Thursday, October 11, 2012

 I suppose I should start by explaining what I mean when I say "prep". With prepping coming to more light due to a few new TV shows, people are becoming more aware that others are doing this. Keep in mind that I do not have TV, so I have only seen a few episodes of this show; but I can't help but feel that this show seems to showcase the ones that are on the far fringe of survival and emergency preparedness. I'm not saying they're bad people; or what  believe that these shows make the rest of us look like nut cases.

   I don't have a bunker. I don't have gas masks or run practice nuclear attack drills. I won't be writing posts involving conspiracy theories. I don't think about foreign attack or lose sleep worrying about a zombie apocalypse. (though it is fun to talk about!), While none of these things are truly impossible, they aren't the reasons behind what I do.

   When I think of prepping, I think of common things that nearly all of us have experienced. Layoff/job loss, death of a family member, sickness, natural disaster, power outage, and others. Think about just the ones that I mentioned. With a job loss, you may not have the money or means to buy groceries for yourself or your family. With sickness, you can experience the same things if you aren't one of the lucky few with sick leave from work. A natural disaster or power outage can leave you with not only no electricity at home, but also possibly no way to get to the store; assuming that they are able to operate and/or have anything left on the shelf. Prepping doesn't have to be about doom and gloom. Remember that.

 I take the same view on vegetable gardening and homesteading. I build nearly everything that I use rather than buy it or have someone else build it. Other than a rototiller, all of my gardening tools are simple. I don't have a greenhouse with electric heat and window openers, and I don't spend countless hours testing my soil. You can go back to my old post at One Acre Homestead to read more about my simple approach.

 The biggest thing that I plan on doing with this blog is showing how to do both with a level head, common sense, and on a sensible budget. Thus the name of the blog. BUDGET Prepper. Setting aside food and supplies doesn't have to break the bank. Gardening doesn't have to cost $200 to grow $90 worth of vegetables. I'm just here to show you how I do things and give advice on doing it yourself.

 So........let the adventures begin. The first "real" post will be going up in the next few days.

Chris
  

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Welcome!

   Hi, and welcome to the first post here at Budget Prepper. This first post will be an introduction, and a general outline of what I intend this blog to be. I'm by no means a professional writer, so I won't bother trying to write like one. What you read is who I am. No more-no less.

   I'm Chris, a 47 year old from northeast Ohio. I'm a pretty simple guy. I've worked in retail, the firearms business, construction, and on a produce farm.  My interests range from hunting and fishing, to emergency preparedness and homesteading. I wrote another blog for 4 years,(http://1acreohiohomestead.blogspot.com/), and enjoyed it very much. But as my interests began to broaden, I found myself in a dilemma. I wanted to add more emergency preparedness writing yet keep the homesteading aspect that I started with. The blog was beginning to seem just like I was elsewhere across the internet on some forums that I frequent-I was too "homestead" for the survival folks, and I was too "survival" for the homestead people. I was talking about making things when others were paying high prices for the same thing bought from a website or store. I was getting my emergency supplies from thrift stores and yard sales while many were going to the big box retailers and web stores that sell pallets of freeze dried foods.

    I thought that my simple, low cost, common sense approach would catch on with both sides, but instead I found my regular readers and comments dimishing. Once again, I felt like a bit of an outcast in my own tiny piece of cyberspace. Between feeling lost in that, and other issues in my home life, I quit writing in One Acre Homestead completely. I made a few posts promising to return and write, but my heart just wasn't in it.

   So here I am; starting a new blog with new intentions. I plan to keep writing on my homesteading adventures here on one acre, but also to give; by my own example; advice on how to prep (and homestead) without breaking the bank and keeping a level head. I don't know where this road will go, but feel free to tag along for the ride!

Chris