All is Well

15 down in 30 days...

Be wise by reducing debt, learning old skills long forgotten, and most importantly prepare for what seems to be coming.

What Have I Done In Prep Nature?

1. Delivered a goat-and I mean delivered a goat nitty gritty using my small hands in places I never thought they would be...
2. Collected home grown eggs
3. read more on mesquite flour and the how to's of using it in baking
4. Prayed
5. heated home with only woodstove heat-btw the weather has been FRIGID this year.
6. plotting and planning the year of the tree on the farm...

That is about it...in no particular order. Sometimes living is prep enough. I mean that. We need to sit back and understand that we are preparing for the times ahead, but we must live too.

It is Saturday

It is Saturday have you done anything in prepper nature today?

A Lovely Getaway for Preppers

One should always have a place in mind to go to in case a crisis requires this. The solitude is a bonus.

Don't forget when planning a lovely getaway to take in to account the needs of your critters.

In addition your getaway should have water.

Another bonus to your getaway would be beauty.

In the most simple of terms a prepper should understand the need for a getaway place. This is not a paranoid notion but one of sound advice. Perhaps like in California one would need a place to head to in the case of mudslides. For those on lowlands the hills are a place to head to in cases of tsunamis. As one who just loves to have multiple plans I found several incredible places that will provide just the right getaway for me and my family. What about you? Have you found just the right place for you and yours?

Basic Three- food

I shop twice a month for the farm. One trip is what I call a food storage run and the second one is for the month in foods. I make 1 mini trip every other week to buy fresh produce which I keep under $20.00. I am going to share a few recent pictures of what I bought for January.

Produce will keep if you store it properly. Cabbage lasts longer than any lettuce items so in the off season we use cabbage as our salad base. In the picture you can see cilantro, oranges, sweet potatoes, cabbage, celery,limes, zucchini...mozzarella, olives, 2 boxes of margarine, 3 boxes of Mole, lasagna noodles, hotdogs, potatoes...

I guess this is a better view...you can also see bananas, tomatoes, jalapenos, Serrano's, carrots, tortillas, OJ, frozen OJ, enchilada sauce, peaches in pear juice, baked beans, pepperchinis, lunch meats, cottage cheese, sugar, tampico, milk, vinegar, spinach, ranch dressing, oats, frozen corn on cob, cheddar cheese and mozzarella

another close up...oh sloppy joe mix

and some of the produce...

Why am I sharing this? Well first off, I have five in my family, and I spend 100-120 dollars on menu groceries and 100 dollars a month on storage. We average 250 for groceries for the month total. We eat pretty well because we have our own meats for the most part- beef, chicken, turkey, goat...and eggs daily. We also grow a good portion of foods that we canned.

Someone said to me once that we seem Hippy like(maybe we are) but I thought I would share that we are most likely average in what we consume...except that we produce much of our own needs. The kids love hotdogs, rice, mac and cheese- and lasagna. We buy milk sometimes to supplement the goat milk but we have weened the kids off box cereals as too expensive.

Our menu is pretty standard- I have it on a calendar and I stick to it as it keeps expenses down(meaning we can spend our money elsewhere).

Here is a menu plan we use for week one of the month

Sunday arroz con leche- no lunch on Sundays- steak baked potato rolls applesauce fresh veggie slices dessert: brownies

Monday- oatmeal- ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches( I pack Bill a leftover meal each day from some meal we had during the week- I prefreeze it)- hotdogs mac and cheese rice peaches and bananas dessert: chocolate pudding

Tuesday- egg burritos- ramen and peanut butter sandwiches- tacos refried beans Spanish rice salsa shredded cabbage dessert: tortilla roll up( warmed tortilla then butter and sprinkle with sugar)

Wednesday-arroz con leche- ramen with peanut butter sandwiches- casserole corn buttered bread applesauce dessert: ice cream

Thursday-oatmeal- ramen with peanut butter sandwiches- baked chicken egg noodles spinach salad pears dessert: brownies

Friday- egg and potato burritos ramen with peanut butter sandwiches homemade pizza fruit slices(apples and oranges) veggie slices carrots and celery dessert: peanut butter cookies

Saturday- pancakes scrambled eggs OJ-tomato soup grilled cheese- Squash stew rolls dessert pineapple upside down cake.

