How To Survive
A Financial Emergency

The first thing to do is to reassess  your budget.

Take a look at where you spend your money.

• Are there luxuries you can forgo? 
• What are the most immediate money needs?

One of the biggest mistakes people make when faced with a  sudden financial setback or shocking expense is to go on spending as though they still have the same budget. Perhaps they go and buy something to try and make themselves feel better. Maybe they just continue spending like they always did, with hundreds of dollars going out for kids’ activities, a vacation that had been planned before the emergency, dinners out, and shopping trips.

Just stop.

Create a "necessities only" budget.

Everyone has their own ideas about what is a necessity. Personally, I work at home and need the internet. It would cost me more to go to a Starbucks for free internet and coffee than it does to pay for an internet connection and make my own coffee.

But more than that, these are the items I feel are on our family's necessity list:

• Water
• Food (and the ability to cook it)
• Medicine and medical supplies
• Basic hygiene supplies
• Shelter (including sanitation, lights, heat)
• Defense Items
  

Absolutely everything above those basic necessities is a luxury.

You may have your own version of necessities and luxuries depending on your circumstances. By this definition, what are your luxuries?

Slash spending on luxuries.

Reduce your monthly payments by cutting frivolous expenses. Look at every single monthly payment that comes out of your bank account and slash relentlessly.  Consider cutting the following:

• Cable
• Cell phones
• Home phones
• Gym memberships
• Restaurant meals
• Unnecessary driving
• Entertainment such as movies, extra shopping, kids sports, or ball games.

It may not be a lot of fun, but it’s absolutely necessary until your crisis is under control.

Find ways to make extra money.

• Are there items around the house you could sell? 
• Do you have experience of some kind that others would pay for?
• Can you create a home-based business?
• Start an online business?
• Provide a service? Cooking? Sewing? Odd jobs? Carpentry? Fix-it man?

Maybe learning a new skill would benefit your budget with a new way to make money. I swear, there is a Youtube video for everything you ever wanted to learn.

Use only things you have on hand.

Instead of running to the grocery store when you really need something, or even skipping your weekly shopping trip, rely on whatever groceries you already have on hand. This may take a bit of creativity. (This is what you've been prepping for, isn't it?)

What can you substitute for something you're out of? It's easier to substitute foods in a recipe when you cook inexpensive meals from scratch and use  your stockpiled ingredients.

Instead of replacing something that is broken, try repairing it. (As I mentioned, there's a Youtube video to learn anything.)

The Prepper's Blueprint is a step-by-step easy-to-follow plan to help us get prepared as quickly as possible. It includes common sense concepts and plenty of supply lists. It's divided the chapters into what the author calls "layers of preparedness". Each layer will help you progress from "beginner" to "longer term" to "the end of the world as we know it".

For example:

Layer 1: Chapters 1-14, prepares you for those everyday disasters that have shorter-term effects: power outages, storms, injuries, and evacuations 

Layer 2: Chapters 15-31 help you to get ready for disasters that turn out to be much longer-lasting: economic collapse, long term power outages, and pandemics, to name a few.

Layer 3: Chapters 32-56 prepares you for the long haul and a complete change of lifestyle, the end of the world as we know it: providing food and water once supplies run out, security, retreat properties, and long-term plans.

The goal of this very readable book is to help you along the path to self-reliance, and ultimately, to get you and your family to a point where you can not only survive, but thrive, in a world that may be permanently altered.

The Prepper's Water Survival Guide is a must read book. If you think you know everything there is to know about storing water . . . well, reading this book may change your mind. I have plenty of water stored but I learned a few things from this book.

It's a step-by-step plan with straightforward information you can easily follow. You’ll quickly learn how to:

• Store fresh water
• Collect rainwater
• Purify water from lakes and rivers
• Dig a well for groundwater

In addition to harvesting water, you’ll gain the tools to keep large stores untainted for long periods of time, test the water you collect for dangerous toxins, and treat water-related illnesses that are commonly contracted during a disaster.