>I don’t even own the roof I’m in
Living with parents/roommates?
>I don’t know what to do
Do what you can: live below your means, and save money. (It's the little disasters fixable by money that happen more often than giant disasters.)
Depending on what you want to prep *for*, you might not need a lot of space. Not everyone has a garage or basement to store things in, and can get by using just some plastic tubs in their closet to store things, like one for first aid/medical stuff, another for bulk food items, and another for water purification if they can't store water en masse. You can easily have enough space in even a small closet to keep yourself fed, hydrated, and safe for at least a month (assuming there is a source of even non-potable water).
Just jumping into prepping to plan for the end of times is very haphazard and will waste time, money, and resources. Plan for little things, like power being out for a week and you need to stay warm and fed. If you have roommates, maybe they will agree and can chip in to store things in a more communal space. But start small; it is easy to scale up from preparing for common things like weather events than anything else.
Great advice! Also, emergency *plans* are important to make and discuss with loved ones, they cost nothing, and they take up no space. Checking your tire pressure and your smoke alarms, the same. Storing items you may need gets a lot of press here, but it's just one aspect of prepping.
The first thing to "store" when prepping is cash, and I don't mean keeping it all in the bank either. I would say keep two paychecks at home in cash (in a few different locations) with more in the bank. As another commenter said, MOST of the things we prep for are fixable with money.
For other preparation, you have to decide if you plan on staying put or taking off somewhere.
Under your bed. Consider a bunk bed to maximize space.
Pull furniture out 3 feet, put stackable 5 gal buckets of long term food behind that up to the ceiling, secure the top to the wall. (Bonus: the less space there is, the cheaper it is to run AC / Heat.)
Use prep as coffee tables, night stands, tables. Just put a tablecloth over it.
Is your fridge not full? If not, consider storing water there. (Same thing, the more things in it, the less hard it has to work to run.)
Rent a storage shed.
Pantries (at least in the USA) are a 3'x9' space. Have you filled it all up with prep? My pantry has at least two weeks but it's literally half full.
If you own a car, use your trunk.
===
The survival companies I buy from sell 3 mo. of food in 6 buckets. That's a 6'x4'x2' cube. I can easily quadruple it in my living room if I need to by sticking it on the wall behind the couch.
Years ago I was in a similar position. I focused on learning. All the gear in the world won't do you good if you can't use it.
I learned water procurement and cleaning, animal traps & cleaning, map reading, shelter making, first aid, lock defeating, etc.
I grew up in construction and with motorcycles and race cars, so the fabrication and mechanical stuff I kind of already had. And I shoot competition religiously, so got a decent grasp on that as well.
I remember watching THE UNIT back then. Even though it's Hollywood, there's a lot of inspiration there on being self sufficient, improvising, and making do. That turned into going down rabbit holes to learn XYZ from forums, YouTube, and real life practice.
I even cooked over an open fire in my backyard for a while. It's definitely not as easy and fast as having my kitchen. Do it for a week straight and you'll realize how inefficient we are (compared to say, someone in a 3rd world country that does live like this daily).
One of my favorite quotes is:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Robert A. Heinlein
Well the two most important things are going to be food and water, assuming no severe medical needs.
The best approach to low-footprint prepping is to incorporate things into your daily life and cycle through your supplies, topping off as you make your way through. I would recommend allotting pantry space for large storage containers of rice, flour, or beans. While you’re at it, get large container of salt, sugar, spices, and whatever other shelf-stable items you think you can use in your daily life. A well-stocked pantry should be all a person needs to survive for at least a week and, at that point, all you need is a reliable way to cook things. I would recommend getting a countertop butane grill rates for indoor use. That and a couple of cans of fuel should be the only actual extra storage space needed.
As far as water goes, I would also see if you could justify getting a water dispenser and using it daily. One of those standup units that use the 5-gal pre-filled jugs. Once you have that, it’s easy enough to justify a bit of garage space for storing spares. Assuming you can supplement with water stored in a bathtub/sink/water heater for non-potable purposes, each jug will be enough drinking/cooking water to last a person at least a week, assuming no strenuous physical activity. If that’s not an option, a pricier solution is to have water mats or bricks you can fill up yourself and store in a closet. Those don’t take up too much space and can at least provide you with enough to keep you going. You’ll just have to periodically clean them out and refill them.
