[TXmom]

I just wanted to share something with ya'll that you might find helpful. It's made a huge difference for us.
There's a book called "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" that is amazing. I got it from Amazon. Don't remember how much it was but it's worth every penny. Hundreds of ways to cut expenses and save money. With money as tight as it is for most folks, every little bit helps. Every dollar I save on living expenses now is a dollar I can put towards preps so that maybe I'll be able to live tomorrow.
The way this lady approaches grocery shopping, clothing her family, and stockpiling supplies is totally prepping mentality, whether she knows it or not. The book is a few years old but most of the info still applies today. She's all about simple living and not buying into a commercially-driven lifestyle.
I've put a lot of her ideas into practice since the first of the year and I've managed to "re-route" about $9000 that would otherwise have been spent on BS or just plain wasted. I'm not exaggerating....I added it up.
You need to check this out and, no, I'm not affiliated with the author or get anything for promoting the book.

 

[LadyFenix]

That's Amy Daczyn's book. And, she has also written several others in the same frugal style.

Some really helpful stuff in her books......IF you happen to be married, with minor children. The major focus of her books is on saving money for a growing family with young children. Not a great deal in them which would be helpful to cut expenses if you are a single adult or an older couple, however.

Each of her books is written in the same style. So, if you are living in a one or two-person household, you will probably want to rent this from the library, instead of spending the money to acquire it for your own personal book collection.

 

[CBP]

And here's Amy . . . .

If you listen carefully to her comments, practicing frugality in good times will make the bad times not seem so bad-- almost has a prepper ring to it.


(Edit -- well gosh how'd I manage to get that pop up there! Hope that's not against the rules -- very not planned and accidental on my part. )

 

[Seadiver77]

Some of her stuff is really outdated, but the lifestyle message is golden. I wish she'd write an updated book.

 

[hippytreehugger4ev]

There's actually 4 books, plus her Complete Tightwad Gazette, but it's not really worth the money past the first 2 books.

 

[home in oz]

Neat ideas!

 

[Cuppycake]

$9000?! Seriously? that's incredible, good for you!

 

[Absolutely!]

Has anyone here either seen or read "babette's feast"?

 

[RepublicOfTexas]

I also think that thrift shops can be good places for frugal prepping. On a recent trip to Goodwill I got cold weather pants, a clean wool blanket, and a small cast iron frying pan for $12.

 

[TessaBlue]

Thanks for the post! I'll definitely check it out.

 

[TessaBlue]

These are great ideas. I definitely need help with the frugal prepping thing!

 

[TessaBlue]

Sorry for the double post. My computer is misbehaving. :xeye:

 

[determu]

buy codi lundis book

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=cody+lundin&um=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1366&bih=643&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7758294869351931275&sa=X&ei=D5YXTvCbO5Kn0AHOu9mWBQ&ved=0CEwQ8wIwAQ

when all hell breaks loose

most of his food options are really really inexpensive.

the only serious money you'll spend is on water storage from his book.

not a complete food guide but it's given me a starting point. i already bought a blue chip pallet ( recommends buying a pallet to put your 5 gallon food grade buckets in (also reached out to a guy i know who can get honey straight from the field))

 

[lucylittle]

Will check it out

I will check out this book and the other books suggested in the comments. Thanks for yall's help.

LucyLittle
Louisiana, USA

 

[earthmom]

really, if you take the whole preping thing as a total life change for your family you can really save. My friends and I have been watching the extreme couponing show on tv and have been using bunches of coupons (probably common sense to most folks here - but I'm slow Anyway, I've been saving a lot of money using coupons on soaps and snacks for the kids and it lets me spend more on my storage. I feel a lot better off these days and that says a lot with the economy being what it is

 

[Genevieve]

I was into coupons big time for years ( like 25 I think),but now a days they're for things I have no use for here. It's all hair coloring,makeup,microwave crappy foods and stuff pushed towards kids ( which I don't have anymore).
I have been doing really well going to discount and salvage grocery stores. The one store I go to even orders my wheat for me! Love that place. Then theres the Amish salvage store I go to, that is so cool. It's an adventure every time because you don't know what they're going to have stocked. ( and I love the fact that all the employees are speaking german, too cool)

I go to the Goodwill every saturday. I've found brand new jeans for $6, new stainless steel pots, castiron pots, bolts of material,an herb chopper,a german made cherry pitter,hubby finds all kinds of military clothes and bags, I've found 3 pairs of Realtree hunting pants and one set of the scent reducer ( I guess you'd call it) hunting clothes. We also hit any flea markets we can find. We got 7 bolts for our crossbows,hand tools for the garden,some of those enamel on steel dish pans ( I use those when I'm canning and harvesting). The list goes on and on.
around here people want way too much ( imo) for their stuff at yardsales. I mean, I know they need or want the money, but come om. They'd be better off lowering their prices and selling more stuff. I'm not real fond of them because of the high pricing.

 

[earthmom]

I do a lot of shopping this way too Genevieve. I hit goodwill first and then when I can't find something I go to the store. I've also been using freecycle a lot. people post stuff they dont want, all you have to do is pick it up. We try to get rid of stuff this way, and I just got a chair for the living room over the weekend, and its nice AND FREE! craigslist can be good too, but they're kind of like a yardsale - some of the people think they're selling liquid gold. you have to know what you're looking for and what you'll pay.

i SO AGREE on the coupons being kids junk and makeup. i dont wear a spot of makeup and recently gave up hair dye (waste of money) but we do get the occasional good coupon. the only prepared foods we really use are pastas and the suddenly salad mixes. they're good to have handy as a quick little meal. mostly I just keep huge cans of industrial veggies around. I can do ANYTHING with veggies.

 

[TXmom]

Love thrift stores! I go as often as I can. I nearly always find useful items I can use now as well as if/when the shtf. Today I found another enameled metal pot to use for camping as well as 4 coffee cups of the same material.
I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules by posting this, but the following websites are full of good info on saving money...

www.thriftyfun.com
www.hillbillyhousewife.com
www.livingonadime.com

These are just full of money-saving tips and recipes, many of which use ingredients that we are stocking as preps. They help me a lot with the "store what you eat and eat what you store" concept. A lot of the recipes also lend themselves to alternate cooking methods that we may be having to use.

 

[phxvalleygirl]

buy codi lundis book

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=cody+lundin&um=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1366&bih=643&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7758294869351931275&sa=X&ei=D5YXTvCbO5Kn0AHOu9mWBQ&ved=0CEwQ8wIwAQ

when all hell breaks loose

most of his food options are really really inexpensive.

the only serious money you'll spend is on water storage from his book.

not a complete food guide but it's given me a starting point. i already bought a blue chip pallet ( recommends buying a pallet to put your 5 gallon food grade buckets in (also reached out to a guy i know who can get honey straight from the field))

I'm just starting to read this book right now. It's a bit distracting with all the cockroach pictures, etc.... but I also got his book "98.6....Keeping Your Ass Alive" which is used in training rescue teams, etc.

I will look forward to getting more into the book, esp. since you endorse it!

 

[determu]

I'm just starting to read this book right now. It's a bit distracting with all the cockroach pictures, etc.... but I also got his book "98.6....Keeping Your Ass Alive" which is used in training rescue teams, etc.

I will look forward to getting more into the book, esp. since you endorse it!

Yeah I thought that was annoying too.

But his Principles still ring with me.

I still need a surgeons tubing