How many people are you prepping for?

[Blaundee]

Basically, as the title says- How many people are you prepping for? How many pounds of what kinds of food per person are you stocking up on? I have been working out charts on how much I need to store up per person. When it all hits the fan, I KNOW that we need to be prepped for at least 40 people (that includes my parents, siblings, Hubby's parents, sibs, and nieces/nephews)... but we are wanting to be prepared for even more people because I just know there will be people showing up half starved on the doorstep, and as a Christian I will not turn them away, so I want to be prepared.

 

[Mattemma]

I have 5 and 3 I would want to take in if needed.Safe bet I suppose is to prep for 10.The thing is I am opposite of you and I will not help out anyone who has not prepped a bit.

Unless we have a war situation or some MAJOR weather related mess I just don't see large populations starving in the U.S.

I have checked out those sites with the calculators.I am way behind.Maybe enough for 10 for 2 months tops.Less people more time.More people less time. I always buy an extra bag of rice,beans,soup,sweets for the pantry.It has come in handy on bad weather days when going out is not a good idea.

How is your (extended)family and friends when it comes to stocking the home? Do they all do it,or do they have just enough of everything for a few days?I have some that buy extra and some that just keep on saying," Yeah I should stock up on food and supplies." but they never get around to it. I even have one who always says," I will just come to YOUR house,because I know you have food,supplies,meds,and so on....." It is a bit frustrating given that most I know make far more than we do.They could be doing so so much to prep for those common unexpected things,but they simply choose not toh well.

As for foods I have so far these types of things,but no idea on the pounds........rice,various dried and canned beans,canned veggies,canned and dried meats,sugar,salt,barley,oats,soups(bagged,canned,dehydrated),spices,honey and honey comb,granola,dried fruits,various nut butters and hazelnut coco spreads,coco powder and hot coco mixes,coffee,tea,wheat berries,popcorn kernels,various vinegars,various oils,pickled veggies,seaweed,nuts in shell,crackers,vitamin c,candied ginger,dried milk and milk in shelf stable cartons.....that is all I can think of at the moment.Oh and wine,blackberry brandy,and vodka.

 

[Wannabefree]

Basically, as the title says- How many people are you prepping for? How many pounds of what kinds of food per person are you stocking up on? I have been working out charts on how much I need to store up per person. When it all hits the fan, I KNOW that we need to be prepped for at least 40 people (that includes my parents, siblings, Hubby's parents, sibs, and nieces/nephews)... but we are wanting to be prepared for even more people because I just know there will be people showing up half starved on the doorstep, and as a Christian I will not turn them away, so I want to be prepared.

About 100 folks. Not because we have to, but because we want to take care of folks, for the same reasons you stated. However, I am NOT keeping all that mess in my house! We store enough for the 4-5 of us, however many we have at any given time, plus a little extra in case we take in someone else. The rest, is just things we have access to, which I guess we could lose access to if we really pee in someones cheerios, but I don't see that happening. We should still be able to help to a degree either way. The main thing I am concerned about stocking and keeping stocked is toiletries. I sure do NOT want to be stuck in a house with a bunch of stinky folks....and someone is gonna have to clean up that fan, right?

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I guess, just my household, plus extra for bartering. So as of now, 8....but we have a great family support system and other family on the property doing similar things. I'm not much for buying mega food though. I'd rather just be in a way that I can grow my own and preserve it myself.
As for helping others.....well, a quick fix is fine and after that, I think they need to accept what help I'd be willing to offer, which might be more advice and passing on of knowledge, if you know what I mean.

 

[heatherlynnky]

I am right there with Rhonda. We are prepping for ourselves right now but honestly in a way where we can produce what we need. We do have probably a years worth of food for us but if family came we could extend what we have a bit. Granted they would have to work. There is family I know I would not allow up on the hill with us if things get bad. They would steal from everyone else and contribute nothing. There is other family that cannot prep right now but who have already said they are coming ready to work if things go badly. They are struggling as is so we understand all that and would never turn them away or any of the kids.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Yeah.....well, I have maybe one person I don't wanna see, except if its for him to abandon his kids to my care, so he can roam the countryside, doing whatever. Thats doesn't mean I don't care for him; just that trust is not possible.

 

[Blaundee]

I have 5 and 3 I would want to take in if needed.Safe bet I suppose is to prep for 10.The thing is I am opposite of you and I will not help out anyone who has not prepped a bit.

Unless we have a war situation or some MAJOR weather related mess I just don't see large populations starving in the U.S.

I have checked out those sites with the calculators.I am way behind.Maybe enough for 10 for 2 months tops.Less people more time.More people less time. I always buy an extra bag of rice,beans,soup,sweets for the pantry.It has come in handy on bad weather days when going out is not a good idea.

How is your (extended)family and friends when it comes to stocking the home? Do they all do it,or do they have just enough of everything for a few days?I have some that buy extra and some that just keep on saying," Yeah I should stock up on food and supplies." but they never get around to it. I even have one who always says," I will just come to YOUR house,because I know you have food,supplies,meds,and so on....." It is a bit frustrating given that most I know make far more than we do.They could be doing so so much to prep for those common unexpected things,but they simply choose not toh well.

