Self Sufficiency Apartment Living

[Kristin85]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Dont bother as the Mayan calender says its all going to be over on the 21 December 2012..

Seriously if you are living in an apartment in the city you may want to stockpile enough canned goods and water for a week or two and have a camping stove to cook stuff, but after a week or two of no power the city will descend into anarchy and gangs will be on the roam looking for stockpiled food..

Thank you for the looking at the bright side; I don't need to worry about self sufficiency if I'm robbed and killed by roving gangs! Haha. In all seriousness, I'm thinking of buying a pickup truck just in case I need to pick up and leave during a major emergency--weather or otherwise.

[Urban Sasquatch]

To tell you the truth, Kristin, a pickup has a few advantages:

1. They're great for camping trips; there are even tents specially designed for using the truck bed itself.

2. Handy for moving (although the downside is everyone knows this and calls you)

3. Awesome for groceries

4. IF you had to pick up and move suddenly, say something involving a disaster, trucks tend to ride a bit higher than cars, making them a tad more roadworthy; you'd be able to fit more stuff back there and you'd be able to pack more quickly and efficiently.

5. Most importantly: Women who think practically AND drive trucks are haaawtttt!!!!!

[jaada]

Originally Posted by Urban Sasquatch

While of course there are variations on a theme and it's all dependent upon the kind of apartment you have, area of the country, fixtures and facilities, etc, the bottom line is that there's pretty much minimal self-sufficiency available to you under those conditions and you're more talking about disaster preparedness.

Obviously that's not meant as a sweeping statement; anything one can do to minimize reliance on outside sources qualifies as self-sufficiency, the real point of differentiation being how often one partakes of said activities.

For example, having the solar-rechargable flashlights -- great way to avoid the need to buy batteries! But how often will you use them, in reality? I know I own several flashlights but other than a moment here and there they don't really see any use outside of power outages, and I'm out in the country.

Don't let that discourage you and don't think I'm talking DOWN to your flashlights. In point of fact I encourage them because every little bit helps.


Since you live in the city for now, I'd say disaster preparedness is probably the best mindset for you to keep while you're learning your way to self-sufficiency. My reasoning is that it's a learning process anyway, so think in terms of things which are feasible in the immediate future.

Unemployment -- have you planned for three months worth of fallback at a minimum? Lots of people are finding themselves unemployed for far, far longer, so you'd be looking at the following:

- A SAVINGS PLAN which would allow you WITH NO OUTSIDE MONEY to pay rent, utilities, purchase food which doesn't vary at all from your present lifestyle, gas for your vehicle (also according to your PRESENT lifestyle), etc. The reasoning there is that if you find yourself unemployed you should be able to draw unemployment BUT what if there are complications which don't make that an option?

- A FIFO SHELVING SYSTEM in your food cabinets is a simple thing which allows one to shop more efficiently, seeking foodstuffs which are on sale yet have a good shelf life; it keeps things organized so you're using the old stuff first while keeping stocks incoming.

- EMERGENCY WATER STORAGE can keep your comfortable even in moderate amounts, since being an apartment dweller your storage is limited. It's as simple as purchasing a couple of large containers, either pre-filled OR ones you can fill, and finding a place you can stick them so they're out of the way. Then every so often you rotate them out with new ones, simply using the old ones. I'm not talking drums here, just three or four (eventually) two-gallon packs, or even just bottled water.

- SPARE BLANKETS AND SHEETS IN THE CLOSET can go a long way toward helping in the event of winter adversity, such as an ice storm which knocks out power for several days. No power = no heat because even if you have gas, your thermostat is electric.

- A CAMPING STOVE can make life in the event of a power outage significantly more pleasant, especially if you're dependent on electricity. It can provide hot meals and even offers some residual heat.

- A CHARCOAL OR GAS GRILL can work wonders for you, even in winter, if you have a place to store or use one.

- FOOD PLANNING can do a lot for you in the event of power outages. Having soups and stews and pastas can keep you going like a champ if things break down. Knowing how to actually prepare everyday foods like bread ON YOUR OWN eliminates the need for machines and the bread section of the grocery, even if you still need flour and yeast and sugar.

