Idiots Guide to Prepping: City Version

Not all of my prepper followers are living in the boonies of some tiny town, but unfortunately due to work are stuck in the city because of a job you need to help you function until it hits the fan. Get you a pen and pad, it’s note taking time!

1. Cease all streaming services – This repeated charge is taking money out of your pocket, and you aren’t seeing any real returns from it, therefore it’s not a worthy investment. Please don’t use the argument that it helps you relax, as there are free things you can do to relax. Prayer, meditation, indoor exercise, read a book, watch free videos online make nice alternatives.
2. Cease any and all extracurricular activities that cost you money; things like going to a bar with friends, hosting parties, t-ball practice, ballet, or that morning trip to Starbucks. Every argument you try to make for yourself with these, just know that I can counter it with a viable rebuttal. If you need coffee, you can either buy your own high-quality coffee and make it at home or you can try the Circle K program here you pay one fee and can stop in for a free cup of coffee daily.
3. Reduce any automobile costs that you possibly can. If you can carpool with someone that lives nearby and contribute a few dollars towards gas, go for it. If you can get rid of your car altogether and replace it with a bike or moped, go for that option. If you don’t mind riding the local bus, learn the bus route and get set up for that.
4. If you can reduce the size of your home for less cost, then by all means go ahead and do so. Adults with grown children frequently convince themselves to keep larger homes because their kids *might* come back home after college or the grandkids *might* come visit. It’s much cheaper in the long run to reduce the cost of your monthly bills so that money can be put into other areas.
5. Remove expensive family vacations all together. The money that you spend on that luxurious trip to some far-off B&B or theme park could be put to better use. Every single penny you spend can count towards letting you have one more day of living. At the most, if you know of someone in your church or neighborhood that no longer wants their functional camping tent, there are cheap locations for you to camp at all over the United States.
6. Reduce the cost of your hygiene and other upkeep costs such as teeth bleaching, professional hair dying, nail salon trips for mani/pedi, and any and all expensive high-cost bathing or hygiene products. Frequently, the same ingredients in an expensive company brand name Shampoo will be no different than the Dollar Tree Shampoo varieties. Learn to cut your hair at home and cut out the dying all together, it’s a fair cost, has carcinogenic chemicals and doesn’t do anything for you in the long run. Believe it or not, the Dollar Tree carries some cheap nail and makeup products as well if you aren’t completely ready to go au natural.

By now, you should have reduced your budget so take time to look over your finances and see what money you have made available for you so you can reroute that income source. If you have any real debt to pay off, you need to work hard to get rid of that so that you are able to be free from those shackles. If you still have a little bit of money after paying down your debt, I’ll give you a starting list to begin your journey.

• Get your emergency car supplies brought and organized in one location within your vehicle.
• Research and create an emergency bag for every family member.
• Choose either First Aid or Food Supplies, and once chosen you can begin to build up your supplies.
• Begin buying extra bottles of your prescriptions so that you always have some on hand if there’s a problem.

Be sure to listen to the podcast on Spotify so we can guide you in your preps. Once you’ve completed the items listed above you can consider stepping up your game and, in a bit, I’ll make a part deux for you to begin putting your money towards more categories.