Mama Bear of 8

Nobody wants to be afraid. Most people wear blinders to threats of natural disaster and civil strife. Pretending everything will be fine and nothing can or will happen to them. You either will live in fear and do what the "Joneses" do or you will PREP. I have FINALLY chosen to prep.

Had you mentioned the word Prepping to me a year ago I would of thought you were nuts and belong in a looney bin. I mean prepping for the end of the world, are you kidding me? what are the odds and why would I prep I mean that's why we have the government right??

 WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!

Last November I was an average everyday soccer mom per society. I had 3 kids living at home with all the latest and greatest "things", a loving man (Steve) over seas fighting for our country, a comfortable home and plenty of food to keep my family healthy and happy. Little did I know MY world was about to change. In the blink of an eye our 5 kids from Steve's previous marriage were living with us. WOW 8 kids to feed clothe and care for all while he is over seas. I sat there and cried how ever are we going to survive on 1 income (military at that) why am I not PREPARED for this, how are we going to survive this change they have came with nothing we are starting from scratch with 5 kids.  Well at least I have food in my fridge so how bad can it be, I thought no worries if things get really bad we can swallow our pride and get the government to help out, after all they are suppose to help families in emergencies right?

After a few months as a big family I had to start make excuses come dinner that I wasn't hungry, when in fact we just didn't have enough for all of us to eat. Before long the kids were saying they were hungry more and more often even sneaking extra food from lunch lady at school and hording it. My heart shattered cause I was having to be the bad guy and ration what they ate to make sure we had enough till next pay day. Finally I broke and tried for the good Ol' government bail out after all its my kids in need of food, you do what you got to do. Much to my surprise there was NO help to be offered.

Really? Steve has served our country for almost 20 years and you cant help me get food on my table? I sat in the truck and cried, at that moment the thing I thought only crazy folks did came to mind. It wasn't prepping so much as becoming self reliant. I thought the "what if" I had I been more self sufficient and planted a garden vs. buying them. I pondered the thought instead of paying into stocks that may or may not work why not pay myself something that will never be taken away, never lost to a business failure and a GUARANTEED insurance policy of its own after all we all have to eat right.

Ok, so how does a large family barely making it get ahead? Cause they always say once your behind you can never get caught up. Well my friends that is a bunch of horse poop! We did get a little help with our immediate need from one of our local churches that neither of us attended.

Once we started to bounce back I made a promise I would never let my family go hungry again. I did however have little hope that I could stock up food while meeting everyday needs.  It was no longer an option though, it was priority. I was now going to be a PREPPER, a self-reliant woman who can support her families food needs for every day to come here on out.

True to the saying "a little goes a long way" and adds up fast. I didn't start with big shopping trips to the store, massive solar oven, or even canning. Nope that all took way more money then I had. I started with the change in my truck and the local dollar store. YUP, the dollar store, and I became pretty close before long. Not everything there is a steal but there's enough to get you started. I started with small goals first was basic survival calories , protein and water. To me that meant rice, beans, tuna, peanut butter and water in every plastic or glass container I had.

We sat down and made a BUG OUT BOOK. One that had everything we needed from all our ID's to laminated maps with every route to all our rally point and our disaster plan. Then came Steve's favorite, the BUG OUT BAGS for 8 kids. I can't get over how much stuff we had here at home that went into them and before long and a few small purchases all from Wal-mart or dollar store, all 8 where done. I think I cried the day all the kids stood in front of me with them on. I was really getting into this. I started counting all the calories I had of food in our emergency-only cabinet and what looked like hardly nothing was quickly a months worth of food for all 10 of us. WOW! A months supply of survival food? That was nothing and it never cut into our monthly budget. We didn't get a raise or a second job we just made our money work harder. Garage sales, going out of business sales and the biggest one yet for me COUPONING!!!! I mean wow what a difference. I cut my household goods bill down to nothing each month and can spend that on extra food to store.

I now have 3 closets and a few book cases through out the house filled with "stuff". Working on a garden, started canning all my tough meats, making all my own jams, teaching my children the important of surviving vs. "give me, give me, give me". They now think outside the box; if they want something they make sure it has multiple purposes and is on a need factor more then an " I want", and that makes my heart happy.

RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH my friends...yes you now have this stock pile of food but can you cook it without power. You don't have the money for a generator so what do you do? You have just a bag of wheat, a can of veggies and bottle of honey what do you make?

I research and write down recipes and survival things to keep in a binder cause in most disasters you won't have internet and need to go back to the old ways.  Know what spices work to heal headaches, help with upset stomachs. Not only is it important to keep a good stock of survival, but to know how to use them and prepare foods are just as important. Combine it with your everyday living so when the time comes, everyone feels as it is a normal routine.

The most important thing I've learned from this experience is that you can prep WITHOUT changing your entire life. You don't have to be a weirdo survivalist......you just need to learn how to work smarter, not harder.

J.P. proud Navy wife and busy Mama Bear of 8!! CA

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Comments

Well done, Mama Bear!

love that the kids are preppers to :)

family that preps together stays together! :) keep it up

great family work ...:)

great job

love it

so true

very helpful

thank you for writing this

Good luck!

Good luck!!

Good luck !!!

Good luck!!!!

Good luck !

great job.

Thanks for taking the time to write this.

Good luck

keep up the good work

Good for you!!!!

Growing up I can remember being hungry as a child. My step father was injured, no income, not even SRS would help except for a few staples. I'm not even sure how my mother managed to make what little we got last all month. We ate a lot ...and I mean a lot of beans, took me a while to ever eat them again. I think that is why many of us become preppers, because of experiences we have all faced. Thank your husband for his service please.

