How to Survive What Comes Next
As the war with Iran heats up—and I plan to post part three, which focuses on Iran, of the nuclear war series later this week—we are experiencing another opportunity to stock up. That’s what smart preppers should do right now.
What makes this an opportunity? Timing and a lack of public awareness. Most of the public isn’t paying attention. They don’t know that Saudi oil production is being targeted with missiles by Iran and their allies the Houthis. Likewise, they don’t care about the Houthis and the Red Sea, which could exacerbate a bad oil situation. They aren’t equating the U.S. and Iran with Russia and Ukraine, but there is a possibility that we may one day find ourselves in the same position as Russia. We attack an annoying fly only to find it has become a swarm of flies and we can’t get rid of them.
Let me put this in SHTF terms: while the turd hasn’t yet hit the fan, the fan is plugged in and spinning. If you are smart enough to see that the fan is turning and the monkey is getting ready to throw its feces, then you are smart enough to know it is time to stock up.
Just last week, I bought two more #10 cans of Auguson Farms long-term storage food for $19.94 on sale on Amazon.com. This item is now sold out, so I guess I wasn’t the only one who stocked up. That’s why you need to jump on a sale; because it might not be around long. Rising oil costs will drive up the cost of food.
Right now, Amazon has a 12-pack of Spam on sale for $29.97, or $2.50 a can. That is a screaming bargain in this day and age. Spam is between $3.50 and $4.14 per can at Walmart. Prep a little today, a little more next week. It adds up.
Sam’s Club for Stocking Up
I was at my not-so-local Sam’s Club last week and they had an eight-pack of Spam for $19.98, which is the same-price-per can as the Amazon deal. They also had plenty of rice, as you can see in the photo at the top of this post. 50-pound bags of long-grain white rice for $21.98, 25-pound bags of Jasmine rice for about the same price, and 20-pound bags of Basmati rice for $19.98. These may not be as good a deal as you could get in 2019, before the pandemic, but they are a good buy given today’s economy.
That 50-pound bag has 504 servings and contains more than 80,000 calories. I consider that a year’s worth of rice. Add three of the 12-pound bags of dried black beans, and you’ll have a good start on a year’s worth of dinners. That’s $22 worth of rice plus $30 worth of beans, or $52 for a year’s worth of dinner dishes. I call it a dish, but not a full meal, because with any luck, you will add to it. For example, you could add spices and vegetables from the garden and mushrooms you found growing wild. Maybe you have fruit that you found on a tree or berries on a bush as a side dish or dessert. Perhaps you can add meat from a rodent you caught on your trapline or a fish you were lucky enough to net.
A small trout from one of our local creeks isn’t much to eat, but add rice, beans, greens, and maybe some zucchini, and it makes a satisfactory meal.
These Might be the Good Ol’ Days
Do I want to live on rice, beans, and an occasional piece of meat? No, but in plenty of cultures at plenty of times in the past century, having Spam with your rice would be considered a special treat. We are spoiled today with our meat-centric meals, our fast food culture, and the ability to go to the convenience store and grab a $2 Jose Ole burrito from their freezer. I’m not a huge fan of roadside burritos, but what if one day we look back and realize that these were the good ol’ days? Where food was plentiful and relatively cheap?
Even if we don’t run out of burritos, the day might come when that $2 burrito is $6 and then six months later has increased to $10. If we see that kind of food inflation, caused by rising diesel fuel costs and a shortage of ingredients, your spouse will consider you smart for locking in that huge bag of rice when it was just $22 instead of $102.
I’ll reemphasize the importance of food for surviving a range of crises, including economic ones, but let’ snot forget shelter. How are you prepped for surviving the SHTF in your home?
Inexpensive Housing
One of my wife’s friends told us that a house on our road was for sale. How did she know when we hadn’t even seen a sign yet? Because she is in the business and on some super-secret early-bird real estate list.
I went to Realtor.com to look it up. I didn’t find it because the listing wasn’t public yet, but I did find a slew of houses in our area at pretty good prices. For example:
- 1 bedroom from $135,000
- 2 bedrooms from $155,000 to $225,000
- 3 bedrooms from $289,000
Granted, some of the one-bedroom homes were small, but they were all single-family homes with a driveway and a yard. We know a couple who just bought a townhouse in Philadelphia for $850,000. Out here, that would buy you a high-end four-bedroom home without outbuildings on ten or more acres. Instead of sharing a wall with neighbors, they might be out of sight.
