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What Most Preppers Get Wrong
Survival Institute
Survival Institute

What Most Preppers Get Wrong

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February 6, 2017

People in the prepping lifestyle are constantly thinking about what could be the worst-case scenario in a disaster situation. It’s a sort of “occupational hazard,” as they say, because you have to keep in mind what could be the worst thing that could happen so that you can make sure that the worst thing doesn’t happen.

The big problem with this, though, is that, fortunately, most of the time the worst thing doesn’t happen. What I mean by this is that, preppers keep in mind the long-term disaster to be ready for, but they don’t keep in mind the more likely localized and relatively short-term situation, such as a hurricane or earthquake, depending on where you live. And preppers often don’t tend to have on hand one of the important things to have to get you through a short-term disaster: cash.

See, in a total societal collapse, a long-term disaster situation where life will never return to what had been normal, cash may not be an issue. There may never be another government in place, and, if one does come to power, there is no way to know if it will issue and accept the same currency. But in a short-term situation, the expectation from everyone is that we will get through this, so business is still being transacted. You may still be able to buy and sell (though with admittedly different pricing due to the circumstances). Cash can, therefore, be incredibly useful during a short-term crisis because people are still using it.

So, to prepare yourself for this more likely difficult situation, you need to not only have supplies on hand, you need to have set up your finances so that you have cash on hand. That’s right, one of the most useful prepping things that you can do is to get out of debt and save some money that is stuffed under a mattress (or, preferably, in a safe) in your house. And most preppers are spending up to their credit limit to be ready for a situation where cash won’t help them. Don’t let that be you.

If you aren’t working from a family budget, start. Track your spending. Start saving. Cut spending on unnecessary things. Be smart with your money so that you can minimize the difficulty of a short-term disaster situation.

How do you prep while staying within a budget? Comment below.

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