GETTING PREPARED FOR A PROBABLE PANDEMIC...is it possible? Options

[rockncook View Member Profile]

Finances are my biggest concern, too. Right now we are still paycheck to paycheck. Because DH is still just a temp, some weeks he gets 55+ hours, but this week he'll be lucky to get 40. So we're using the big checks to get ahead enough that we can still do what we need to do with the small checks. Things are getting better, but they are still tight.

We live in gov't housing. I'm hoping that they would be umm, nice, but I'm not counting on it. While I'd love to shelter in place during the pandemic, the reality of it is, I may have to run. Spending the winter in a tent in the mountains does NOT appeal to me, but we may have no choice...although the flip side of that is...if this all goes THAT badly, will they be able to enforce an eviction or foreclosure? The few police that aren't sick will be busy dealing with looting, vigilantes, etc. I think putting someone out of their home will be last on their list. Of course, that's only putting off the inevitable, because eventually it will happen if you haven't been making payments. But by then it will be warmer, so less to worry about.

That being said, I'd be a mighty happy camper if I had six month's worth of rent under the mattress. It's not going to happen unless the pandemic comes after IRS refund time, although part of that money will also be spent finishing up preps that haven't been done.

Mommy of Six

[HiYa View Member Profile]

--------------------------------------------------------------

Remember, they knew about Katrina days before any info was released. They always know, and they always try to keep us in the dark. For the good of the country. To avert a possible panic. Because they know what's best for us.

--------------------------------------------------------------

While that idiot mayor in New Orleans claimed not to know how bad Katrina was I certainly did! For all of you who live in hurricane country, check out Crown Weather. It's a great hurricane website run by a meterologist in Maine (I believe that's where he is.) He forecast Katrina 9 days before it hit -- showing it out in the mid Atlantic and he also posts ALL the computer models.

I remember watching the news the morning that Katrina was due to hit New Orleans and watching Ray Nagin ask the news anchor why she thought he should call for an evacuation. What an IDIOT!!! And they re-elected him - Barnum had it right when he said there is a sucker born every minute. New Orleans proved that without a doubt.

Luckily I lived in Savannah at the time and they have the model evacuation plan for the US. The plan is an insert in the newspaper once a year. It's printed on grocery bags and 7-11 bags. Most stores also have the evac. plan brochure for free at the check out counter. There is a cable channel dedicated to Emergency Management Topics 24/7. If you don't know the evac plan, you are deaf, dumb and blind. They have city buses (with pets allowed either caged or muzzled) on board for those without transportation. Everyone knows which areas of the city, evac to which inland cities. They have pet shelters near the people shelters inland. All the roads from the coast are reversed so that all lanes are inland. etc. etc. etc.'

You know ahead of time, where you are going and if you're at work, where the kids are going. New Orleans could learn alot from them.

While I'm out west now, you'll chuckle at the storey of finding this house. It was a very fast job relocation and I had two weeks to move.

I flew out the week before relocating to find a house. Had appointments set with realtors and went around with one looking at houses. I had looked at a map ahead of time and selected the zip code I wanted to live in (not near airports / army base and 1/2 way up the mountain from the valley where the Rio Grande flowed.

One realtor kept showing me houses on the banks of the Rio Grande and I kept telling her NO. When she asked why, I told her rivers can flood - I'll stay away. She was rather snotty and told me it had not flooded in her lifetime and would not flood in mine. I stuck to my guns and selected a nice 2 storey, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in my designated neighborhood.

8 months later, we have torrential rain, the dams upstream fail and valley goes under water. I could not risk calling Ms. Snotty Realtor to ask if she noticed the "little ponding" in the area she wanted me to live. That's why I wanted a home up the mountainside. (meow) By the way, the house she pressured me on was completely flooded (water past the roof line.)

Prepping is a good thing in life. Common sense is even better!

As for financial prepping - as soon as I get paid, my emergency prep $$ go to savings immediately. I'm fairly well prepped right now for the basics and like everyone else I'm trying to stash some $$ aside for bills when this hits. I'll be the first to admit that it's hard to do and takes a lot of willpower not to raid the account for the little emergencies that come up.

