Five Steps to Freedom June 8, 2010

A huge part of being prepared is minimizing one’s dependence on outside resources. Whether that means waiting for FEMA to come bring a bottle of water and a bag of ice after a hurricane, or not being able to cook dinner tonight because no one went to the supermarket. Here are five simple steps that nearly anyone can take to increase independence from the system. Doing these things can build self-sufficiency, save money, and even help a person have a little fun.


Grow something.

Genetically modified crops, salmonella, out-of-season price increases, trucker strikes. Why would anyone not grow at least some of their own fruits or vegetables? If all you have is a plastic pot in a windowsill, or you have a 10 acre homestead in the country, you can grow some or all of your own produce. Jules Dervaes and his family grow 6,000 pounds a year on their 1/10 acre lot in Pasadena, California.

I just had the first harvest from my first garden. I have a 12’ x 4’ box filled with top soil and horse manure compost. I’ve got cukes, tomatoes, lettuces, carrots, two blackberry bushes, and radishes. The radishes came up first and tasted delicious. A garden that size is manageable for me as I learn about the soil and what works. In future years, I expect that my garden will grow, and its output will increase. I’d encourage the novice to start small. It’s better to have to expand it later than to get overwhelmed and abandon the project.
If a yard is not available for your gardening, look into containers. The Topsy-Turvy , ornamental pots, or just 5 gallon buckets all work great. If that is too much, grow a few herbs on the kitchen window sill in a tray. Right now, boxes of Triscuit crackers have basil seeds in them, ready to plant as a part of their Home Farming promotion.

Whatever steps you take, you’ll add tasty, healthy food to your diet; reduce your tax footprint (even if your state has no food sales tax, you won’t need to use as much fuel going to the store); get some fresh air and exercise; increase your self-sufficiency; and be more prepared for whatever life throws at you. Don’t forget to find some hapless neighbors on whom you can furtively drop off your excess zucchini.


Change your oil.

When I had cars that were built in the 70’s and 80’s I changed my own oil. Routine maintenance was a breeze on those older cars. As cars got more complicated and I got busier, I turned to Jiffy Lube and repair shops. I have recently started changing my own again. It’s really still a simple matter, requiring one time purchases of ramps or jack stands, wheel chocks, a filter wrench, a socket set, and an oil drain pan. From there, you need 5 or 6 quarts of oil and a filter… that’s it. Check your owner’s manual for specifics, then crawl on under and do it. If you’ve never done it before, ask around for someone to show you, or check YouTube for how-to videos.

The first few times, it will be a long project and a pain in the rear, but it will get quicker and easier, and eventually it will be quicker than going to get it done. Plus, it will cost you about a third of what you would pay to get it done. Just be responsible with your used oil and take it to a place that accepts it for recycling. Also, be careful and follow your manual’s instructions so that you stay safe. You don’t want your car dropping down on top of you!

Once again, this is an opportunity to do something for yourself and save some money. It’s also a good skill to have so that you can help out an elderly relative or even make a few bucks on the side doing it for folks who are satisfied being dependent on others.


Get a generator.

Nearly everyone lives in a part of the country that is subject to power loss ranging from several hours to several days or even weeks. Around here, it is usually due to hurricanes or ice storms. Elsewhere it could be from range fires, tornadoes, or any number of other reasons. Not everyone is ready for a giant diesel generator hard wired to the breaker box or a natural gas whole-house unit. If you are not at that point, you really should consider a small, inexpensive genny. For just a few hundred dollars, you can get a unit that will be enough to run a couple extension cords to power the refrigerator and a few lights.

You need to look at the power draw of whatever essentials you want to run. The refrigerator will have a surge draw (when the compressor kicks on) that is higher than its continuous draw. A generator will also have a surge and continuous output. For instance, say your refrigerator has a continuous draw of 1,200 watts and a peak of 2,400. You have three lamps with 60 watt light bulbs (here’s a place where a CFL bulb can really pay off), a color TV with 300 continuous watts and 400 surge, and a window fan with 100 continuous and 150 surge watts. Your inexpensive genny has 3,500 and 4,400 continuous and surge, respectively. You really can’t get full efficiency, so you could watch TV with the lights and fan on, but then, every few hours, turn off the TV and two lights and run the refrigerator for an hour or so to maintain the temperature so you don’t lose your meat and milk.

