Inside the Mind of a Prepper – Saving as a Mental Tool for Prepping

Prepping is a mental health tool. It’s about having a belief system to govern each of your actions. It’s about carefully analyzing each decision and understanding the potential ramifications, and committing to those ideals fully. While the American economy has improved, many are still wary that a sudden destabilization is on the horizon, and the societal pillars of today will soon be wiped out and leave a world in which every man (and woman) must fight for themselves. So what can we do to prepare for that? Stocking up valuable supplies like food and water, yes, but how do we prepare mentally for the upcoming times? It’s something you can practice right now and it deals with, strangely enough, paper currency. 

Let’s Set the Context

Imagine a world in which you’re unable to drive your car to the supermarket to pick up each item on your shopping list. Imagine a world in which your neighbors become thieves and lurch around at night, looking to steal your cans of beets or reserve gallons of fresh water. Imagine a world not ruled by local, state, or national governments and instead an anarchic free-for-all. How will you ensure your family survives during these trying times? It’ll come down to who can conserve and use available resources most effectively. It’s this concept called saving. 

How is Saving and Prepping Related?

Saving is prepping. Setting aside a chunk of cash each paycheck you roll in allows you to have a fund in case you run into an emergency. Why do this, especially if paper currency won’t hold any value when SHTF? Because it isn’t about the money, it’s about getting you in the mindset of only using what is necessary for your survival. Right now I only buy food, pay for home utilities (water + electricity), rent, and other absolute essentials. No phone, no internet, Netflix, no subscription-based entertainment services whatsoever. In addition, biking to work is a much cheaper form of transportation and it provides exercise. 

Reasonable Savings Goals

I save 65% of my income with zero debt to pay off, and prepping my mind to do as much with as little as possible. If you haven’t already, pay off any and all outstanding debts. High interest should be paid first. Focus on putting most effort towards one debt at a time, while still making minimum payments on remaining debt accounts with lower interest rates. Saving will help contribute to this, and if you need to consolidate smaller debts into one lump sum, a strategy called debt consolidation may be an option for you. Debt is a chain around your ankle, hindering any forward progress you make. Break these chains and become a free man or woman once again.

Your Number 1 Hobby: Prepping  

One may ask – how can you prep saving a majority of your paycheck? It is true that prepping can be an expensive lifestyle, but as is customary in prepping, takes careful thinking and attentive analysis. I buy food items that are on sale or that I find coupons for. I buy enough of these items so that I have enough food for today with surplus carried over for tomorrow. Dried and reconstituted goods are essential. Canned vegetables, ration bars, and dehydrated noodles are staples of many diets and these items last well into the future; a win-win for prepping. Take up a new hobby – canning your own food items, here is how. It’s a way to save additional money now while also giving you a prepping activity. 

When SHTF, having a saver’s mindset will be essential to survival. Those who can stretch their resources and possessions as far as possible will be the most successful. Those that live on the least will stay on this earth the longest. The actions you take now will have lasting effects well into the future. 

Will you continue to wait for the end, or do something about it now?