Prepping costs money, no doubt about it. But it doesn’t have to cost very much.

For instance, purchasing a case of water bottles is around $2-3; and that’s at least enough water for one person for four and a half days. Wouldn’t that be worth it? Who couldn’t afford a couple extra dollars at one trip to the store?

Look at sale prices, always. Pick up some cheap food items now and again. You don’t have to be fancy—let’s say you love macaroni and cheese: get some instant stuff. Might not be gourmet (who are we kidding?), but it’ll feed you.

Sure, healthy food is best, but it’s not always practical. Or even affordable.

Keep a good flashlight handy. With a couple packs of extra batteries.

All those extra towels and maybe blankets? Hang on to a few of those too.

If you think you might need weapons for defense—and you might—look around the house for everyday objects that’ll work, like the cliché paperweight, or a brick or a rock from the yard or even kitchen knives or a meat tenderizer.

Sure, you can go the other direction and stock up on everything you might need and purchase a gun for defense or remodel your house with a safe room. And that, friends, is expensive.

I look at prepping from three angles:

Cheap

Moderate

Whackadoodle

The trick is knowing which to choose and when to upgrade.

I have a cousin who, from all reports, lives in his basement; might have to do with the fact that his wife left and took all the “good” furniture that was upstairs, so maybe he just didn’t want to move the old stuff. I get that. Moving sucks.

But.

He also has buried caches of supplies and ammo around his property. He told his sister that she and the girls could visit, but not her husband because he “wasn’t a blood relative.”

I can only imagine . . .

So that’s one example of whackadoodle.

Now, let’s keep things in perspective here. Think about the cost of all this, about which, I admit, I have no clue. Presumably, however, he’s spent a lot of time and effort digging; likely, too, is that he spent money on supplies for those caches. Things we don’t know, but should ask ourselves during our own preps, is whether this guy is truly prepared in the ways that count:

If his municipal water system fails, how long can he last without water?

Does he have nutritious food, or close to it, cached and does he rotate his products? In that case, perhaps he can’t even find those hidey-holes.

I’ve heard he has weapons for defense, and yes, he probably knows how to use them.

But what about this “blood relative” nonsense? Perhaps he doesn’t know that no, the apocalypse has not yet arrived—a healthy way to go about all this is to be prepared, yes, but to continue to live your life. A long time ago, I read something about worry: be prepared for whatever may come, then forget about it.

If you’re ready, you don’t have to worry. If and when something happens, you’re good to go.

One more thing on finances, which I seem to have wandered away from:

When shopping for SHTF, buy whatever is necessary and the best quality you need and can afford. This could mean buying cheap mac and cheese so you can purchase a heavy-duty, better flashlight; this could mean forgoing all the cool gadgets so you can buy more ammo. Or it could mean buying something used instead of new because that used item will work just as well for your situation, or repurposing something old.

Regardless, do what you can, as soon as you can, and have a plan. Then you can relax, knowing you’re ready for whatever comes your way.