Staying out of Debt in the World of Prepping

The world is an unstable place. There are no certainties in life anymore and the world the “baby boomers” grew up in and thrived in has been lost. Gone are the days for nabbing a $40,000-$50,000 job straight out of high school. Gone are the days of remaining within the same job for a majority of a person’s lifetime. These days, college graduates struggle to find jobs and are loaded with so much debt that they’re essentially slaves for the next 20 years of their lives struggling to pay it back. Where do we go from here? The way the world is trending, it will only continue to get worse. The recession was simply a prelude to the ultimate economic and societal meltdown. The world works in cycles, and avoiding another Great Depression is inevitable. What can you do knowing this is the case?

Debt is the Enemy – Target it

The percentage of people facing debt collectors in the United States is staggering. People are spending money they don’t have and unable to pay it back. Debt enslaves those that owe it. If you know someone who recently finished college, it’s easier to understand. A friend of mine went to school for five years and has over $70,000 in student loan debt. And no his major is not engineering, computer science, or any of the other “big money” subjects so it will take him a couple decades to pay it back. If your student loan payments are $400 per month, this cripples your personal finance situation and you’ll be unable to make any other large ticket purchases until that debt is paid off.

Relief from Debt – Prioritize it

If you have any debt whatsoever, pay it off as quickly as possible. Get out of debt completely and do not stop until the debt is erased from your monthly budget. Debt with the highest interest rate should be paid off first while continuing to pay the minimum on other debt accounts. If this isn’t in your monthly budget, find an additional stream of revenue to help chip away at that debt. Try finding a second job, shovel snow from neighbors’ sidewalks during winter, mow lawns during summer, teach yourself how to perform odd jobs that could turn into a quick buck.

Cut Back on the Unnecessary

You knew exactly what was coming – cancel that cable contract. Cut ties with any premium entertainment services and stay in on Friday/Saturday nights instead of going out. Drastically decrease the amount of times you go out to a restaurant to have dinner. Let’s use an example – you go out and spend $40 every Friday night for you and your significant other to go out and eat dinner. That’s $160 per month and $1,920 per year. Stay in and cook. When SHTF you will need to know how to prepare your own meals. Use this as an opportunity to cook over an open fire. Fire will be one of your heating and cooking sources in case the electrical grid goes down. Practice cooking using fire now so that you’ll know how to do so in an emergency situation.

Dealing with debt is another side of the prepping experience. As preppers, we are jacks-of-all-trades; we can hunt, gather resources, survive in most situations, and understand that the world may destabilize at a moment’s notice. It isn’t just about securing the most cans of food. As for now, you know the basics of prepping: securing enough daily food and water to survive X number of days, having an emergency checklist, an escape plan, etc. But debt is a tool to enslave the public now. The longer you stay in debt the longer you remain within the watch of the authorities. Reduce your footprint today and live a better, more off-the-grid tomorrow.