This will finish up the posts on the four basic principles. You’ve calmed down. You’ve gotten focused. You’ve developed a plan. Don’t stop there. I know several people that will theorize on different topics. Some will debate the pros and cons of various things. Some will read and study something to great extent. But that’s where it ends. There are no steps toward actual, physical productivity.
What you will find is that knowledge and application are two vastly different things. Take driving for example. Many, many people have read the driver’s manuals for how to operate a vehicle and they take whatever version of driver’s education is required in their state. Now, think about how many people you see out on the road that absolutely should not be allowed to operate a vehicle. The read the book, they “passed” the test, they got their driver’s license. But they do NOT know how to drive. The same principle applies to prepping. Knowledge is not enough; it is a start. What you will find is that repeated practice is the only way to become proficient at something. It takes practiced application to become comfortable with a task.
With prepping, you can actually accomplish more than one thing at a time. For instance, prepping takes money. Even if you are very economical about it, money will have to be spent. That money must come from somewhere. Frugal living is more than a habit, it is a skill. Knowing what is worth an expense, where to find the best deals, refraining from frivolously spending money on luxuries, all are part of financial skill. A big step toward your progress will be to determine exactly where all of your money goes each month and deciding what is wasted spending. Cut those items out immediately and you could free up a decent amount of money that can be put toward your prepping efforts. One comforting thing (at least to me) about spending money on prepping is that that money is actually not being wasted on more stuff, but is being applied toward things (items, skills, knowledge) that can get you through bad times. It’s a sort of safety net. Through focus and planning, you can optimize your spending and efforts to making you more resilient with less stuff. Another way that you can prep at the same time is to clean house. Getting rid of things that you don’t use not only frees up space, but, if you are able to sell those items you can gain back a little of that money to put toward prepping or other goals. Neither of these two preps costs you any money.
There is a wealth of information available at nearly no cost. Between the internet and public libraries, a person can learn as much as they want about anything they want. Libraries provide exhaustive information on any topic and the internet can provide videos showing step-by-step how to do anything I can think of. On top of that, men and women of the older generations have a wealth of practical knowledge that they are generally more than happy to share. I know a man in his 90s that has done “everything”. His methods may be out of date, and newer and easier means may exist, but his way still works. So, after talking to him and watching a few videos and reading some literature I know multiple ways of accomplishing a given task like building an irrigation system for home garden. Once you have some knowledge in a specific area, go out and put that knowledge to use. I built an irrigation system for my garden this year for less than $40.00. And I’ll be able to use this system for many years if I take proper care of it. More on that in a future post.
There are ways that you can prep every day. Many preps are free: like gaining knowledge. Some preps are relatively cheap: like buying packs of water. Other preps cost more money: taking classes or buying larger gear. Start where you can and build from there as you are able.