Most times I make the rolls from scratch. I have been buying tortillas from the local tortilla factory in town as they are fresh and inexpensive. Creating a menu and sticking to it will reduce your food waste tremendously. Did you know that most Americans will toss out 30-50% of the food that they buy? Can you imagine not wasting that money and using it to pay off debt or to invest in land etc?

My menu changes each week and I have a grocery list to coordinate with the menu. My food storage matches to the tee what we eat for our monthly schedule. I have foods that would cover the what if's of not going to a store-such as powdered milk etc. My food storage blends with the menu and is used on a rotating shedule. It is so important to only buy what you use and use what you buy. It is also important to know how to make breads from scratch, beans from the dried form, and how to improvise on menus.

Very rarely is there waste in my home from foods. Even the traditional items we would toss now have purpose- you know the skins of citrus, banana peels, egg shells, bones, the stalks of the cilantro and so on- we give them to the chickens and then we clean up the waste of the birds and put it in our compost pile. We eat pretty well in my book and spend about $500.00 less than before we crossed on this path of simplicity.

By the way if necessary we could reduce the grocery bill by half once again...and reduce the fun foods such as hotdogs, lunch meats, ranch, store bought cheese for that matter all store bought dairy products. We have come to the point where we could survive fairly well although it would require much more effort we would be fine( for example to grind the mesquite beans into a flour to make tortillas and bread). I will stress that having skills to provide for yourself is as important as the stockpiled items.

Please remember that prepping is not about running off to the hills(although those in tsunami areas should consider that)...it is about changing your habits and lifestyle to a pattern of living that will prepare you for any and all crises that may occur because in a crises one needs to meet the basic three- food shelter and health. If you can manage one before a crises, you are 33% better off than nearly everyone else!

(c) Double Nickel Farm

Jennifer

Landscaping and the Prepper

You may wonder how landscaping is part of a prepping lifestyle. The NM Urban Homesteader has written a wonderful post on how to consider landscaping and security. Here is a snippet

While most police will say that dense landscaping is an invitation to trouble and that statistically houses that cannot be seen from the street are at a higher risk for break-ins than houses that are, there are other landscaping tips they do not stress that they really should. Like their own "3-7" rule, especially if combined with thorny plants. IE: security landscaping.

The 3-7 Rule is to keep shrubs near the house no more than 3 feet high to deprive a potential intruder of a hiding place; Keep tree limbs at least 7 feet away from the side of the house and at least 12 feet off the ground, to deprive the intruder of easy access to a second level window or balcony.

I never knew this rule and am amazed at what good advice this is. Head on over and read the entire post here.

Are You Prepared?

The situation in Haiti really has me thinking a good deal about preparedness. We can never be totally prepared because there are so many variables as to what can happen. But we can be wise. We can educate ourselves on skills that will be beneficial in any situation, any place, any where.

In the past few years I have become wise to living a very simple life. I did not attend any special training seminars nor did I purchase tons of How To Books. I decided to act. My life became a living learning zone and to be honest still is. Did I ever make foods from scratch(you know the old fashioned way instead of say opening a cake mix and baking the cake)? I really didn't, which is sad and very telling of the times we live in. I bought frozen bread dough and baked home made bread that way! By the way I am not judging a lifestyle life like I led before. Instead I am reflecting on the changes or progress we have made as a society that we have lost so many basic skills.

