How do you prepare when the economy is like this? 

For many years, preparedness has been a lifestyle and a way to survive in uncertain times. Becoming prepared was fairly affordable and could be approached in many ways. You could pick and choose what you wanted to be prepared for. You could decide what skills were necessary for you to learn. You had time to adopt an alternative lifestyle to that of the current society. 

Many people would admit that they were preparing for uncertain times and economic downturns. Unfortunately, those times have come for many people. We were in a slow spiral, but it has now become a tailspin towards economic depression or worse. These were the times that many people, myself included, had been preparing for in their minds. 

The question is: Can you still prepare for what is coming? Certainly. There is still time. There will always be time until there isn’t. As the saying goes, “The best time to prepare was yesterday. The next best time is today.”

How do you get prepared when money is tight and prices are up? You do the best you can. Now is a good time to practice frugal preparedness. 

What is frugal preparedness? It’s being prepared on a small budget, with as much done for free as possible. It’s becoming resourceful and creative. It’s trying to be more self-sufficient and less dependent on the system. It’s learning skills and using what you already have on hand. 

Because here is a secret that most preppers will not tell you: You do not need all the stuff to be prepared. Being prepared means having the mindset and ability to adapt and pivot when circumstances change. Being prepared is the system you put in place in your daily life so that when times get tough, you already know what to do. 

Having stuff is great, but if you don’t know how to use it, it’s useless. You should have food and water stored for an extended period. You should have a solid shelter or a way to get to one. You should know how you will defend yourself and be able to do that. You should be working on becoming debt-free. 

Food

For food storage, start with a week and work up to a time period you are comfortable with. You should plan for 2500-3500 calories a day. If you think that is too much, consider the energy you will need to clean up after a natural disaster. If you are out of power for more than a couple of days, you will need more calories to stay warm. In normal daily life, we eat too many calories. In times of hardship, we burn more calories than you can imagine as we try to get back to a semblance of normal life. 

One of the easiest areas you can start is procuring food. Food is spendy at the grocery store right now, but deals can still be found. You will need to review the weekly and weekend advertisements and watch for loss leaders. These are the deals they use to get you in the door. If the price is right, stock up on a few things. 

If you are buying a can of beans, buy two and put the other can in your pantry. Pick up a bag of rice or flour. Put it in the freezer for a few days to kill any eggs that may have been laid during storage. Then you can store them in a lidded food-grade bucket. Even better, use mylar bags and oxygen absorbers to seal them up. They will last so much longer! 

Check out your local dollar stores. They have great deals on spices, seasonings, rice, beans, and other legumes. I go there for seasonings, drink packets, tuna packets, chicken packets, legumes, parchment paper, and more. Sometimes their offerings vary in size, but I like that they come in serving sizes (mostly). You can make a meal kit, seal it in a food saver bag, and grab one to use when you need it. 

Water

Storing water can also be done for free or on the cheap. You can use canning jars, gallon jars, pop bottles, juice bottles, or food-grade buckets. I would not recommend milk jugs for drinking water because you don’t know if they are truly clean enough. Anything else that can hold water and be sealed is a good container. 

With water storage, you will want to rotate your water every 3-6 months. Otherwise, your water may not taste good when you are trying to use it. You should also have water purification tablets and unscented bleach on hand. Both can be purchased for low prices and will help ensure your water is safe for use. Six drops of 8.25% bleach to one gallon of water will safely sanitize the water. Eight drops of 6% bleach to one gallon of water will do the same. Water purification tablets will do the same. One tablet will make up to two liters of water safe to drink after thirty minutes. 

Skills

If you are into, or want to get into, bushcraft, you know how little you need to survive, and most of the gear is low-cost. Practice your fire-starting and building skills. You can learn how to make a rocket stove or sun oven. Learn how to make a shelter in the woods. Go camping with just the gear in your bug-out bag. Learn how to navigate with a compass and tell time using the sun. 

Gardening is as inexpensive or expensive as you want it to be. Seeds are still cheap. Putting some seeds in the ground and getting them to grow is a skill. Once you learn that skill, the world is your oyster. You can grow your own food! A $2-4 packet of seeds can yield $20-40 worth of produce. You can save a lot of money on your groceries and use that savings to buy food you cannot grow. You can also start your own plants with those seeds and save even more money. 

Another handy skill is getting around your house and property in the dark. This becomes necessary when you have a power outage or don’t want to turn on the lights. Some people have too many things and cannot safely get around the house in the dark. You can take the time now to identify and remove obstacles so you can safely move around without injuring yourself. 

Safety

How would you escape your house in case of a fire? Having and practicing your fire escape plan is free and could be a lifesaver. You will again have to identify any obstacles and decide what to do about them. 

Create a bug-out bag or evacuation kit using things you already have around the house. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need fancy, expensive gear. You need a sturdy backpack and anything you might need to survive 48-96 hours away from home. You already have most of what you need at home. (I have a complete list of what you need in my free download when you sign up for my email newsletters.)

Look for local self-defense and situational awareness classes. You can find them for free or a small fee. These are very important and should be done every 2-3 years to keep your skills sharp. You will also learn key ways to protect yourself and avoid becoming a target. 

Finances

Take a hard and critical look at your budget. You have costs that need to be eliminated. Almost everyone does. Most people have subscription and streaming services that they are not actively using. You can then use that money to pay off debt and get better prepared. 

Sell off everything you do not actually use, like extra vehicles, boats, campers, equipment, household goods, and more. More than likely, they are costing you money in repairs, insurance, and storage fees. That is money you can use elsewhere. 

Some of you are going to say that isn’t preparedness. Being frugal involves becoming debt-free. Dealing with your debt is a form of financial preparedness. You cannot practice frugal preparedness without addressing your finances. They go hand in hand and will save you money in the future. 

Along with selling off what you don’t use, you should organize everything so you can find it. Creating an inventory of what you have and where it is located is also prudent and free to do. 

Reference

Another free prep to do is to create a family emergency binder. Even if you don’t have a family, this emergency binder is essential to have and keep in an easily accessible place. In this binder, you should have important information such as copies of passports, driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, and birth certificates. You also need insurance policy information. Emergency phone numbers should be written down in case something happens to your cell phone. Medical histories and medications should also be noted. 

You can find free books and resources at your local library, whether you use the library in person or read them online through the Libby or Hoopla apps. You can also download books through the Kindle app on your phone or tablet. Amazon has many books for free or under two dollars that can be downloaded on the Kindle app. 

You can also read or borrow books through Open Library. They are a non-profit, legitimate website for reading books. Many sites are stealing books from authors, and that is not right. This one does it right. 

What if it’s not free? 

Frugal preparedness does not always mean free. Frugal means being economical and resourceful. It also means buying value over junk. Frugal people try to make do with what they have and spend their money wisely when they need to make a purchase. 

You can get high-quality items from garage sales, thrift stores, and online resale sites at a fraction of the retail price. The key is to know the retail price of those items so you are not paying more than necessary. In other words, you need to do your research. 

You should take inventory of what you have and make a list of what you need. Chances are that you already have a good deal of what you need. Keeping a list with you means you can keep an eye out for those things at garage sales and thrift stores. 

Being prepared does not have to be a money-spending extravaganza. At some point, you will need to purchase items. However, you can do a lot on the cheap. Being resourceful and creative will better prepare you than people who spend a lot of money but have no idea what they are doing. 

Thanks for reading, 

Erica

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