[jazzy View Member Profile]

hi ya'll,

prepping seems soooo daunting to so many of us and at the risk of sounding nutty ill say that setting big logical goals can make it seem impossible to reach, if the goals are too far out. for me (10 adults to prep for) i almost went nuts trying to figure out where to get the money to be able to take care of all of us. it seemed impossible until i realized my initial goal was too big. i wanted 1 yr. when i changed it to 3 months and focused on that, it started to come together. when i got there, i went to 6 months and im moving on from there. it doesnt seem so impossible now. will i ever get to 1 yr--heck if i know, but im still marching along.

money is another thing, bills, mortgages--we rent right now--but im trying to make sure i have enough set aside for 6 months of bills. and little by little i put some bucks here and there in an envelope just for that. will i get enough for 6 months of bills and rent before the poop hits the fan? heck if i know. but i still march along---plodding is probably more like it.

its so easy to feel overwhelmed--for me at least. but all i can do is all i can do. a few bucks here a few bucks there. little by little it does add up and the truth is, every little thing you do will benefit your family. it might not make things all perfect but you will be light years ahead of others and will have some measure of protection.

i pay my bills first and see whats left and divide it up. some in an envelope and some in preps. i got a little notebook and projected out for a year---if i spent the minimum of what i thought i could spare, what could i do with that and what would i end up with that was on my list.

somehow, its not so scary with my little notebook plan.

do we have a year left before avian flu hits or we get nuked or hit by a comet or whatever it is the has us prepping?

heck if i know.

but little by little and with some prayer to the good Lord, we will be far better off when the time comes we need our preps.

every little thing we can do each month, even if its only a jar of peanut butter, a bag of rice and $5 in an envelope for emergencies is a help to our family.

i think everyone here believes that hard times are coming, no matter what the source-------just do one little thing each week, no matter how small, and you are still making progress.

God bless ya'll

jazzy

[ArmyOfFive4God View Member Profile]

EXCELLENT post jazzy!

[Cricket View Member Profile]

Very well said, Jazzy!!!! Thank you.

[Holly View Member Profile]

I've just started getting serious this past year about preparing. I had to start small too. I started with just a backpack kept in my car, filled with emergency supplies like flashlights, some cash, water, snacks, fire starting items, a pocketknife, and candy! Then, I graduated to a large duffel bag with some candle lanterns, topo maps of our area, a compass, a bigger knife (I love knives!) a small camp axe, a tarp, toilet paper, soap, water purifying tablets, handywipes, paracord, and some windup flashlights. Then, I got another duffel bag with clothes and rain gear and hats and gloves and a blanket. And I threw a sleeping bag in the trunk too.

At home, I cleared out my hall closet and started stocking supplies, a little bit each week. It took some time, but I now have enough in there to last us for a few weeks. I'll be cleaning out another closet to stock items in. I would like to have enough for six months.

[moonstar View Member Profile]

I've done that too Holly, I even gave up a shoe closet for an "extra pantry." Now I've given up my guest room closet too, and starting to put stuff under a bed, not to mention another location or two also. It just grows on ya, the more you get, the more you realize you need so much more. Glad to have you with us, and I love knieves too. ( so does Vic!)

[The MacKinnon View Member Profile]

Make of this what you will, but during our 'in-service' last week, we were treated to a 90 minute presentation on how the community would handle an outbreak of Avian flu. There were 3 modules, complete with simulated TV reports. This is in rural/small town TN.

I thought is was a little weird, since in all the world, I think less than 1,000 people have died of Avian flu. Now that's awful, but it's not catastrophic when you look at all the data. Here's a link to an ABC story that makes that point:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WhosCount...tory?id=1432589

My point is that I have an uneasy feeling something is amiss. I don't know if our authortities just want to err on the side of caution, or if TPTB have something else in mind. The thing our presenter said that sent the red flags up for me was that the government would use church kitchens (since many larger churches have industrial sized kitchens) to prepare food. Now that was a harmless enough idea, but what flashed across my thought bubble was "Wow. What a great plan to confiscate church property." And since gatherings of more than 100 or even down to 10 would be prohibited 'for the duration' (and the flu would come in waves) we would be literally in the dark - because workers wouldn't be able to come to work (in power plants, on the lines, etc).

Maybe I do need a tin foil hat, but something just isn't right about all of this.

Ok rant over. I will go chill out now.

[preparing View Member Profile]

Hummmmm, why churches when schools are large and have kitchens also???

[cookiejar View Member Profile]

Originally Posted By: preparing

Hummmmm, why churches when schools are large and have kitchens also???

