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Winter Preps & The Economy - How Are They Related?

From the news that I just went over I really believe that we're in for some hard times. Great Depression level hard times. Are you prepared? Are you ready?

I ask because we’re also heading into winter, predicted to be a pretty harsh winter along with holidays. I think there will be a lot of disappointed children out there this year if you don’t start explaining it to them now. My kids are older and they understand because we talk about this stuff all the time. They’re all well versed in current events, political & military information and conversation as well as the economy and preparedness & survival, so they get the whole thing. But I’ve heard from some preparedness and survival people who aren’t telling their kids anything so as to not upset them. They’re not even telling their spouses or significant others. I would think that preps in the house would be kind of obvious unless these people are just educating themselves but not actually doing anything.

If your family doesn’t understand now then they’re just going to be scared later. Training and learning is important but having the supplies and doing is the MOST important.

Right now people are losing their jobs and they have nothing to fall back on, not even a weeks worth of food, no savings for rent or mortgage, no oil in the home heating tank, no propane for the cook stove, no wood stored up for the fireplace/woodstove, no kerosene for the heater.

You should be using every available extra dollar for food & savings. I know that I’ve scaled back our holiday dinners this year so as not to waste any food. If you have the freezer space then this is the time to stock up on turkeys. I saw a supermarket ad for 19 cents a pound if you buy $25 worth of groceries. We’ll I buy $25 and a turkey and then $25 and a turkey, etc. You’re only allowed one per trip so I’ll make several trips this week and spread out my shopping. For those who think that it’s a waste of gas or time, in my case I drive past the grocery every night on my way home and I have an hour wait once I get to the ferry line, waiting on the boat so stopping for a few minutes to spend $25 and buy a turkey is no big deal. If you do all your shopping once a week then do it on a Saturday or Sunday, early and make several trips through the self checkout line.

There is a noticable lack of sales & even lower quantities of foods on the shelves this year. Food banks are short on food and donations while seeing an increase in needy families and this will get worse as people have to make the choice to feed their families or keep them in a home.

Your preps, right now, should include going through your home and getting rid of things you don’t need to help being in some cash. We’re such a nation of “things” and we keep way too much. Keep the important stuff but if you have a garage full of items you never use, get rid of them and use the cash to buy useful things or even get rid of stuff to make room for storage.

Go through everyone’s clothes, donate what doesn’t fit and update everyone with new long underwear/long johns, socks, underclothes, coats, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. Buy used for some items. and shop the dollar stores.

Now go through your kitchen and make sure you have pans & utensils that can be used manually for cooking on grills, woodstoves, in fireplaces, etc.

I’m being serious here. If the power goes out from winter storms and you have a fire going in the fireplace or your cooking on a grill, your fancy teflon pans and plastic utensils are worthless.

I go to the Asian markets and buy utensils and such all the time. I got a super nice stainless steel spatula, spoon and slotted spoon for $2 each. Easy to clean and they can be used in everything. My pots are Revere-ware which are stainless with copper bottoms to help spread the heat and I don’t own any teflon pans. All my frying pans and oven ware are cast iron and they’re as non-stick as teflon only easier to clean and safer for you. Just make sure you take care of them but I can cook on my woodstove or put a pan in the fire.

Get manual can openers.

Stock up on oil lanterns and lamp oil.

Get a portable radio that’s battery, solar and hand-crank. I would spend a little more on this and get a good one.

Buy lots of blankets.

And food - start buying canned meats, vegetables & fruit. There are so many varieties of canned meat: tuna, chicken, beef, pork, crab, shrimp, sardines. There’s raviolis, spaghettis, soups that can be eaten right out of the can. Stock up on the sales and buy by the case.

Fruits & Veggies

Flour, sugar, kool-aid, Tang, as we’ve mentioned because has vitamins & calcium and it makes plain water more interesting. I would stay away from storing pop and sugar free stuff. They’re a waste of money and just not good for you except in the case of sugar-free items if you have a medical condition. You may want to consider trying stevia as a sweetener replacement instead of chemicals and it’s something you can grow at your home.

Seeds, plants, grow your own

Medical supplies, glasses as a backup to contacts,

Entertainment - cards, board games, etc.

This is all under your own control.

Winter Preps & The Economy - How Are They Related?

From the news that I just went over I really believe that we're in for some hard times. Great Depression level hard times. Are you prepared? Are you ready?

I ask because we’re also heading into winter, predicted to be a pretty harsh winter along with holidays. I think there will be a lot of disappointed children out there this year if you don’t start explaining it to them now. My kids are older and they understand because we talk about this stuff all the time. They’re all well versed in current events, political & military information and conversation as well as the economy and preparedness & survival, so they get the whole thing. But I’ve heard from some preparedness and survival people who aren’t telling their kids anything so as to not upset them. They’re not even telling their spouses or significant others. I would think that preps in the house would be kind of obvious unless these people are just educating themselves but not actually doing anything.