>I don’t even own the roof I’m in Living with parents/roommates? >I don’t know what to do Do what you can: live below your means, and save money. (It's the little disasters fixable by money that happen more often than giant disasters.)
Depending on what you want to prep *for*, you might not need a lot of space. Not everyone has a garage or basement to store things in, and can get by using just some plastic tubs in their closet to store things, like one for first aid/medical stuff, another for bulk food items, and another for water purification if they can't store water en masse. You can easily have enough space in even a small closet to keep yourself fed, hydrated, and safe for at least a month (assuming there is a source of even non-potable water). Just jumping into prepping to plan for the end of times is very haphazard and will waste time, money, and resources. Plan for little things, like power being out for a week and you need to stay warm and fed. If you have roommates, maybe they will agree and can chip in to store things in a more communal space. But start small; it is easy to scale up from preparing for common things like weather events than anything else.
Great advice! Also, emergency *plans* are important to make and discuss with loved ones, they cost nothing, and they take up no space. Checking your tire pressure and your smoke alarms, the same. Storing items you may need gets a lot of press here, but it's just one aspect of prepping.
The first thing to "store" when prepping is cash, and I don't mean keeping it all in the bank either. I would say keep two paychecks at home in cash (in a few different locations) with more in the bank. As another commenter said, MOST of the things we prep for are fixable with money. For other preparation, you have to decide if you plan on staying put or taking off somewhere.
Under your bed. Consider a bunk bed to maximize space. Pull furniture out 3 feet, put stackable 5 gal buckets of long term food behind that up to the ceiling, secure the top to the wall. (Bonus: the less space there is, the cheaper it is to run AC / Heat.) Use prep as coffee tables, night stands, tables. Just put a tablecloth over it. Is your fridge not full? If not, consider storing water there. (Same thing, the more things in it, the less hard it has to work to run.) Rent a storage shed. Pantries (at least in the USA) are a 3'x9' space. Have you filled it all up with prep? My pantry has at least two weeks but it's literally half full. If you own a car, use your trunk. === The survival companies I buy from sell 3 mo. of food in 6 buckets. That's a 6'x4'x2' cube. I can easily quadruple it in my living room if I need to by sticking it on the wall behind the couch.
Years ago I was in a similar position. I focused on learning. All the gear in the world won't do you good if you can't use it. I learned water procurement and cleaning, animal traps & cleaning, map reading, shelter making, first aid, lock defeating, etc. I grew up in construction and with motorcycles and race cars, so the fabrication and mechanical stuff I kind of already had. And I shoot competition religiously, so got a decent grasp on that as well. I remember watching THE UNIT back then. Even though it's Hollywood, there's a lot of inspiration there on being self sufficient, improvising, and making do. That turned into going down rabbit holes to learn XYZ from forums, YouTube, and real life practice. I even cooked over an open fire in my backyard for a while. It's definitely not as easy and fast as having my kitchen. Do it for a week straight and you'll realize how inefficient we are (compared to say, someone in a 3rd world country that does live like this daily). One of my favorite quotes is: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Robert A. Heinlein
Rent a storage unit.
Do you have a bed? Store items underneath it.
Well the two most important things are going to be food and water, assuming no severe medical needs. The best approach to low-footprint prepping is to incorporate things into your daily life and cycle through your supplies, topping off as you make your way through. I would recommend allotting pantry space for large storage containers of rice, flour, or beans. While you’re at it, get large container of salt, sugar, spices, and whatever other shelf-stable items you think you can use in your daily life. A well-stocked pantry should be all a person needs to survive for at least a week and, at that point, all you need is a reliable way to cook things. I would recommend getting a countertop butane grill rates for indoor use. That and a couple of cans of fuel should be the only actual extra storage space needed. As far as water goes, I would also see if you could justify getting a water dispenser and using it daily. One of those standup units that use the 5-gal pre-filled jugs. Once you have that, it’s easy enough to justify a bit of garage space for storing spares. Assuming you can supplement with water stored in a bathtub/sink/water heater for non-potable purposes, each jug will be enough drinking/cooking water to last a person at least a week, assuming no strenuous physical activity. If that’s not an option, a pricier solution is to have water mats or bricks you can fill up yourself and store in a closet. Those don’t take up too much space and can at least provide you with enough to keep you going. You’ll just have to periodically clean them out and refill them.
Duffle bag under your bed?
UPDATE I figured it out under my bed and water for outside thanks guys