A generator like this can be had, including shipping, for $479 from Amazon. You could shop around locally at your big box stores, or check Craig’s List and yard sales for someone who bought it for a specific storm, and won’t think ahead to the next one. A poster on a forum I frequent just got a nearly new genny at a yard sale for $100! To keep it in top shape, you’ll need to learn how to do basic annual maintenance, such as oil and spark plug changing. Start it up and run it with a light plugged in once a month for 15 minutes or so. Naturally, you need to have adequate fuel. For a small unit, 10 gallons of gas will run it for most of a day (you probably won’t run it 24 hours unless you are powering some crucial medical equipment or something like that). You can keep six gas cans, each holding five gallons, in a pretty small space. That will get you through three days, a reasonable time frame for many power outages.  You can always store more if you have the space.  When storing fuel, don’t keep it in the house or near an open flame. You’ll also want to treat it with fuel stabilizer. Gas goes bad in just a month or two unless it is treated. Some people swear by Sta-Bil, others by Sea Foam. A friend who is a meticulous researcher has recently turned me on to Startron. I trust his judgment without question, so Startron is my new fuel stabilizer of choice. Twice a year, rotate your fuel in the lawn mower, car, or other engine, and get fresh gas with new treatment.

Finally, be sure to follow instructions when using a generator. It can be lethal to you if the exhaust gets in the house or to a lineman if it is hooked into your home’s power system incorrectly.


Store some food and water.

FEMA tells us to store three days of food and water. The Latter Day Saints (Mormons) encourage their flock to keep a year’s worth. I’ll never say that a year is too much, but three days is definitely not enough. Money is tight, so most folks don’t have the luxury of heading to Sam’s Club or ordering long-term storage foods from Emergency Essentials to fill the pantry in one trip. But, everyone can gradually build up several weeks’ worth of food. Two principles to keep in mind are “First In First Out” (FIFO) and “Store What You Eat, Eat What You Store.”

FIFO means that you rotate your stocks. By having multiples of things you eat on a regular basis, you don’t have to run to the store to immediately replace something and you won’t run out. If you use a few packs or cans of something, but have several more in the pantry, you can wait until it goes on sale before buying again. That keeps you from being at the mercy of whatever the retail price happens to be at the time you need something. Storing what you eat means just that. If your family does not like rice, a 50 pound bag will do you no good when you need it. Similarly, a case of military MRE meals will have a very negative effect on a picky eating child or spouse. If your family likes tuna, pasta, and peanut butter, stock up when you have a coupon or it goes on sale. My pantry has the above, plus pasta sauce, granola bars, oat meal, soup, cereal, crackers, rice, and other items that we eat daily. We wait for sales and use coupons to keep it stocked up.

Water is actually more necessary than food for life. FEMA says one gallon a day per person for drinking and hygiene. That is not nearly enough. I suggest 3-5 gallons per person at a minimum. Water is heavy and bulky, and the containers can have their own issues. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I could be better prepared when it comes to water. We have a couple of cases of bottled water and several 2.5 gallon jugs at any given time. But, we are on a shallow well and have a generator that will run the well pump. Future endeavors will include a rainwater harvesting system and an improvised old fashioned bucket on a rope contraption for the well. For your needs, look at reusing 2 liter soft drink bottles (clean them extremely well), five gallon Aqua-Tainers, or even 55 gallon food-grade barrels if you have the room. Don’t reuse milk jugs because they are fragile and won’t last. I’d also suggest some sort of water filter. You can go as basic as a Britta pitcher or as advanced as a Big Berkey filter system.

If you don’t have a pantry or an extra closet, you will have to be creative with how your plan to keep your new food stores. Look around for unused space. Under the bed is a great place. We have an antique church pew that hides seven or eight cases of water. Consider cutting out a section of sheet rock then nailing in 1x4 shelves to serve as shelves for canned goods. You can hang a simple curtain to cover it. The storage space is only limited by your imagination. Imagine how much better your life will be if you lose your job or disaster strikes your region and you have a month’s food supply already on hand. What about if you just have unexpected dinner guests and haven’t been to the grocery store? You’ll also save money by buying when you want to, not when you need to.


Eliminate debt!

Debt is the biggest disaster that nearly everyone faces each day. Debt prevents success. It tears apart families, and is at the root of our nation’s poor economy. To quote Jack Spirko, “Debt is cancer.”
Debt can be beaten. All it takes is to refuse to be trapped by it any more. We have been really helped by the principles that Dave Ramsey teaches. His seven baby steps are proven methods of beating debt and building wealth. I won’t go into them here, but please look them up. Disasters are a lot easier to take if you have no debt to worry about.

One key in the battle is to make a detailed budget and stick to it. Telling your money where to go each month is so much better than wondering where it went. It is amazing how much money just “disappears” when there is no budget. It’s also great to be able to pay cash for purchases that you plan for. Remember the folks mentioned earlier that bought a generator at a yard sale for $100? The asking price was $300, but it was the end of the day and they had cash on hand for just such an opportunity and the sellers gladly took the money. If these folks had a lot of debt and didn’t budget, they might have been able to get a 25 cent Slinky at the yard sale, but the generator opportunity would have passed them by. I know that when the next power outage happens, they’ll be really grateful.


Using these five simple steps: Grow something, Change your oil, Get a generator, Store some food, and Eliminate debt, you and your family can be well on your way toward self-sufficiency, being prepared for disaster or everyday life, and true Freedom. The longest journey starts with the first step. This will get you going.