Your Prepping Journey
Hopefully, in your lifetime, you won’t experience a devastating survival event that is considered catastrophic. However, as we have seen in recent years, anything can happen that can put you and your family at risk if you are not prepared.
The pandemic taught us a lot about making sure we have access to supplies and are able to support ourselves during unexpected moments when you may not be able to rely on traditional means.
No matter where you live, chances are, you will experience some sort of unforeseen situation, which might be a natural disaster, power outage, or even civil unrest that keeps you in your home or forces you to go elsewhere.
In the past, survival preppers were mocked for their mindset of preparing for the worst. However, in recent years, prepping has become mainstream and even admired. It can deliver you peace of mind when you have the security of knowing your family will have everything they need no matter what happens in the coming months and years.
This is a long term, ongoing process. Don’t feel as if you have to have everything within week 1 because you will be taking small steps to achieving all of your prepper goals, even if you are on a strict budget.
Start By Making Room in Your Life for Prepping
Life is busy enough as it is. You don’t want to stress yourself out trying to make preparations for something that may happen in the future. However, incrementally, you can get ready by doing certain tasks.
The first is to make sure you have set aside a budget, regardless of how small, to begin accumulating the supplies you will need. There are many aspects to survival prepping that don’t require any money whatsoever.
Instead, it requires you to strategize and learn skills. This is information that can easily be found online and won’t cost you a penny. When it comes to budgeting for survival purposes, you need to be strategic in how you buy supplies, such as using coupons, looking for bulk sales, and periodically picking up a couple of extra items whenever you go to the store.
You can also find good deals on certain things for survival at garage sales or estate sales. This might be something like a pressure cooker for canning foods, a tent that is in good condition, and so on.
Another thing you want to do to make room in your life for prepping is the literal aspect of clearing out clutter so that you have room for your supplies. You don’t need to have a cellar or basement with ample room.
For now, you can begin storing things wherever you have cleared away the clutter or have a nice hiding spot. For example, you might be able to turn an extra room into a survival proper storage room.
But if you don’t have that kind of room, you might find space underneath a bed or even behind furniture or in a closet. Some people even rent out an inexpensive storage facility. Just be aware that if something happens suddenly, and you’re unable to access the storage unit (or someone else gets into it before you can get to your supplies), you may find yourself in a lurch.
One thing you have to consider is survival in very small spaces. That includes apartments, where you might use your patio to start a garden in containers or a vertical apparatus.
Or, it might mean getting everything ready in each family members individual bug out bags so that you can carry exactly what you will need to escape and navigate into the wild if you have to leave your home.
Evaluate the Needs of Your Family
The next step is to evaluate the needs of your family. It might just be you, or it might be you and a spouse or you and your children. You might also have to consider any elderly family members that you might bring into the fold during a survival event rather than leave them on their own.
When you are evaluating the needs of each individual, you want to consider that this isn’t a one size fits all approach. Each person will have different needs when it comes to their food.
Not only do you need to estimate their caloric and water needs, but you have to see if there are any dietary restrictions or allergies to consider. Another thing you want to evaluate is how much each person can carry in case of a bug out situation.
You will be purchasing a bug out bag and packing supplies that each person needs to be able to transport on their own for possibly long periods of time on foot. If there are any medical needs for any of the individuals, you have to evaluate those and take those into consideration when you are making your prepper plans.
And don’t forget about things like mental health and entertainment. Being in a survival situation can be very stressful, and physically taxing. You want to make sure that your loved ones get the relief they need through relaxation, laughter, and smiles in addition to meeting their other needs in life with food, water, etc.
Part of evaluating your needs for the family is in considering both short and long term preparations. What would your family need in the event of a weather disaster or grid down situation?
That’s going to be very different from what they may need in a large scale, semi permanent event that lasts weeks, months, or years. You’ll start off preparing for short term events, and add on to your supplies and strategies for longer ones.
When you think about your family and their needs, don’t forget your pets. Some people cruelly abandon their pets during survival situations, and leaving them to fend for themselves – but you can take precautionary measures to plan for their needs and keep them safe, too.
Analyze the Most Pressing Survival Concerns
When starting your survival prepper journey, you want to plan first for the most pressing events – the ones that are most likely to happen to you. This means paying close attention to everything going on locally as well as globally.
Start with natural disasters like floods, weather related events, wildfires and more. What is your area prone to have happen? Do you live in tornado alley? Does your area get hit by hurricanes?
