January 20, 2018

I have been asked on numerous occasions about the best time to prepare for disaster, or when to start the journey toward self-reliance. My answer is always the same – RIGHT NOW!

We in the United States are currently blessed by an economy that is surging. As I write this the DOW is at an all-time high, closing yesterday over 26,000. Consumer confidence is at a 17 year high. The job market is drastically improving, and unemployment claims are falling. There are many reasons for this, but some of the best reasons involve corporate tax cuts, and regulatory rollbacks that have allowed businesses to expand after eight years of economic stagnation and shrinkage – but I digress.

People normally do not think about prepping, or self-reliance in good economic times. We like to think that the economy will continue to grow, that our mortgages will be paid, that our jobs will be there until we retire, and that the shelves on our grocery stores will always be filled with the things that we like. We like to go out to dinner, buy new cars, and bestow lavish gifts on our loved ones – especially grandkids. Nobody likes to think about “bad times” while in the midst of good times. Heck, most people don’t like to think about bad times anyway. Unfortunately, the good times don’t often last too long, which is precisely why you should begin to prepare now.

Preparing for the unknown in good economic times makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. For instance, if your goal is to become self-reliant then a good economy usually means that there is more land for sale on which to build your homestead. It also generally means that goods are in better supply and can be more easily purchased. On a personal level, it generally means that your purchase of necessary supplies will not have too much of a negative impact on your budget. On the flip side, history has shown us that a crisis, real or perceived, can drive up costs and cause a buying frenzy for supplies. Prepping in good times seems or be the obvious choice.

Good times, however, are fickle so it will be necessary to make preps during bad times. Thankfully, there are some great options to save money. If you are looking to make food preparations, there are several organizations that can help you be more thrifty. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormon Church, runs a number of home storage centers across the country. These centers specialize in providing food supplies for disaster, survival, job loss, etc. Many members of the LDS church believe in keeping a year’s worth of food on hand for trying times. The list of centers can be found at providentliving.lds.org. There are many other options for food supplies. These other options include such companies as Wise Foods www.wisefoodstorage.com), and My Patriot Supply (www.mypatriotsupply.com).

The goal of preparing is to be able to be self-reliant in almost any situation. That could be an ice or snow storm, hurricane, fire, earthquake, job loss, or an infinite number of other situations. There is no season to prepare, but it is always best to gear up in the good times, so you can be ready in the bad.