The most obvious thing I have learned is that if it is free or homemade many people will be turned away, as the common thought process is that the store can make the product safer, tastier and better. Have you ever used the Aveeno oatmeal powder in your bath? Do you know how easy it is to make oatmeal powder? Within moments you will have the oatmeal you have in your pantry turned into a powder-yet Aveeno products are sold in great volume.

note the center item, which is oatmeal powder I made by rolling oats between my fingers

Now is the time to implement the prepper plans that you have. Do you think that storing up knowledge and never applying the skills will be beneficial to you? Are you worried that people will think that you are weird- cuz I bet they already do~so what! Are you worried that your life will turn into some pseudo military zone and the niceties will disappear? Well let me assure you that applying prepper skills will be an asset to you, and you should always do the things you have learned. A garden is something we should never have strayed from. We should stop wasting our money on material items. We can still have nice things. Note the soap above. This method is a quick way to extend your soap and provide soap that reduces dry skin...and I make them in autumn cookie cutter shapes. We can still have a lovely life but a new life with our eyes opened to the fragile world that we live in.

We need to start practicing the skills we are learning. Because if we have a major catastrophe occur we need to be able to act instead of wonder where our little file of how to's is.

Another thing about living as you are preparing-if you desire to live in the country start now. Quit talking about when and if, and act. If you desire to be debt free- act. If you desire to live healthier- act. If you desire to prepare for an economic catastrophe- act...now. You see the prepper blogs are a place to garner tips but they are more importantly a place where you can see real people living the walk that they talk. It is possible because we all are implementing the skills now. So now is the time for you~Are You Prepared?

(c)Double Nickel Farm

Jennifer

All For Nothing~unless...

I cannot guess how many times I have written that as a prepper we must learn the skills we need to survive more so than accumulating items that will carry us through. After the massive earthquake in Haiti I am going to reaffirm this line of thinking.

The very best stockpile of prep items in Haiti would be under rubble this day~therefore what is a prepper to do? I am not suggesting that we stop having food storage or increasing in our preps. I think that a prepper needs to know how to make water potable. I think that a prepper needs to know how to make a fire and cook over it. I think that a prepper needs to know how to make bread from scratch...even if only tortillas. I think that a prepper understands salvage-and what one should look for first in a crisis of the magnitude in Haiti...so here goes-

Food-Shelter-Safety

The order may go back and forth in Haiti as one can imagine the aftershocks that have been occurring. Under safety there are many criteria: safety from the two legged varmint, safety from the diseases as a result of the death and destruction, safety from injuries that one may have, and safety from following aftershocks. In fact, you may have to think and process all of these thoughts while a loved one is missing or dead(even a child). A prepper is not without emotions but can function with little effort because mentally and physically a prepper has been preparing for any and all scenarios.

What do you do if you discover a dead body? In a crises of any magnitude you can make a white flag on a pole and sink it in the ground near the body and then leave...do not touch the body. I promise you that the urge will be twofold-one to see if the person is alive(as we see that on TV so much) and two to run like heck. I suggest the middle ground. If you have no white materials and poles leave quickly as the dead body is a pool of disease.

What do you do if you discover people injured? Can you perform basic First Aid? See this is a skill that I constantly speak about. We must learn skills in addition to having a super stocked kit. There are tons of people that are injured in Haiti...and one more person who can field treat wounds would be a bonus. Do you have some country doctor tips that will allow you to treat something without the norm medical treatment, but will be effective? This is a skill that we preppers need to have some basic knowledge of.

What do you do if you see children wandering? Can you honestly allow them to wander away and not protect them? Of course not. So as a prepper you need to understand that as much as we think we are planning to go solo or without those who don't think as we do...the children are a different case. I am most certain that Haiti has far too many wee ones that are not with a parent today. Simple things to do with the children are comfort things. Holding them on your lap...touching their heads or even playing games from childhood with them. They will need some bit of normalcy during these times. As soon as you can you must get to a point that is set up and document that this(or these) children you found...so they can reconnect the child with a loved one. But you may be the only one to care for the child until some services are set up...and so you must(remember you would want someone to do so for your child). By the way...make a mental note of where you located the child and all the initial information about him so that you can assist those who will be looking for him.

