20 Simple, Inexpensive, Basic Prepper Tasks

If you are looking for simple, inexpensive, basic ways to get into prepping, consider the following ideas:

1. Use a bidet.  You can find a simple bidet on Amazon for around $25, installation is an easy DIY task, and you will save loads of money on toilet paper.  It really isn't as weird as it sounds.
   
2. Grow some sort of food.  This can be as simple as sprouting, growing food scraps, container gardening, or (with experience) tearing up the entire yard and building a garden.
3. Learn about HAM radio.  You can pick up a $25 Baofeng UVV-5R HAM radio on Amazon and learn all about how to set it up, find stations, and listen to others broadcasting.  If you want to actually broadcast yourself, you must get a license (a simple process) and you will have a secondary form of communication if the grid goes down.  Note that there are a bajillion videos on YouTube to teach you all you need to know about HAM radio.
   
4. Camp outside overnight.  This can be done at a local park, local wilderness, or even in your own back yard and you don't need fancy equipment (years ago we would just take the blankets off our beds, roll out some canvas, and sleep under the stars).
5. Walk and explore.  This can be done anywhere, anytime, and the only "equipment" you need are a pair of shoes (and you may not even need those).
6. Create your own electricity.  All you need is a solar panel and a battery bank and you can create usable electricity for your household needs.  This may be a little spendy (around $300 for a basic set up) but the price of these systems have decreased considerably and the quality has improved dramatically over the past few years.  Again, there are a bajillion videos on YouTube on this topic.
7. Stockpile food.  Begin by stockpiling enough food to carry you through a week-long disaster where you can't get to the grocery store and build up from there.  This can be as simple as buying 21 cans of soup and calling it good (three meals a day for seven days) or you can get more creative and mix it up with some oatmeal, dried soup mixes, granola bars, etc.  
8. Practice preserving food.  You can dehydrate fruit, vegies, and meat in your oven, freezer jam is super simple to make, and pickle making is also easy.  Once you get the hang of this, you may want to expand into water bath or pressure canning, smoking, etc.
9. Take any free or cheap classes offered in your community.  Libraries, health districts, fire departments, the Red Cross, etc. often offer free or cheap preparedness curses like CERT, first aid, foraging, etc.
10. Build basic kits.  You can hit up the Dollar Tree for all of the essentials you need to make a simple first aid kit, maybe check out thrift stores and/or Amazon to make an EDC or Bug Out Bag kit, etc.
11. Make a disaster tablet.  You can get a cheap Samsung android tablet for around $100 on sale and create a disaster tablet with all of the information you need on it should the grid go down.  The reason I like these tablet is because you can add a micro SD card to greatly expand the memory of the tablet.  Here's an example of what you may want to include on your tablet.
12. Watch YouTube.  Instead of endlessly scrolling people behaving badly on TikTok, spend your time on YouTube learning things like self defense, shooting techniques, lockpicking, first aid skills, etc.
13. Take a couple hours to make a family disaster plan.  You can type up the information on your computer or write it in a notebook, but gathering information and creating an actual plan will go a long way towards making you and your family more prepared for a disaster (plan example here).
14. Get a radio.  I know music services have pretty much all gone online with Spotify et al but having a simple AM/FM battery-operated radio, or, if needed, a NOAA radio can be a lifesaver in an emergency.
15. Learn to cook and bake.  Bread is super simple to make, as are soups, chilis, stir frys, etc.  Making your own food is a great way to stretch your food dollars, learn valuable skills, and prepare for the day grocery stores and restaurants may be inaccessible. 
    
16. Squirrel away money.  Cash can fix many disasters large and small so to insure you always have emergency money at the ready, take every opportunity to squirrel away cash--both at home and in the bank--to use during a disaster.
17. Do some calisthenics and body weight exercises everyday.  This is an excellent, free way to prepare for a disaster.  You would be surprised at the number of people who are completely unable to run, jump, climb, and do all of the other physical movements needed for basic emergency response simply because they stopped exercising years ago.
    
18. Interview the oldest people you know.  Elderly people often have a wide range of knowledge which would be considered disaster preparedness information today (back then, it was called everyday life).  How did they do laundry before today's washing machines were invented, where are the best places to fish, do they use any home remedies for various ailments, what were the biggest challenges they faced in their lives and how did they overcome these challenges, etc.
    
19. Take the entire weekend off from all media (no TVs, radios, cell phones, internet, gaming devices, etc).  Extreme? Yes.  Useful and enlightening? Yes.  In a grid-down situation, it is important to know how to entertain yourself without electronic media.  And after the initial shock, your brain will feel like it has been on a much-needed vacation.  If you must know what is going on in the world, go buy a newspaper.  If you are bored, read a book or play chess.
    
20. Practice practice practice.  Practice building fires, practice putting out fires, practice fire drills and lock-down drills, practice bugging out, practice bugging in...if you don't practice the skills you learn, you may very well forget them so continually practice the preparedness skills you now in order to keep them sharp.