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                    From Lisa Bedford - The Survival Mom

 

                                   Early Spring 2022

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                                thesurvivalmom.com

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Hi there, 

Welcome to a new day, new headlines, and new headaches!

It's been a long time since I've received so many questions about prepping, whether in emails, social media comments, online messenger apps, and from family members.

People are very worried about, well, everything.

We just spent two full years with non-stop Covid hysteria and division, pitting citizen against citizen and family member against family member.

Now, it we're being told to replace all the Covid stuff with Russia stuff -- fears of cyberattacks, nuclear attacks, you name it.

The situation in Ukraine isn't exactly ideal, and right now, there's some serious fog of war stuff going on. 

Here's what I know for 100% sure -- the cost of gas has gone up one hell of a lot in just the past couple of weeks. Food shortages are still showing up in just about every store I've been to in the last month. Supply chain issues continue.

I don't think I've ever seen "emergency food storage" as an internet trending topic:

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With all that's going on, is it too late to prep?

Well, I'm an optimist, and my best guess is, no, it's not too late.

But! Things could spiral out of control in an instant, and millions of panicking people will ensure your access to food, supplies, cash, gasoline, etc. could come to a quick end.

So, here are a few smart steps to take now. Please don't procrastinate, even if all you can do is just a few baby steps. 

1. Have enough cash on hand to pay for everyday expenses for a couple of months. Cash for food, cash for gas, cash for repairs, and so on. I'm hearing a lot of stories of people taking out cash, a few hundred here, a few hundred there. If this turns into a deluge of withdrawals, well, things could get complicated fast.

2. Don't wait any longer to stock up on at least 30 days worth of extra food. Ideally, 3 months supply is better. Even if prices stabilize, they will likely not go back to where they were even 6 months ago. 

3. Do you buy freeze-dried food? During the pandemic, some food storage companies had to close their doors due to serious shortages. I buy all my freeze-dried food from Thrive Life because I like their monthly delivery service (comes with a 15% discount and you can get free shipping) and the quality of food is always excellent. No need to refrigerate it.

4. Connect with family and friends just for fun. Meet someone new for coffee, reach out to people in your circle of acquaintances. During hard times, it's relationships with people that provide support of all kinds. This is an area that is so easy to overlook.

5. Stock up on simple basics, like pasta, rice, canned veggies, large containers of spices (Sam's Club is great for this). Think about simple meals that combine things like cooked rice and a can of chili. Shop at ethnic grocery stores for competitive prices and fewer empty shelves -- at least, that's been my experience.

6. Find ways to conserve fuel and household energy expenses. Before the summer heat and humidity arrive, think about how you would cope during a power outage.

7. IMPORTANT! If there's a serious shortage of food, then nutrition density becomes more important than ever. I've been growing microgreens and getting back into seed sprouting -- two super-simple ways to add turbo-charged nutrients to our meals. You can buy seeds suitable for both from True Leaf, something I did last week.

Don't panic. That leads to over-spending and poor decisions. We've been down roads like this before. That's the good news!

The bad news is that right now there is just SO MUCH happening. It's hard to take it all in and decide what is true, what's exaggerated, and what are outright lies that will only be admitted, maybe, once a new crisis arrives.

Go back to the list in this email. Start with #1, and keep your focus on where it needs to be right at this moment -- your home, your family, your well-being.

Got questions? Click 'Reply' and I'll do my best to answer them.

All the best,

Lisa

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