I for one am not waiting for an asteroid to collide with the earth and destroy life as we know it. However, even as I write this post an earthquake could be brewing under my feet. My point is that disaster can strike at any time and therefore, yes, there is some urgency to be prepared. Does this mean that I am going to stock up on beans, bullets & bandaids tomorrow? Not really. I will continue to grow my food storage, stock up on first aid supplies and toilet tissue, and seek out deals on solar battery chargers & research alternate energy systems. This is so that I can support my family as comfortably as possible when the next winter storm, solar flare, or any other unexpected thing comes along and turns life upside down for a while. As for the end of the world as we know it, well I don't really buy into too much of that. Prepping starts with common sense. Prepare for what could and has hit your local area...flooding, winter storms, earthquakes, tornadoes...whatever. Although devastating in their own right, the effects of these events are generally short lived and life will get back to normal. Once these basics are covered, feel free to prepare for longer term phenomena if you feel you must.

I too have read many more websites and media reports about disasters and getting prepared. Even www.flylady.net is sending our emails this month on getting prepared. I was quite impressed as the organizational Marla admitted to being a prepper as I've read her stuff for 10 years and this is the first I've heard of it.

Does it change anything? Perhaps that is the real question. I can't go any faster than I am going right now. I felt stressed when the bird flu was the big topic and worried I would not "be ready" in time. I have had months of worrying in between there in the last 8 years for one media story/forumn or another. It does no good to panic. Slow and steady - even right now - is better than nothing. I know that when I go to bed at night I am one little step closer to my goal and that's the best I can do. That means working steadily at it every day. I could not be content to sit back and watch the world go by right now but keeping things in balance means I need to work and enjoy life every day.

I do my best and leave the rest in God's hands.
Anita

I've been feeling somewhat melancholy and unsettled this week. I've been prepping like mad for the last couple months, since the Japan earthquake. But lately I've been wondering if enough is enough, and anything more is just getting goofy. I am, after all, spending a lot more money than I would usually, and I am one of the working poor. I've become hooked on all the doom and gloom web sites, waiting for that moment when the shtf, worrying about super volcanoes, asteroids, solar flares, nuclear bombs... I need to chill.

Having said that I still want a short-wave radio to keep in a faraday box.

In my need to read I started going back a few years in the archives of some of the most popular survival web sites. It seems people everywhere, at some time have been expecting imminent catastrophe. Yet, civilization carrys on. When I was a kid my parents lived in a state of hyer-vigilance about earthquakes, personal security, state of the world... I've spent a lifetime of worrying and nothing bad has ever happened to me or the society in which I lived. I've lived in a pocket of place and time without hazards, and worried the whole time... 'sigh'

I need to be grateful for that, and chill.

vanislemom - hugs! I've decided to take a break from some of the doom and gloom - maybe you should join me? The sun is shining and it's another beautiful day! Take a day off from prepping and relax and regroup. THEN get back to work 🙂

Come back and talk some more - that helps me too 🙂 or PM me if you like.

anitapreciouspearl -- thanks for the kind words.

I just got back online after visiting my mom in complex care.
Have you seen ttruscott's comments regarding the Vancouver riot?
I live in Victoria, BC so am feeling embarrassed for us.
I have wondered if, when the big earthquake hits the West Coast, we'll be as civil as the Japanese or would it be like in Haiti? No, definitely not that bad. But not likely to cope gracefully, either.

p.s. what is PM?

PM - personal message. See the little box under the flag on my post. I'll send you one 🙂

I think everyone is feeling that with the world events and the feeling in the air that a big change is coming. So prep now, if you live through it you will be better off. Solar flares are real they happen and some are predicting large ones soon. I am getting things now that will help with no power due to EMP from the Solar Flares. It is just a question on time before we need the bug out bag/bug in bag, whatever you call it and if you go some place or return to your place.

Just prepping means you have a mindset that will help get you through the nasty stuff.
Even in the Bible, after the rapture there are people still here, heathens (like me) and Christians etc. so better to have some extra soup and Tea for when you get a chance to sit down after the event, to keep going or for trade. 🙂

Looking at world events, things seem to be calming down. Weather systems are a bit more stable for the moment. World economies are still pretty shakey, Europe is particularly unstable at the moment. Solar events are heating up a little bit and winter will be here soon.

Over all, things seem to be improving. Whether this is the beginning of an upswing, or just the calm before the storm remains to be seen.