PS, thank you nothing breaks my heart more then not being abe to provide for my children. He was a totaly prepper when we met but more on military level and thought more about bug out and surviving on the run using military skills. Now with the kids and after what we went through last year not only am I fully on board but it also changed how he preps. He still deals withthe military side the protection, the bug out bags, cars and what not where I focus on making sure we can survive in home no matter what the economy may bring or if the zombies come :)

Great job!!!! =)

Very well put!!

Love it!!!!

good job!!!

very well said!!

Go mamaBear!!

hope u win something :)

good luck mamabear

moms always protect their babies and your doing great !

no budget is too small and no family is too big !!

good luck mama bear!

thank you !!

good luck and great job Mamabear. we love you

good luck

I also help withthe couponing it is fun :) lots of good deals

awesome!!!!

hope you win something cool

keep up the prepping mamabear

:) i like that you do this on a budget ..wow what a big family

Thank you to you and your husband for your service. I am sorry that the government that you have sacrificed for let you down. But you should be so proud of yourself for tackling this! You have changed your family's lives forever! Thank you for sharing your story.

That's Epic!

I think it's time to get my wife on track, send her to you for lessons.

I am now looking around my house to see what I can do.

I'm inspired.

Judging from my cabinets, were screwed if anything happens. Got some work to do!

you have all my votes ..of course

Dan, it doesnt take much to start and trust me once you start you cant stop..the feeling is great. Esp. after hitting rock bottom cause had the zombies came during our dark times we wouldnt be here today thats for sure....

:) love my job as a prepper ...

your a great mamabear prepper

vote 4 for mamabear :)

Being prepared for breakfast is a major undertaking with 8! I'm proud of you all!!

Vote 2 for Mamabear!
Imagine, happening right now. Route 260 from Payson to Heber is closed due to a tanker crash. They don't expect the road to open for three days. Just that could be a major disaster for the common folk, but not for the prepper Mamabear!! (and Papabear, of course, he'd probably like the solitude...)

last time i can vote so good luck and win us some survial food :)

Vote #3
Most people go on vacation to relax and sit on the big chair and watch TV. Not the prepper extradonair! Nope, she has a table, and scissors and gets the whole group involved and liking it! Cutting, sorting, and then the thrill of the actual hunt. It was a blast and now, even this household has cleared out the junk and made room for more storage! Not on Mamabear's level but a start!
Thanks for the inspiration.

u make me want to prep

wanna take me in whats 1 more :) good luck

good luck

thanks you for serving this country

ok last one......:) have fun

you have come along way ....

good luck you deserve it

dont give up and keep on doing what your doing

im gonna start prepping now so we can combine preps :)

your kids are lucky good job

So COOL!!!

Get some!

Get some more!

Good job

better to be prepped than zombie chow!

or aliens, whichever comes first

4th comment
Great information!! Thanks so much!

My last vote:
Sad but I'm very pleased to have been able to public announce how proud I am of all of you!

well done

love the dollar store it helps get ya going

thanks fr your service and good luck on this hope you win something fun

glad you wrote in thank you

awesome :)

thank you so much for sharing and thank you for all your husband does

excellent story !

for family is truely blessed

I think I am coming to your house :)

your a great mom to do what you do

your are a great and loyal mamabear cubs are very lucky

good luck to you

you have all my votes

oops almost forgot the last one ...lol

:) get some seeds and then can them ..

Don't give up & keep on doing what you're doing!

Well done!!!

Good luck!!!

Keep up the great work!!!

Very inspiring Mamabear! :-)

Vote #4 Keep up the good work.

Vote#1 Way to go!

Vote#2 Dollar Tree Rocks, I use them too!

Vote#3 Thanks for sharing all of this

Vote#4 Your story is inspiring!

Vote#5 Well done!

so glad you bounced back

Vote 2 you prove anything is possible no matter how little money you make

vote 3. keeping up with jones's is over rated glad you took the other route

vote 4 i want to survive WSHTF and think I need to start doing stuff

best of luck to you Mamabear

Great job!

Pretty awesome story, I can not imagine not being able to feed your kids but sounds like you have over come alot.

very inspiring thank you for sharing

More families need to pull together and be ready like this

thank you for your service as well

good luck

We can all learn from you Mamabear!

Motivating.... Oorah

last vote for yes myself :) its been fun taking this new path in life and yesterday was a day spent canning and we did it as a family. I couldnt do any of this with out my family support thank you all !!

I know where I'm taking my family when it hits the fan...:) To MamaBear's bunker!

Keep blogging about this, I would love to see more!

If I can pull just 1 thing what you have already done to prepare, I'll be ahead of the game!

Keep me updated!

You go Girl!!!

keep up the hard work

Way to pull a family together!

an amazing story

So inspirational

Good luck!

You make it sound easy!

Hope the coupons really help you out. :)

Hope your story wins!

Thanks for the tips!

GOOD WRITE UP THANK YOU

YOU HAVE ALL 5 OF MY VOTES SO HERE IS NUMBER 2

IT TAKES ALOT TO KEEP UP WITH A BIG FAMILY GOOD JOB

YOU MOTIVATE TO US ALL

Great story J!

Inspirational. Vote-1

Vote-2

Vote-3

Vote 4

Vote 5 good luck!

Here's to hoping that your children will never go hungry again. Vote #4

:) go get em

Vote 2 good luck

3.. hope u do good this is what we should all do

4 your a great mother and hope othersfollow this

vote 2 good luck

vote 3

You have done a great thing for your family

Great job J good luck and help me start couponing next please :)

Get em Moma Bear...

:-)

You're the nest Moma Bear around

You and Papa Bear take good care of the cubs

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