How To Make A Dollar Store Solar Cooker

How To Make A Dollar Store Solar Cooker - SHTF Preparedness



Today is a good day to try this out. My little man is going to cook up some hot dogs in ours to see how well it works.

Sew & Sell cloth Diapers

Medium Girl Fitted Cloth Diaper 





Sewing cloth diapers for my little man when he was a baby was a great way to save money that actually went into a home based business of selling cloth diapers.

The Blackout

The Blackout was a free book for the kindle when this post was written. This would make for a great read at the beach or the park while the kids play.

The world is thrust into darkness and silence, but no one knows why. Molly is an English professor at a local liberal arts college when the world suddenly goes dark. Her husband, Gary, is a corporate pilot on the other side of the country. Grounded by what appears to be a catastrophic power outage, he has no way to communicate with his wife, let alone get home to her. Not knowing whether her husband is alive or dead, Molly struggles to adapt to her new environment: without power, running water, transportation, a stable food supply, or any long-distance means of communication. Without knowing the cause of the outage, Gary must decide whether to wait for things to go back to normal, or to make the long and dangerous journey home on foot. Both must learn to survive after the Blackout.

Home Based Business Idea - Alter and Re-do Furniture

My brother started doing this about October of last year and he is really making some good money doing it. Enough that he quit his "real" job at a local department store. He finds old furniture at yard sales , dumpster diving, etc and redoes it. Sometimes he just cleans it and paints it, but sometimes he actually alters the items into other things. He is real good and sells more of the benches that he makes out of old footboards and headboard. They are so cute. He get the headboards and footboards for next to nothing at yard sales and turns them into a bench and sells them all day long for $75.00! He had to get a booth at the local indoor flea market because he was running out of room at his house.

Just an idea to throw out there if you have the tools and a truck than you can do this.

When he post pictures of the items on Facebook to a local sale group he deletes them the second they sell. I am going to start saving his pictures. He has really made some great looking items. They sell fast!

Teach Your Kids What to do in an Emergency - Kids Activities Blog

Teach Your Kids What to do in an Emergency - Kids Activities Blog



I just had to share this. Great ideas on teaching your kids what to do in an emergency.

Money-Saving Tips to Lower Your Food Budget

As food prices continue to rise, consumers find it a challenge to stay on a budget. We are spending more money on food this year than we did last year. People are looking for ways to save money on food. As an experiment, for one month, I spent only twenty dollars a week on food. I ate healthy, delicious meals and all of my meals cost under a dollar. This article will explain the foods I ate, the stores I shopped in and other information that will help you lower your food budget.

Everyone can save money on food if they would eat vegetarian foods two or three days a day. You can substitute beans for meat or chicken in most recipes. Bean stew, bean curry, bean burritos are a few examples of bean meals. When you combine beans with a grain you get the same protein as you find in meat, chicken and fish. Beans are high in fiber and easier to digest than meat. For this experiment I ate only vegetarian food, because I am a vegetarian. You can substitute chicken thighs or chicken drum sticks, canned tuna and eggs with some of the items on my list and still stay with the twenty dollars a week budget.
Create a meal plan for a week. Use the meal plan as a guide when you make your grocery list. Buy only the items on your grocery list. Always eat a meal before you go grocery shopping. Eating before you shop will help you buy only the items on yourlist. Wednesdays is the best day to grocery shop. Most stores will honor the previous sales items from the past week and you can get the new sales items for the new week on a Wednesday. Shop in the evening and you maybe able to get additional discounts on produce, bakery items and meat.

I shop for food in a dollar store and a grocery store. Dollar stores have a lot of food items and household products. In the grocery store I buy store brand products or products that are on sale. In the dollar store I buy dry beans, rice, pasta and oatmeal. In the grocery store I buy bananas, carrots, celery, lettuce, frozen mixed vegetables, bread and cheese. With these food items I can create meals that cost under a dollar.
The following menu is an example of some of the meals you can make on a twenty dollar a week budget.