What makes you think they won't? Be aware, they own the schools. Most schools here are Hurricane shelters with mandatory staffing by some school personnel as well as gov. or Red Cross during emergencies.

[Leah View Member Profile]

I assume because the churches are smaller and more scattered. Less bodies in a single space - remember the dome during Katrina?

[Deb2of9 View Member Profile]

Have to admit. My daughter and I were looking at trailers and they have such huge closets in the master bedroom...I thought I don't need that much room for clothes..I can use this for storage....Linen closet...I thought...would work better as a pantry. I swear I was looking more at what I might do to find storage in the places than what the rest of the place would be like. I did think of space for family to visit...and stay if need be...but I really looked at the storage potential

[Deb2of9 View Member Profile]

Oh, and the one we liked the most had two rooms that my daughter claimed. It was two rooms with a bathroom between. I thought, yes it would be great for you to have that as a bedroom and a sitting room with your own bath. I also thought room to go in to enter the isolation area...bathroom for person in isolation and bedroom. Perfect isolation room. Could close the one room off to the outside and only go through the other....and would have a working toilet in the isolation room.

[Cowgirl View Member Profile]

In the year since I first found this site, I have moved TWICE. Needless to say, my prep plans faltered! Today I am home sick, with a severe cold or perhaps flu. Now that my fever has finally broken, after four days, I've been pondering the implications of a flu pandemic.

It is daunting. I have a rural home I just purchased this year. The bank owns more of it than I do! Needless to say, the financial implications of a pandemic are terrifying to me also, as I could easily end up homeless.

If I manage the finances, I have made a good start on food: I have dairy goats! I've learned to make some simpler cheeses, yogurt, sour cream butter, etc. Extra kids will provide a good source of meat. Barring catastrophe between now and then, next spring I hope to get chickens again, for eggs and meat. This year's garden was not much, as the soil was not improved (pure sand). However, we have been spreading manure on the site of next year's garden, and, again barring major catastrophe between now and then, I have high hopes for the garden.

The pantry isn't packed with provisions yet, but I have a start on that. I've got some of the needed items for the medicine cabinet.

I'm looking for a second job in order to stash money for emergency mortgage payments. I'm hoping that job will involve at-home editing or writing, but I've only had a few nibbles so far.

I agree with the original poster to this thread: the financial aspects of such a catastrophe are what I find most troubling. If I had 10 years to pay off my mortgage before TSHTF, that would be lovely, but I don't think I can count on that much time.

[Darlene View Member Profile]

Welcome to MrsS CG...we're glad you've joined us here.

[unikemom View Member Profile]

I KNOW THIS REALLY DOESN'T FIT IN WITH THE SUBJECT AT HAND.....

BUT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PREPS HERE;;;;

IF YOU USE CHILDRENS COLD MEDICATIONS, I SUGGEST GETTING STOCKED UP NOW.... THE FDA IS GOING TO TRY AND GET THEM BANNED,, SAYING CHILDREN ARE DYING FROM THE MEDICATIONS...personally I don't think it is the medications, I feel the parents are probably overdosing the children......

BUT SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT,,, THE TIME IS NOW TO GET THEM,YOU BET I WILL BE......

[Purdy Bear View Member Profile]

Over last Christmas in my local area we had a huge outbreak of a nasty virus. It put you on your back for weeks, and lasted well over a month.

The thing is sometimes it is you who are ill, the prepared ones. I not only had to look after me, but two dogs and my disabled dad. I found the medical profession were all ohhs and ahhs for my 82 year old Dad, but pretty much brushed me off being quite shirty.

The thing is don't rely on getting others help, even in the modern day society. I ended up doseing myself up with lemon juice, and paracetamol (which Im not supposed to take).

I feel in a Pandemic its about not getting the nasty illness in the first place, and not just praying one has a natural immunity.

[Mother View Member Profile]

There is a lot of information on getting prepared for a pandemic in the Flu forum. I've bumped some of it up recently.

Unfortunately it might involve a lot more than just stocking up on meds. It's possible that we would have to isolate ourselves for months at a time, not leaving our homes, not recieving mail or other items into the homes unless they could first be assured they weren't carrying the disease, being cautious even of wild life surrounding us depending on the source. We might have to choose who or whether we allow anyone to come to our door or onto our property. Those that leave probably wouldn't be able to come back if we wanted to stay safe. Are you prepared to live that way?

Masks, disposable gloves, and months worth of everything we need could be indespensible. A daunting thought but might save lives.