Think about industrial accidents that could happen, too. These include things like trains derailing and spilling chemicals that could impact the air or water supply around you. These incidents have been in the news, so it’s wise to pay attention.
What is the power grid like in your area? Texans were shocked to see their grid fail at the height of a winter storm, and stay down for several days – in an area where citizens aren’t prepared for that.
But some areas are used to power outages, like rolling blackouts or brownouts or grid down situations in blizzards. That might be something you can easily prepare for with something like a generator and other winter weather supplies.
You also need to analyze global situations. Is there a threat of war looming, warning of a terror attack, or other issues like a pandemic spreading that could have a more immediate impact on your lives?
Some areas of experienced local civil unrest, where building were burned, streets were impassable, and so on. Pay attention to what’s happening not just in the news, but on social media platforms as well.
Another issue that can change your immediate preparations are financial issues. This might be something happening in your country or globally – or even a job loss or personal financial hit that you take.
Make a Prepper Plan That Includes Supplies and Strategy
Your next beginner step in becoming a survival prepper is to make a plan for both supplies and strategies. Let’s start with supplies. You’re going to buy based on several factors: the analysis of probably survival scenarios, your family’s needs and preferences, and your budget.
You might start with picking up extra canned good at the store if you don’t have the budget for survival food that lasts 25 years in big buckets that feed a family of four. Whatever you can do puts you one step closer to a secure future.
Prioritize your needs. Water, not food, is the primary concern because you can survive longer without food than you can water. Don’t just buy extra water bottles. Have methods to purify dirty water, and to collect rainwater on your property.
You want solar gadgets that can help you have power during times when you have no electricity. It’s not just during winter weather. This can be caused by a surge in demand in hotter months, or because of something like a solar blast.
You’ll want lighting options, batteries, and ways to secure your property from intruders. You’ll eventually want to get things for long-term survival preparations, like gardening tools to grow your own food source for canning and preserving.
Anything where you may need extra parts as a backup will be important. This might be for your car, a medical device, etc. Remember, during the pandemic, the supply chain was severely interrupted and it still isn’t fully operational to this day!
It’s not just about your supplies, though. You want to make a plan for the skills and strategies you need to learn and plot for your household. Some will be things each individual needs to master.
These include things like self defense. You want everyone to know how to protect themselves with and without any type of device. You might choose Krav Maga or Karate, and tailor the selection for each family member’s skills and abilities.
Another individual skill or strategy you need to embrace is learning how to exist as a gray man. Gray man existence means you are basically invisible in your day to day living.
Not literally, of course – but you blend in well, don’t dress or act in a way that stands out, and you never draw attention to yourself or your home. This is something kids need to learn, too.
They need to know not to speak to anyone else about the preparations your family is making for survival. No bragging or sharing details about supplies and plans – because that puts a target on your back.
Other skills you want to learn for survival include things like gardening, which isn’t mastered overnight. People often experience a learning curve to get their produce to grow and thrive, so start now and have it down before it’s necessary.
Bartering is another skill or strategy to learn. It can be uncomfortable for some people to barter with others, but this is something that comes in handy when citizens are trading for things they need.
The skills you’re learning can serve as something for you to barter with when you need something else you don’t have. They might have a solar powered generator, and you can offer first aid or car repair in exchange for that gear.
Bring the Family in for Some Survival Onboarding
When you get started, have the family involved in your preparations. You never want to be the sole survival prepper in your family. Everyone should have knowledge of how to use supplies, find and repair things.
You want to start by teaching them where things are kept. If you’ve hidden survival supplies, let them know where to find them. Show them how to rotate food and keep track of what’s needed for replenishing.
It’s important that in a true survival situation, everyone remains calm. If you’re the only one with any knowledge, you’ll be the only calm one while there’s chaos surrounding you.
Teach them skills as you learn them. These include things you might feel are basic, common sense tasks like starting a fire or boiling drinking water. Most kids have never done anything like that – and certainly not over an open fire.
From time to time, host some practice drills with your family. Don’t let them know ahead of time – but spring it on them like a true emergency. Don’t scold anyone during it, but make note of what needs to be changed or taught for subsequent scenarios.
As time goes on, you’ll discover new things you want to buy or learn for your own survival needs. Keep a journal or notebook that has all of your future tasks written in it. Don’t rely on digital gadgets because you might not be able to access it.
Don’t wait until it’s to late to plan. This brand new Emergency Prepared Planner is on sale right now. Have peace of mind, that you are prepared in the midst of chaos. Click here
