This article is a guest post from our good friend Dan @ ModernSurvivalOnline.com.
We all have problems preventing us from prepping the way we want to. Whether this means retreating to the wilderness (or at least the suburbs) to live a worry-free and self-sufficient life, or having one year stockpile – there are plenty of obstacles standing in your way.
That’s life for you. But, you know what, we’re all in the same boat. We all have problems and we all have 24 hours a day to take care of them.
I realize that you may feel overwhelmed by the number of things you should do to prep, by the fact that you have a family to take care of or that your paycheck isn’t enough to buy those solar panels. What I’m hoping to do in this article is to annihilate every possible objection that’s stopping you from taking action with your prepping endeavors.
Think of this article as a tinder, something that can help you light a fire out of those sparks that you already have inside of you. So let’s see if we can get that flame going!
Excuse #1: “I don’t have that much money…”
Then maybe you have more than enough time? What many don’t realize is that there’s a huge number of things you can do that are 100% free. With so many ads telling us to buy, buy and then buy some more, it’s no wonder making a purchase gives us a false and temporary sense of security.
Here’s a small list of free things you can do RIGHT NOW to prepare that won’t cost you a dime:
- • Get into shape, if only a little bit. Walking, hiking, jogging and at-home bodyweight workouts should be done regardless of your age (though you should check in with your doctor to see what you can and cannot do).
- • Perform a general clean-up of your house. Who knows what you’ll find in your attic or garage that will be useful post-collapse. Old books and clothes, plastic bags, mechanical clocks and on and on and on. The things with no apparent survival uses (such as old decorative items) you can sell and then use that money to buy new preps.
- • Write down emergency information for each family member as well as your pet. Name, age, health issues, emails, physical addresses, emergency contact information – these should all be added to your survival bags. All you need is a pen and paper, plus a few zipper bags to waterproof them.
- • Walk around your town or city to get to know the streets, you might use them one day to evacuate. Learn their names too, it could make things A LOT easier.
- • Pay your doctor a visit. Medical issues should be dealt with now rather than after the big one hits. This is exactly what’s happening in Venezuela as I’m writing this: there are no medicine, some surgeries cannot be performed because of that or because of power restrictions.
Excuse #2: “My family doesn’t agree with prepping…”
You can still do it. There are a lot of things you can do, and they’ll never know the real reasons why you’re doing them:
- • Buy more food and supplies than usual (it will save you time because you’ll have to go to the supermarket less often and save money on gas)
- • Start a hobby related to prepping, preferably one that’s already done by a lot of people just for fun: gardening, fishing, canning, woodworking, hiking, camping, martial arts etc.
- • Make a bug out plan (figure out all the ways to get out of the house in an emergency, then all the ways to get out of town + all the things that can go wrong).
- • Find like-minded people to talk to. They will help motivate you to do the right thing.
Last but not least, consider ignoring what your family thinks (or what anyone else thinks for that matter). Some people like to talk, other people like to make things happen.
Excuse #3: “I don’t know where to start…”
Agreed. The amount of information can be overwhelming. How about you start preparing for small-scale emergencies? They are most likely to affect you and it’s cheaper. Things like blackouts, heavy snow, tornadoes and car crashes should be handled before you worry about EMPs and World War 3.
Excuse #4: “There’re so many options out there when it comes to gear. I don’t know what to buy…”
I like how you think. You’re way ahead of those impulse buyers who fall for the latest sales gimmick. There’s a bulletproof way to know which gear is best and that’s to look it up on amazon and see the reviews. Amazon is pretty strict when it comes to reviews, so if a product is bad, it will have 3 stars or less.
Excuse #5: “I can’t afford to buy expensive survival food…”
You don’t need to. Survival food kits are expensive because for the simple fact that people fall for them. The foods you should stockpile are the same ones you eat today: beans, rice, pasta, honey, salt, sugar, wheat berries, dehydrated fruit, chocolate powder etc. You just need a cool, dry, dark place to keep everything.
Excuse #6: ”I live in a small apartment. Where am I going to store everything?”
How about you sell the apartment or house you have downtown and move in the suburbs? The prices are definitely cheaper, so you can get a bigger place. If you already live in the burbs and can’t afford to move out, you can still stock up on essentials. There are so many places to keep your stash, I don’t even know where to begin: above kitchen cabinets, under the bed, inside closets, behind the TV and in various containers that you can spread around the house.
If you have the money, maybe you can rent a small storage space somewhere, to keep your things. It may act as temporary shelter if, for whatever reason, you’re forced to bug out from your apartment, or if you can’t get to it for whatever reason.
Excuse #7: “I’m just so busy…”
Too busy to prepare for life-threatening emergencies? If you have too much on your plate, it’s probably because you took more than you can handle. This isn’t a prepping issue, it’s a planning issue, and the only way to solve it is to sacrifice something and reallocate that time to your prepping endeavors.
I know it may not be what you want to do but, in the long run, 5 or 10 years from now, you’ll wish you hadn’t done so many things all at once and burn yourself out. Prepping is fun, relaxing and should be a priority for anyone.
Final Word
I know there’re a lot of excuses out there that people make to procrastinate, and I can’t think of all of them, but one thing I’m certain of: there are ways to overcome them. If you want, maybe you can write your excuse below so either me, Gaye or the other readers can help you overcome them.
-No more excuses!
Dan
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