If you feel like prepping is a waste of money or if you think you don’t have the money to plan for future events, think again. Even if you’re broke, thrifty prepping techniques can help you make connections, earn more money, and have just the right item on hand in an emergency. Here’s 10 tips for prepping when you’re broke:
- Get on a budget and designate a set amount for addressing future concerns. Start small, setting aside $10 a week and go from there. Pick up cheap but valuable preparedness items that you could use or trade. Here’s a list of ten affordable and crucial items that won’t break your budget. Make a list and prioritize what is most important to you.
- Turn off the TV and don’t be conned into buying frivolous things you don’t need. Challenge yourself. Learn not to rely on much. Make do with little. If a bad situation arises, you’ll know how to live lean and rely on yourself, first and foremost.
- Be of value to your neighbors, friends, and family by learning a skill or trade. Read a book. Take a class. This skill could come in handy during a survival situation or during any season of life. More importantly, this skill will connect you with people and make you more valuable to others during any circumstance.
- Buy and resell items online, through a local resale shop, or at a garage sale. A small amount of money can multiply quickly if you know what to buy, when to sell it, where to sell it, and who to sell it to. People who are in the middle of moving will sell things cheap. You can consign at a local resale shop and make profit on the side from the items you bring in. The chances are good that there is an online Facebook buy/sell group in your area. This is great place to catch a bargain and negotiate for a good deal on necessary survival tools, items that could go up in value, or things you can resell and turn a profit on.
- Go through dumpsters and salvage valuable items that people are throwing away. You’ll be amazed at what people and businesses are pitching. Watch for businesses that are having Going Out of Business sales. Hit up a supermarket at the right time and you may get your hands on some food items that are still good to eat.
- Go to the dollar store and pick up cheap items that will be of higher value in a survival situation. Lighters, matches, gauze, duct tape, candles, band aids, toilet paper, and canned food are cheap, easy to store, and their value goes up tremendously in a crisis scenario. Likewise, vinegar, salt, soap, and baking soda will all be important for cleaning, preserving food, and keeping infections at bay.
- Stock up on seeds and plan ways to grow food year round. Seeds are inexpensive and can yield abundance with the right nutrients, water, and sun. Ideally, plant a fruit tree that produces food yearly with little effort.
- Give what little you have to people who are really in need. Small acts of kindness go a long way. You never know when you might need the same hand-up in a survival situation. Be careful not to waste what you give on those who are only out to take. Not all sob stories are genuine.
- Hit up a flea market and pick up some hand tools that will be essential when power tools and fuel-driven equipment become obsolete. Think like the Amish. Dig a root cellar in the ground in case you need to keep food in a cool location when the fridge stops running.
- Pick up an extra box of ammo when you’re in a sporting goods store and stash it back in a secure location. Buying a lot of ammo at once is expensive, but if you buy an extra box occasionally with the loose cash in your pocket, you’ll soon have a valuable stash of ammo ready for an emergency situation. Ammo holds value and is easy to resell. Alternatively, befriend someone who loves to reload ammo. If you’re broke, you won’t have the money you need to buy all the reloading equipment, but if you know someone who has all the tools, ask to reload with them. You’ll cut down on the cost of ammunition and can even resell ammo at gun shows.
