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You are here: Home » Homesteading Tips » Be Prepared for any Emergency » 101 Easy Ways to Prepare for SHTF Today

September 19, 2020 By Stacy Williams

101 Easy Ways to Prepare for SHTF Today

Filed Under: Emergency Preparedness Tips Tagged With: Food Shortage Preparedness Tips, General Emergency Preparation Tips, hurricane preparedness, Pandemic Preparedness, Winter Preparedness Tips

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Preparing for SHTF is not a one and done thing for your family. It is a lifestyle that should be worked on daily. If you need to get caught up, these 101 easy ways to prepare for SHTF today are a great place to start!

Preparing for SHTF is not a one and done thing for your family. It is a lifestyle that should be worked on daily. If you need to get caught up, these 101 easy ways to prepare for SHTF today are a great place to start!

Are you seeing the value of preparing for emergencies yet? If you haven’t noticed it yet, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you that SHTF (“stuff” hitting the fan) has already started. 2020 alone has been one of the craziest years I remember in my life and I have gone through some crazy things before.

But here we are facing civil unrest in may places, an “official” pandemic, a potential recession, more potential shortages at the stores and of course, the 2020 election (no matter which side you’re on).

Needless to say, SHTF is here at least on some level and if you aren’t already preparing, you need to begin immediately.

Simple Ways to Prepare for SHTF

So many people are under the misunderstanding though that prepping for SHTF and other emergencies is a one and done type of thing.

It isn’t. Preparing and staying prepared is a lifestyle and one that in order to successfully do, you must commit to.

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Why Prepping for Emergencies is a Lifestyle

Building a stockpile for cost reasons or having a stocked emergency cabinet during flu season is great but if you aren’t continually living the lifestyle, what happens?

Eventually your supplies run out.

Now ask yourself what happens if an emergency were to occur while you were out of those needed supplies?

Exactly. You won’t have what you need. And now you know the reason that preparing is a lifestyle.

How to Prepare for SHTF

But prepping for SHTF doesn’t stop at food, medical supplies or storing water. It’s about learning new skills, building wealth while you can and anticipating whatever may come.

At its core, prepping for an emergency is about learning to be as self sufficient as possible.

And the great part about it is that if you’re already living a frugal (Six Dollar Family) lifestyle, you’re already halfway there since in order to be truly frugal, you must be self sufficient and vice versa. I wrote an article not too long ago on this exact thing that explains this in further detail. You can check it out HERE (Six Dollar Family) if you’re interested.

Daily Preparedness Tasks

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get down to brass tacks and talk about the daily preparedness tasks you could be doing to help prepare your family for what may come.

Most of these are quick and simple ways to prepare for SHTF and can be done in just a few minutes. If you’re new to preparing, use this list as a guide to help you get started. If you have already been preparing, use this list as a way to double check your current preps.

Not all of these easy ways to prepare for SHTF will seem as if they’re directly related to preparing, however, as I said, being prepared for whatever may come involves a whole lot more than simply storing food and water.

How to Save on Organic Groceries

When I first began to remove as many processed chemicals from our home, one of the first areas I began with was our food. These days, I love to eat organic foods and prefer organic household goods and supplies, but I absolutely hate the cost. If you’re like me, consider checking out Thrive Market right. You’ll get great prices on organic, gluten free, grain free and other groceries, household items, beauty products and more! Plus they have amazing prices on supplements too! Plus, you’ll save up to 20% off your first order or get a FREE gift depending on which coupon they have available for new customers!

