Prepping 101:A Practical Preparedness Start for Single Women

(10 minute read)

You are now on your own. Perhaps you’ve just moved out of your parent’s house or you are a widow like me. Or, perhaps you are a divorcee with young children. You are no longer in the marriage you fought to get out of, but now you are flying solo with limited assistance and much responsibility.

Your life is forever changed. It can be wonderful, but it can also be overwhelming. The life you made so many adjustments and compromises for is over, and you can live as you want.

Being on your own is liberating! However, being a single mom or solo woman is more difficult than for single men or two-parent families. Firstly, it’s harder to find a place to live. Some of us had no option of moving back in with our parents or had sympathetic relatives or friends that had space for us or any children (and animals) we may have.

Getting a roof over your head was paramount, and a SMSF may have to make a lot of compromises and hard choices to find an affordable place to call home. She may not want an apartment on the first floor for safety reasons, but it may be the only affordable option. This choice might not be an issue for a single man or a couple. As a result of factors such as lower pay*, child support, or alimony that may or may not arrive as it should, SMSFs often end up in poorer neighborhoods with higher crime rates. She has to be careful how/when she travels and has her children’s safety in the back of her mind as they go back and forth to school. Money is tight, with more Americans than ever living paycheck to paycheck*, including SMSFs, who do not have the safety net of a partner or an ex-partner to help when the ends aren’t meeting.

…And you have to do it all. An SF finds herself doing things for and around the home that have traditionally been male, along with household chores. An SM has to do the same and has children. Having pets adds to the daily grind, leaving little room for relaxation and self-care, much less prepping.

So, how does a SMSF get into prepping with so much on her plate? Prepping may seem like another “must-do” for a SMSF to add to her never-ending “to-do” list. But instead of seeing prepping as yet another chore, I believe it would help to look at preparedness differently.

1. You can find a way to store your preps in a small apartment/home and be discreet. Some people may prey on those who seem to have the essentials in tough times. Prep covertly and find creative ways to make room.

2. It is not something to be done every day. Look at it as a houseplant, something that needs tending but is not an obsession.

3. Your preps CAN fit in your budget. It’s amazing what an additional $50 can do. For $50, an SF can have enough food for a month; an SM with two kids can eat for about two weeks. FEMA recommends that you have two weeks of food on hand during a disaster and a gallon of water per day per person (and more of you have pets). Remember, this amount of water is not just for drinking but for cooking, rinsing, and hygiene, so more is better!

It’s easier to build your food and water cache than you think. Grab a couple of extra food items next time you go shopping. Think of all the food items you can grab for under $3, like small bags of pasta or noodle dishes in the packets. Mashed potatoes in the packets. A small case of water. A couple of cans of veggies or beans. Also, many dollar stores have inexpensive items essential for preparedness, like flashlights, manual can openers, cordage, candles, first-aid kits, and trial-sized articles for your “bug-out” bags. You may want to check that old First-Aid kit and see what needs replacing or adding. We’ve all needed something out of the First Aid kit only to find it expired two years prior, and you’ve used up all of the band-aids. Make updating your First Aid kit a priority, especially if you have children.

You can grow food items on your windowsill or vertically in a small area by a window. It may not seem like a lot, but you save money anytime you can grow your food. Growing your own herbs and re-growing already-bought food items like green onions, celery, and lettuce* can stretch your dollar. Check with the Extension Office in your county*. Many counties have an Extension Office you can access online, which provides home gardening, vegetable gardening, plant care, and more. This (free) information can be helpful and give you more confidence in growing some of your food, even if it’s just enough for a salad. I will go into further detail about shopping and growing items in a small space in future blogs, podcasts, and videos!

4. You do not have to prep alone. SMSFs can begin to talk about preparedness with their family and friends, especially other SMSFs. Build a network of SMSFs and see how you can help each other, such as checking in on each other periodically and around any upcoming weather events. If you are far away from an involved ex or your family, you may connect with a neighbor who will have your back in the case of an emergency. A person doesn’t have to be all up in your business to be a good neighbor when you need help. Trust your gut – it will tell you if a person is a fit for your tribe and that you can trust with specific information – and your children – in an emergency. You may be leery of trusting your information or some preps to them, but this is the time to vet your Disaster Team. If untrustworthy with tasks when things are “normal,” be confident they will not be reliable when SHTF (the Sh*t Hits the Fan).

You may ask, what information should be shared? What can I gain by building a network? Someone may have a home where SMSFs can convene pre and post-disaster. You can trade items and supplement your preps. For example, someone may know how to can but has no space to grow food; another may have room to grow items like tomatoes but does not know how to can. Someone may have a great stash of medical and hygiene items, but not enough stored food and you could use some of their items in exchange for some canned or frozen items. You can exchange information regarding sales, giveaways, farmer’s markets, and thrifting. These things will help boost everyone’s preps without revealing what YOU have.

5. Build your knowledge! Even if you are comfortable with the number of essentials you have on hand and have enough room to store them, begin to follow other women in the prepping community online to get some ideas. If you spend time on social media, commit a few minutes to look at other women working toward self-sufficiency and preparedness. Even if their lifestyle is different (say, they live on a farm and you live in a 2-bedroom apartment), that doesn’t mean you couldn’t learn a food or storage hack that can make a difference in your preps and save you some money, space, or time.

In closing, you CAN prep and have more than FEMA’s recommended emergency supplies without significantly impacting your day-to-day existence. Ease into it, noting where you can be more emergency-ready and then focusing on one area at a time. This series aims to teach SMSFs to be more prepared and self-sufficient, not the added stress of training to be Xena Warrior Princess of the Apocalypse. You are already kicking ass; these are tips and skills to add to your repertoire and increase the security of your household. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for more tips every Monday morning!

https://blog.dol.gov/2023/03/14/5-fast-facts-the-gender-wage-gap
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/gender-pay-gap-statistics/#:~:text=Women%20earn%20an%20average%20of,for%20every%20dollar%20men%20earn
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/19/briefing/juneteenth-racial-wage-gap.html

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/living-paycheck-to-paycheck-statistics-2024/#:~:text=or%20lost%20income.-,How%20Many%20Americans%20Are%20Living%20Paycheck%20to%20Paycheck%3F,paying%20for%20their%20monthly%20expenses

How to Regrow Celery from Scraps

Time Lapse of Regrown Celery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddKMJlZeVAw

https://www.allrecipes.com/article/save-money-diy-fresh-green-onions/

https://www.allrecipes.com/article/how-to-regrow-lettuce/#:~:text=Start%20by%20cutting%20your%20purchased,edges%20don’t%20get%20soggy.

https://www.nifa.usda.gov/about-nifa/how-we-work/extension

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