Prepping for many people is a life style it is ongoing daily. It is part of their everyday life. So much so, they do not even think about it as they go about doing it, because it is natural to be doing what they are doing.
If a tornado happens to rip through their town and knocks out the power for a week they are ready. If a train car derails carrying toxic chemical and residents in the area have to evacuate, preppers are ready. Floods, blizzards and ice storms are covered, as well as, wildfires and terrorist attacks.
When prepping is a lifestyle, you do not wait until the alerts go out, or warnings flash on the television screen to begin preparing. If you wait, you will be desperate, and desperate people make poor decisions, decisions that in some cases you will regret the rest of your life, that is if you live long enough to have any regrets.
Economics Is a Factor That Must be Overcome
The reality shows sometimes make it seem like you need a hoard of gold coins buried somewhere to be able to afford to prep. You have to remember however, that the show Doomsday Preppers does not necessarily represent a Prepper per say, but only a few of the unique ones, ones that frankly have gone overboard in most cases with their preps. They do this though, to be able to get on the show. The ones depicted are chosen because they make for good entertainment, you love to watch them and why is this, because they are so much different from you.
You have to prepare for every crisis, not just the over the top ones shown on television shows. A job loss or a reduction in income for whatever reason is a calamity for any family. Food needs to be put on the table regardless of the crisis, and unemployment is just one of the many disasters that can strike an individual or family. You have to prepare for the possibility, as you would for any crisis, but you cannot successfully prepare after the disaster strikes.
Money has to be put aside to secure your future, and any amount you start putting aside today is more than you had yesterday. You need to prioritize, because once in the midst of a crisis if you are not ready, you will make decisions out of desperation that can have life altering consequences.
Your car breaks down and the repairs are 600 hundred dollars. You need your vehicle, not having one is simply not an option, and so what do you do if you were not prepared and you are desperate. You may write a check without having the funds in the account and hope against hope it floats out there until you get the money in the account. It never works out that way however and now you have additional fees, on top of the 600 dollars and possibly legal problems as well and they may come and collect your car until it is settled.
Payday advances can get you in trouble too, and people use them when they become desperate. Payday lenders hope you cannot pay the advance back right away. This is so they can collect interest and other fees. It is an endless cycle of just keeping up with the interest and fees and never mind the principal of 600 hundred dollars you still owe, and all of this because you were not prepared and became desperate.
If you are not prepared, you will not know what to do next and so the decisions you make can be dangerous ones. The snow has come down for two days and now the power is out. You had planned to go to the store just before the snow started. You waited assuming the plows would be out, and the roads would be clear in a few hours. Now it has been a few days and the cupboards are bare. The family is getting desperate and cold. The plows barely kept up, so the roads still have four or five inches of snow on them, but you have to get out.
The baby needs formula, diapers, and the rest of the family needs food and other things as well. You step out the door assuring the family you will be back soon with propane, food and diapers. You never make it back though, and so now you will never know how well your, now very desperate family fared during the worst snowstorm in your states’ history.
Learn to pick up a few things during your normal grocery shopping. A few extra cans of food here, a few gallons of water there is not nearly the economic burden it would be if you had to try to buy two weeks of emergency supplies hours before the storm hits.
If you wait until the alerts go out you will be desperate. You will spend too much money out of fear, because you really do not know what you do need, and there is no time to sit down and figure it out so you go overboard hoping it makes up for your lack of preparations, it will not however.
You may try to save a few dollars on the wrong items that will let you down when you need them the most. You do get what you pay for. Low quality Ferro rods, for example, will break on you when the snow is blowing and your hands are nearly frostbitten. The broken rod will drop in the snow never to be found again despite your best efforts. Your efforts through should have been spent on making sure you can afford quality when it comes to certain items, items that could save your life someday.
You can buy off brand, canned peas, nestled on the lowest shelf in the store, but some things you purchase for survival situations needs to be top shelf.