When I lived in a 680-square-foot apartment in New York City—which was considered roomy for a one-bedroom—a 1,200 or 1,500 square-foot two-bedroom home would have been a big step up. My own parking spot would have seemed like a luxury. That’s doable here for less than $200,000.
I saw an example of a very nice three-bedroom, two-bath home on almost 3 acres a few miles from me. It’s 2,000 square feet, and has a huge wrap-around deck, a nice kitchen with an island and granite counters, relatively large bedrooms, and a fancy master bath. Cost was $375,000 with an estimated monthly cost is $2,180.
How much are you paying in rent and what are you getting for it?
Go Rural
I’m not trying to sell you on this home, but I am trying to sell you on looking beyond the suburbs of whatever city you live in or near. Moving to a house like this with a well would mean no water bill and no sewer bill because it has a septic tank, lower home and car insurance—because it is safer—and enough room for the kids to run around. You could plant a half-acre garden (which is quite large) and still have room to raise chickens and goats. Your survivability if the SHTF would increase dramatically.
Food independence, even if you can only supply a portion of your daily calories, will put you ahead of the crowd when the economy collapses, food prices spike, or availability crashes. Storage can make up the balance of those calories.
About the only downside of the property is that without the goats, you city folk would need to buy a riding mower.
This property may not be large enough where you can shoot target practice off the front porch and take a piss off the back deck, but it’s got a decent amount of privacy, and at least 70 percent of your neighbors are guaranteed to be conservatives. You would experience more freedom in a place like this—it has no homeowner’s association and is on a county road—than you would in an apartment building, townhouse, or development. How do I know? Because I have lived in places like that with neighbors who are annoying, loud, or alcoholics, sometimes all three. We probably have folks like that out here, but they are far enough away that we don’t notice. In a city where you can spit out your side window and hit your neighbor’s house, that’s not possible.
The population density alone makes a rural location safer when the SHTF, and it’s easy to find a house that can’t be seen from the main road.
It’s a Trade-Off
Moving is never easy, but I have found it is often worth it. Yes, it’s a hassle. You need a new job. Your kids have to start in new schools. You leave behind friends, family, and everything familiar to start over in a new place where you may not fit in, where there are not as many places to go out to eat or to shop, and everything is further away and less convenient.
But you trade that convenience for independence, privacy, and freedom. You trade pollution for clean air, and the sound of sirens for the sound of a babbling brook. When you go out at night, you don’t worry about the criminals, but you keep your eye out for the neighborhood skunk. And instead of sitting inside watching TV, you sit around the fire pit on your deck watching the stars come out and hoping you catch another glimpse of the owl that swooped by the other night.
I’ll be the first to tell you that there are some people who need or want the cacophony of city sounds, the horns, the yelling and cursing, and the bright lights. Maybe that’s you, but that’s not me. Yeah, I lived it for eight or ten years, but I got out and never looked back. It’s good to know that I survived taking the subway every day, driving in New York traffic, walking the mean streets, and giving as good as I got when somebody got in my face, but I am happier out here where no one gets in your face, there are no homeless camping on our streets, and when you step in poop, it’s from a deer.
Opportunities Come and Go
Whether it is time to stock up or move out is up to you. I encourage you to do at least one, maybe both. If you are a prepper, stock up while you still can. Even if you have limited means, buy a four-pound bag of rice instead of a 50-pound bag. If you are unable to move, check your assumptions. Are you unable or unwilling? Many prefer to do nothing, taking the path of least resistance, even when doing something offers a better chance at long-term survival.
If you think moving will disrupt your life, think about what will happen if Russia nukes Ukraine or Trump nukes Iran. Think about the disruption you would experience if the trucks stopped rolling, the boats never reached port, and the shelves fell empty. Imagine what it might be like if a world war breaks out. Where will you be more likely to live through that kind of disruption? In a crowded urban environment or a sparsely populated rural one?
You can prep. You can stockpile—and you should—but you either need somewhere safe to go with the SHTF, or you need to live there already. We picked the latter. I suggest you do the same. Unless, of course, you are a communist or a democratic socialist, in which case you should stay in the city with your friends and comrades.
