#1. To Get Ready for Disasters
Prepping has a lot to do with “hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.” Now, this way of thinking isn’t something that sounds like a bad idea to me, yet many preppers receive a ton of backlash and criticism for doing just that. Maybe you’ve experienced this from one of your family members or friends? It can sting when it comes from someone that you care about. For those of you who are on the fence about prepping, or need some rational reasoning behind what you are doing so you can explain yourself better to your friends and family, I’m here to help you. The truth is, it’s not crazy to be a prepper. Here are 8 rational reasons to prepare.
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This statement alone should be more than enough reason why you need to be a prepper. Being ready for any type of disaster could very well be the difference between life and death for you or one of your family members. And no, I’m not being overly dramatic on this one.
Depending upon where you live in the country, there’s a real threat that a natural disaster could strike your area at any moment, whether it’s a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, wildfire, or flooding. Don’t get me started on EMP attacks and solar flares that also pose a potential problem. You’ll need the appropriate supplies, food, water, and also survival skills to see you through. Now this is one of those rational reasons to prepare.
The great stock market crash which took place October 29, 1929, that would later be known as the start of The Great Depression, not only took a major toll on the United States economy but most of the countries around the world. Millions of families were forced into welfare, something that was considered utterly humiliating at the time. As many as 15 million Americans were left without work, and those that weren’t unemployed still had a difficult time keeping food on the table.
This dramatic event is something that we could be heading towards again because as they say, history has a way of repeating itself. All the warning signs are already dangerously pointing in this direction, with the drastic decline of the purchasing power of the US dollar (inflation), and also with the undeniable challenges of the world economy with so many companies on pause or closed altogether.
It is important to remember that most often disasters or economic challenges come our way with no fault of our own. Economic challenges are just one of the many reasons why you need to be prepared.
Back in March, when Covid-19 was shutting down thousands of businesses, many of us Americans were sent home from work without a paycheck. Slowly, places started opening back up, but there were still millions of Americans without jobs to support their families. This opened our eyes to how fragile our lives really were, and that no job was guaranteed.
If you were to lose your job and face unemployment sometime in the future, how would you feed your family? This is why a pantry that’s stocked full of food is so important for every family to have. It’s like an insurance policy that one day you may have to tap into when times are lean. Also, having some money set aside provides comfort and confidence that you can face future challenges that come your way.
This is one that nobody likes to talk about, but the death of an immediate family member could take a huge toll on the finances and well-being of a family. Especially if it happens to be the breadwinner who has passed away.
A life insurance policy will only get you so far, and it’s only a matter of time before you’ll have to have another solution to keep food on the table. You may also be losing a number of survival skills that could have helped your family during a disaster.
You could also experience a situation where the breadwinner hasn’t deceased but has serious injuries that prevent him or her from working another day in their life. Having an extra supply of food could hold you over until you can come up with another way of making ends meet.
You may not agree with me on this one, but prepping can actually save you money in the long run. That’s because you’ll be buying a lot of your food in bulk, which will save you precious pennies for every pound that you buy. With this, along with fewer trips to the grocery store, you’ll end up saving more money.
Have you ever needed a new toothbrush because yours accidentally fell into the toilet? For all the women out there, have you ever been out in public and realized that you desperately needed a tampon? Maybe not, but I’m sure you’ve been in want of something and you didn’t have it available at the time.
This can be painful to face, depending upon your situation. When you’re a prepper, you always have an extra stash of those personal items so that you’re not left in a messy situation. You just have to remember to replenish that supply when you use those items in your time of need.
A vast majority of us would never say that our grandparents (or great grandparents) were crazy, right? Well, you may not have thought about this before, but your grandparents were more than likely preppers themselves. During WWII, many families had patriotic “victory gardens” that were used to help sustain not only their own families, but also help with the war effort in any way that they could. Many grandmothers were also big into canning food that they could store throughout the winter. If that isn’t a prepper, what is? In case you missed this post, What to Plant in a Victory Garden
Do you remember hearing in the news about Russia and that the country was preparing over 40 million of its citizens for a national emergency? It’s true. Back in 2016, they practiced multiple nation-wide nuclear readiness drills to ensure, and to test that every one of their citizens had the ability to get beneath the ground as soon as possible once notified.
While the United States has never directly gone to these great lengths before, they do have agencies that prepare, organize, and gather supplies that will be needed to help with the emergency response following a disaster. You should too!