Click Here to Save Up to 20% at Thrive Market

How to Prepare for TEOTWAWKI

  1. Begin working a side hustle to add more income even if you think you do not need it. More income is never a bad thing. THESE are my favorites ways to earn money online (Six Dollar Family) with.
  2. Wash and refill empty milk jugs with water for storage. You can also reuse laundry detergent bottles for his, but if you do, be sure to clearly mark the detergent bottles as non-potable water. This non-potable water can still be used for cleaning. (Non-potable = do not drink)
  3. Buy 10 lbs. rice and store it properly. Use mylar bags to store rice (Six Dollar Family) or half gallon mason jars like THESE (Amazon)
  4. Shop the clearance section at the grocery store and add meat to your freezer.
  5. Buy a deep freezer like THESE (Walmart) if you do not already have one.
  6. Buy a pack of batteries and add them to your storage. For an extra boost, buy 1 pack in each size.
  7. Add a flashlight or 115-hour emergency candle like THESE (Amazon)
  8. Get your kids a survival whistle (Amazon) in case they were to ever get lost.
  9. Build a 72-hour bag or bug out bag for each member of your family.
  10. Buy 10 lbs beans and store them properly.

How to Prepare for SHTF Everyday

  1. Open a new savings account that is not directly connected to your regular bank like the one I use HERE (Qapital) and put $25 in an emergency fund.
  2. Order copies of all family documents for each family member including birth certificates and social security cards.
  3. Store those documents in a fireproof bag like THIS one (Amazon) inside a fireproof safe like THIS one (Walmart).
  4. Read a book on preparation. THIS one by Lisa Bedford (Amazon) aka The Survival Mom is great for new preppers.
  5. Print out 10 of your favorite recipes and add them to a binder so you have hard copies.
  6. Add portable water filters like THESE (Amazon) to each family members go bags ( 72-hour bag)
  7. Look through all silver colored coins in your home. Set aside any true silver quarters, dimes and nickels you find.
  8. Research which US coins are silver if you don’t already know.
  9. Add to your freeze dried emergency food supply. I recommend THIS (Amazon) for new preppers to get a good start.
  10. Change your furnace/ac filters. Buy 1 extra filter than you currently need. If you can afford it, put them on auto ship so you never run out and easily build a stock. THIS is who I use for ours (Air Filters Delivered). offer free shipping and $5 off your first order. These are great for more than just your furnace or a/c. You can also create a homemade air purifier with one and a box fan.

Think Pennies Can’t Add Up?

Why not put that theory to the test? It’s super easy to test and requires you to do basically nothing! Acorns is a micro-investor that invests the spare change in your checking account. Sign up for an Acorns account and choose how you want to invest your change. Once the trade happens, you’ll watch how quickly your pennies really do add up!

Click Here to Visit Acorns
  1. Check the batteries in your smoke detectors.
  2. Add 10 cans of soup to your stockpile.
  3. Save seeds from the produce you use at dinner tonight.
  4. Start a kitchen scrap garden (Six Dollar Family).
  5. Buy a solar charger and battery bank for your devices like THESE (Amazon).
  6. Buy 1 box of Bandaids to add to your first aid kit.
  7. Learn how to can your own food (Six Dollar Family) and then can a few jars.
  8. Change all your online passwords.
  9. Update your must-have fishing gear (Six Dollar Family)
  10. Go fishing and filet/freeze your legal catches.

How to Save Money on Razors

One of my favorite razor companies is Harry’s. Not only are their cartridges amazing at getting a super close shave, but they last forever! My own cartridges last me almost two months! Steve uses them on his beard as well and he gets a months worth of use out of his!

While you can buy Harry’s products at Walmart, you’ll save quite a bit of money by having them delivered directly to your home. Not only that, but they offer a free trial for those that have never tried Harry’s before!

Sign up for a Harry’s account and you’ll be able to grab a free trial that includes a free handle, free cartridge, free trial size shave gel and a free travel cartridge cover. You will need to pay $3.00 shipping, but you still save $10 over the normal cost of these items and get a chance to try the products!

Click Here to to Try Harry’s Free
  1. Do a complete budget audit.
  2. Go for a walk so you’re in a little bit better shape.
  3. Add water purification tablets like THESE (Amazon) to your water storage.
  4. Buy 3 hand tools such as a hammer, wrench set and screwdrivers.
  5. Buy a manual can opener.
  6. Create a family information and home management binder using printables like THIS (Etsy).
  7. Add a hand crank flashlight like THIS (Amazon)to your preps.
  8. Add 3 boxes granola or cereal bars to your food stockpile.
  9. Start an emergency preparation binder using printables like THESE (Etsy)..
  10. Change the oil in your car. Do it yourself to save money.