If your family doesn’t understand now then they’re just going to be scared later. Training and learning is important but having the supplies and doing is the MOST important.

Right now people are losing their jobs and they have nothing to fall back on, not even a weeks worth of food, no savings for rent or mortgage, no oil in the home heating tank, no propane for the cook stove, no wood stored up for the fireplace/woodstove, no kerosene for the heater.

You should be using every available extra dollar for food & savings. I know that I’ve scaled back our holiday dinners this year so as not to waste any food. If you have the freezer space then this is the time to stock up on turkeys. I saw a supermarket ad for 19 cents a pound if you buy $25 worth of groceries. We’ll I buy $25 and a turkey and then $25 and a turkey, etc. You’re only allowed one per trip so I’ll make several trips this week and spread out my shopping. For those who think that it’s a waste of gas or time, in my case I drive past the grocery every night on my way home and I have an hour wait once I get to the ferry line, waiting on the boat so stopping for a few minutes to spend $25 and buy a turkey is no big deal. If you do all your shopping once a week then do it on a Saturday or Sunday, early and make several trips through the self checkout line.

There is a noticable lack of sales & even lower quantities of foods on the shelves this year. Food banks are short on food and donations while seeing an increase in needy families and this will get worse as people have to make the choice to feed their families or keep them in a home.

Your preps, right now, should include going through your home and getting rid of things you don’t need to help being in some cash. We’re such a nation of “things” and we keep way too much. Keep the important stuff but if you have a garage full of items you never use, get rid of them and use the cash to buy useful things or even get rid of stuff to make room for storage.

Go through everyone’s clothes, donate what doesn’t fit and update everyone with new long underwear/long johns, socks, underclothes, coats, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. Buy used for some items. and shop the dollar stores.

Now go through your kitchen and make sure you have pans & utensils that can be used manually for cooking on grills, woodstoves, in fireplaces, etc.

I’m being serious here. If the power goes out from winter storms and you have a fire going in the fireplace or your cooking on a grill, your fancy teflon pans and plastic utensils are worthless.

I go to the Asian markets and buy utensils and such all the time. I got a super nice stainless steel spatula, spoon and slotted spoon for $2 each. Easy to clean and they can be used in everything. My pots are Revere-ware which are stainless with copper bottoms to help spread the heat and I don’t own any teflon pans. All my frying pans and oven ware are cast iron and they’re as non-stick as teflon only easier to clean and safer for you. Just make sure you take care of them but I can cook on my woodstove or put a pan in the fire.

Get manual can openers.

Stock up on oil lanterns and lamp oil.

Get a portable radio that’s battery, solar and hand-crank. I would spend a little more on this and get a good one.

Buy lots of blankets.

And food - start buying canned meats, vegetables & fruit. There are so many varieties of canned meat: tuna, chicken, beef, pork, crab, shrimp, sardines. There’s raviolis, spaghettis, soups that can be eaten right out of the can. Stock up on the sales and buy by the case.

Fruits & Veggies

Flour, sugar, kool-aid, Tang, as we’ve mentioned because has vitamins & calcium and it makes plain water more interesting. I would stay away from storing pop and sugar free stuff. They’re a waste of money and just not good for you except in the case of sugar-free items if you have a medical condition. You may want to consider trying stevia as a sweetener replacement instead of chemicals and it’s something you can grow at your home.

Seeds, plants, grow your own

Medical supplies, glasses as a backup to contacts,

Entertainment - cards, board games, etc.

This is all under your own control.

Honestly, with the economy, I think the most important part of your winter preps will be food & clothing and a way to heat & cook without power.

Food will be a huge issue as manufacturing plants slow production. People aren't planning the huge parties so not as much food will be sold so stores will not buy as much which will cause manufacturers to slow production which will increase layoffs which will leave people with even less money to purchase necessary items. Sooooo, if you still have a job right now I'd be using every available dollar for food & clothing or save up for paying your utilities because you don't know how long you'll have that job.

If you've already lost your job, I'm really sorry. But there are some things you can do. GET ASSISTANCE. You should never be too proud to accept assistance from a program you've been paying in to. Make sure your rent/mortgage is paid - that's the main thing, have a place to live.

If you can, move in with other family members and BE GRACIOUS about it. It sucks for everyone but in these times you have o do what you have to do.

Use your food stamps to purchase storable foods, not frozen, packaged goods that are a waste of money & nutrition. Shop the sales, use coupons if they're available for what you're buying and use every dime you're given. Also, supplement with extras from the food bank but don't take more than you need. Times are tough even for the food banks who are seeing a HUGE increase in needy families and a huge decrease in donations.

For heat, first of all, wear more clothing. Always wear several light, loose layers of clothing. I even wear a hat indoors at night because out upstairs has no heat and downstairs in the morning, if the fire has gone out, is downright nippy. If you're going outside the house make sure you're properly dressed.

