How to Prep When Your Not A Prepper.... Smart Choices

     For many who choose to prep,  there isn’t a cut and dried reason.  For some,  there are definitive reasons they choose to prep. Whether its because you believe that the Zombie Apocalypse is coming, the government is going to collapse, solar flares, floods, cyber attacks, or even if you believe that the economy will break  due to the financial inequality that exists within this country.
     The bottom line is for whatever reason you do believe that we are headed towards trouble or you wouldn’t prep in the first place. So where does that leave the average person who may not prep and doesn’t feel like life as we know it is going to end. Pretty much somewhere in between those who believe that everything is OK and preppers. In some ways,  I think that is where a lot of people fall. You're not out and out convinced that the poop will hit the fan, but you're not foolish enough to buy into the other extreme either.

     So what can you do? Well for starters as stated in a prior post set up a grab and go bag it won't hurt, and no one will ridicule you for putting your families and your safety first.  Another thing you may want to think about is this, how you are shopping? Are you buying for the week or could you get by in an emergency with what's in your closets? Taking a few extra precautions won't turn you into a bona fide prepper. Truthfully it will put you in a position of being more self reliant, items like canned chicken, spam, and canned ham are good staples to have in your closet. You may never need them, but they have a long shelf life and it doesn’t take much to prepare them. Lipton rice and pastas when they're on sale buy a bunch and stick in the back of your cupboard.

     These are just a few packaged items that are easy to use in an emergency. I have a box of powdered milk, and dried eggs  I keep in my pantry. Truthfully it has come in handy when I am cooking and realize I'm out of milk or eggs.  If you cook, I am sure you know what its like when you realize you need an ingredient, and you don't have it. There are ways to get around obstacles that come up in life, and this is about learning how to navigate around them.
     Is it a good Idea to keep a couple of cases of bottled water on hand? Sure just ask the residents of Newark who couldn't drink their tap water because of an unexpected accident they had no water for several days to two weeks.
     It isn't my job to push anyone to embrace prepping. That is a personal decision that a person or family needs to make on their own. What I am advocating is being smarter in how we do things. Sure keep those two 5 gallon gas cans filled in your shed or garage. Look what happened during Sandy, if you didn't have the fuel you were all too often driving 25 to 50 miles away just to get it. Each of us as individuals needs to start using  our common sense again, when it comes to taking care of ourselves. If you look back even to the 30’s or 40’s many of the farms and ranches in this country, were pretty much self sufficient, some still are today. That isn’t about  prepping its about taking care of the NEEDS of the whole.  We are rushing into an electronic world becoming dependent on fast food, and faster service and frankly it is hurting us. Many of the essential things our parents taught us are being lost, and  the result is we as a culture are becoming ignorant of how to take care of ourselves.

     The tip for the week is this: Next time you go shopping pickup one or two of the extra’s that are on sale. I am mentioning that you can stick in the back of your pantry and forget about until you need them. As long as you know they are there you're one step closer to being self sufficient. Then the next time you go food shopping pick up another item that you can put in the closet and forget about until you need it.