
Why Prepare?
Why prepare? That’s the most asked question I get. Well, why do we take out insurance policies? Or why do we put money in a savings account? For security. Prepping is much the same. Because prepping isn’t just stuff. Prepping is a mindset, a plan, and skills. It is so much more than stuff. Stuff without a plan and mindset is simply hoarding. I’m not a hoarder. Are you? Didn’t think so.
Remember when our grandparents would grow their own vegetables and preserve them at home? That is what I think of when I think of a prepper, because that is exactly what they were, but they didn’t have the fancy word for it.
These days everybody thinks of the Doomsday Preppers we see on TV who have underground bunkers and stocks of ammo and food. It isn’t all about that, honestly. Yes, there are plenty of people who prepare for global disasters, but many often forget that there are plenty of small but unexpected emergencies that can happen to just a household or an individual person.
I personally prep for the security of my family. Family is the most important thing in the world to me. So I do everything in my power to protect my family and make sure we can handle an emergency. Emergencies can be absolutely anything we weren’t expecting. This can be things like a water supply being tainted, a natural disaster, house fire, car wreck, unexpected medical issues, car repairs, pet bills, job loss, anything. Literally anything. It doesn’t have to be a giant global disaster to be an emergency for you or me. Sometimes it can seriously be as simple as a job loss.
We’ll use job loss as an example. Let’s say you’ve saved up a decent amount of money in your savings account, but you don’t have a well stocked pantry and go to the grocery store daily. You can live for a couple of months without a job, but that daily grocery bill and fuel for the car becomes a huge drain. With a well stocked pantry, the daily grocery store trips could be cut down to weekly, or even monthly. That’s money that now is being put toward your mortgage instead, and fuel consumption toward going out and applying for jobs, going to interviews, or whatever else to help you get back on your feet.
With having to go to the grocery store daily, what happens when there is a massive snow storm and the roads are icy for a week straight, or roads are closed? Are you going to want to run to the store every day after work to find empty shelves and only buy part of what you need?
Because everybody else has cleaned the shelves and the delivery trucks are delayed because of the weather. If you’re dependent on the grocery store, you’re going to be in a world of hurt. In only a matter of a couple of hours, everyone will have cleaned out the store. I don’t want to see that happen to anyone. I would love to see more people being prepared for the unexpected.
Another thing to think about is the supply line between the farmers and the grocery store. It is a pretty delicate balancing act, at best. Things like E. Coli outbreaks can happen, trucks get in wrecks, distribution center has a fire, store closes, weather produces less crops. I mean, it is very, very easy to disrupt the supply line. Personally I would like to think I’ve got enough supplies that if something happened, I would be ok not going to the grocery store for a minimum of a month. I will actually be testing this theory out to see how well I’m doing and adjust as needed.
Now we can’t stock for life, because things expire and can become dangerous for consumption. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the space for that amount of stuff. Space is always an enemy. But, we can stock enough to where you can live for a week, two weeks, even a month or longer without it being the end of the world, or feeling like it is. Where do you start? Click here and I’ll tell you!
Many people also focus on learning new skills, like food preservation, self defense, making or forging weapons, learning to bow hunt, and many other things. I will go into some of these at a later time, because I am always on a mission to learn new skills and connect with others who I can learn from.
There are some who want to prep, but it is easy to become overwhelmed by the idea. Especially when we are looking at others who have been doing it for years and have skills, knowledge, and stockpiles of everything they deem necessary. It is easy to feel like as a beginner, I will never reach the level of others. But, it isn’t a race. Actually, it is pretty easy and inexpensive to start, and I will be discussing that in another post, so stay tuned! I love helping the beginning prepper, because that was my question when I began my journey as a prepper. Where do I start?
Join me on this adventure and I will tell you about the exciting things that I have been doing over the last year in my prepping journey, things I’ve learned, and mistakes that I’ve made.

10 Comments
Jessy George
Thanks for this great post. I lost job so I understand the importance of preparation. I am grateful for my stocked freezer and pantry. As you said every little bit of spending adds up and when there is no money coming in it is easily noticeable in your bank account.
Megan
Very good reminder to prepare for the unknown. Luckily, growing up my mom always kept a stocked pantry and freezer, so I have adopted that in my house too. I probably could be a little better prepared too, so I’ve enjoyed your post! Thank you!
Michelle
I think our ancestors really had it right. We live in such an “everything available” society that we take for granted that it will always be that way. We have not had to deal with any long term disruption to our availability of things (like happened during the Great Depression) and that gives us a false sense of security. This is dangerous. We should all think more about prepping for emergencies and have some provisions just in case. I hope that you’ll cover a basic “everyone should have” list in the future on your blog. I know I am not prepared but you have increased my awareness that I should probably take some steps, just in case!
Cristine
I’ve been thinking a lot about prepping lately. With all the huge fires we’ve had, are having in California, I’m working on getting ready to bug out in our RV and be stocked up and ready to go.
Becky
Thanks for sharing! Very good information! My husband and I do the same things. In the summer we plant enough tomatoes to last us until we plant again next year. We grow bellpeppers and dehydrated too. We have also learned to can mest in our pressure canner. So when meat is on sale I buy it can can it. It saves money in the long run and helps streatch the budget when needed.
Karie
I love prepping it just makes me feel secure. I want to do anything to protect my family. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Christa Ellis
We’ve definitely tried to focus on the skills. Stockpiling everything costs so much, so we’ve had to be realistic and focus on learning to hunt and butcher, grow and can, raise beef and chickens, tap our maple trees, etc. We don’t necessarily do all of these every year because we don’t always have time, but we know how if needed.
You might want to join our Homesteaders of Instagram Community and Events group on Facebook to help grow your social media. We do loops and follow threads and so on.
The Prepping Wife
Thanks, Christa! I just joined the group. I am writing posts about learning new skills and how to begin different things such as raising animals and why, because I agree with you. Stockpiling costs a lot of money and takes up space. One of my challenges to myself is learning new skills and then writing about them.
Rhonda
I would love to start gardening and canning like my mother did. We could really survive in snow storms etc. I want my kids to know that food just doesn’t magically appear at the store. Definitely need to get organized because space is always an issue!
Scott J DeNicola
I’ll admit that prepping to me always conjured the image of the person locked down in there basement surrounded by supplies but if 2020 has shown us anything it’s that we all need to be more prepared. The last several years have shown just how unprepared people are from tornadoes and hurricanes, to looting and rioting to pandemics. We all need to take a closer look at what we’d need in the event of an emergency and stock up now before it’s too late. Who ever thought paper towels and toilet paper would be such a commodity