Prepping the FI Way or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Coronavirus

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A bout against unemployment isn’t won the day you secure a new job. It’s won months before you even lost your job in the first place—providing you had the foresight to establish an emergency fund. In other words, preparation is the key to surviving any calamity, whether it’s large or small.

This brutal lesson really hit home for me and Mrs. Groovy as the magnitude of the coronavirus scourge became evident. We only had the income part of the preparation covered. We were wantonly unprepared for the food, shelter, and protection parts.

The good news is that Mrs. Groovy and I now realize the importance of becoming junior preppers. And the even better news is that our good friend, Laurie Blank from Cents and Order, is an experienced prepper and has graciously offered to share her prepping wisdom. This is a very timely guest post and we hope you heed its very sound guidance.

With that said, take it away, Laurie.

When I read Mr. Groovy’s recent article on how financial security affected the Groovy household in terms of national events, I have to tell you, my heart started to race. 

If we’ve learned anything from COVID-19, it’s that we need to be prepared. Stores across the country are clean out of toilet paper. 

And as I shopped just yesterday, I couldn’t find flour for the life of me. It’s some scary sh*t. 

Especially if you’re out of those types of necessities. 

Luckily for me, the food and personal supply raids really haven’t affected me and my four kiddos. 

You see, we’ve been prepping for years and already had a several months’ supply of stuff on hand when this thing began. 

In other words, there’s no shortage of toilet paper at this house.  

I have a fond affection for prepping. In fact, my very first “real” blog was a combo personal finance, farming, and prepping blog. I’d spend hours and hours each week researching—and practicing—what it meant to be prepared. 

You see, we’d recently moved from the burbs to a little hobby farm about 45 minutes out of the city. Life in the country, where you have more cows than humans for neighbors, is a bit different than city life for a number of reasons: 

1. Your closest neighbor might not be very close at all—he or she could be a quarter-mile away or more.
2. Stores, doctors, and other conveniences are likely quite a bit further than walking distance like they are in the cities.
3. Storms and other natural disasters in the cities are often accompanied by local government help; in the country, you’re largely on your own. 

After 7+ years of living in the country, I learned quite a bit about prepping. And I thought it might be fun to share what I’ve learned with the Groovys—especially when I saw their cringe-worthy food supply list. 

Quick aside: Not that Mr. Groovy is to blame. His food supply list is exactly what many preppers recommend having. But I’ve got a different idea. 

Three Levels of Security

The Groovys had it right on the money with their three levels of security. Let’s recap them for those of you who may have forgotten. 

• Recession-proof security (not being dependent on anyone for income)
• Disaster-proof security (recession-proof security + not being dependent on anyone for food and basic services for one-to-three months)
• Collapse-proof security (recession-proof security + disaster-proof security + not being dependent on anyone for the rest of our lives)

I’m going to touch on the basics of both disaster-proof security and collapse-proof security in the following five areas:

• The prepper pantry
• The prepper garden
• The prepper protection arsenal
• The prepper personal items stockpile
• The prepper basic services arsenal

I hope you find at least some information you can use from this off-the-grid mini-book. Which reminds me:  If you start prepping, people are bound to think you’ve gone looney.

“Oh. You’re one of those.” 

For that reason—and for security purposes—I recommend keeping your prepping actions to yourself and your immediate family. 

You don’t want to put in all of the work of prepping, only to have your stockpiles raided by savage strangers formerly known as amiable friends and family. 

Sounds harsh, I know. But this clip from the Twilight Zone episode called The Shelter will show you how things are really likely to go down in the event of a serious collapse. And let’s not forget the Great Toilet Paper Raid of 2020, shall we? 

Not trying to freak you out here, folks, but this COVID-19 thing has given us a keen look into human nature in the event of a disaster. And it ain’t been pretty. 

So let me give you some tips on how you can achieve a higher level of security for your loved ones. 

The Prepper Pantry

So, the experts say you should run your prepper pantry a bit like a grocery store. Keep a backup count of prepared foods and frozen foods you use regularly on hand. Put shelves in the basement, in your garage or in an extra room. 

Rotate your items from back to front like they do (or are supposed to do) at the stores. New purchases go in back, and you use the items from front to back. 

Notice I said to get items you use regularly. 

That means if you hate powdered milk, don’t get powdered milk. 