BREAKFAST
Banana
Oatmeal
Toast with melted cheese

LUNCH
Pasta Salad
Marinated bean salad
Grilled cheese sandwich
Curry beans and rice
Carrots and celery

DINNER
SALAD
Stir-fried vegetables and beans on rice
Bean Chili on rice
Bake pasta and cheese
Vegetable and bean casserole

Eat vegetarian food two or three days a week. Shop in a dollar store and only buy store brand products and products that are on sale in the grocery store. Shop in the evening on a Wednesday to get the most sales items and discounted products.

Follow my suggestions and you can create meals that cost under a dollar and you
can lower your monthly food budget.

Eat 6 meals a day and lose weight. For more information on a fast and permanent weight loss plan, visit http://www.loseweightandfatloss.com

HOMESTEADING: Money Saving, Frugal Tips and Recipes

HOMESTEADING: Money Saving, Frugal Tips and Recipes was a free kindle book when this post was written.

 Do you want to save money?

HOMESTEADING: Money Saving, Frugal Tips and Recipes

* Times are tough and everyone is looking for ways to save money and cut expenses.
* Budgeting is a very important step in this process.
* Since the financial crisis started in the US, many people have lost their jobs,
their homes and their retirement accounts.
* Companies are forcing people from full-time to part-time.
* I get it, and that's why this book is here.
* You do not need to be a Homesteader to use this information to save money.

Survival Pantry: The Prepper's Guide to Survival Food Storage (A Simple Guide to Emergency Food Storage- Learn to Can Food, Store Water, and Preserve ... Pantry,Preppers Guide,Food Pantry Storage)

Survival Pantry: The Prepper's Guide to Survival Food Storage (A Simple Guide to Emergency Food Storage- Learn to Can Food, Store Water, and Preserve ... Pantry,Preppers Guide,Food Pantry Storage) was a free kindle book when this post was written.

The Ultimate Prepper's Guide To Survival And Food Storage

Food and water storage is an important part of any Prepper's system when it comes to preparing for any type of disaster. In this book you will learn about proper food storage and management, how to store and treat water, and other techniques described in this book to get the ultimate survival pantry.

Here Is A Preview Of What You'll Learn...

• Basic Prepper’s Steps and Checklists Towards Disaster Preparedness
• The Checklists
• Proper Water Planning and Management Strategies
• Water Treatment
• When Food Supply is Running Low
• Food Storage and Supply Techniques
• Important Foods Your Pantry Shouldn’t Miss
<
• Much, much more!

How to Create Clean Water Out of Thin Air

Make a Solar Still

This will work anywhere, but if you are in a place where the days are hot and the nights are cold then it will work even better. Each solar still you make can generate about a pint of water a day, so if you have no other water source, that means you will need to make eight to twelve of these stills to get to the four to six liters of water a day that are usually required in survival situations.

One way to have that much plastic on hand is to carry ten large garbage bags in your backpack. Garbage bags can be unbelievably handy in the outdoors. They can be a poncho, a sleeping bag, a tent footprint, a signal, a trap and a water catchment system. Oh, yeah -- and a trash bag. That's quite a lot of use for less than an ounce of weight for each bag. For solar stills, you want a plastic bag sheet (you cut the bag on two sides to create an extra large sheet of plastic) that is about 36 inches square. If one side of the plastic is less smooth, put that side down. The extra surface area makes a difference.

To make the still, dig a shallow hole 18 inches deep and 36 inches wide. Put a pan down in the center of the hole. If you don't have a pan you can also make a pan out of a sheet of plastic covering a dug-out part of the bottom of the hole. Weigh the top plastic sheet down at the edges with rocks and then very, very carefully, drop a large pebble in the center of the plastic sheet to create a low point. Your dish needs to be under the low point, so it can collect the water droplets as they condense and roll down the sheet.

One of the best things about a solar still is that you can use semi-polluted water. That's because the water you will be drinking has evaporated and condensed, purifying itself. If you are at the beach, you could even set a still up in the high sand and distill the salt water into drinking water.

Yard Sale Cash

Yard Sale Cash was a free useful Kindle book when this post was written.

Yard sales are a good idea to clean up your house. But cleaning up your house isn’t the only motivation for you, right? Right. You like me and million others also want to earn ‘some’ cash out of your junk. Pardon me, not some, but ‘a lot’.

