Is all my Prepping Just a Waste of Time?

And auctions--don't forget auctions!

We hit an auction tonight, and my wife bought about $200 worth of yarn for $20. I bought some good stuff, including over $100 worth of PVC, brass, and copper fittings (for plumbing), plus some hand tools, and a leather quiver with eight arrows in it for a total of $10.00. And that was just part of the haul.

We regularly buy quality food at auction for 1/3 or less of retail. (You just have to find an auction with a food guy that comes in every few weeks.)

We also buy a little bit of everything under the sun. When I do something around the house and don't have to drive into town for one (1!) light switch, I save a lot of time & gas money, plus I install a new switch that probably cost me a whole dime. (Or less!)

I put on a new mower blade recently that cost a whole dollar, and two full sets or windshield wipers that cost, in total, another dollar.

It's amazing how fast the savings add up. And being prepped for little household chores saves even more.

I brake for auctions.

 

Auctions-Great idea!

When you live 50 miles from the nearest decent grocery store, you don't want to be running out of things. We routinely bought two of almost everything, and when we opened the second one, 2 more of that item got added to the list for the next grocery run. I have lost track of the number of times my wife said to me "Honey, we're out of.....". No we are not, go to this cabinet, on the right side toward the back & etc.

 

Most of my preps are made up of stuff I use every day. I simply buy it years in advance. I rotate and eat the food and use the perishables. Every few years I go through my cache and take out what needs to be used and replace it with new. After the initial cost of stocking up the first time, it costs very little more to keep it up to date. A year doesn't go by that I don't end up robbing the cache a dozen times or more for daily needs. I just make a note and replace it next time I am in town. No sacred cows, just awareness and common sense.

 

There re things you can learn and prove for your self if you make the time ,not that you will need them but that you have experience to verify they work .
I built a ram pump ,a device one can build with simple available parts, that uses a 6 foot fall of water, to pump water significantly higher . I did about 40 feet lift 200 feet away from my experiment .
Because I was able to verify this to a friend, his son has property that can actually use this device .

 

YES! all your prepping is a waste of time...send whatever you have accumulated to me and report to the nearest FEMA camp. Thank you.

 

Here you go, ......you get to wrap it. And the shipping is on you!

 

It may come to pass. FEMA keeps saying that you should have 3 days supplies.
It's going to be like Hotel California!

 

My parish advocates catching and using rainwater, So much so that if your a customer they will sell you a 55 gallon drum set up with a screen and an outlet for your water hose, Think my wife just ordered one for $32.00 ?

 

Just be careful that a $32 55gal drum set doesn't become the neighbourhood equivalent of "baby on board" signage seen on some family vehicles. Your water butt, may just become signage that a prepper is in residence. camouflage, deception, and diversion may be worth considering.

 

Lol, Stop thinking like an old woman, I have made it a point that I'm a wild ,crazy,old bas***d and jacking around here will have one wishing for a Dance with the Devil !
Remember, I tell them I see dead people.
Superstitions plays funny thing's on certain people, Learn how too use it.

 

It seems you have the deception and diversion plan well in hand. Still, it's a useful consideration for others who are not as wild, crazy, or as elderly and blistered as one may appear to be to the local neighbourhood. Carry on and keep prepping!

 

Somehow I knew you would pick up on the unmentioned here.
How to use superstitions in your favor when TSHTF.
+ 10,000

 

Try emptying a clean chamber pot filled with potable water into you barrel from time to time....it may just confirm your neighbours' worst superstitious fears.

 

Lol, A 5 gallon pale is considered a chamber pot here.

 

A remarkable post sir.
You are a credit to our species.
If I can learn one iota of that pioneering character I'll be wealthy.

 

I truly hope all my fears are simple paranoia. THAT would be so much easier...