What do you do if you need to cook food? Can you prepare foods quickly, over a fire? Can you scrounge out what you need to survive? Most importantly can you find water...this is the key...WATER.

Shelter is key in a crises as most people are functioning in a bit of shock. To maintain a place that blocks the sun or keeps the elements off is very important, but think outside the box on this one. You may need to construct just a cardboard shelter...but shade in Haiti is very important.

I have many more thoughts but I think you get the idea. As a prepper we should be lifetime students of learning skills that generations before us took for granted. These skills will not only keep us alive but most likely what keeps others alive too. I understand that in the prepper circuit many joined thinking about the government and the economy and I will not minimize the reality of that as an impending crisis...but we all must take in account that each and every day a crises of some magnitude hits somewhere in the world. My question is this: Are you really prepared?

(c) Double Nickel Farm

Jennifer

How to Become a Prepper

A fellow New Mexican has started a blog to share her tips and skills as a prepper-here is her seven part series on How to Become a Prepper.

Part 1
Part2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

New Updated Link

Last link was pulled, here's another one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=662R2awSwPQ

Lib's are certainly all over this one, keep re-posting and finding new good links.

America Rising: Update with new link

Click here to watch a pretty interesting promise.

Ok, everything I have read shows liberals are trying to have this permanently removed from YOUTUBE...I found that Powerline still has a good link here.

I have watched it three times and must say it is very powerful!

Wednesday's Wisdom

I am not sure who this is, as this came to me in an email- but I sense that she would not mind me sharing her wisdom here. I am an avid penny pincher~which makes me very GREEN~ yet I have disliked the green movement's agenda so I never jumped aboard. Well thanks to this incredible woman and her sign, I am taking back conservation and what the green movement should have been about all along!

Please *steal* her picture and add it to your sidebar as we all need to jump on this movement!

Jennifer

Ten Things

In the spirit of money saving ideas, today I am going to share ten things you can do instead of watching television. Television is a huge time waster and does cost money(either satellite or cable). Television also causes the CP syndrome(couch potato syndrome) and the I WANT IT NOW syndrome. You see life portrayed fictionally and think that you need the same things, and fill up with clutter because you cannot achieve the perfection that TV presents...so what can you do in the time you usually slot to sit and zone out?

Read!!!

So here is my top ten items to read:

1. The Bible- I believe wholeheartedly that most of television is stolen from the Bible- if you have never read the Bible you may think I am crazy, but the Bible is filled with the what nots that will make life a living hell(and eternal hell) and the what to do's to make life better. David sent a man into battle(front lines death wish for sure) just so he could sleep with the wife of the soldier...oh and the soldier died, the woman got pregnant and the baby died- talk about drama, weeping, and shock!

2. Louis Lamour Western- I love his works. He died the year I married and the year I discovered him as an author(as my husband had all of his books). LL-books are written with an appreciation for nature, man, woman, and morals and values. He researched the west, lived in the west, lived and studied the Indians in the regions. I have required my kids read several books for their homeschooling as some are stand out for some great lessons. For here I will suggest the Sacket series as my favorite...(honestly I love pretty much all- in fact one book he wrote about was a American soldier(with American Indian ancestry) in the USSR---powerful read for sure!)

3. The US Constitution- boy if we all did this one, we could stand firm in our votes as we would KNOW who really did not believe in our land.

4. The $30,000 Bequest by Mark Twain. I bet you could find it on Project Gutenberg. Want to see how we all were so quick to get in the credit game(ie gambling money you don't have on money you hope to make)...this is a very short-eye opening read. It is one of my favorite reads.

5. Let's stick with Mark Twain one more time. Read the Death Disk. To me it is a great reminder to those that will not make a decision. You see passing responsibility on to another resolves nothing and causes so much headache. Funny the two Mark Twain stories were written a hundred years ago yet are so relevant to today in America with the people and the elected.