When we first started prepping, we went to Sam’s Club and got the restaurant-sized ginormous bags of beans and rice like everyone else. And they sat there for five years until they expired and we threw them away. 

Now, granted, $50 worth of rice and beans in the garbage every five years isn’t going to break us financially. 

But I felt I had to find a way to mesh our frugal, FI-reaching goals with this prepping thing. And we honestly don’t eat a lot of processed foods. 

One short sentence gave me some serious prepping revelation. 

A wise prepper once told me: Don’t prep to survive, prep to thrive. That statement was a game-changer for me. 

I thought: If the world goes to hell and life as we know it ceases to exist, I surely don’t want to spend months on end eating only beans and rice. 

That reality made me rethink my prepping strategies. With that advice, I suggest concentrating on two things:

• Be sure that 75% of the food you buy is stuff you like and will eat.
• Get yourself a zero-temp chest freezer.

Yeah, yeah, I know. What if the electricity goes out? We’ll deal with that scenario later on in the post. But first, let me give you an idea of what we buy for our prepper pantry.

The Ultimate Prepper Pantry

• Peanut butter and a few varieties of jelly (I have four kids)
• A 10-pound bag of rice
• A variety of spices
• Canned chicken and tuna
• Cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup (I’m from the Midwest–we LOVE our casseroles)
• A wide variety of pasta
• Boxed Mac and Cheese
• Ramen noodles
• Bottled 100% juice (apple is the cheapest)
• Ketchup and mustard
• Spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce
• Chili beans and tomato paste
• Flour and sugar
• Cocoa, dried yeast, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla

Yep, cocoa. I want to be able to indulge in some brownie batter from time to time if the sh*t hits the fan, people. 

And although this seems like an expensive pantry list, the fact of the matter is that we will use every bit of what we buy—with the possible exception of the small bag of rice. 

We’ll rotate items from back to front just like they do at the grocery store, buying new like we would every month, putting the new items in the back of the shelf row and using the front items up in the kitchen. 

No waste of money, no foods we wouldn’t eat and plenty on hand…just in case. 

Additional Notes:

It’s important to secure your bagged goods such as rice, flour, and beans from insects such as months. 

I suggest storing them in 5-gallon buckets with screw-on lids. You can get these at any home improvement store. 

ALSO, check out commercial supply stores if you can: they might have toilet paper and restaurant-sized foods you can buy—for much cheaper prices. 

P.S. Some Costco stores have designated commercial client warehouses.

The Prepper Freezer

Which leads me to the next suggestion: get yourself a deep freezer, chest style or upright. These come in a variety of sizes for every family. Set the temp to zero degrees, as that will minimize frost/freezer burn occurrence and make your frozen foods last longer. 

What might you want to put in your chest freezer? Here are some suggestions. 

• Beef, chicken, and fish (either from local farmers or from the stores). If you buy family packs, divide them up into portion sizes that fit your family. Then either put them in freezer bags or get a foodsaver vac.
• Bags of frozen veggies from the grocery store—be sure to get veggies you like to eat.
• Veggies from your garden (we’ll talk more about that next).
• Some processed foods you like, such as pizza, mozzarella sticks, etc. Be sure to date them with a sharpie marker and rotate in and out like you do with your other items.

And don’t make the mistake we did one time of accidentally blocking the freezer vent. If you do, you’ll find yourself with a cozy warm freezer and oodles of wasted money as you painstakingly throw your freezer stockpile in the garbage. 

Now, let’s talk about your garden.

The Prepper Garden

I’m a firm believer that all preppers should have at least some type of a garden. Even if you live in an apartment, you can have a pot or two of veggies on the deck or some basil on the windowsill. 

Why? 

Because learning to grow your own food, can your own food, and freeze your own food is imperative to the third level of security: collapse-proof security. 

Bonus: Growing and preserving your own food is an awesome way to save some serious money. 

I know that the thought of growing and preserving your own food can be very intimidating. I was terrified the first time I made home-canned pickles. 

But guess what: after a couple of failed attempts, I got it down. 

And you can too! 

This book is my canning and preserving bible.

It’s easy to understand and has simple instructions and recipes. 

Yes, you’re going to have to learn how to garden. And you’ll probably fail at some stuff—at least at first. But here’s a few gardening tips that might help. 

