I’ve developed a new interest—prepping—although I’m not sure most “real” preppers would consider me one. I leave zombie apocalypses to the movies and think of it more as simply being prepared, going back to my roots as it were. Hey, I used to be a Girl Scout. And my grandmother always kept a few months of food set aside.
I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing blog posts and YouTube channels devoted to prepping, and I’ve reached some initial conclusions about the subject. First of all, prepping can get super expensive very fast. It’s easy to go overboard. Somewhere there’s some poor guy, sitting in his $250,000 bunker, hoping the zombie apocalypse actually does happen because he thinks he’s in too deep to quit, and all his relatives are laughing at him.
No one wants to be that guy.
So, my rule is: all the prepping I do has to make my life better now—no collapse of civilization necessary. It has to make sense as a useful thing to ordinary people. And it has to be something I can afford without going into debt. I think of myself as an average person with average financial resources, one of the archetypal middle class. If you’re more strapped, it may take you longer to get this stuff done; if you’ve got more set aside, you might choose a more accelerated pace. But everything I do is within reach for ordinary folks.
The Covid pandemic has made being prepared a more important priority for many. These articles chronicle my efforts to weather a possible coming storm, several of them written before the outbreak was even a concern.
Come join me as I get my act together in various important ways. And stay safe. : )
Hunkering Down in a Power Outage
The Emergency Bag (aka the bug-out bag, get home bag, etc.)
Six Medical and Safety Tips to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse (or Just Real Life)
The Cheapest, Easiest Way to Set Aside an Emergency Food Supply
Plant a Garden, Part Two–The Fall Garden
Cathleen Townsend 