[MNiesen]

Hey Folks, I've been prepping for almost 2 years now and am fairly young(24) and have a wife and daughter.In this economy and in the past year we haven't had the money and still live in an apartment.

My biggest problem im having is space for all the stuff i have accumulated over the years.Our apartment is roughly 1200 square feet and it isn't nearly big enough for the storage I need.

The other problem is becoming independent as far as being able to grow my own food if need be.

I've tried to find other survivalist families around me with no luck yet.I'm extremely worried about the long term effects of living here.

Anyone else a survivalist and apartment dweller with these sort of problems?Any unique ideas on improving the aparment dwellers aspect of survivalism?

 

[SJack]

You could always make a blog or website, just to let other people know in your area that there are surivialists in their town, you may also come across people on here near you. Good luck.

 

[Tugger]

consider renting a storage space...it may work....I mean if you can store some food and all your gear....you'd basically only have one stop to make if ya decided to bug out.

 

[BudgetSurvivalist]

I am also an apartment dweller, and I have no real solutions, just ideas I have toyed with.

How many parking spots are you allotted? Can you buy a small uhaul type trailer and fill it with some of your sturdier stuff and park it outside?

What is the market like for self storage units near your apartment? Can you budget enough to rent an 8x8 and fill it with stuff (also works as emergency cache if something happens and you must evac without your preps).

I am actually more worried about sanitation/heat/power/water for a SHTF situation.

As for food production, I figure I just need to outlast everyone else, and there is land aplenty after they evac. It's like the old joke about the hikers and the bear.*











*Two hikers meet a hungry bear out in the middle of the woods. One immediately drops his pack, pulls off his hiking boots, and starts quickly putting on his running shoes.

"WTF are you doing?" asked the second hiker. "You can't outrun a hungry bear!"

"I don't have to outrun the bear," he answers. "I just have to outrun you."

 

[Cryptophylaxis]

The plastic 18 gallon rubbermaid style tubs are great for saving space. I use them and stack them up three or more high. You can save a lot of space by stacking your stuff vertically rather than to sprawl everything out across the room.

I also stagger my furniture so that its not against the wall but making a triangle of sorts in the corner of the room. I use the space behind the couch to store some bulk purchases. It looks so natural you can't even tell

I bought some extra cabinets and generally try to keep everything super organized with a system. Everything in its place and a place for everything.

 

[Barrelguyinsj]

Try a large van, a box van can be converted in a RV and can store all your needed stuff. Move it around once a week.

 

[Mrbrownfolks]

I'm in an apartment for the next couple of years. My mindset is one of the essentials only. You may want to look online for container gardening on your porch if possible. The key to any survivalism imo is the essentials, knowing how to use them, and the right mindset.

 

[Texas mom]

Stuff like rice, dried beans, oats are key. You will get a lot of calories for less storage space. Also invest in seeds for sprouting. You can easily grow sprouts in just a few days for essential nutrients.

Nothing like a plate of red beans and rice covered with sprouts!

 

[Guerrilla]

until I first moved into a place worth keeping, my first plan was always, "Go protect mom". Where are your families at? Even a suburban home has better options in certain times. Think also that shtf likes to happen locally. Being able to host friends from troubled areas, in return them hosting you is the start of a valuable network.

 

[melody]

Growing your own food might be a problem if you don't have any land to grow it in. You could get a pet rabbit, but your kids might complain if fluffy disapeared and they were asked to eat bunny shaped meat.:

Have you tried storing stuff underneath beds, on top shelves, and other odd places. A tub here and a box there does ad up.

 

[New_Pollution1086]

I live in an apt with 3 other people, I get 1/4 cabinet and fridge space. I keep alot in my room, under the bed, floor of closet. Look at your dresser can you get rid of some clothes or just rearrange them to give you and empty shelf for storage (i store cans there). put shelving around every room about 1.5' from the ceiling and fill it with supplies.