1. Grow What You’ll Use 

As with canned goods, only grow stuff that you like and will use. I suggest growing the veggies and spices you buy most often at the store. Our garden list looks something like this:

• Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Green beans
• Peas
• Cilantro
• Basil
• Green and red peppers
• Onions 
• Broccoli 

Choose items you can use to make or enhance other items. For instance, we use our tomatoes and onions to can spaghetti sauce. 

We chop and freeze the green peppers and onions in little freezer bags so they’re ready to go for meat loaves, hash browns, and casseroles. 

2. Get Creative With Food Storage

Try to think outside of the box as you can your food. Use fruit to make and can jellies and jams. Use your tomatoes and peppers to can salsa. 

Can pickles, but can other veggies too such as green beans (you can “pickle” them just like you do cucumbers).

Again, the key here is to stick with stuff you know you’ll eat. 

Another idea is to make a root cellar. You can make your root cellar as simple or as extravagant as you want. It can be a shelf or cabinet in your unheated basement or a metal garbage can buried firmly in the ground. 

Just be sure to store your canned goods in a cool, dry place. 

The more you know about growing and preserving your own food, the better off you’ll be in the event of a long-term disaster. The local grocery store may run out of food, but your personal stockpile of homegrown and preserved food doesn’t have to. 

And, bonus: You’ll learn how to grow food that tastes FAR better than anything you find in the grocery store.  

The Prepper Protection Arsenal

One of the things Mr. Groovy talked about in his earlier post was the fact that they’re learning how to handle a firearm. 

Now, before anyone gets all anti-2nd amendment on me, let me just remind you that your fork doesn’t make you fat. Likewise, guns are safe in the hands of mentally stable, sane people with common sense. 

And no amount of laws will keep guns out of the hands of gang members and psychopaths. Just like with opioids, everything can be found on the black market—for a price. 

On the other hand, if you know how to safely operate a firearm, and are willing to use it in the event of an attack, you will likely save your life. 

When I lived in the country (we’re temporarily in the city now) there was a bit of a paradox in terms of home safety. 

On one hand, most criminals didn’t bother with burglarizing or robbing country homes. They’re spaced too far apart, meaning less profit for the time spent in the criminal activity. 

On the other hand, we did see the occasional band of criminals that realized that you have less of a chance of being seen while busting into a home situated in a rural area. 

In our seven years on our hobby farm, one story regarding firearms and home protection stuck out to me the most, though there were many more I had the pleasure of being entertained with. 

Cowboy Bill

One neighbor, we’ll call him “Bill”, recounted the story of when two guys had been casing the neighborhood. Neighbors in the country tend to be pretty close (regarding friendship, not proximity), so everyone knew about the casers. 

The two young guys that had been casing the neighborhood pulled up into Bill’s driveway late one Tuesday morning, sure that he’d be at work. What they didn’t know is that Bill had taken the day off. Two of his buddies were coming out to shoot for deer hunting practice.

As they pulled into the driveway, Bill met them wearing his boxers, a wife-beater tank shirt, his cowboy hat, and carrying his 12-gauge shotgun.

“Can I help you boys?” he said, complete with southern drawl. 

The boys quickly scrambled back to their truck and took off, mumbling something about how they had the wrong house. 

Indeed, they did. And that was the end of the neighborhood casing that had been going on for several weeks. 

You see, the majority of criminals fall into two categories: opportunistic and desperate. 

The opportunistic criminal simply takes advantage of a “too good to be true” opportunity to score some freebies. 

The desperate criminal is feeling scared and desperate. Think: middle-aged white guy who’s been living under loads of debt for far too long, can’t take it anymore, and robs a bank. 

In a SHTF situation, your chances of coming across a desperate criminal increases. Be prepared. 

Own a firearm and know very well how to use it. 

Additional Note: Owning a dog is a great crime deterrent–especially if it’s a larger dog. Most criminals scare away quite easily at the presence of a dog.

The Prepper Personal Items Stockpile

Regarding personal items, the prepping procedure is about the same as with food items. Stock a 1-12 month supply of personal items such as:

• Toothpaste, toothbrushes and floss
• Shampoo/conditioner
• Bar soap/hand soap
• Toilet paper, tissues and paper towels
• Baby necessities if needed
• Contact solution/pairs of contacts
• Meds and nutritional supplements
• Laundry detergent and fabric softener

And any other thing you can think of that you use on a regular basis. Use the same “retail store” method and use from front to back, restocking in the back. 