As for foods I have so far these types of things,but no idea on the pounds........rice,various dried and canned beans,canned veggies,canned and dried meats,sugar,salt,barley,oats,soups(bagged,canned,dehydrated),spices,honey and honey comb,granola,dried fruits,various nut butters and hazelnut coco spreads,coco powder and hot coco mixes,coffee,tea,wheat berries,popcorn kernels,various vinegars,various oils,pickled veggies,seaweed,nuts in shell,crackers,vitamin c,candied ginger,dried milk and milk in shelf stable cartons.....that is all I can think of at the moment.Oh and wine,blackberry brandy,and vodka.

All of us are into the prepping thing, some are more into it than others but we're all pretty much on the same page. We have cellars, and enjoy canning, gardening, etc, even before we "got into prepping"- it's mainly that none of us know how much one person actually eats in one year, let alone a hundred!

 

[Blaundee]

I am right there with Rhonda. We are prepping for ourselves right now but honestly in a way where we can produce what we need. We do have probably a years worth of food for us but if family came we could extend what we have a bit. Granted they would have to work. There is family I know I would not allow up on the hill with us if things get bad. They would steal from everyone else and contribute nothing. There is other family that cannot prep right now but who have already said they are coming ready to work if things go badly. They are struggling as is so we understand all that and would never turn them away or any of the kids.

Yeah, anyone willing to work is welcome FOR SURE!



What are the sites that have calculators?

 

[Bettacreek]

Honestly, I've noticed that more po'folk prep than richies. We KNOW what hunger is like, we know the difficulties of choosing which bills to pay and which ones you can let slide. In Pa, if you have children, it's illegal to shut the power off in winter, even if the family isn't paying. We only took advantage of that on one or two bills, though our neighbors took full advantage of it and had racked up FOUR THOUSAND dollars in electricity debt! Apparently, they had played the system for years. Not a good idea, but if you have to do it once or twice to keep food in the childrens' bellies, you do it. But, don't waste that money on booze like they did! Anyways, George went to the store every day to get something to make dinner. His fridge was bare bones, freezer had two things in it, cabinets were bare except for one cabinet that had a few soup cans. When we started staying a few nights out of the week, I had to do some major shopping, just to becomfortable spending half a week's worth of nights here. Now, we had to buy a new freezer and when we move, most of the crap in the cabinets is going so we have more room, and a pantry will have to be built. If a major crisis hit, we could survive. Our freezer is full, we have a few months worth of food and enough on the hoof to keep us going for some time... an unlimited time really, since we have enough in the freezer and could butcher some breeders to get them to a managable amount that could still provide plenty of meat and eggs. We wouldn't have a greatly varied diet, but we'd survive. As for how many people, I don't believe in global meltdown. I believe in inflation, food becoming too expensive and having to go back to raising our own foods and cooking from scratch, but certainly don't believe it'll come down to living on dirt and bugs, so I prep for our family of four. We have enough that if a family member got hit hard, we could help them out. Nobody in my family HAS to buy chicken or eggs, they do it by choice. But, I do supply my brother and his two little ones with eggs, and the little ones come here a few days a week. Cooking homegrown and from scratch, it doesn't put a dent on our finances or supplies... it's when they want those pop tarts and corn dogs that it gets a little expensive. With no more hatching until we move, I've given my brother three dozen eggs, sold four dozen for someone else's table, sold another four dozen for hatching and have a dozen double yolkers in the fridge, all in the past two weeks, PLUS forty four eggs that were fed back to the birds yesterday since it was so damn cold. I'll be collecting eggs until we move, whatever doesn't sell as HATCHING eggs will be hoarded for ourselves and my brother, in case the girls go off lay after the move. As for everything else, we either stock up when it's in season or we only eat it on occasion. We put the lamb in the freezer, but beef is too expensive, so that hasn't been in the house for months. I guess basically, I don't full out prep,because people, no matter what, will adapt to the situation.

Oh, George laughs about some of my stocks. Like when I found 5lb bags of unbleached flour for $0.99, I grabbed a bunch. Just the other day he asked about it again, and I said, well it won't really go bad, it can always be used, even if the nutrient value declines. It's in the freezer to slow that down. I explained that while prices keep going up, it's going to be like savings in the bank, with a much greater interest rate. He laughed and said by the time we get through it, it'll be ten years from now and they'll be charging $10 per bag. The only problem with stocking up on sales is when you run out, it takes a lot of will power to get over the sticker shock and pay the inflated full price!

 

[odd_duck99]

I love this, and just KNEW there were some preppers in this group! My prepping is largely mental. Every time I watch a disaster movie I get all worked up wondering what I would do and how plausible that scenario was, etc. Our group of friends has a generic bug out location just in case. We also tend to be the kind of folks that shop once a week and like to have a fully stocked kitchen. The unfortunate part is that we now have to find ourselves in a tiny apartment in a major metro area. We don't have the space to really prep for much. However we are pretty self-sufficient and have a lot of ingenuity - especially when needed. I would like to get books on edible plants in my area and how to build shelters, etc. That way I have access to the info that I need.