10 Tips for Beginning PreppersThose of you that know Survivalist Prepper know that we try to focus on the basics of preparedness. We have the Survivalist Prepper Academy and the Survivalist Prepper podcast which are designed to show how easy preparedness can be, and how being concerned about your future doesn’t make you a whacked-out loon…it makes you smart.

It’s been a while since we went back to the basics, so in today’s show we talked about 10 tips for beginning preppers, and went into detail about getting started with prepping. If this is you, then do yourself a favor and listen to the show. There is also this video I did recently that goes through my 10 tips for beginning preppers.

Prepping is Becoming More Mainstream

While I don’t know the exact numbers, it seems to me that because people are more idealistically divided these days. I think that around 50% of the people continue to bury their heads in the sand, 25% take an active interest in their future and 25% know they should, but don’t.

Just 20 years ago prepping was seen as an overreaction and a waste of time, but 20 years ago we didn’t have a 20 trillion-dollar debt, and we didn’t have terrorists in our own backyard. It’s becoming more obvious these days that all is not good, and something needs to change.

Doomsday Prepper to the Rescue

This may sound odd, but I think shows like Doomsday Preppers and some of the National Geographic disaster shows actually helped the prepper movement. While some of these shows went out of their way to portray preppers as overboard conspiracy theorists, it also made people interested.

When people go beyond these TV shows, and look into what prepping really is, they find out that preppers are not hiding in the bushes with an AR15 and night vision goggles, peaking through your bedroom window waiting to take you out. Preppers are average everyday people just like you and I who just want to be ready if anything bad happens.

While nuclear war, terrorism and EMP’s make for good TV, preppers know that there is much more to it than that. Something as simple as a job loss could be a disaster to some people.

SPP177 10 Tips for Beginning Preppers

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1. Relax (As Much As Possible): We all go through this whether we have been prepping for 5 days, or 5 years. We need to take a step back, breath and understand that some things are just out of our control. The odds of something happening tomorrow are pretty thin, and we probably have a little time to prepare.

2. Don’t Buy Anything Big Yet: During the Y2K scare many people went out a bought expensive supplies like generators, only to sell them days later at a fraction of the cost.  Even if you think you know what you need, the odds are you don’t know what you need right now.

Our article about the most important survival supplies is a great starting point and will show you what the preparedness community thinks the most valuable prepping supplies are.

3. Start Stocking Food and Water: While you want to hold off on the larger purchases right now, you do want to start stocking up on prepping supplies.

4. Do a Threat Assessment: Sometimes what we fear might happen isn’t the same as what is more likely to happen. If you subscribe to the email list (above right Prepping Crash Course) I have a threat assessment that goes into more detail about this. If you are already subscribed and want access just send me an email. You also might want to do a SWOT Analysis.

5. Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses: This might seem a little self explanatory, but it really does help to know your strengths and weaknesses as they apply to prepping. This helps you figure out what areas of preparedness you need to work on, and some areas where you are ahead of the curve.

6. Learn New Skills: When you first become interested in preparedness it doesn’t take long to figure out just how much you need to buy. One way to fight this, and not break the bank, is to learn new skills. This is arguably more important than having prepping supplies, and with YouTube and all the other information on the internet, it’s easier than ever these days.

7. Figure Out a Prepping Budget: The best way to do anything right is to start with the foundation. The last thing you want to do is max out your credit cards in the name of preparedness. Figure out what you can spend on preparedness, set a budget and stick to it, over time everything will begin to add up.

8. Build a Bug Out Bag: A question I get all the time is “why does everyone talk about bug out bags? I don’t want to bug out.” One reason I think this is a good idea is because it gives you an idea about how preparedness works on a small scale. It helps you understand the 5 areas of preparedness.

9. Don’t Focus on One Area of Preparedness: Think of prepping as a time frame, not a checklist. Start preparing for 1 week, then 1 month, then 6 months, not certain areas like food or water. It does you no good to have a years worth of food stored if you have no water.

10. Have Patience & Enjoy the Ride: Over time you will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. In a year from now you will look back and see that you are more prepared than you ever though you would be. You will also find that you are more confident about your future because you actually took the steps to improve it.

The Prepper Christmas Contest!

prepper-christmas-giveawayIn the show this week we also mentioned this month’s Survivalist Prepper contest and how this one is going to be great! Thanks to the help of some of our friends in the prepper community we have 11 prizes to give away this month…and it could turn out to be more!

Here is a list of the prizes so far, and make sure and use this link to enter the contest.

The Changing Earth Podcast

day-after-disasterAt the end of this weeks podcast (more like the second half) we took 1 of the interviews that we did with Sara Hathaway and gave everyone a sneak peak. In this segment we talked about the role trust plays in preparedness. Trust plays a role now, as well as in a SHTF scenario.

The interviews we did with Sara will be out in December, so make sure and check her show out. It is one of my “must listen to” preparedness podcasts, and not only does she have us on, but she has a great guest each and every week, most who you probably know.


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Dale
Dale

Survival and being prepared should not only be a passion, it should be a lifestyle. The definition of a prepper is "An individual or group that prepares or makes preparations in advance of, or prior to, any change in normal circumstances, without substantial resources from outside sources" Like the Government, police etc. I don't believe that the end of the world will be the "end of the world" I believe it will be the end of the world as we know it now. You can also find me on Google Plus and Twitter

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