So I’ll guide you in this book how to earn a lot of money through

1) Making it a perfect fool proof yard sale.
2) Adding creativity to different aspects of your yard sale.



1·Gather Your Inventory

2·Set The Date

3·Advertise

Food Storage Recipe - Special Rice dinner

Here is something easy to make for dinner one night. Quick and frugal!

NEED

1 pound can of green beans

2 teaspoon of fat - I used bacon fat.

1/2 cup of flour

2 cups of milk

2 cups of shredded cheese

2 1/2 cups of chopped up spam or canned ham , which ever you have on hand in your food storage. I personally like the canned ham better.

3 cups of cooked rice

Drain the can of green beans.

Melt the fat in a pan and stir in flour.

Slowly stir in the milk.Cook it for a minute over low heat , stirring it so it won't stick.

Remove it from the heat and add the cheese , green beans, and meat.

Cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until the cheese is all melted and the mixture is hot.

Serve it over the cooked rice!

Food Storage Recipe - Top of The Fire ( or stove ) Meatloaf

For when you want something like this in the summer time and not have to start the hot oven. Or when you are out camping. Great meal. Easy to make.

Get out your Cast Iron Skillet with Lid for this one.

NEED:

1 pound of ground beef

1/4 cup of cracker crumbs

2 tablespoon of chopped onion

6 teapoon milk

3/4 teaspoon salt

pepper to taste

1/2 cup water

1 15 ounce can of  tomato sauce

Put all of the ingredients except the water and tomato sauce in a bowl and mix it well. When we are out camping we use the bigger zip loc bags to put the items in , except the water and tomato sauce , to mix them up easily. Mix it up well.

Shape it into 4 loaves.

Brown the loaves on all sides in a greased fry pan over medium heat.

Pour of the fat.

Add the water and pour the tomato sauce over the loaves.

Cover the fry pan and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes.

Add more water during cooking if needed.

Good Tools Are A Must-Have

Just wanted to share a list of tools that we all should have in our households. Having the right tools will ensure that we are always prepared for anything that happens around the house. You never know when something might happen. You could fix a lot of things yourself in your home if you have tools to do it. You do not have to call someone in and spend too much money on something that you could have done yourself.

The first type of item to keep in your toolbox are some great measuring tools.
      a Square

      a Measuring Tape

      a Level

Cutting Tools

      Retractable Utility Knife

      Hand Saw

        Hacksaw

         Clamping Mitre Box with Saw

Other Tools

        Hammer

         Locking Pliers

         Pry Bar, this could also come in handy fighting zombies!

         Screwdriver

         Adjustable Wrench

          Hex Key Wrench Set

         Needle Nose Pliers

          Bar Clamp

        Drill/Driver Kit

Plumbing Tools

        Plunger

         Pipe Wrench

          Drain Auger

This is really just a short list, but it is the most used tools around a house. If you start with the basics you could have a great tool room quick. 

Food Storage Recipe - Pudding Pops

Great way to cool the kids off , or yourselves, on a hot day.

1 package of instant pudding

2 cups of milk

Mix the pudding and milk together.

Pour the pudding into 3 ounce cups and put wooden craft sticks into that. Or you can use a Norpro Ice Pop Maker. Freeze the and if you had used the tiny cups you can tear them away and eat!

Food storage recipe - peanut butter pudding

Yummy and easy!

Need:

1  package of instant vanilla pudding

Milk

1/4 cup peanut butter

Prepare the vanilla pudding as directed on package. Beat in the peanut butter. Pour into 4 dessert dishes. Chill in fridge and serve!

What supplies will be good for bartering?

Anything that will be in short supply after SHTF will be very valuable for bartering with. Select items that have long shelf life. Here is a list of some items to keep in excess for just using using for bartering..........

Aluminum foil

Ammo

Bandages

Bleach

Candles

Canned food

Batteries

Dental items

Diapers

Duct tape

Flashlights

Hand tools

Matches

Medicines

Soap

Solar ovens - make a few just to keep back for trading

Toothbrushes

Weapons

The Survival Tin: The Survival Kit You Can Carry in Your Pocket

The Survival Tin: The Survival Kit You Can Carry in Your Pocket was a free book for kindle when this post was written.

