about

Mom With a Prep was started by Jane Baldwin in 2013. She ran the site for years before selling it to a new owner who unfortunately did not put much love into it. In 2023, I acquired the website and look forward to bringing it back to life.

About Me

My name is Julie Leonard and I am North Carolina native who loves farming and living a simple life. I took an interest in prepping when family in NJ were affected by Hurricane Sandy.

My goal is to provide resources, tools, and information that can help you in the event of any kind of emergency.


About Jane

Below is the information from Jane on her original website. Much of the content on this website was originally created by her!

I’m Jane, just a Mom learning to live a more prepared life for the sake of her family, and trying to share what I’m learning right along with the rest of you. We’re not trying to get our faces on Doomsday Prepper or build a compound in the hills of Idaho (thought that does sounds a bit fun, doesn’t it?), but we are trying to prepare for our own The End of the World As We Know It situation – whether it be a weather disaster,  job loss, illness or other circumstances, while still living a life for God in the place He has us planted in now.

  • We don’t have a pantry full of food that’s going to last us for six years (but we’re working on it!)
  • We don’t have a gun armory in the basement ready to take on the government (but I’m not gonna tell you what we may or may not have 😉 ), but we do practice those skills which will bring us food and defense through many modes, including archerymartial arts, and more!
  • We don’t have a garden that takes up our entire plot of land (the whole 1/6″ acre plot) and feeds a family of twelve for a year. But we’re working on it! We have plans to extend our edible landscaping throughout our backyard and into the front, and putting in a few more fruit bushes and a plum tree to add to our apple trees along the back fence.
  • We don’t use all organically sourced or home grown materials in our home to eat and clean with, but I do make my own deodorant, toothpaste, laundry soap and cleaning products. We try as hard as we can but do stock a bit of the ‘spammy‘ kind of stuff, just in case, but we’re sure working on becoming more self-reliant with growing what we can, dehydrating as much as we can and giving serious thought to all future purchases and how it will impact our health.
  • While I am well past the diaper bag phase of life, I do carry a Mom’s EDC bag that’s missing some vital stuff  because I ate it in a fit of hunger on the way to the grocery store last week. I haven’t checked the car’s emergency kit since last March, so I’m not quite sure what may have spoiled or what one of the kids may have eaten in a fit of hunger/boredom when I wasn’t paying attention, or what my husband may have borrowed because he didn’t have it in his Get Home Bag (because he ate it on the way home from work one day lol).

A little bit on what got us started on this journey:

First, I began couponing. I’ve used coupons on and off since I married. Sometimes the effort was worth it, sometimes it wasn’t. After a very long hiatus from it, one day, I thought that I needed to try it again when I saw friends talking about how much better it had become. So I started seeking out couponing blogs and sites to learn how to do it better. So many people were creating some massive stockpiles of absolute junk from it, but I thought how great it would be if I could get a few of the items we use everyday in quantity to save money in the long run as prices will always go up.

On one particular site that I frequented, there were side discussions on stockpiling with a purpose – and it was so familiar with the way I had begun thinking. In one of the threads, someone mentioned this book.

Save

I read it, and it seriously changed my life and my thought process. I love dystopian literature, so this would’ve been up my alley anyway, but I think because of where I was in my thinking, the timing of this book to hit, and how it really spoke to me, I became, for all intents and purposes, a fledgling prepper. I read or listen to it once every year or so to help remind me.

In the time we first thought we were going the prepper route, we’ve come to realize we’re not true ‘prepper’s. We’ve grown and evolved into a family who wants to live a more prepared life for our health, our finances, our food, our travels, our faith and more. It’s not just about preparing for some particular disaster any longer, but it is about learning to live above the fear of the emergency and live a more self reliant life.

Oh, and as a confession. I spend way too much time in Pinterest. It’s a sickness. But I can quit at any time. Really I can. Wanna know why?

Save

20 Facts You May Not Know About Me

1. I hate housework (but don’t most of us?).

2. I help my children learn more about the world through home education.

3. I have a secret nerd-girl crush on Doctor Who (#10) – not the actor, but the character.

4. I love Target – more than I should.

5. I love movies. All sorts of movies except for the guts and gore kind – which makes me wonder why I love The Walking Dead so much.

6. I am a big fan of smart boys in kilts 😉

7. I dream of living off the grid in Alaska, but am a huge cold weather wimp.

8. I am a major tomboy.

9. I will NEVER drive a minivan.

10. I want chickens, more than a girl should, and am even considering breaking the law to do so. Not much of an example to my kids to Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but dang it, I want some chickens!

11. I’ve never lived outside of Texas.

12. I’m a political junkie, though don’t follow the news. I love the process of the law of our land, just dislike what’s been done to it in the name of politics and progression.

13. I used to be uber-conservative. I still find myself Biblically conservative, but politically libertarian.

14. I’m quite lazy by nature, preferring to read and watch geeky science shows with my kids above doing the important stuff of being an adult.

15. I’ve dreamed of being a missionary most of my life, yet realize that’s not where G-d has called me.

16. My Heroes have always been the Moms and Wives who have raised us, and the Dads and Husbands who have provided for us and those who give their lives in service and protection of us.

17. I don’t know everything about being prepared and being more self-sufficient. Well, I’m pretty open about that, so hopefully you already know. But I’m learning as fast as I can.

18. I find peace standing at the edge of a fence, staring at a field full of large hay rolls, watching the clouds go by.

19. I didn’t stay up to ring in the New Year.

20. I’m just a bit of a dork.

If you have any questions about content, or want to connect for guest writer spots, republishing, reviews, etc., please email me at momwithaprep@gmail.com.