5 Ways To Prep Without Breaking The Bank
If you’re watching the news, you’re really brave! You’re also most likely hearing the following tidbits as major topics of the moment:
Covid isn’t going away - along with other maladies raising their ugly heads - monkeypox, avian bird flu, etc., etc.
Skyrocketing Inflation due to - Money printing, supply chain disruption, war, Covid, government stupidity
Gas and diesel prices moving into the stratosphere
Fertilizer and grain shortages due to war in Russia/Ukraine and due to the entire country of China hoarding their own grain
Fertilizer and grain shortages mixed with supply chain disruption mixed with delivery prices rising mixed with chickens being destroyed by the millions due to avian bird flu are all adding up to food shortages and spiraling cost increases, starting now and getting worse as the summer wears on, and possibly lasting through the end of the year if not longer.
The stock market plummeting, threatening jobs and retirement accounts
War threatening to spread or become nuclear
And quite possibly the biggest disaster of 2022… actress Anne Hathaway was caught in public wearing an oversize blazer and mom-jeans.
If even half these stories are going to cause half the disruption in our lives as advertised, we’d best start preparing to weather this future storm by acting now. But if money’s tight for you, or simply non-existent, how can you best prepare without miring yourself in debt, or taking on a fourth job?
Here’s a list to get your prepping started…
1. Take on a fourth job - If ever there were a time to add as much money to your bottom line as possible, this is it. Do you think Bill Gates is worried about inflation’s effect on his bank account? Probably not. Why? Because he has plenty of money in said bank account. Inflation is a killer of the poor and middle class. My suggestion? Try to get out of those classes! Glib as that may sound, if you have an opportunity to make a little more money for this short period of time, take it. If you currently aren’t looking into this avenue, I suggest you reconsider.
2. Buy goods in bulk with the power of a group. Bulk buying is cheaper than buying items by the pound or individually wrapped in single containers. You can join a group in purchasing a side of beef, pork, chicken, fish, wild game, etc. You can put in 10 dollars on a 500-pound shipment of dry goods such as flour, sugar, beans, wheat, salt, and get 2 to 3 times more food than you’d receive purchasing it at the grocery store. How do you participate in that? I’ll share some ideas later, but I’m sure our group members have ideas on this subject as well.
3. Take stock of your talents and share them with a group as a means of barter. Personally, I’m an expert plumber, I know a little about carpentry, HVAC and electrical, I’m a writer, a musician, I have DJ and karaoke equipment, business experience, and a tiny bit of computer experience. I also excel at drinking beer. These are my talents. I can exchange them for money, food, supplies, etc. What are you good at? Are you a nurse, ex-military, clothesmaker, caregiver, secretary? Do you like to organize things or groups, do you cook, or more importantly, make beer? All of these are skills. Heck, “being present” is a skill. House-sitting, security guarding, driving by homes and making sure they’re not being broken into, or not on fire/flooding while the homeowners are away. That’s value. If you’re low on funds, you can trade your time for valuable things like food, shelter, water, equipment, etc.
Doc Dan’s Pro Tip - Do you know what’s becoming a HUGE industry now and will continue
to grow as times get tight? Repairing stuff. Millions of Americans aren’t buying new anymore because they can’t afford to.
They’re holding onto their old stuff; stuff that's going to need repair. Items such as cars/trucks - bicycles are gaining popularity as fuel prices soar - and they need to be repaired. As prices rise and money is in shorter supply, people are going to choose to save a few pennies and repair their appliances, TVs, cameras, tools, musical equipment, homes, furniture, clothing, lawnmowers, RV/trailers, plumbing/electrical/HVAC, outdoor equipment, 4-wheelers, boats, wave-runners. If you’re handy, this could be YOUR time!
4. Grow your own veggies, fruit and/or meat. It should go without saying that homegrown food is more nutritious and cheaper to buy money-wise. What you do spend on growing/raising your own food is time. It takes a lot of time to grow things, time to raise livestock, and time to go hunting or fishing. If that’s your hobby, and what you enjoy doing, then great. You’re all set. It that’s not your lifestyle, if that’s not your passion, then I simply suggest you hook up with some people who are into those areas and barter or spend your money there. No matter what, you should at least familiarize yourself with at least one of these activities in order to raise your own personal value and heck, just to go out and try something new. Raise some lettuce on your windowsill or in a planter in your backyard. Buy some chicks at Wilco and share them with your neighbor who has a coop. Learn to fish or hunt from an expert who has a lifetime of experience in these areas. You might find that if you learn from experienced people, you’ll stand a better chance of success and grow to actually enjoy the time spent in these activities. I highly recommend these activities over a life spent binging on “Netflix”.
Doc Dan’s Pro Tip - The cost of buying vegetable plants from Home Depot, Lowes or other garden stores is getting ridiculous. 4 to 5 dollars for a bean plant in order to harvest 2 dollars worth of beans from it? Not smart. Three thoughts here... 1) look through all the plants you’re selecting and find containers with 2 or more plants growing inside a single container. It’s quite common. That way, you’re buying 2 or 3 plants for the price of one. And yes, it’s legal. The price you pay is for the 1 container, not how many plants are in it. 2) grow from seeds. WAY cheaper and the seeds store for years if you don’t use them all. 3) let some of your plants “go to seed” every year, dry them and now you’ve got free plants forever. Drying seeds is easy and we’ll have a class on that. If you can’t wait for our group to teach you - YouTube it.
5. Getting Your Mind Right Is Free - I like to avoid a “Scarcity Mindset”. What am I talking about? Well, it’s easy, when times get a little rough, to focus entirely on the negative and become an Ebeneezer Scrooge. It’s human nature to worry that you’ll run out of food, water, power, and even LOVE. So what does that produce? You begin focusing your energy on hoarding every little thing; saving scraps of paper, old magazines, bent nails, used peanut shells, etc. And I know all of these things have their uses and, “You’ll be sorry you threw that away!” But focusing always on how little you have, spending hours every day recycling cans for 3 dollars profit, living inside a junk heap because you ran out of room to store all your worthless doo-dads, this is not healthy and it’s not how you want to go through life.
The universe is literally FILLED with abundance. Focus on that. There are metric tons of food out there and an almost endless water supply. I know the commercials and the internet tell you that our fresh water supply is toast, we need to be afraid, DO SOMETHING NOW! But that DO SOMETHING always seems to be SEND THEM MONEY.
Find out how to tap into the abundance out there waiting for you. It’s a much better mindset and you’ll be much happier. I’m not a believer in the whole Deepok Chopra “Attract Abundance Through Mind Power” movement - "BELIEVE HARDER, DAMMIT!!" If you are a believer in "The Secret", that’s fine. I’m simply talking about a common-sense notion that whatever your mind focuses on is where your mind is going to lead you. That’s just brain science. If you’re constantly focusing on your lack, your sorrow, your poverty, then in time, that’s where you’ll live. If you focus on better things ahead, abundance, happiness, wealth, then in time, that’s where you’ll live. It’s not magic. It’s not a secret. It’s proven science.
So, while observing all the advice we’re going to share with one another, while conserving our resources and re-using items we may have once thrown away, we don’t need to fearfully and greedily hoard every little item as if the earth is soon running out of air. And if the earth actually IS soon running out of air? Well, we had a good run. Might as well go out with a happy, can-do attitude and two fingers raised high in the air.
And that’s all I’ve got to say about that. Now go out and save some money while you're happily prepping for the storm!
Doc Dan
What are some ways YOU save money in your prepping efforts? Please share.
WE WANT TO KNOW!!!