The Survival Kit You Can Carry in Your Pocket!

Carrying a survival tin will drastically up your chances of survival if you're caught outside your home when disaster strikes.

If you've never been in the military, you're probably unfamiliar with the concept of the survival tin. Designed to fit in your pocket, it's a mini-survival kit packed full of important survival tools that you carry with you everywhere you go.

This book covers the items you're going to want to put in your tin, along with a number of optional items that might make life a whole lot easier if disaster strikes while you're out and about

Buy this book now and get started building your very own survival tin.

2 Solar Water Heater DIY Projects

There are two types of solar water heaters. Passive and forced circulation. In this article I'll show you how to construct one of each. Two simple yet effective solar water heater DIY projects.

I must first say that neither of these heaters will heat your home. You could use similar methods to preheat your water before it flows to your hot water heater. If you live in a freezing climate you should look into a forced circulation system. Both of these heaters are for experimentation. You could use them camping or for small water heating needs around the house.

* The first one is extremely simple. Just a black storage tank exposed to the sun will heat water. If you have ever seen one of those camping shower bags you know what I'm talking about. I've seen some folks heating water in those big blue food grade 55 gallon drums. Just spray paint it flat black. Install a PVC valve. Set it in a nice sunny spot. Fill it with water. Sit Back and watch mother nature work her magic.

* The second takes a little more work. You will need a length of 1/2" or 3/4" Black hose. I would recommend 100 feet in length. The longer the better.

Do this on a large flat area of ground. Unroll the entire hose in a straight line. Starting with the inlet side begin to roll the hose into a flat coil. To make it easier to transport you can tape or zip tie it together as you go. Once you have rolled the entire hose flat your outlet should be on the outside. Your inlet on the inside.
Take your flat rolled hose and place it in full sunlight. Connect the inlet to your water tap or elevated tank. Crack your valve so that the water runs slowly. The water coming out of your coil should be much hotter than the water coming in.

You could couple these heaters together for even better results. Elevate your black tank in an area with full sun. Connect your coil to the tank. Make sure the coil is below the tank, but still in full sunlight. Now you have your first solar water heating system. Perfect for camping or small water heating needs.
You can construct a much more sophisticated system that will supply your home with hot water. This is just a starting point. An experiment to show you some of what solar water heater diy projects can do.
Good luck. Have fun experimenting.

Who Else Wants To Create Their Own Electricity And Laugh At Rising Energy Prices While Saving The Environment And Having The Electricity Company Pay You?"
[http://www.save-money-on-electric-bill.com/]

Backyard Chickens Book Package: Beginner's Guide to Raising Backyard Chickens & The Backyard Chickens Breed Guide

Backyard Chickens Book Package: Beginner's Guide to Raising Backyard Chickens & The Backyard Chickens Breed Guide (Modern Homesteading) was a free kindle book when this post was written.

TWO backyard chicken books for ONE low price.

The Beginner's Guide to Raising and Caring for Backyard Chickens gives you the information you need to know to get started raising a flock of chickens your backyard.

The following topics are covered in this helpful book:

• Why you should be raising backyard chickens.
• The big differences between commercial eggs and the fresh eggs you get from backyard chickens.
• The handful of supplies you need to get started.
• Designing a coop.
• Feeding and watering your chickens. Includes tutorials on how to build an inexpensive waterer and feeder.
• The various types of bedding.
• The deep litter system of bedding.
• Free-range chickens.
• Breed selection for laying and meat birds.
• Feeding your chickens.
• What diatomaceous earth is and how it can benefit you.
• Predator control.
• Brooding chicks. How to hatch chicks and raise them to adulthood.
• Chicken laws and ordinances.

Once you've learned how to raise and care for backyard chickens, you're going to want to start a flock. The Backyard Chickens Breed Guide has you covered. This book gives you detailed information on 22 of the best chicken breeds to buy for your backyard flock.

The information provided for each breed of chicken includes the following:

• How loud they are.
• How many eggs they can be expected to lay.
• How much they cost.
• Health concerns.
• Temperament.
• Other information you need to know.

Get two of the top backyard chicken books available today for less than the cost of buying each book individually.