6. Powerline a site that is more of a commentary on the day's events. Not heated but seen through a conservative viewpoint.

7. Ace of Spades Updates on news with goofy(sometimes a bit off color) opinions. This site reminds me of high school and the kid you knew would never grow up(and you were glad to think that)...makes me wonder if he is the guy from my high school!

8. Big Government This is a new site that gave attention to the Acorn scandal. No other place seemed interested.(kind of like Drudge with the Blue dress)- and look where Drudge is today!

9. American Preppers Network( pick any state on the side bar and visit and read the tips, ideas and skills they share) and the Canadian Preppers Network(pick on any province)...you will be amazed at the amount of information you can learn from a bunch of people volunteering their time to help others..

and lastly

10. You can read about a real life family that loves each other and is, through the sweat of their own brows, carving out a piece of America for their own. They use more their minds than money, yet life seems to work out fine. It is a place where corny is in...a real honest to goodness blast from the past...my farm blog: Double Nickel Farm.

Don't forget that 2010 is the year of the prepper!

(c) Jennifer

Monday Money Saving Idea

As I wrote in my previous post, money matters a good deal. We need to learn how to manage our money or we will be managed by it. In preparing for any crises that may come our way, we need to understand that spending money stockpiling will not help you if you are buried in debt, late fees, and collection notices.

In one of my visits as a Life Coach, the woman who I was visiting has a land line telephone still. It rang off the hook but her teens would check the Caller ID and shout collections and not answer the phone. I was amazed at the quantity of calls that came in the home from 4:30- 7:30 pm! I would go stir crazy as I am a bit sensitive to noises anyway. This woman and her family, in my opinion, represent many Americans in the way they live. She is on the fence between clutter and hording and doesn't realize what she has.

Her husband is a truck driver and home on weekends so while he is gone mom and the teens eat out- lots. Her freezer and fridge are stocked with frozen meals, pre-made foods, and junk. She has a large pantry filled with similar items. The kids all have laptops, TVs, cellphones, Ipods, and so does the mother. They have three absolutely adorable little pugs and the pugs have nice dishes, collars, and wet food to eat each day. I could go on and on- but you get the idea. It was overwhelming to me because they are ignoring the collection calls all the while continuing to accumulate more junk...

Does this sound familiar to you? I hope you understand this-if you resemble the above family I am not judging you, as I help people work themselves up from this hole weekly. But today is the day. Stop. Do Not Buy Anything Else- EVEN PREP STUFF. I guarantee that you have enough right now, and if you don't you would not be able to utilize the prep stuff you bought because you are more a consumer than one who buys with purpose.

Today is the day. Set up a yard sale. Advertise like crazy-and say it is a moving sale(this is not a lie-because you are moving from being a poor money manager to a wise one). Have everything that I listed in the sale- Ipods, TVs etc...at fair prices but understand that they MUST GO. Then use the yard sale money to pay your final phone bill on your cell phone(if you are still bound by a contract-and disconnect the cell service- TODAY). We have survived incredible catastrophes not having a way to contact those we love. Holy heck- you can rediscover conversations with people at the grocery as you will cease having ridiculous conversations with another person about a double latte or something(knowing full well that the person you are chatting with on cell phone is also on Facebook and slightly paying attention to you as they are most likely at work).

I am hearing many reasons why this is impossible. I am hearing justifications- I can't cancel the contract- well why not? You have perhaps collection calls, so you are not being so honorable to other contracts. Enough is enough. To prepare for a situation also requires that one think on their feet. How prepared can you get if you cannot let go the biggest stumbling block ever- YOU?