These are all rational reasons why everyone should consider being a prepper, no matter who they are. What are some other rational reasons to prepare? I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments below. May God Bless this world, Linda.
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I had just read a article that this Spring and Summer is suppose to be drier this year. That COULD mean
drought. If it is a drought then that means our gardens won’t do as well. As soon as I feel its safe
without freezing my rain barrel is going to be put back under the gutter to catch the water to help water my garden. This may not seem like a big problem to alot of people but if the farmers have a drought this year it might mean no crops and then food prices might go up. PROBLEM for a lot of people.
Like you mentioned with the Covid this past year none of would have ever thought that toilet
paper would be in short supply or that shelves in the stores would be empty but they were and some still are. If we hadn’t stocked up on toilet paper it could have been a problem, but us who do this just sit back and watched people go crazy.
We never know when things are going to turn no matter what. Everyone just needs to think of themselves living in the country and it’s 10miles or more to the store. Do you want to run to the store
everyday? I don’t think so, what if there is snow and you can’t get out or your roads are flooded or
washed out then what? Buy a extra can or 2 each time you go to the store, or like you said put up a extra toothbrush. I went on a short vacation in November and I forgot my toothbrush. I have 30 here at the house but forgot to check my bag. Had to go and buy more. I talked and talked to myself about doing something so crazy. Prep and be ready and check your bag before you leave for a toothbrush.
Hi June, oh my gosh the toothbrush story is awesome! I have 30 at home!! Thanks for the reminder about the rain barrel, that’s been on my list of needs for some time. I really hope people buy some seeds and learn to garden if they haven’t already. Thanks for the tip on possible conditions. It would not surprise me. I don’t live in the country (I wish I did) but I live 10-12 miles from the closest grocery store. #1 I hate grocery shopping or any shopping for that matter. But the thought of having to “run” to the grocery store for a couple of items drives me crazy. Not really, but it’s gas for our car and my time. This is why we prep and stock, it’s a way of life for us. Great comment! Linda
Yes, yes, yes! I remember my grandparents’ garden, and the shelves of home canned food in the basement. I live in a rural New England area now and need to be ready for large snowstorms and long power outages. If I am prepared, I can also help my neighbors. Simply good planning.
Hi Diana, I love your comment, “if I am prepared, I can also help my neighbors”!!!!!! It really does take planning to be prepared. It’s not like we have a pallet of food delivered to our house. It’s a little here, and a little there. It all adds up. Life is so good!! Linda
I have been ‘stocking up’ for several months now and feel better prepared for supply chain disruptions. My husband isn’t totally on board and probably thinks I’m a bit silly, but he’s a great guy and doesn’t criticize. Actually a couple of months ago he encouraged me to buy a lot of rice and black beans, so I did. I bake a lot of bread and over time I have accumulated enough flour that I can no longer store it in my freezer, so I bought food buckets with gamma lids. Husband helped me fill those. My oldest daughter was visiting over the holidays and I was gathering up a LOT of flour to send home with her, as she also bakes a lot of bread, and she chuckled at ‘Mom, the preppier’. I told her that I prefer to refer to myself as a Girl Scout, “Be Prepared”. She chuckled again and said, “Mom, if you have food buckets, you’re a prepper”.
Hi Sue, I’m the prepper in the family, Mark is along for the ride. LOL! He helps me fill buckets as your husband does. I love hearing your oldest daughter bakes bread, that is music to my ears! Wow, I guess we’re both preppers, we both have buckets!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this comment! Linda
It’s certainly isn’t because of the common misconception that we want to use it. I love eating ice cream in my recliner in the AC.
Hi Matt, I love ice cream, I don’t have a recliner, but I love the AC! Life is good when we’re prepared AND eating ice cream! Love it! Linda
I’ve been seeing that we could have a potential EMP attack, at any time, from either China or Russia, both of whom are capable of taking our grid down. They say it could be a year or more to get the grid back up again. I’m somewhat prepared for this, but not as much as I want to be. So many are going to be caught off guard if this happens and won’t know what to do because nothing (electronic) will work, even their cars. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best!
