Whether you’re worried about a sudden layoff, home invasions, car accidents, the power going out for a week, natural disasters, or long term economic and societal decline, it’s critical that you start getting prepared now. By definition, if you wait until you need it, it’s already too late.
You’re not alone: Millions of rational people from all walks of life are taking preparedness seriously — and the movement is growing as more people realize they can’t depend on others to save them in our changing world.
It’s simple: depending on what happens, you’ll either stay in your home, leave your home, or be away from home. Making it needlessly complicated makes you less prepared.
But prepping can seem overwhelming. And to make matters worse, there’s a lot of crazy “loud minority” junk out there that pollutes rational preparedness with extremism, dangerous info, or silly internet debates that don’t actually matter.
The whole point of prepping is to reduce the chances of major life disruptions and to better recover from disruptions when they do happen. That’s it!
Even something as simple and common as a fire extinguisher in your kitchen counts — the vast majority of prepping has nothing to do with bunkers and bullets!
Don’t just look for a single checklist and skip the reading. You will save yourself a lot of wasted money and time, and be better prepared, if you take a little bit of time to learn from others instead of making the same mistakes most beginners make when they try to “skip the vegetables” — the real trick to prepping well is knowledge and following the right path, not putting a bucket of gear in your closet.
The basic steps to prepping:
- Build a solid personal finance and health foundation
- Get your home ready for two weeks of self-reliance
- Be able to leave your home with only a moment’s notice (“bug out bags”)
- Prepare for emergencies that happen away from home (“get home bags” and everyday carry)
- Learn core skills and practice with your gear
- Share and recruit while continuing to learn and going beyond the basics