Commander Zero loves a bargain. He also likes quality. Usually, those two things are exclusive..not always, but often enough. Saving money is a big deal when youre gearing up for Ragnarok…every five bucks you save is another freeze-dried entree, another four-pack of batteries or another case of bottled water.

So, I must say, I like my local Albertsons grocery. All the way at the end of the meat displays is the ‘bargain bin’ of meat. Its usually meat that is one day away from its ‘use by’ date. Its perfectly good but you must either cook it immediately or freeze it. The savings? Well, the $1.99/# ground beef is $1.19. Thats a savings of around 40%. Bonless pork chops, normally $2.99/# are $1.99/#. You get the idea. Since I get into work at around 10am I usually head over to the grocery after checking my mail at the post office. Its early enough in the day that I can have a good selection of marked-down meats. I usually by $5 worth and put it in the fridge at work until I can take it home in the evening. From there, it gets vaccuum sealed, dated, and packed into the deep freeze in the basement. Keeps easily for over a year. Now, at this point you may say, “Zero, when the end of the world comes all that stuff is gonna spoil since your freezer will be without power.” Yes and no. For something like a two or three day power outage, it’ll be fine. I keep alot of bottled water in there for just such an event…the frozen water will help keep things cool until power is restored. But, importantly, this supply of meat isnt so much for TWOTWAWKI as it is for more mainstream emergencies…like sudden economic problems that preclude me from getting groceries. Plus, the money I save (since I do use this stuff on a day to day basis) gets put towards other preps. Say I break a leg and cant work for a few weeks, not a problem..Ive enough food and meat set back to keep me and mine fed just as well as ever.

Money, though, is a big deal when preparing for the future… theres some seriously expensive gear out there. For example, you can buy a typical made in China kerosene lamp for about $8 at any WalMart. Or you can pay $100 for an Aladdin kerosene lamp. When push comes to shove, the quality and durability of a product will usually make the cost worth it. I dont *mind* paying alot of money for something if its *worth* it. Example: motorcycle helmets. Do you really wanna skimp and go with the cheapest you can find? Same idea.

Buy quality, you pay once…buy cheap, you pay many times over. ‘Tis true.

Anyway, I’ll be sealing up some meat and tucking it away in the deep freeze tonight and then I shall sleep quite well knowing that I’ll never starve.