INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: Waste Not, Want Not

Remember Y2K? Remember the boxes of MREs that some people stocked up on, only to discover, when life continued on as normal, their awful taste and that an awful lot of money had been wasted? For a time, that memory held me back when I first started thinking seriously about stocking up. I’m quite the penny-pincher, although the Paranoid Dad might disagree, and the prospect of having closets filled with unwanted, barely edible food was, well, distasteful.

What I’ve found is that prepping is hardly wasteful, whether it’s stocking up on oatmeal and dried milk or learning how to can homemade soup. Already, my stash of food and supplies has come in handy when our income was drastically reduced one month.  I’ve been teaching my daughter to sew, and today’s she’s using fabric scraps to make a rag rug!  Why not learn how to make cheese or take a class in gunsmithing or carpentry? Your newly learned skills might become a favorite hobby or, perhaps, a way to earn additional income.

If your head and your heart are telling you it’s time to become better prepared for a future that is more uncertain than ever, don’t procrastinate because you think it’s a waste of time or money. Practical skills can be passed on to younger generations, they can become family hobbies or a new home-based family business, and unnecessary, stored food can be donated to a grateful food pantry or given to a needy family. If you haven’t started any “prepping” yet, take a look at Preparedness 101 for some beginning steps.

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