2010 is the year of the prepper. To become a prepper, one must understand that eventually you will accumulate items to see you through a crisis of some sort... but what goes hand in hand with the stockpiling is the knowledge of what to do in a crises. We are also stockpiling lost skills as preppers. We are learning how to grow foods, prepare foods, and live without items that are nonsensical(such as a preteen having a cell phone)...now is the time to become the prepper that you should be.
(c) Jennifer Double Nickel Farm

Money Matters

I think that it is time to get very real as a prepper. I know I am fairly direct(blunt) as I write about prepping, I will continue on that path to make sure that folks understand that the time is now to change our behaviors.

IRL(in real life) I am what one would call a Life Coach. I will meet with the person, ask them some questions, assess their life and then lay out a plan to make changes for them. Most often the biggest block in their lives is nothing more than themselves. That is what is the problem now for even those living the prepping lifestyle.

Keeping this in mind, I have decided to begin posting about money and why the lack of controlling your money will control you instead. I have been sensing that some people, in seeing the way the economy is heading, have disregarded financial savvy anticipating the death of the dollar. Maybe this sounds blunt but one can see it from a mile away...

The reason our nation is at the brink economically is complete and utter disregard of common sense. So let's apply that here as a prepper. We have built up storage and perhaps even stored up some second amendment items and all the while paid minimum payments on credit cards, etc. Storage will run out, ammo will dwindle, but common sense will allow people to pull through any crisis. Against everything I have ever said, I have decided that we need to stop being part of the problem. Stop buying anything else and pay of the debts we have. Now is the time. This is the year, and we are the preppers. We must cease being the problem that has crumbled our foundation as a nation and begin being part of the solution.

How much supplies could a western traveler bring when he loaded up his family in a Conestoga wagon and headed to the great unknown? Well not to much and as the family traveled the trail became littered with the excess items as they realized the burden that the extra weight placed on the team hauling the wagon was far greater than the benefit of the item. Moral of this story, the pioneers that came West, were strong hearty stock, that started with nothing, and they...were the backbone of the building of this great nation.

You see they understood that it was not a tangible item that made them successful, but something inside them. They had an inner strength to achieve the personal dream of owning a piece of God's great planet and were willing to sacrifice everything to achieve it. But the honor system was the majority not the minority then. Yes as in all times there was evil doers, but when a man shook on something that was gold, and he did everything in his power to honor the commitment. People did not expect handouts, children worked with the parents as the family either worked together or the family would have failed.

The first homes were dugouts(literally a room or two dugout in the prairie) sodhouses or cabins so drafty that many pioneer journals discussed daubing in extreme detailing to remedy the situation. Life was not easy, but the understanding was that by the sweat of their brows it could become anything that they desired. The women were not submissive, meek, spineless people that is portrayed often in Hollywood. The woman worked side by side, and was an equal otherwise the system would have failed. We know that the settlement of the west led us to such incredible heights(worldwide) that the template that they set was a keeper. Like everything though, these settlers made the classic mistake. They didn't want the next generation to have the hardships they had, so each generation was molly coddled a bit more, thinking that this was a good thing. Where we are now as a society is because we wished our children to have more. This is a problem.

It is time to unload the clutter in our wagons...or in modern speak the debt that is weighing us down. We are resilient as people and we will do what is needed to survive. We must cease spending with the debt over our heads. Now is the day. We must look to what was successful in the past to direct us today. No debt should be the goal- we should not work 40+ hours to be in a home because you are paying heavily to have it. The time is now to build up personal responsibility once again.

Give up the TVs, land lines, and cable. Get rid of the toys(four wheelers, snowmobiles, boats, and extra cars) and pay off your debt. Hook line and sinker each generation has bought into this need for a grander more extravagant home. How big is your home? How big is your payment to live in your castle? How much sweat and stress, and strife goes into maintaining the new American dream?

I said yesterday and I will repeat every post- 2010 is the year of the Prepper. We must become like the pioneers of yesterday and take back this nation through character, ideals, and standards and remove the bondage of usury(credit) as our ancestors(the pioneer stock) would have been appalled to owe a debt to anyone. They would have rather died.

Now is the time- are you ready?

(c) Jennifer Double Nickel Farm

Happy New Year