Your perishables will, in fact, perish once the power goes out, so for the first few days you can eat like a king -- although...

- A GOOD COOLER can help with this in winter time, if power goes out due to inclement cold weather. If you have a safe place to store your cooler then frozen goods stay frozen in Nature's freezer just as well as they do in your Frigidaire.

- CANDLES, LANTERNS, OIL, MATCHES are amazing to have around when the lights go out, and they help boost morale because we crave light and warmth, as we see fire as the source of those. It's why one of the earliest things people should do in the event of a wilderness survival scenario is build a fire, even in warm weather -- because if anyone is close to panic, fire offers a semblance of control and security, calms them down enough to allow them to start thinking reasonably once more.

Not saying that would be you, just explaining why fire is good.

- HAVE A BALCONY? GROW HERBS AND A FEW VEGGIES

- HAVE SPARE ITEMS ON HAND FOR YOUR CAR'S MAINTENANCE? DO YOU KNOW HOW TO FIX CERTAIN THINGS ON YOUR VEHICLE SO YOU CAN SAVE MONEY?

- HAVE ALL YOUR FINANCES LINED UP SO IF THINGS GO SOUR YOU'RE NOT BEHIND AND IN DANGER?

There are, of course, LOTS of things you can do to be prepared. It helps to make a list of things which you feel you need in order to maintain your lifestyle, then find out bit by bit what you could do to maintain those in the event of various disasters... and then also, bit by bit, decide what you do and don't NEED.

The upside to all this is that as you go along, learning stuff, the ideas for your eventual LONG TERM self-sufficiency will begin to come to light and all you have to do is write them down and formulate plans of action.

Good luck. This is a decent forum for bouncing ideas off folks, so always feel free!


PS -- I know I kind of repeated some of what you said; forgive me, I got on a roll!

that is a really good post with great advice!

[irman]

Just a reminder about food storage.

Store what you eat,
and,
eat what you store.

Ergo ... ROTATE !!!!

Everything has an expiration date, so keep that in mind.
The only items that last almost forever ..
Whole Wheat (the not ground stuff), salt.

Do not forget salt.

Another tip about growing stuff on your balcony.
Buy a large bag of potting soil.
Lay it down, poke holes in the top.
grow your plants in the holes.

[BuffaloTransplant]

Kristin, make sure you can use the generator you want safely from an apt: you need gas and it has to be far enought away to not send CO gas into the apt.

learn to dry foods, get a dehydrator: fruits and jerky.

[Kristin85]

Originally Posted by irman

Another tip about growing stuff on your balcony.
Buy a large bag of potting soil.
Lay it down, poke holes in the top.
grow your plants in the holes.

What is the reason for growing plants in this manner as opposed to growing them in clay pots?

Also, Buffalo: I thought about dehydrating fruits as opposed to canning them, but I hadn't heard anyone suggesting to go the dried rather than airtight route so I automatically assumed it was a bad long-term decision. Regardless, having dried fruit in bags while travelling by foot is much more efficient than travelling with a bunch of cans. Thanks for the reminder to learn how to do this.

[mamalproofbins]

Might a good ideal to gather others like minded in your apartment building, for instance there is sometimes land not being used in the area and plot rental could be arranged for gardening. or bulk buying from local farmers doing your own preserves, recalling back few years when the power went out for 3 days the entire area went to a stand still litterly people stuck in there cars at gas stations. I also lived on the top floor of an apartment 8 flights of stairs lugging supplies is not fun lol . so camping out on the ground might be an option. Basic knowledge of older ways might be more useful than someone who shows up to the party with 50k.

[irman]

Originally Posted by Kristin85

What is the reason for growing plants in this manner as opposed to growing them in clay pots?

Just easy ... nothing more, nothing less ....

I must say, only good for small plants, like in *Strawberries* etc.

Figure what the full grown size is, then decide *bag* or *pot*.