Here are some tips for beginning preppers, courtesy of Nick Olsen, John Barrett and other sources.
• Assess your situation, determining what you'd need for a period of time.
• Buy a little extra every time you go to the grocery store, and more if something is on sale.
• Write purchase dates on canned goods.
• Learn a new skill every year. A good start? How to can or preserve foods.
• Buy a dehydrator or go in with your neighbors to purchase one.
• Establish a neighborhood inventory of tools, equipment and useful skills.
• Look around and consider how something would (or wouldn't) work without power.
• Stockpile sanitized emptied milk jugs filled with water.
• Imagine how you'd spend idle time.
• Get some tarps, and look for camping equipment at garage sales.
• Put any documents or legal information on a flash drive.
• Assemble a first-aid kit and medicines.
• Gather a supply of heat sources such as Sterno and matches.
• Check out the Pinterest board: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper, too? (There's a recipe for homemade Velveeta.)
Kim Ode