We always prep a bit, because we live on the coast and yearly storms cause power outages, so we always have canned goods, batteries, a generator...etc. Not "end of the world, off the grid" stuff...but enough to get us by for a week...which HAS happened and WILL happen, living on an Atlantic Shore island in summer. If there is a hurricane coming our way, however, we are OUTTA HERE. less

Oh goodness, me and my boyfriend...
Part of our fantasies (we're so lucky we found eachother) involve bomb shelters, scarce food and water, and emergency kits! Right now I only have a small emergency kit (knives, canopeners, matches, about $80 cash, batteries, tampons (come on, 'gals), ointments, and medications. But when I get my own place, lemmi tell ya... less

IU have food and water saved up only because i live in an area prone to blizzards and it is winter. Not for the end of the world. i think that if its the end of the world why do i want to live? If it goes by chemicals well all the health problens would probably drive you insane. so live and let live. less

I agree. My brother is currently on a tangent about something like this only its government conspiracy crap. I worry about him...
Honestly, there isn't much a lot of people can even do if something were to happen. So many people live paycheck to paycheck that being able to afford to stockpile things, let alone get off grid aren't realities. For people in such a position, that makes worrying about such things pointless (aside from causing health issues).
For those who can afford to, I think being prepared for emergencies is always a good thing, but there is a point where it can become a bit obsessive and more like hoarding. It also depends on your living space, some don't have the room to store anything. less

I haven't heard of Alex, but am interested in becoming more self-sufficient. It's a long term goal, in my case. Where I live disaster readiness is a bigger priority as we are living on a fault line. I have a book to recommend that's about self sufficiency when it comes to food. It's called "Food Security for the Faint of Heart" by Robin Wheeler. Robin is really entertaining to read and she has some great hints for people about food preservation, water preservation, etc. less

already preped for a general emergencies. the raving lunatics make me sad it's like promising a great toy and then no toy. -_- I'd like our goverment system to go back to a more community style. I believe it takes a village to raise a child and to survie the storms.

I'm part of the gamer, bi, art community soooo I would be amused by us getting togather and creating our own town. >:F I'm in charge of crafting and nursing. Some of my booby trap ideas are approved of. less

You can actually can get in trouble with the law for hoarding food if you have too long. Something to think about.

I haven't heard anything about us turning into a police state, and I honestly don't think that's going to happen. They need to start paying cops better wages and benefits before that happens.

As for the economy, it's slowly getting better. Not like full employment for everyone, but people are starting to get jobs again, especially in the big city. Read what the Economist has to say; it's incredibly useful.

As for stocking food, it's not something I have the money or time to worry about. I need to get my college diploma and pay my rent before I can store months of food away. Food storage is a nice idea, but it only works if you have expendable income. Which a college kid doesn't have. I personally live in an area that really isn't affected too heavily by natural disasters anyway, so it's not something I consider a priority. less

Well yeah, three of the listed things are somewhat of the case here too...

I listen to Alex Jones so much that I freak out a lot too, so my Master always has to calm me down that he tells many things right but some of them aren't going to be like he describes them, or they aren't gonna happen overNight, so W/we have time to get prepared for everything... (I am just worried that something will happen with my internet and I won't be able to get more toys anymore, and I still have a LOT to get!!! )

Second case is the hoarding part, W/we don't do it blissfully, but I could imagine myself stocking up on a lot of food and extra parts for repairing stuff what W/we would never need maybe... My philosophy in prepping is it's better to have everything for any case, Master is more realistic than that... ^^

Space... W/we live in a large wonderfully remodeled RV, and have a large horse trailer as a mobile food storage for now, and W/we have realized that even if W/we could stock up on more food than lately W/we wouldn't have enough space anymore... (W/we still have some of course, but I wonder if it would be enough for a year, or even 6 months, like how it's good to have stocked up food... Would definitely be enough for months and months and months though, but as not everything can be stored long W/we would have to miss out on some good food, and eat less versatile, which I would be ok with for survival of course... ^^)

As I noticed so many people think that they couldn't afford to start to do such things, and I just wonder seeing what money they spend on stuff they REALLY DON'T NEED!

Let's start with it that it's better to manage to live ok somehow instead of getting into debt... No wonder people can't afford stuff...