If you’re having an issue keeping to your budget, a program like Tiller Money can help.

When you sign up for a Tiller Money account, it will automatically import your spending into a Google Docs spreadsheet everyday to help you budget better. For those of us that do well with spreadsheet budgets and for those that need a bit more help keeping track of their spending, it’s a great idea and works incredibly well! It’s one of my favorite new programs – well new to me that is! They’ll even give you the first 30-days free!

Click Here to Try Tiller Money Free for 30-days
  1. Air up your cars tires.
  2. Double check your spare tire. Replace if necessary.
  3. Have two months worth of any life sustaining medication stockpiled.
  4. Add necessary baking goods to your stockpile – flour, sugar, yeast.
  5. Create a family evacuation plan such as what THIS (Esty) offers.
  6. Add glow sticks like THESE (Amazon) to each adult/teen family members Go Bags.
  7. Take your pets to the vet.
  8. Buy an extra bag of pet food for storage. Be sure to properly store it.
  9. Purchase a food dehydrator (Amazon) and learn to use it.
  10. Check the grocery stores for clearance produce. Dehydrate or can it.

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  1. Add matches or lighters for fire starting to your stockpile. Strike Anywhere matches like THESE (Walmart) are best.
  2. Waterproof the matches you buy using parrafin wax like THIS (Amazon).
  3. Take a concealed carry course. Get your CHL.
  4. Take a hunting safety course. Go hunting when the season opens.
  5. Add thermal blackout curtains like THESE (Amazon) to your home. They will provide privacy and help lower heating/cooling costs.
  6. Buy a tent if you do not have one. If you do, set it up and make any repairs needed.
  7. Add playing cards, puzzle books and board games to your stock.
  8. Buy a generator.
  9. Buy duplicates of your child’s favorite toys or security items.
  10. Print out your bank statements and check for identity theft or unauthorized transactions.

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  1. Check your credit score using a site like Credit Karma HERE to check for identity theft.
  2. Buy life insurance for yourself and your partner.
  3. Get health insurance if you don’t already. Yes, it is absolutely worth the cost.
  4. Start building sinking funds to help cover expenses. Unsure what sinking funds are? THIS explains it very well.(Clever Girl Finance)
  5. Buy bikes to have another transportation method.
  6. Buy a wagon if you have small kids to make transporting them easy.
  7. Start a compost pile. THESE 106 things you can compost (Six Dollar Family) are a great boost to get started with.
  8. Add hand tools such as an ax and hand saw to your stock.
  9. Clear out clutter from two household closets.
  10. Purchase clothing one season ahead using sales, coupon codes and cash back to do so.

How to Get Paid to Shop

Before you shop online, make sure you have taken the time to sign up for Rakuten (formerly Ebates). Rakuten has a special relationship with hundreds of different stores and sites that benefits you very well. When you shop through Rakuten, Rakuten earns a small commission. They then turn around and give you a portion of this commission back as cash-back!

Yes, you read that right. They pay you to shop! Plus when you sign up for Rakuten and spend $40.00 in the first 90 days, you’ll get $40.00 back FREE! This offer is HUGE and only available for a limited time so make sure you don’t let it pass you by!

Click Here to Sign Up for Rakuten
  1. Create a home security plan. Buy any items needed to put your plan into action.
  2. Purchase a non-electric smoker and learn how to use it.
  3. Smoke meat and fish to preserve it.
  4. Save bacon grease to use for cooking.
  5. Reuse chicken and beef bones to make homemade stock.
  6. Reuse chicken, beef and pork fat to make lard and tallow.
  7. Use lard and tallow to make homemade candles. If you’ve never made candles, the process is fairly simply following THIS tutorial HERE (Six Dollar Family).
  8. Learn how to dry can pantry goods like flour. HERE is a great tutorial.
  9. Balance your checking account.
  10. Save $15 a week in cash. Stash it for emergencies involving ATM’s being down.
  11. Add baby wipes to your stockpile for quick bathing if you have no water.

