# Prepping / Emergency Preparedness > General Emergency Preparedness >  Two? Water and tight budget

## wannabe

first 

i have a question about water. i know about pouring it through a clean cloth, boiling it or using bleach, but my question is: if you need to find it, what are the best places? 

ponds? rivers? swimming pools? cathcing rain (if it rains) 

is one source better than another?


second question 

our budget is really tight. we have axes and knives and tools and camping gear and guns. i am gonna start storing water again. we have a better food supply than most thanks to gardening, canning and keeping chickens. but i feel overwhelmed by how much stuff we would really need if we were cut off from the outside world for a long time. it's me, hubby and two kids.  so, if you were on a really tight budget, how do you decide where to start? how do you decide what is most imporntant? the thread on the top ten things really helped. but where do i start from there?

thanks

----------


## pocomoonskyeyes

Well you will probably have to augment your food stores with foraging. If you are going to be "Bugging In" this could be a small advantage. Get yourself a good _Edible Wild Plants_ book,take it around as you go for a walk in your area and LOOK at the plants,and identify what they are and where they are found. At the same time notice game trails in whatever environment there is around you,and familiarize yourself with some traps and snares(saves bullets a valuable resource doesn't matter if you have 1 bullet or 1 million save what you can). Get in the habit of _noticing_ things as you move around.Something some call situational awareness. It's something that is happening with me,My situational awareness in regards to what I may need or may be useful is starting to kick in. No I'm not getting paranoid, I'm not looking for people but things. You may be surprised how your world opens up when this happens. I look for everything from tinder to animal tracks to odd items that are just "laying around".

----------


## crashdive123

Wannabe - It can seem overwhelming, but don't let it.  A little at a time, slow and steady is all it takes.  For water storage, sometimes you can pick up 30 or 55 gallon *food grade* barrels fairly cheap.  If the kids drink soda - save the 2 liter bottles.  Ask friends and neighbors to save theirs for you for a "project" you are working on.  They make excellent water and food storage containers.  Stay away from any container that stored dairy products.  It can be done, but the risks are fairly high for bacterial contamination. For food or other stuff that you need for long term storage - just work on it little by little.  No need to be overwhelmed.  If you can only budget an extra dollar on each shopping trip - Pick up an extra bag of rice on your next trip.  A bag of beans on the next one.  Before you know it you will have quite a supply built up.

----------


## Pal334

Yup, if you are just starting, or on a tight budget. Do it a little at a time. A bag of beans here, a bag of rice there, some pasta. I am guessing that the one or two pund bags of these go for around $2 each, so is relatively easy to add one each time you shop. And like Crash says, before you know it you have a decent supply. And remember, something is better than nothing.

----------


## Rick

You first question on water...

All of the locations you listed are good sources of water. Just remember that any event can have an impact the quality of water. Wood ash from a forest fire, for example, might force you to treat your water before using it. It is generally accepted that rain water is "cleaner" water than other sources but remember that a rain, especially after a dry spell, will capture dust and airborne pollutants as it falls to earth. Sort of cleansing the air, if you will. So all water should be treated prior to use as a precaution. 

Your second question...

You asked not only a great question but one that everyone should ask regardless of where they are in their planning. 

First! Decide what is most likely to happen. That is the the first thing you want to prepare for. It does little good to invest your time and energy in preparing for a meteor when a home fire is much more likely to drive you out of your house. 

Take a look at post number 2 on this thread: 

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ight=heat+wave

I've listed out the things that most concern me in my planning. It may help you in your planning as well. 

All of us have, more or less, limited funds so planning should be focused on those things that stand the greatest chance of impacting us and working our way through the list until everything is covered. The very nice thing about planning in that way is that once you have built a plan that covers most contingencies then you are pretty well prepared for just about anything that comes along. 

You can certainly add any threat or delete any threat you wish from that list. The key is to rank the items from the most likely to the least likely to occur and then plan accordingly. That will maximize you resources into the most protection for you and your family.

----------


## wareagle69

i would not use rain off a shingled roof for drinking water, for all other usues it is fine
when looked at as a whole prepareing can be extremly overwhelming, like was said break it down on written paper into priorities and tasks
what is most important to you?
most see shelter as a first priority-shelter from the elements as well as a form of security against animals, humans as well
then water, i don't know your geographical area, in the desert like my boy twosox it is more diffucult for me in the greatest area of freshwater lakes in the world, it is easy for me to get.
i place alot of value on food. i mean really what is it we do more than anything else in the day we sleep we eat and we crap everything else just leads up to that. so i learn all i can about small game keeping and food storage and foraging
but some may have a medical limitation that that place priority on meds or some here have handicapp children so they place priority on that. put it all on paper and break it down into very small acheviable tasks and it won't be as diffucult as first imagined

----------


## TucsonMax

If you were a millionaire and could afford every product and gadget in the world it wouldn't help you if you were clueless about how to use them, what to do first and how to keep a level head.  

Yes, the info on this site and the whole nature of survival can certainly be overwhelming and not just financially.  What I have learned, after spending months reading thousands of posts, is that education is the key.  Spend time reading, digesting, making notes and generally getting your head around all of this and in little while you WILL feel much better and know where to begin and what to do for your family.

Finally, what helped me (a newbie wth no survival or military training and a family of 4) was Cody Lundin's book: _When All Hell Breaks Loose_. He's quoted on this site in several places.  Good used copies are on Amazon and eBay.

----------


## Rick

Here. Here. Well said.

----------


## edr730

If you have chickens then maybe you have a well. If you do then find a well bucket that will fit down your well casing. It has a check valve on the bottom so the water comes in but won't leak out when you pull it up. They are long and narrow. You could make one from pvc with a check valve on the bottom.  Keep an eye out for an old hand pump too. Usually the leather is bad, but it's easy to fix them.

----------


## edr730

Get some food from your local farmers co-op or mill or from whatever farmer handles grains and feeds. Go to farm auctions for many tools. Have a pig roast and can the rest of it.

----------


## Rick

That is a great thought, edr. I've picked up some really good hand tools at garage sales. Just up the road a few miles is a Thursday night flea market. All sorts of stuff comes in there and you can pick things up for a song sometimes. Talk to your neighbors. If you have two of one tool maybe you can trade one for something they have that you can use. Goodwill is another great place to pick up items. I see canning jars in ours all the time. Check Craig's List in the Free section. Folks will do a curb alert and all you have to do is go by and pick it up. No charge. A lot of times it's junk but one man's junk is another man's treasure.

----------


## wannabe

thank you all for your wonderful replys. i think i will be busy the next few days making lists. maybe that will help me decide where to start  :Smile: 

amanda

----------


## samurai steve

Just food for thought, but in the general survival discution forum, there is a thread called how many of you have tried a bug out. This could be a great way not only to have an inexpesive vacation for you and your family, but also to take notes and write down the simple things you may have forgotten and add them to your supply list. Alot of times it's the small stuff we forget.

----------