Next important part is that you don't eat and drink stuff from stores as much as possible, because even our most basic food is full of things which aren't good for your heath at all, no matter what the "smart people" say, even scientists cover things up for the big companies... Better to take the extra time and grow as much food on your own as possible, and make your own bread and things like that, at least you know that it has only flour, water and other things in it! If you can't afford it then you can just sell your home and move to another state, get a small house, save on rent with it, with the money you save (not debt!!!) you get an RV for the adults, one or two trailers for the kids, as much space as needed, as they can be set up so good that everybody will be able to have PLENTY of privacy... (And private RV spots are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than any other rents, especially in some states...) You may have to leave precious friends, but oh well, you can stay in touch with them online, and one always loses and makes good friends anyway...

There are also other ridiculous things, how much people spend on entertainment, going out, machines, tv, cell phones, totally silly magazines... If you have to go to work everyday, using your car, you can do as many things as humanly possible in an as short drive as possible, instead of driving to pick some stuff up or get errands done going for an extra drive...

Other things like saving on electricity and spending time with some books instead can help in the process, and if you don't go to buy food so often you can grow some fresh spices, vegetables and fruits even inside your own home...

It is also a fantastic help if you buy food and other things in big stores made for restaurants, as there you can buy large quantities of food for an extremely low price...

And all in all, there are so many ways one can save money on, sometimes it just means that you buy something less fancy instead of your most favorite, and that you don't hang on your cell all buried into the screen, so you need no data for a touch screen phone, you can access the net on your desktop computer or laptop anyway...

One more important thing is that you take life easy enough, and try not to get chained into slavery to pay your debt, working your ass off at the same place for life... And that you try to learn an occupation what is really needed for the economy, instead of going for something with the big bucks, and what if you can't find a job because so many people are doing it anyway... You wanna learn as many things as possible, not only occupations, not to mention that such skills can be used in a job, and to make occasional money too, so you wanna be good at as many things as possible, and various workplaces teach you even more... Time to move on? You just get your stuff and go, there is home and work anywhere, that's why an RV is the best way to start to get prepared, so you can go to many places and get to know what would be the best spot to get settled in, and start to build up your very own space... You can have electricity with solar energy what you managed to afford with your saved up money, you can start to have critters like chickens and goats and fish, a big greenhouse to provide you all the food you need, have guns and other weapons and ammo to protect yourselves, and anybody up to kill some poor creatures in your family can get more food, big animals if possible, so you can smoke the meat to store it, learn about how to keep things cold in hot areas underground, you can also pickle and can a lot of the vegetables and fruits you grow, and fish and crawdads, rabbits mean an extremely easy and constant food source, goats giving milk (they can eat more stuff than cows, and you have to milk them only once a day), chickens having eggs, so you have food, you have electricity, running water fixed up with a good enough water storage solution, what else do you need, good computers and laptops and DVDs and/or hard drives to store all your books, movies, music and other stuff, your solar system will provide enough juice for them, and of course being busy with plants and critters you will have other activities anyway to keep you busy, not having to use such a lot of electricity in your free time... Oh, I almost forgot, you wanna have a wood stove cause burnable stuff happens to be almost anywhere, and solar garden spotlights are a very good alternative when you are worried about seeing stuff inside your home... And there are always people somewhere near enough, so you can trade the stuff you grow and things you make in your projects of woodwork and other ways to get other needed things for yourselves...
One more thing, honey bees and stevia... So you won't miss sugar, not to mention stevia has no calories in it at all and it's 4 times stronger than sugar as I remember, and if you have no tobacco to grow you can smoke mullein, it is good for your lungs on the top of that, and with no coffee to drink every single day you will get used to not needing it anymore, and herbal teas are always cool stuff to savor...

Another important thing, you HAVE TO study herbs, so if there is no doctor nearby you won't have any or too many problems... There is an herb for everything anyway, if not more herbs, which is more of a case, not to mention that not eating crap you are fed with nowadays and moving enough everyday by working will make you healthy and balanced as hell, so you will have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less chance to need a doctor! Not to mention that in the United States they feed you with pills to keep you sick, instead of curing you, they barely even know much about curing things, so it will be your duty to know enough about health and sicknesses and diseases... But it's still better than being trapped into the fake "modern health industry"... ^^

Just a few tips, stuff can be figured out when someone changes the mindset, being open-minded enough... ^^ less