How to Save on Organic Supplies

No one wants to overspend on the things they need which is why I love Grove for natural DIY supplies, organic cleaning products and organic beauty supplies. If you’ve never heard of them, head over sign up for a Grove account. They offer great prices on organic and sustainable essential oils (Six Dollar Family), carrier oils, health and beauty and household items. They even have great prices on diapers for baby and gifts (Six Dollar Family) for moms! New Grove customers automatically score a FREE Mrs. Meyers Cleaning Set with their first order of $25 or more! It’s one of my favorite places to buy organic supplies from!

Click Here to Sign Up for a Grove Account & Get a Free Mrs. Meyers Cleaning Set
  1. Stock up on health and beauty products your family uses. Don’t forget things such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo and deodorant.
  2. Add a compass and flint and steel to your bug out bags.
  3. Learn to read a paper map if you can not already.
  4. Stockpile things you can barter with. These can include TP, alcohol, lighters, baby products and even skills.
  5. Learn a barterable skill if you do not have any. HERE is a great list to get you started. (Six Dollar Family)
  6. Take a hike in the woods. Navigate yourself out of the area without your phone.
  7. Put your dog(s) through a behavior class to better the chances they will listen to you in an emergency.
  8. Get backyard chickens for eggs and meat. Be sure to check your local laws first.
  9. Grow an indoor herb garden. HERE is a great set to get you started. (Amazon)
  1. Back up your electronic files and photos to a portable hard drive like THIS (Amazon) or a flash drive like THIS (Amazon).
  2. Add a cast iron fire grate (Amazon), cooking tripod (Amazon) and cast iron dutch oven (Amazon) to your camping gear. Buy used camping gear using THESE tips (Six Dollar Family)and restore if you can.
  3. Change your regular cook wear over to a cast iron cookware set like THIS (Walmart). If you buy used and it needs restored, HERE is a great tutorial. (Six Dollar Family)
  4. Stock up on pest control items. This can include mouse traps, ant bait, insect sprays and even citronella candles. If you’d prefer natural items, HERE are humane mouse traps (Amazon), HERE is a great DIY bug spray recipe (Six Dollar Family) and HERE is how to make homemade citronella candles (Six Dollar Family).
  5. Buy a secondary heating source that does not run on electric. My favorite is THESE Mr. Heater propane heaters (Amazon) but a Kerosene heater like THIS (Walmart) or a Pellet Stove like THIS (Walmart) are also good ideas.
  6. Get home owners or renters insurance if you do not have it already.
  7. Up your car insurance to full-coverage if it is not already.
  8. Swap out all disposable products with a reusable option. HERE is a great list to get you started (Six Dollar Family). This includes making the switch to cloth feminine pads (Six Dollar Family)like THESE that I fell in love with (Etsy).
  9. Create a rain catchment system to help build your water storage using rain barrels or water storage tanks like THIS (Legacy Foods).
  10. Quit smoking or drinking if those are additions you currently have. For a more natural route, black pepper essential oil HERE (Simply Earth) can help with smoking cravings when added to the filter of your cigarette before you light it.
  11. Store powdered milk like NIDO (Amazon) or shelf stable milk like THIS (Dollar Tree) for both drinking and cooking. If you have or expect to have infants, be sure to stock formula as well.

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Bio of Stacy Williams, blogger and authorI’m Stacy - 1/4 of the Six Dollar Family. I'm on a journey to become a six figure family and I would love if you came along with me! We'll kick off our shoes, sip sweet tea, eat loads of goodies, save some money and maybe even learn a thing or two along the way! Six Dollar Family Bio

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