Alright guys one of the things I'd like to bring up is supplies. Now I have already been preparing with my family. And it's time we went over this in this thread.
I have enough water to last for about 3-4 months give or take, depending on how many people are going to be using it (my girlfriends family is huge) so that might cut the water time down to around 2 months of usage.
But, the good news is that mother nature supplies the World with a fresh supply of water every so often, and once my jugs run out all I need to do then is put them all outside to collect the rain on a heavy rainstorm night and I could have them all filled up by the next day, which would give us another 2-4 months to go off of.
Right now, water is relatively cheap. So there is no excuse, and everyone and I mean everyone should be storing up water wherever and however they possibly can. I don't care if you don't have the space, if you have enough money to rent out a very tiny storage room at a facility than you should do it at the cheapest rate you can find. And then fill it up with water and canned foods and such. Because when things start to go bad guys, you can bet that the grocery stores are going to close and lock their doors just like they did during Hurricane Katrina, and that no one will be able to go and buy water, there will just be too many people to supply, and the stores wouldn't be able to keep up with them even if they wanted to.
Plus, some people have stated that right after all of the natural disasters and such, bottled water could go up to as much as $10 a gallon. And that is more than most people can afford to store up on. So get this stuff done while you can, it might end up making things alot easier for you. And don't put it past the stores to raise the prices of bottled water either, they have to keep up with supply and demand, and even if they open back up, without electricity, water pumps won't work around the country, and if they know that they are the only source that you can get their bottled water from, they will raise the price on it, just like gas stations do during a gas shortage. It's the same concept, and they will do it. Don't doubt it.
Ok so that covers the water. Next is food. Food is alot harder because it doesn't last as long, and it is harder to store. I have maybe, 1 month's supply of food at the moment, and I have been saving for awhile. It is more expensive than water at the moment, and it takes up more space. And there are only certain types of foods that will last a long time (crackers, canned meat, canned fruit, etc.). So the amount of nutrition that a person will get per day will be significantly reduced from where it is right now. But oh well, that's the sacrifice we will have to make during these coming hard times.
And that's where multivitamins come in. I have maybe a 2 year supply of multi-vitamins at the moment, because that is the key to keeping up your nutrition levels, because no one will be able to eat a well balanced diet when all this stuff begins, and a multi-vitamin might would be the key factor in you not getting nutrition deficient diseases and such, which will be more than likely, because it will be as if we are back in the days of sailors and such where they would get scurvy and what not from not getting enough vitamin c and whatever. Now you might be saying, how the hell did you afford a 2 year supply of multi-vitamins? It's easy. You only need a few large bottles (the 320 pill count kind) to equal enough for a 2 year supply. And 2 or 3 of those bottles will run you only about $30-40 dollars. But that might just be the most important investment you ever make for your family. This is because the body doesn't really need 1 multivitamin every single day. So you can spread out each dose for 1 pill every 3 days for each person in your family, etc. 3 or 4 bottles will be enough to make sure that your entire family is getting the necessary nutrition they need, even if you give 1 pill to them every week, it would still be enough to help them fight off some of the diseases you can get from malnutrition.
Alright so that covers that. Now, those are the basics for staying alive. But there are other things you can do, which even I haven't still done yet, which I will do. Wherever you can get cheap packs up matches, start storing up on them. Get one of those large black trash bags and start tossing match books into it every so often. If you keep doing that for the next 2 years by the time this stuff hits you will have enough matches in that trash bag to probably last you for years in order to make fires, light candles, provide light in the dark, etc., etc. But this is a must.
Next on the list. Soap. Most people when they think of hard times and soap think of hand sanitizer. This is not the way to look at it. Those bottles of hand sanitizer are semi-expensive. And they are not the most efficient way to go. The most efficient way to go would be to start storing up on bars of soap, because not only would the bars last longer, but if you go with the cheaper relatively unknown brands of soap, you can get them for as low as $1.00 per bar. And each bar could last you maybe 1 week if you use them sparingly. So $100 worth of soap bars would last you for quite awhile. And there are other options for cleaning yourself as well, such as using citrus juice from citrus fruits like oranges. Oranges have natural cleaning properties. You could technically get the same effect by rubbing citrus juice on your hands, etc., and then rinsing them with water. However, you wouldn't be able to get the oranges from stores, so unless you have a citrus garden in your front yard, this option may not be viable for you.
Ok and next on the list would be clothes. Make sure to stock up on the cheapest clothes you can find. Again a black garbage bag would do. All you need to do is go to goodwill, and you can get these shirts and pants there for pennies on the dollar. Yeah they don't look the best, but are you really going to care when you have a clean shirt to put on and a clean pair of pants to put on, and feel confident knowing that you have enough clothes to wear when your other ones begin to wear out? Because again, you will not be able to get clothes from the stores anymore. Because they won't be open and they won't be serving you. So that covers the clothes.
Alright and last on my list (other people may have other things they would like to add and that's fine, if you do, please list them in this thread so people can take notes), but last for me would be a form of entertainment. The bottom line is, you get enough people together in a room, without anything to do to keep their minds entertained, and you could have quite a situation on your hands. Now the cheapest and most effective form of entertainment is going to be card games and board games. Trust me, they might be going out of style at the moment, but as soon as the electrical grids go out, they are going to come right back into style faster than you can snap. Now if you don't have the money to buy board games (they can be quite expensive these days - unless you find them at goodwill or a store like that) than card games would be the way to go. Me personally, I have plans to buy at least 10 brand new magic the gathering decks. The game magic the gathering, in case some of you guys don't know, is an extremely fun game when learned, and it can eliminate boredom for hours if played with more than 1 person. I love the game personally, and I took the time many years ago to learn how to play it. If you haven't learned how to play the game magic the gathering yet, you need to do so, because aside from other card games I would say it is probably one of the most fun card games to play out there, and besides possibly playing other strategy games such as chess - which requires too much concentration in my opinion, I prefer magic the gathering which requires less but can be just as fun. Anyways, get cards, stock up on cards. If you don't like magic, than just stock up on regular playing cards, so you will be able to play spades, poker, texas-holdem, and all the other fun ones. I am going to stock up on playing cards too, which are a little cheaper than magic decks. But anyways 10 magic card decks is going to run me about $100. But trust me, it will be well worth it. Here's a link to the magic the gathering card website so that people can study it and learn how to play it. The cool thing with magic is, if you don't want to follow the official rules for playing it, you can come up with your own, because it does leave a little room for the imagination. Here's the link: Magic Experience : Magic: The Gathering
Ok now I'm going to stop there for now. All of that stuff I just listed is fairly cheap. So it shouldn't be too much of a problem for people to gather that stuff. But all of that stuff is going to make you more comfortable while riding out all of the problems we have coming, and remember, the most important health is Spiritual health first, then Mental health, and then Physical health. Because the Mind controls the body, and if your Mind isn't right, everything else goes down the drain. The Spiritual health is the most important of course, because it gives you hope, and hope is a mainstay, just ask anyone who has been wrongly imprisoned for more than 10-15 years. They will tell you it was hope that got them through it all, and not giving up on themselves.
And the last part is, surround yourself only with people you can trust your life with. And no one else. Only people who you know that truly care about you, and aren't going to try and take advantage of you during your weakest moments. These are the people you need to have on your team. Strength in numbers is a fact.