From the mailbox - Sept.

    Well, the mailbox has been empty most days, but I have heard from two of you.  First was Mary, who mainly wanted to say she enjoyed the books and wanted to share them with her daughter.  She had some questions about that, and it was a pleasure helping her.

    Here's another email I got yesterday, Sept. 25th:

    "I just finished your book on poverty prepping and had a couple thoughts I wanted to share with you.

    Let me begin by saying that I am a beginning prepper, however I would not be considered a poverty prepper. Regardless I was interested in reading your book as I find that I always get useful information from any prepping information I read as I am a novice. Also I am gluten intolerant and due to past health issues (and sometimes current) I am more picky about what I eat. Because of this I find that "standard" long storage products do not meet my needs or desires. Therefore I was curious to your position on prepping as you also were not purchasing or using standard items. Same end result but different driving force and motivation.

    Though I differ on your nutrition stance for health reasons, overall I really enjoyed your book. Your idea of using small glass bottles reminded me that I had kept some of the glass bottles from baby food in hopes of using them again. I like the idea of storing spices, etc. in small bottles expressly for using them in barter situations. By the way, I live in southern California in a city, so bartering will likely be a necessity if something happens.

    Because I do live in the city, we have many ethnic grocery stores. You may want to recommend to your readers to check those places out for bulk purchases as they are generally less expensive then natural food stores and Costco. Many items are imported from those countries. It may only be a problem with someone that has an allergy or intolerance as in some cases they are also packaged on equipment with wheat, dairy or soy.

    I look forward to reading more of your blog.

Best,
Congetta"

    Thanks very much for this letter.  I agree about the nutrition, as far as "real" prepping is concerned.  In the book I'm addressing the people who are overwhelmed by the whole thing of "prepping" and storing food, or who are looking for excuses.  I've had friends and neighbors tell me they can't store food because they can't figure out what they should buy.  They don't know how to figure it according to nutritional charts and so forth.

    That does bog down a lot of people.  The other excuse I hear all the time is "I can't afford to store up food".  When I press some of these people a bit it turns out they think the only way to store food is to buy package deals or expensive freeze-dried food.  Yes, if a person has the money, it's awesome to be able to do that.  It takes a lot of the headache out of deciding what to buy, and then figuring out how to store it.

    But if all a person can do is stash away a couple boxes of pop tarts at least they've done something.  Maybe that accomplishment will inspire them to buy something else, or just more pop tarts.  One thing can lead to another.  Sometimes the biggest hurdle is the first one.  Once they get started they do fine.  For some it almost becomes a hobby!

    I had no idea that ethnic food stores are good places for bulk purchases!  That's great information and I hope it's helpful to our city preppers.  I look forward to browing some of those stores next time we're in a city.  It sounds like an interesting adventure in itself!

    Please, readers, share your thoughts and ideas with the rest of us.  Ask questions, and if I don't know the answer, maybe someone will. 

    Susan
    povertyprepping@yahoo.com
   

From the mailbox on Sept. 29:

Hello Susan,

I have read your book on my Kindle, thank you for sharing your ideas. I have found when bar soap goes on sale, and to make it stretch, unwrap it, and let it dry in a bucket for about a month or longer. It drys out the extra moisture and and makes the soap work better and last a lot longer.

Have A Blessed Day!

(I've abbreviated his name to initials) J.B.

Thanks for this tip.  It's one I haven't heard before.  How do you store the soap after you let it dry?  Do you use an airtight container, or keep them in something porous?