This is SHTF.
In 2020 our nation entered a true SHTF situation. There is no denying that.
It was early in 2021 that I realized we had not emerged from that SHTF scenario, instead, it was simply changing. The masks came off but the battles between groups grew darker.
The political divide widened and the strain on our resources, inflation, the cost of living overall, violence in the streets, corruption in the highest seats, and the general anxiety that the average person carries on a day-to-day basis all tells me that we are living through a massive and historical time in history.
Is Prepping Over Because Value Is Harder To Find?
To put it simply, everything is more expensive. It’s not just the price of meat and fuel that is going up, but everything is going up. Of course, this includes a variety of prepper items that are essential to preparedness.
I wanted to give you some examples of how much the price of preps has changed over a little less than a decade.
The first bare root peach trees I purchased were $25 each. I bought 3 and I got one free. Now they are running around $60 each! These are trees that will take 2 years to produce fruit.
Related: 9 Items To Stock Up On Before Hyperinflation Hits
The first bag of 50lb rice I bought for making home food storage was just under $19. Now that same bag of rice costs $25 and some change.
Firearms and ammunition have taken a massive hit on prices and that is only going up. This is an across-the-board problem that is only going to get worse in time.
There will come a time when firearms are out of the budget for many Americans.
Emergency food storage has been impacted by this, as well. The first bucket of hard red wheat that I purchased cost me around $23 for a 5-gallon bucket. That same bucket has doubled in price today.
This is the way the price on all emergency food storage has gone. It is even worse with proteins like powdered eggs and freeze-dried meats.
Is Prepping Over Because Moving And Building Is Tougher Than Ever?
One of the most important parts of preparing for the chaos is deciding where you should live out your days in SHTF.
If you are one of many people who are living in a location that is going to erupt into chaos or already as, the question becomes: can you move?
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Interest rates are going up and that will affect a new mortgage. Banks are going to continue to make credit harder to get as this banking crisis keeps grinding on. Worst of all is the price of homes.
I keep hearing that home values are starting to drop but if you chose to move right now you would be faced with downsizing for an insane price.
Here in Virginia, it is not uncommon for me to see $200,000 manufactured homes in the country with 3 bedrooms under 1800 sq ft.
Before 2020 those kinds of places were going for $100,000 and below.
So, if you want to be a prepper who lives in the country and has to move to get there you will get less for your money and you will pay higher interest.
That said, it might still be a good time to move because I have a feeling that owning a home in the future is going to be nearly impossible.
The Voice Of Prepping Is Far From Over
Just 5 years ago there were lots of preppers creating content. It was pretty easy to comb out the best from the bunch and really start making progress as a prepper yourself.
Since 2020, the pool has gotten deep and it can be complicated and frustrating to find out where you should be getting your information.
YouTube, Blogs, and Podcasts offer up so many valuable takes on prepping now that there are almost too many options.
Who do you read, watch, listen to? Who is speaking to you just so you will give them a thumbs up? Who is really conveying the experience that lines up with your own?
If you are an urban prepper then you should not spend all of your time listening to homesteaders who live on 50 acres. They are in a different thought process than you. Find a tribe that fits you and make sure they are adding value and teaching you things that you can pull off.
Skilled Prepping Is Never Over
It’s not all bad! No matter how far behind you are there are always skills. Skills are always an option.
Doesn’t matter if there is nothing out there to buy. Doesn’t matter if you are stuck living on the roof of a New York high rise while the city around you burns. It’s never too late for skills.
Related: 7 Amish “Powers” You Should Master Before The Next Crisis
This is why you hear us preach so much about skills because they give you an edge in an inflationary period and resource crisis.
When food is too expensive or not available then you have the option of looking to the wild places. These can be rivers or forests.
Skills give you the ability to do more with less and that is exactly where you want to be right now.
Quality Of Information Is Better
As prepping opportunities change with the times, the one thing that is better than ever is the quality of information and access to information.
Now, it is true that looking at things like threat reports everyday will probably drive you insane before it gets you prepared, but it is a good slice of motivation.
Use that information to help you better understand the threats near you and create a plan for the future. Threats are always changing but your base level preparedness along with a growing collection of skills will make all the difference.
Is prepping over? Not quite. In fact, the lifestyle of self-reliance is a balance between skills and purchased resources. One side of that equation grows as the other side shrinks.
When you start you need many more purchased resources to achieve a basic level of preparedness. However, as you acquire more skills you need less and less.
Prepping will be over first for those who assume they can buy their way out of a crisis. To the people who think they will survive on purchased freeze dried food and stocking their pantries and medicine cabinets to the brim, prepping will end for them first. Use them as a canary in the coal mine.
If you can look into the woods and see medicine and food, if you can defend yourself and your family, if you can find and purify water, grow from seed, raise animals, make friends, make trades and preserve food, then you are going to outlast the buyers with ease.
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