Look for unused or poorly used space

T

 

[Swamp Shuck]

If you have any patio space or windows that face any direction but north you could at least start with container gardening. Victory gardens from London houses and apartments helped the people of that city survive. Also you could see if there are any community gardens in your area that you could grow from. Not only do you get space for growing your food there but often there are other like minded individuals in you area. It may be a good place to network. If your place of worship has any disaster programs you could offer up your help and learn how they keep their supplies. See if your landlord has any extra space around that he would let you grow a garden. In Chicago there are roof gardens that would put many a country garden to shame. Explore your neighborhood and see if anyone else has a garden or garden space they would let you grow in. See if there are any farms outside of the city that would let you help out for garden space or space for extra livestock. Join a co-op farm and plan on spending at least 20% of you free time helping out there. See if there is a farmers market in the area and off to help sell product in exchange for either produce or space in their gardens.

Network a bit online. Start a yahoo group or other internet group for survivalist in your area. See if there is a bulletin board at your local grocery store that you could put a DISCRETE flyer on preparing. Check with the local Red Cross or Salvation Army center to see if there are others that are helping prepare the unprepared. They may have the same mind set as you do.

Just a few different ideas, anyway.

blt

 

[MNiesen]

Thanks all for your replys, may good ideas.My apartment complex doesn't allow trailers in here unfortunately, so that is out of the questions.As for the gardening part I have done some research and I have found that I am perfectly capable of setting up a garden on my back porch.

As far as storage, I've been using the rubbermaid bins to store supplies but I am running out.Storage units around here run roughly 80$ per month whch is rediculous I think.

 

[ChubbyHubby]

Thanks all for your replys, may good ideas.My apartment complex doesn't allow trailers in here unfortunately, so that is out of the questions.As for the gardening part I have done some research and I have found that I am perfectly capable of setting up a garden on my back porch.

I'm not sure what you mean about research, but if you're not talking first-hand experience gardening/growing things, then you need to get your hands dirty and start today. There's alot more to growing plants than meets the eye, and you don't want to go through the inevitable learning lessons when survival might depend on it. Start growing now if you haven't already.

 

[PrairieGirl]

Is there anyway you can get a house, even if its relatively small? Look for one that has a south facing backyard and you could at least get a garden growing.

I know times are tough right now, but by renting your place, you could potentially end up losing it all together and then what?

 

[MNiesen]

Chubby, when I said research, I ment deciding what plants will grow for the space that I have and what will better suit the type of lighting that is available to me.

PrairieGirl,money is not an issue,its just an investment that I dont want to have to make where I live right now.I live where I live because of family,they dont have a allot of years left and thats why were sticking around a bit longer.After that, were headed for the hills!

 

[TacomaJPP]

Hey Folks, I've been prepping for almost 2 years now and am fairly young(24) and have a wife and daughter.In this economy and in the past year we haven't had the money and still live in an apartment.

My biggest problem im having is space for all the stuff i have accumulated over the years.Our apartment is roughly 1200 square feet and it isn't nearly big enough for the storage I need.

The other problem is becoming independent as far as being able to grow my own food if need be.

I've tried to find other survivalist families around me with no luck yet.I'm extremely worried about the long term effects of living here.

Anyone else a survivalist and apartment dweller with these sort of problems?Any unique ideas on improving the aparment dwellers aspect of survivalism?

I don't know your financial situation and won't pretend to, BUT instead of spending anymore money on stockpiling - I would be saving to get a house. House prices are dropping and interest rates are pretty darn good (Dave Ramsey said so). Again, I don't know if your career-field is in grave danger in this economy, but if not I would save that money towards a downpayment on a house pronto. THIS IS A BUYER'S MARKET...

 

[Highlander]

Your mission in life now is to buy a house--more room for supplies.

 

[budog]

put plastic down and grow taters in car tires:thumb:

 

[Grinnan Barrett]

You can do it even in an apartment. If you don't feel safe where you live now then move as soon as you can. Keep a low profile with the neighbors. Be sure you have at least a months supplies on hand there. Find a place elsewhere to store the bulk of your goods.

Be careful about people you meet on sites. Not all folks on any site are "Good guys". Get to know anyone you plan to have a relationship with. Kev, Lowdown3, Highlander, John D, Highpower, and folks like them are good people and they will help you with your plans and where to get you stuff. Finding folks with the same mind set as you is the difficult part. I am very lucky. I have had a number of good friends for years who will stick together when it hits. We go shooting a lot and have a great time. We share info and have common interests.

Look for people on this site from the area in which you live. I have seen a number of people come on to this site from Florida. Lowdown3 was from the northern part of the state. Look for advice from folks like him. I know him to be a good and honest man. He has been there and done that already.