Staying warm in the house and then going outside and getting a bone chilling wastes all that energy you used to get warm. Try staying warm and dry and make sure your extremities are kept warm - hands, feet and face. Remember, also, to keep your mouth covered so that you're not breathing in the freezing cold air. It's better that it's warmed some. Wet clothes wick the heat off your body. Make sure you know the temps and the wind chills. Frostbite and wind burn can happen before you even realize so stay out of the wind as much as possible.

If you don't have carpeting, which I don't, I have hardwood floors, they can get cold. Use area rugs or blankets or do what I do - socks & slippers or socks & shoes.

Don't heat unnecessary areas of your home by strategically opening and closing doors. You can hang blankets or plastic sheeting between rooms to block them off. I suggested last week that you use the plastic window sealing kits, especially in unused rooms and close those off so they're not losing or using heat. Also, start doing more things together as a family. More people in a room means more body heat which equals warmth. In this day and age our kids go off to their rooms or game/play rooms which someone's in the kitchen and someone's in the living room, someone's working in the office, etc. It's a waste of power and during critical times it's a waste of heat. Gather together for family events like watching a movie, playing board games or even video games together if that's what you're into but if the power is off remember that you're going to need every degree of energy to keep warm.

If the cold is critical then you can all sleep in the same room, like a living room so that you only have to heat one room. We’ve had to do that.

This is a good time of year to hit the Goodwill stores, the second hand stores, etc. and buy blankets, used clothing, etc. and get the most for your money. I’ve seen gloves on sale at the big box stores for $1 a pair for the one size fits all knit gloves. Layer 2-3 pairs of those. I have a whole bucket full. Layer socks and clothes, too. For women, a bra, a t-shirt, a loose long sleeve shirt and a button-up shirt over that is a nice layer and it can look nice f you have the ability to coordinate which I do not. I am definitely my father’s daughter but I’m warm.

The best place for babies is in someone’s arms swaddle them up and keep them close.

This time of year, also make sure you have candles, lanterns, oil, wicks and spare burners. Definitely oil. Last year we came close to running out of oil and NO STORE in the area had any left. We made it through but we’ve been buying it all year since then. Wicks & burners are handy to have in case yours burns out.

If you’re using battery powered items make sure you have spare batteries or get the hand cranked ones that work great. Solar re-chargers would also be helpful but unless you have a lot of disposable income right now, lets just stick with the basics.

If it’s freezing out, move the regular fridge items outside so that you’re not opening & closing the refrigerator. Use coolers outside, also. If it’s below freezing outside then even the freezer food will be fine as long as you keep it out of the sun.

If you are in a winter emergency without any backup heat, you can use candles or "canned heat" like sterno or chafing dish fuel. Even the flame of one candle can generate enough heat t o keep a person from freezing to death. However, never leave candles burning unattended or
while you are steeping. Make sure there is nothing burnable close to the candles, and that they are secure in a candle holder that can't be knocked over onto a burnable surface. Keep them away from small children.

lf you will use back-up heat that involves an open flame (such as kerosene or propane), ventilation is required. Always place the propane or kerosene heater in front of the ventilation opening (such as a window open 1/4 inch). If you place it away from the ventilation, the fumes will first fill the room before they exit from the window. It is a life-saving idea to have a carbon monoxide and smoke detector in rooms where you use open-flame heaters.

Never use charcoal briquettes or Coleman fuel camp stoves inside a house or garage for cooking or keeping warm in a winter weather emergency. People die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning when they fire up charcoal briquettes inside the house to keep warm.

Never run an electrical generator inside a house or a garage. Always put it outside. Make sure it stays dry and let it cool down before re-fueling it.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is always a risk if using open-flame heating indoors. When using any kind of inside heat with an open flame, if the room seems "stuffy" and you begin to feel headachy and lethargic and/or your vision gets blurry, get everyone out of the room and ventilate it with fresh air immediately. Pregnant women, children, and unborn babies are particularly at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

With all forms of alternative open flame heating, beware of the fire danger. Place a fire extinguisher where it can be quickly used. If you don't have a fire extinguisher. get a couple of large boxes of baking soda and a bucket of sand.

In a power outage, many people with natural gas stoves will use them for emergency heat. However, don't keep a gas stove burning 24 hours a day for heat because they aren't designed for that. Turn the burners on to warm things up for an hour or so and then turn the
burners off, as if you were cooking a meal. Turn the oven on, at a moderate temperature, for 2 or 3 hours and then tum it off for a while. Don't leave the oven door open if you use it to provide heat, that will burn out the thermostat and then the stove won't light. The warmth will still move through the room with the door closed. While you have the oven on, make some biscuits, a cake, a nice casserole, or something else good to eat to help you stay warm.

This is all under your own control.