Additional Note: Having an ample first aid kit and knowing basic first aid is vital. So is knowing some natural home remedies. We’ll talk more about this in a later post.

The Prepper Basic Services Arsenal

Now it’s time to talk about basic services/needs like water and electricity. Mr Groovy talked about a whole house generator in his post. 

We personally opted for a large-capacity portable generator. Ours runs on gas and could provide electricity for at least three days on a single fill-up, provided we were frugal with our energy usage. 

It cost $1,000. 

We also had a transfer switch in the basement for plugging in the generator if need be. It’s best to store portable generators out of the house, which means if we used it we’d have to run an indoor/outdoor extension cord through the basement window and into the transfer switch.

Plan on another $400-$500 for this stuff. 

My neighbor, on the other hand, had a whole house generator. The whole house generator is powered by natural gas if you live in the city, or your personal propane source if you live in the country. As Mr. Groovy mentioned, these cost about $6,000 or so. 

The difference: When we had a power outage, we had to lug the portable generator out of the garage, set it up, etc. 

When my neighbor with the whole house generator had a power outage, he rarely knew it had happened. I’d call to ask if his power was out (so I could determine if the power outage was a personal issue or neighborhood issue), and he or his wife would say, “I don’t know” or “Oh, yeah, I think I heard the generator kick in”. 

So, convenience is the main difference. That, and supply time. If you use a portable generator, you get power equal to how much gasoline you have stored. 

If you have a whole house generator, you get power equal to (the typically larger amounts) the natural gas you have access to or the amount of LP in your tank. Which means you could easily have a power supply for several weeks with a whole house generator. 

There’s a LOT more to know about generators than what I’ve shared of my menial knowledge here.  Do some research to find out if you might need or want one. 

But personally, I’d have one for sure if I lived in the country. 

Water Supply

Water supply could also be an issue in times of disaster. In the country, you’re likely supplied your water by a well. Most wells today operate on electricity. 

That means if your electricity goes out, so does your water supply. 

Unless you have a manual water pump attached to your well, which I strongly recommend. If you have a good one (about $500 to $1000), you’re back to having an infinite water supply, provided it’s not contaminated by said disaster. 

If you live in the city and get your water via a city supply, you’re out of luck. That means you’d better have LOTS of gallons of water on hand. Prepping experts recommend a minimum of one gallon per person per day as a minimum. 

You can buy gallons of water at the store, save and reuse plastic milk jugs by refilling them with city water, or get some kind of water storage tank from Amazon. 

They have 55-gallon drums you can fill with city water and keep in your basement if need be. 

Just have something, both for drinking and for minimal personal care and cooking. 

Other Prepping Tips

So, as far as supply goes, how many months you keep on hand is totally up to you. Since you’re dealing with non-perishables and frozen foods you like to eat (they can last up to a year in a deep freezer), you don’t have to worry about waste. 

Decide with your family what makes you comfortable and what you can afford: a 1-month supply, 3-month supply, 6-month supply or 12-month supply. 

If you’re on a tighter budget, build your stockpile up slowly. Set aside a budgeted amount each month that you’ll use to add to your stockpile. 

Be faithful about organizing and rotating like they do at the stores. That’ll make it easy to ensure you have what you want to have and that nothing will go to waste. 

Think about having a cooking source too. This could be a portable grill that’s powered by the little propane tanks (and have backup propane tanks). 

Or your home grill with plenty of LP or charcoal and charcoal fluid. You’ll crave a hot meal when working through a disaster—trust me. 

Summary

Preparedness is about so much more than the amount of money you have stashed away. Think big-picture, like the Groovys have, and reassess your level of disaster preparedness. 

Hopefully, you’ll never have to use it. But if you do, you’ll be glad it’s there.

Quick aside: I know I’ve thrown a lot of weighty material your way—prepping is not a subject for the faint of heart. So let’s end this post on a humorous note. Check out this instance of prepping going hysterically wrong.

Man Discovers His Girlfriend Buried His Stockpile of Beans in the Woods  

Laurie Blank is a blogger, freelance writer, and mother of four. She’s psyched about teaching others how to manage their money in a way that aligns with their values and has been quoted in Bankrate. She’s a real estate agent licensed in Minnesota and Wisconsin and has been freelance writing for the last six years. Laurie shares powerful insights on her blog, Cents and Order, that will show you how you save more, earn more and achieve financial security.