Another way to add to your pantry!

The Cooking Cousins at Honeyville Grain are having a give-away. Just leave a comment, but include your e-mail address to be in the drawing for a #10 can of hot chocolate mix.

What did you do this week?

Doing at least one small thing to improve or maintain your personal or family preparedness is a good habit to start. It could be something simple, like buying a couple of extra cans of your favorite soup while it is on sale (and putting them in the 'prudent reserve' spot) , or taking a grocery bag and putting a pair of jeans and some walking shoes in your office.

My 'thing' this week came after the reported 'lock-down' at a military installation. Some people were there overnight. Did they have toothbrushes? A blanket? So I took some old clothes -- comfortable ones that still fit but that I don't really wear anymore -- except for yard work-- and a fleecy throw, put them in a 'free' recyclable grocery bag and stuck them in my car trunk. At least something clean and comfy, especially if there is an overnighter. Sure, it's unlikely that I will get stuck at work overnight, but that was probably the farthest thing from the minds of the people who DID get locked in overnight. Other, more likely reasons to use the stuff include ending up with a flat tire and not wanting to change it in a skirt and heels.

It is a small thing, but over time, one action every week will add up.

Welcome to Frugal Preparedness!

The purpose of this blog is to assist the novice and moderate income households in maintaining family preparedness for whatever potential emergencies may come your way. It is a work in progress, but the 'basic steps' page is available now.

There will be no attempts to sell you or entice you to buy ANYTHING.

There will be no attempts to scare you into anything.

There will be no political blame or rhetoric.

You can find plenty of websites that provide all that.

This one is about reasonable preparations and LEGAL ways to come up with 'OR' to fund at least part of your preparedness.

What does 'OR' mean? It means 'Outside Resource.' Money or goods that you can earn in addition to your family income. I don't mean weird Internet envelope stuffing scams. I mean ways to shop and do business that will reduce your cost of living just a smidge so you can collect the preparedness supplies you decide you need. This OR can be anything from earning gift cards to healthcare spending/savings accounts to carve out $100 a month or a quarter to put into your preparedness plan.

I will provide my favorite websites for purchasing and my rationale for using them. I will also provide links to sites that can provide more technical insight if you want to delve deeper into any of the subjects I mention.