Regardless, looking at my own "prepper"-ations realistically I think I'm going to need at least another year to be at a comfortable level of "ready" for any serious unrest or major calamity. So I hope with a slow and consistant preparation attitude I can be close to ready "if" the SHTF.

I've been prepping long enough now that I have seen many swings of panic over the years - H1N1, 9-11, Katrina, storms and hurricanes etc. At each of those moments I was tempted - and sometimes fell into - panic. OH NO I will never be ready in time. The truth is the same then as now - SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE. Just keep going. Regardless of the world situation there are usually still things you can do each day to become more prepared. Learn more. Read more. Store water. Think outside the box.

If your first goal is three days - congratulate yourself and move on from there. Don't give up even when you have to take three steps back...just keep going. I don't think anyone can say they are fully prepared ever. I try to keep some balance in my life - I enjoy every day, I volunteer and work with youth, I do night classes teaching helping others about getting out of debt and finances, I go outside and breathe 🙂 This is life - don`t let it pass you by while you`re worrying so much about the future that you can`t enjoy NOW.

but keep prepping!

How much time do we need?

How much time do we have is a great question, and like all great questions the answer is, "It's complicated."

Anitapreciouspearl has a great point and I agree fully that how much time we have ebbs and flows depending on the emergency de jour. An emergency could hit before you're done reading this post. A fire, an earthquake, a gas leak, a tornado. Alternatively, an emergency requiring self sufficiency could never take place at all. The vast majority of us may never face a situation where we pull out our more extensive preperations for anything other than rotating the supplies for fresh ones.

It took me six months, at $20 biweekly to get my three day kit to where I was happy and comfortable with it. I then went through a brief phase where I didn't want to let it out of my sight, but fortunately, I got better.

My next goal for preparing is assuming I'll be able to stay home for much of the emergency, and working on my long term food supplies. This budget is less defined than my emergency pack budget, because it's an expansion of my groceries. I inventoried my pantry (and posted the contents elsewhere on this site) I'm actively making supper once a week on sustainable foods, and I'm paying attention to how MUCH I'm eating as I cook, and logging it. The idea being this should give me a better idea of what quantities I should have stocked to last through longer emergencies, even if they're simply personal ones, such as job loss.

I don't know how long this is going to take me, but every week I buy slightly more than I eat, so I'm better off than I was the week before. I'll never reach a point where I stare at the heavens and yell "Bring it! I'm done!" but I won't feel like I was punched in the gut and not know what to do if something happened either. (Ok, well, I might have a few moments of panic. Lets be honest here. But once I'm DONE having hysterics, I can move on to something useful.)

I don't know how long this is going to take me, but every week I buy slightly more than I eat, so I'm better off than I was the week before. I'll never reach a point where I stare at the heavens and yell "Bring it! I'm done!" but I won't feel like I was punched in the gut and not know what to do if something happened either.

That is my current strategy as well (after moving from one province to the next and trying to re-establish) ... buy a little extra here, a little extra there, hit the sales as I come across them ( I try to always have $20 on hand)

My 2 cents is this. We have located ourselves in a geographically ideal location. We have some food supplies, but if need be, we can live off the land. We have stock piled wood for heating, and cooking. Have a few good water sources. And have the knowledge to survive. If SHTF, the skills learned will pay off, and survival isn't so much a worry.

What I think people worry more about, is their standard of living. The longer we have to prepare, the better our standard of living will be. I'm confident everyone on this website will survive any major trouble, which is the main goal. It's out well we life after the events that occupy our minds. And I for one, will really miss the internet because of it's entertainment factor, and it's educational side as well. But as for electricity, the nightly news, the sitcoms and reality tv shows, the fast foods, I won't miss them at all... since I don't watch sitcoms, reality TV, or eat fast food, my transition will be less harmful to our standard of living.

I also look forward to the day, that if SHTF, I no longer need to go into work for 8 hours, and can stay in my location, and spend those 8 hours providing for my family, and enjoying life more. For me, after the event, that will be life more worth living then slaving away for the 1% of population who control our lives now.

There have only been two actual emergency situations where we have had to use emergency supplies - once following a tornado, and the other when the power grid failed on the East Coast a few years ago. There have also been financially lean times where I was glad we kept a 2 week supply of food in the pantry, and we have eaten down to bare shelves a few times in the past 20 years. So, I am not actually expecting anything in particular to happen, but I have lived in three countries and weather and power failures are the problems I expect.
Well, and financial insecurity if we lost our jobs. To that end, our prepping has been to eliminate debt and maintain our health.