Hi Pam, my fear is a total power grid takedown more so than an EMP. I have talked to my daughters (we made a plan) that if this happens, I need to know they are prepared. We may not have communication for days, weeks, months, or more. The only one I worry about the most is my single daughter who lives alone. I asked her specifically to tell me who she might go stay with or have come to stay with her. She has made a plan. I know she is self-reliant but she is the only one without a partner. I taught my girls to be self-reliant so I’m not worried about that. It’s the communication that would drive me as a mother crazy. I need the peace of mind knowing they will survive. I don’t think most people are prepared for a total power outage for years. I heard it would take 15-20 years to restore. I hope those people are off. Linda
Linda,
Mark Twain said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” I love that quote. I prep for peace of mind and not out of fear. My preps are emergency situation insurance, pure and simple. I believe that’s a common sense approach to looking out for myself and my family.
Hi Ray, I totally agree, I prep for peace of mind. I love Mark Twain’s quote. It really is like insurance, if we need we have it. If we don’t we still have it. Life is good, Linda
Life is wonderful, fun and can sometimes be cruel. We need to be ready for the cruel times as well as the good time. I sleep much better knowing that my family has what they need (as far as I can do). The rest is up to God.
Hi Janet, you are so right, life can be fun and sometimes cruel. I’m with you, I sleep well knowing I can take care of my family. Yes, indeed the rest is up to God. Great comment, Linda
I replaced foods because of the snow storm we are facing right now. It is expected that we may get 12 inches to 2 feet of snow. So glad I don’t have tp go out. I have 6 cases of water and enough food for 1 month. Hoping to up food storage to 3 months. Thanks for the information you provide. Have a great week!
Hi Mildred, oh wow!!! That is a lot of snow! I remember shoveling snow where we used to live. Even with a snowblower, when you get that much snow, it’s not fun to clear off the sidewalks, driveways, and streets. I wouldn’t go out either. Be safe, Linda
I think the hardest sell that I had to go through was to convince my daughter and son-in-law to prepare! They are minimalists and could not see the need to “store” things they could just run to the store to get. So, one day, my daughter was canning applesauce. She had picked up a LOT of apples from a friend’s tree. I asked her why she was bothering to can applesauce. She said, “I want to have homemade applesauce for the kids this winter.” I then said to her, “Are YOU prepping???” She said yes! They have since set up an area to store their preps. They even have go bags now! We have talked about the possibility of not having any communications and put a plan in place – where to go to meet, etc.
Hi Leanne, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your comment! We teach by example! Love it! Linda
I need to do a bit of mind resetting. I would “cook down” the pantry and freezer thru winter and spring, then restock thru summer and fall. Now I know I need to keep things stocked year round.
Hi Chris, I remember doing the same thing. I planned around what my garden produced. Then I canned it or dehydrated it. Now, I fill in with “canned” food we will eat. I must, I cannot be without the items I need. Times have changed for sure. Linda
Snowing right now here… And one only has to see the panic a snow forecast engenders in many folks to realize that being prepared is a pretty good thing. (Yes, I picked up milk earlier today–but if I hadn’t also needed to pick up a bale of special hay at the dairy for one elderly horse, I wouldn’t have done so!)
What if there were to be a volcanic eruption like that which caused “eighteen-hundred-and-froze-to-death” (1816) by blocking sunlight, causing crops to fail worldwide? That’s the best “big”
example I can think of!
Hi Rhonda, oh I totally get your thoughts! We never know what will happen, ice storms, way too much snow, or a volcano! We think alike! Linda
I wanted to comment on something. I seen on Facebook this morning that they had a article about Hoarding. Now if you get into it they are saying stock pile items. I read the comments some are
prepared like we are and some of course say No, No money, no time, things like that. It was good to
see others are stock piling or prepping like we do the ones that bothered me are the ones who ” blow it off”. O f course it’s every ones fault but theirs and they are blaming the Politicians. That is another thing but I am talking prepping the only person to blame for not prepping is yourself. Like We have all said
buy 1 or 2 extra cans at a time. One person said “I have no hoarding money” I reply that you don’t need
hoarding money to buy 1 or 2 extra cans at a time. Now if it sinks in or not, who knows. I tried
Hi June, I think I know what you are saying. It’s very frustrating for me to understand why people can’t stock one more can a week. They sure add up after a year. I learned a long time ago that there are people who want to blame everyone for their mistakes or misgivings. They were not taught to grow up and take care of themselves. We are not hoarding, we are stocking the items we may need in case of an emergency. We all buy some home or car insurance, it’s the same for you and me. We will not only survive we will thrive. Keep doing what you know is right! Good job, Linda
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I’m Linda Loosli. I’m the owner and editor of Food Storage Moms. I’m so happy you’ve found us. Our goal at Food Storage Moms is to help “one family at a time.”
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#1. To Get Ready for Disasters
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