"I’m a prepper with enough home-grown and preserved food to feed my family for four months – it’s saved me $2k"

A prepper who relied on takeaways and shop-bought frozen meals now grows and preserves enough food to feed her family for four months - saving $2k-a-year.

Cara Jones, 27, started researching about homesteading after feeling “out of control” during the pandemic.

She slowly taught herself about methods to preserve food - such as canning - by watching YouTube videos.

Now the mum-of-two has stocked up her pantry with canned fresh vegetables, flour and pre-made meals and says her stocks could last for up to four months.

Cara estimates she saves $2k-a-year by prepping and now cooks meals from scratch for her husband Devon, 28, a truck driver, and their two children, aged two and three.

Cara, a content creator, who lives near Chicago, Illinois, US, said: “In 2020 when everything was going on, everything felt out of control.

“I’d rely on the stores.

“We used to live a normal conventional life – eating fast food and frozen food.

“I started watching YouTube videos and teaching myself about canning.

“Now I can control what goes into our body.

“I have enough food to last three to four months.”

Cara used to go to the shops at least once a week and often relied on takeaways and fast food to feed her family.

She used to think you could only become a homesteader if you owned acres of land and kept animals.

But the mum started looking up canning tutorials and realised she could create a pantry in her basement and start growing some vegetables in her small garden in summer 2022.

Cara said: “The first thing I canned was blueberry jam.

“I realised I could can and buy stuff from local farmers.”

Cara now mills her own flour, cans fresh vegetables and beans and stores it all in her basement.

She said: “I have six shelves. I rotate the food out and use the oldest first.

“I have juices, jams, flour and more.

“My goal is to have enough for a year.”

Cara grows tomatoes, green beans, strawberries, peppers and cucumbers in her small garden and gets her other fruit and vegetables from local friends.

She buys half a cow for $600 from local farmers and said it lasts the family six months to a year.

She also makes her own bread – instead of buying from the store.

Cara said: “I save so much money.

“It’s a lot cheaper.

“I save a few thousand.”

Cara “really enjoys” the process of cooking and canning and says her life is “so different” from before.

She said: “I think a lot of people are scare to make the change.

“I can show people what you can do in your situation.

“I feel like in 2020 I felt I had no control. I’ve taken control back.”

Cara now feels prepared for any situation – and knows she can always grab a pre-made meal in a can if she is ever stretched for time.

She said: “People say I’m crazy.

“But if something does happen everyone is rushing to the store.”

Cara also said the change in diet and lifestyle has improved her children’s behaviour.

She said: “It’s made a difference in my kids' behaviour.

“Their behaviour is so much better."