Preparedness and Other Things

When gas prices go from this...

...to this within one day, you know there is a problem! 

Which brings us to the topic of preparedness...

At this point, I don't know which disaster to prepare for first!  There is sky rocking gas prices which leads to massive food price increases, weather disasters, a national and global supply chain break which impacts nearly every product on the shelves, housing costs that are quickly rising out of reach for a majority of the population, huge increases in violence/suicide/drug use...oh, and the growing threat of global thermonuclear warfare.  eeekkk

Since it looks like disaster is lurking on every corner these days, our preparedness activities are now focused on the following:

• We started a tiny garden.  We have a tiny yard and rough growing conditions in the desert so obviously there is no way we could grow all of our own food, but it seems like even growing a little food is a good hobby.  I'm also going to give regrowing food scraps a try.
• We got rid of all of our backpacking gear years ago when we made a major move but now I am checking prices on basic camping gear (tent, sleeping bags, stove, etc) because there are many kinds of disasters that could force us out of our home so it would be a good idea to have a way to shelter and take care of ourselves if we couldn't stay in our house.
• I'm also looking at small solar power systems.  If the power goes out for an extended period of time, especially in the middle of summer, we would be toast (literally!).  A couple of solar panels and a battery bank would at least give us some power for our basic needs (keeping us and our food cool mostly).
• We are stockpiling food like crazy.  We have more than six month's worth of food stored at this point and continue to add to our food stocks with every grocery store visit we make (usually stocking up on loss leaders and sale items).
• Keeping more cash with us.  We always use credit/debit cards for all of our purchases (paid off monthly on cash reward cards) so we rarely use cash.  But with the possibility of cyber warfare that could shut down online banking/ATMs for an extended period of time, having cash on hand seems like a good idea.
• Focusing more on our health.  The best way to stay healthy and not need medication/hospitals/etc is to focus on eating well (this is a work in progress) and exercise (I have more than 100k in walks scheduled for the next two weeks).  
• Buying stuff in bulk that we will need in the future.  With prices on everything rising and supply chain issues increasing, it is a good idea to have a lot more supplies--from toiletries to disposable items like furnace filters to cleaning supplies to clothing--on hand.

I'm sure there are many more things we can do but at least we are making a start.  Generally, we just try to live life day by day, enjoying ourselves as we go along.  I try to limit the amount of news I watch every day as it is so sad and depressing, but I still want to be proactive when possible in order to avert disaster.