Living Life in Rural Iowa

Are you sending off a kid to college this fall? Or will be in a few years? This is a good time to get your kid sent off on a good foundation. If you are a prepper, you will add a few more things to their pile of things that need to go with them. I have a tendency to go a little overboard sometimes, but I want to make sure that my kid has enough food as well as other emergency items while at college. My kids are used to my food storage at home and I want them to also have some food stored at college. You know, just in case. You are probably thinking, "We have just paid or have gotten enough scholarships to pay for an overpriced meal plan. Why do they need more food?" Well, why do you stockpile food? Dorm rooms are not very big. They are about the size of an average bedroom and they manage to fit two kids, two beds, two closets, two desks, and two dressers in them. You still need to get their stuff in there too. Most colleges put the beds on lofts now when greatly im

We talk a lot about what we need to acquire and purchase as people who live the various lifestyles of prepping, homesteading, and the combination of the two. We talk about what we shouldn't buy as frugal people and sustainability learners. Somewhere in the middle though, we need to understand that we need to get back the phrase that most of us should live by. "Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without." That phrase hangs on the wall of my office in the form of a printable. I look at it almost every day and sometimes I still forget to apply it. However, the kids were gone for two and a half weeks on vacation with their father's side of the family this summer. I found myself unconsciously living that phrase. I only bought groceries once while they were gone. I went back to the store the day they came back. Otherwise, I was going through our food stores and seeing what needed to be eaten. I would set those items on the kitchen counter in an effort to remem

Many preppers have some kind of fuel as part of their short-term and long-term preps. For many short-term situations and crisis, fuel can be a good idea to include in your preps. A fuel like propane can last longer than other refined fuels due to its nature of being used a vapor in some applications and a liquid in other applications. I deal with propane every day. I work for an agricultural cooperative, but my primary responsibility is dealing with propane and other refined fuels. We advise customers every day on uses of propane, safety procedures, and general maintenance. We set tanks, deliver fuel, service systems, perform leak checks, and install some heaters and small appliances. We all have to take classes on handling propane safely as well as being able to respond to emergencies. We are not only accountable to our customers, but insurance companies as well. For this post, I am concentrating heavily on propane. However, this advice and information can be applied to other r