any other type, they prefer to work quietly at their computers or drafting tables, and often alone. Architects also become obsessed with analysis, and this can seem to shut others out. Once caught up in a thought process, Architects close off and persevere until they comprehend the issue in all its complexity. Architects prize intelligence, and with their grand desire to grasp the structure of the universe, they can seem arrogant and may show impatience with others who have less ability, or who are less driven.

Albert Einstein as the iconic Rational is an Architect

Dr. David Keirsey, Robert Rosen, George Soros, Gregory Peck, James Madison, Ludwig Boltzman, Charles Darwin, Adam Smith, and Thomas Jefferson" /> are examples of the Architect Rationals

the automated shower sprayer/cleaner.

I have always done a quick bleach spray of the shower floor every 2 days, and a water spray of the walls after each shower with the hand held piece. This keeps it just fine. Why would anyone buy a battery powered shower sprayer? And the refills aren't cheap!

frozen mac & cheese. Who can't cook mac & cheese??

The obviously crazy and extreme thinking and actions of those crazy survivalists keep making more and more sense. *sigh*

Most pools and hot tubs are treated with 'stabilizer' which is cyanuric acid. It is not nice stuff to drink! I'm trying to figure out if my (Aqua-rain)filter will take this stuff out, I'm near positive it will since it filters out pretty near everything!

The Aqua-rain people say the filter will take out all 'volatile organic chemicals' argh. People just can't say yes or no, can they? Chemistry was a long time ago, but I'm fairly sure this is organic, off to look into it.

There is a LOT of wood in that box. I've been thinking of using the vinyl paneling that looks like wood for my basement ceiling, or preferably plywood. I'd use screws to attach the panels to the rafters and put stuff there that I would only use if TSHTF.

Paper products would be great up there, they don't go bad and would give me some sound insulation(kids playroom is down there). Only light things could go up if I used the cheaper plastic paneling

If I used plywood, heavy items could go up there - guns and ammo, cans, almost anything you don't want people to know you own. It would just look like a slightly eccentric basement finishing project. and no tape joints to have to deal with!

just an idea.

You might be well on your way to becoming a survivalist if:

after reading a thread on 'Rationing your food', you look down at the 40 pounds you should loose and find yourself thinking the extra weight would be an asset - You could be on short rations for a while without fear of starving

I'm not overweight, I've got internal food stores!

Wow. You wonderful people were right again!

Following the advice posted early in this thread I posted on my local freecycle this morning. The post hit the list at 2;57pm, I got an email at 4:54pm from a woman sorting through her mother's estate. She knows her mom has 'the big pot for boiling jars in' as well as 'a bunch' of jars and lids.

Guess I'll be learning to can, as someone jokingly threatened me with when I started making bread again, huh? and for little to no cost!

I save the unuseable ends of candles and keep them in a bowl on my mantlepiece. When I have to start a fire with wet wood, or I'm in a hurry, putting some wax bits on top of the logs will get a fire started in a hurry.