New Prepper

[thelyricwriter]

Hello all. The prepper lifestyle is new to me, I'm just learning. The way the world's going, I don't think anyone is immune to the violence. I need to start now, I have limited funds to start. But I'm trying to get prepared and build everything up that I need. I guess my question, in terms of priority, what are my biggest needs at this stage? I have a family of 6. 4 children. Food around 6 months. Underground shelter. Weapons, firearms. A few medical supplies, but was thinking of getting that stocked up. The lifestyle change is tough financially at the moment just to get prepared with what I have.

[pseudonym]

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

Food, water and shelter are your first 3 main priorities.

I wouldn't worry about a bunker, and the discussion on weapons as a means for defence is not allowed on this Forum.

[MissAnpassad]

Welcome.

With limited funds, start of with learning what you can forage, a lot of the decorative plants in gardens are actually edible.

[izzy_mack]

Welcome,agree with replies so far, food is an obvious but water is maybe not so obvious but just as important. Your water supply could go off or become contaminated at a moments notice. If you can get a water butt and some way of catching rainwater a least you have some, it will need purifying for drinking and if you have bottled water to drink you can use the rainwater to flush the loo, if the sewage system works or you have a septic tank that is.

Learning skills can be a good way to start prepping and need cost little or nothing, as Missanpassad said learning to forage will cost you nothing and could save you money, try the library for books. I don't know if you cook from scratch but with a large family it's definitely the cheapest option and a good skill to have, if you don't already do that, try some things, if I can do it, anyone can!

Making things from scratch can be very rewarding as well as useful, lots of suggestions in various corners of this site, like making candles, blankets, quilts, tools, stoves etc. All can be used for everyday and prepping and the more money you can save the better, you can then spend it on things you can't make/devise/find.

If your on a budget, and most of us are, don't overstretch yourself, being in debt is not a good idea, take it a little more slowly and get there safely would be my advice. I went hell for leather at the start, as I suspect many do, and then regretted some impulse buys once I had calmed down. mostly I wish I'd waited till I had the funds to buy better stuff, rather than make do with what I could find cheaply, although some cheaper stuff is all thats needed in some cases, knowing where you can save comes with time and knowledge - regrettably I'm still learning - and still making mistakes.

[tigs]

Welcome to the forum