The Quickest Way I Know To Get a Family of Four Prepped for The Coming Economic Collapse
The Quick-Start Guide to Survival & Preparedness for a family of Four
Please note that this article was written a few years ago so the prices have no doubt increased…
This morning as I was trying to catch up on my email (I get a massive amount of email each month), I opened a great one from John W. In a nutshell John is new to prepping and hasn’t really done anything prep-wise yet, but he has been thinking and making plans.
John said that he has his home on two acres paid-off and that he has a job and works to support his wife and two children (one 6 and the other 9 years old). He said that he knows from all of the news and the tell-tell signs that something big is coming and that his main fear is a total economic collapse.
He said that he has $15,000 to spend on preps and that he wanted to be ready as quickly as possible, without all of the buying a can of food here and another can another day or a few extra cans each time he goes to the grocery store.
He also insists on long-term storage foods, with a shelf-life of 25 years or more, because he doesn’t want to be bothered with all of the rotating and other stuff involved when stockpiling perishable foods.
John’s question to me was, if you had nothing prep-wise, and just starting out and wanted to be ready within the next month and with a budget of $15,000 what would you do and buy to be prepared as quickly as possible?
I’ll answer that question below.
Six Month+ Food Storage for Four People
To start I would order the MEGA 1-Year Emergency Food Supply – the $3,189.95 might seem like a lot at first glance, but considering this package will provide 2,250 calories/day (for each person for three months) and will feed a family of four for three month, with a 25-year self-life it’s really a pretty good bargain, especially for those wanting to get prepared NOW.
The My Patriot Supply products make up the bulk of my long-term food storage and I can attest to the quality and taste of their products, their Traveler's Stew is absolutely delicious!
I would then order four of the Survive2thrive 100% USDA Organic 40-day Nutrition Emergency Food Supply Buckets, then I would top it all of with eight gallons of cooking oil (store it frozen and it will last a long time), 32 pounds of salt, yes that sounds like a lot, however, salt is cheap and has so many uses you can’t have too much.
Add 15 to 20 pounds of sugar, and an extra 48 cans of Augason Farms Country Fresh 100% Real Instant Nonfat Dry Milk in the #10 can it has a 20-year shelf-life. Then I would add an assortment of herbs and spices for cooking and about 10 pounds of assorted hard candies for threats for the kids (and yourself).
I would also add 12 large jars of peanut butter, 24 cans of SPAM and 12 canned hams.
If you drink coffee be sure to add that in the amounts you normally consume over a 12 month period. And don’t forget multivitamins and extra vitamin C.
Total Cost of approximately five to six thousand dollars...
And be sure to add store bought canned fruits, vegetables, soups, and stews as mush and as often as possible and use on a first in first out rotation.
Protection and Foraging
If I had no firearms now (get training) I would buy a Mossberg 500 Combo package and 100 rounds of 00 buckshot, 50 rifled slugs and 200 bird-shot (preferably #6 shot), then I would buy a Ruger 10/22, 1,000 rounds of .22 ammo and five of the Ruger factory 25 round BX 25 magazines.
Total Cost around $750
Water Storage and Purification
I would store as much tap-water as possible (limited by space) in every suitable (but free container – avoid the plastic milk jugs, they are weak and fall apart after a few months) that I could find. Then I would order a ProOne Water Filter and a set of extra elements.
Total Cost Around $350
Food Production
John said that he had two acres of paid-off property, so I would find the best place (most level, sun exposure, and best soil) and have the largest area that I could work tilled and add as much free organic matter that I could get, check with any local large production chicken, horse or dairy farmers in your area, most of the time they will give you all of the manure that you need if you’ll haul it away.
Spread this on your newly tilled garden plot and till again, now cover this all with about six inches of straw and throw some old lumber on top to keep the straw in place. Leave it to compost in the ground over the fall, winter and into spring. When it’s time to plant in late spring, till it all up (including the straw) again and plant.
If I did not already have gardening tools on hand, I would get a good quality shovel, hoe, and a bow rake, spading fork, a big box of Miracle-Gro all-purpose plant food and a copy of Gardening When it Counts.
Then I would build a small chicken coop from mostly scrounged building material and buy 8-10 six-month to one-year-old chickens or ducks. Then I would build rabbit hutches along one of the sidewalls of the coop and buy two does and one buck for breeding stock.
I would also plant fruit and nut trees everywhere that I have space on my property…
Total Cost Under $650
Power Production
I would order a OUPES 2400W Solar Generator with 2pc 240W Panels, and a gas-powered portable generator. Then I would get five-5 gallon fuel cans and fill with gasoline, add STA-BIL fuel stabilizer, then rotate every year.
Total Cost Around $4,400
Random Items
Two hundred and sixty-five rolls of toilet paper, (more if you have room), 24 tubes of toothpaste, 48 toothbrushes, feminine hygiene products (ladies you know how much you’ll need for a year – I stay as far away as possible during that time), 24 bars of soap for bathing, 24 56 FL OZ bottles of dish-washing liquid, (can also be used for hand-washing of clothing.
A good first-aid medical kit (get training if you need it and include any personal medications), download free copies of Where There is No Doctor and Where There is No Dentist and print them to paper or just buy copies from Amazon.com.
Then while on Amazon.com, I would order a Zoom Versa Stove, a Kaito Voyager Pro KA600 Digital Solar/Dynamo AM/FM/LW/SW & NOAA Weather Emergency Radio and two sets of Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radios for family communications when separated from family members.
Cold weather sleeping bags for every family member.
Total Cost Around $900
Conclusion
As you get more money put in a wood stove if possible, or at the least a propane wall heater and enough propane to last through a rough winter. Having both a wood-stove and propane is a better and more flexible solution.
Then add a good handgun or two (I suggest the Glock model 19 and a Browning Buckmark) extra magazines and ammo. Then look into buying a center-fire rifle, this can be something like an AR-15 or even a 30.30 lever action.
And get all of the training possible. Not only firearms training but, medical, auto mechanics canning, wood-shop, sewing, etc. you can never know too much.
Add some non-hybrid garden seed.
So there you have it, folks – how to get a family of four quickly prepped to survive for a period of six months or longer – in the easiest way possible… and at a total cost of $10,000 to $13,000 (approximately, depending on inflation)…
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M.D. Creekmore