Entry-level 'prepping'

The road to prepping can begin with some minimal efforts. If you desire to advance beyond those basics, it is a personal choice. Common sense says that we should at least be prepared to survive for a reasonable period of time in case of extreme circumstances.

At a minimum, a supply of food and water should be maintained in case of emergency. In the event of a grid failure and access to money from financial institutions was not possible, what would you do for food and water? After the initial shock, grocery stores, gas stations and other providers of essentials would be depleted, and lack of access to money would leave many in dire straits.

Preppers maintain that a year's supply of food and access to clean water should be a minimum. You might not be able to immediately attain this, but there is no reason not to start with a 3-month supply, 30-day supply or the best that you can do at this time. This can be increased over a period of time to reach a more desirable level.

We have heard preppers tell of losing their jobs and by having a stock of food and water, they were able to survive well on minimal amounts of money until new work allowed a higher income level again.

There are many reasons for prepping. If we look back to our ancestors, it was a way of life to can and preserve food. They ate well and were able to survive through lean times when they came. Families were close and could depend on each other for help in times of need.

We need to take a look at our circumstances and a look at the core values of our ancestors, emulating the positive attitudes of hard work and self-reliance that they exhibited. We could learn a lot from them and their actions. Being a prepper is a good thing, not an extreme reaction to society.

Continued: http://www.trtribune.com/index.php?o...nal&Itemid=322

Black Blade: I have lived off my storage when I was unemployed for a couple years and before that My wife and I lived off our storage for nearly 5 years when she was being treated for cancer and our finances were adversely affected. Today I continue to prep and look forward to a comfortable retirement enjoying nature, camping, hunting, and fishing - without concern about the necessities of life regardless of the economy and whether retirement pensions, retirement accounts and even if Social Security will be there for me.