Do You Factor in "Time" with your Preps?

[Neb]

In addition to the normal preps for disasters, SHTF and TEOTWAWKI we include plans to prepare for just getting old and dealing with that. The remodeling project I often mention is a second rental property going to augment what we get from SSI.

Looking at the demographics the last of the Baby Boomers are leaving the work force and will be putting a load on SSI and medicare. Combine that with the national debt, taxes and inflation will go up and there is no guarantee SSI will keep up.

The rental properties will alleviate how fast we will be drawing down on our investments. So timing how well or investments withstand the test of time. The last thing I want is for The Princess to have to take a part time job 30 years after she retires to make ends meet.

So timing is taken into consideration for both TEOTWAWKI or not.

Ben

 

[goshengirl]

Yeah, I would have to add that a good part of our prepping is just an economical way of living.

For example, if I have a pair of shoes/work boots that fit great and work really well for me, I get another pair and put the box on the shelf for when the first pair wears out. Is it a prep? Is it being economical because my dollar buys more now than in the future? Is it me being lazy because I'm saving myself from having to go shoe shopping in the future? Yes to all of that.

 

[Aerindel]

I don't want to live past age 80. 'Our kind' was spec'd to die quietly of colon cancer at 65.

My kind was supposed to rule Scotland and die at 54 from eating too many eels. (Ancestor of mine)

Back in my 50's I was gung-ho to face a post-apocolyptic world as "The Road Warrior".

One thing I love about Mad Max....he drives the wasteland with A FREAKING LEG BRACE because he got his knee blown out by a shotgun when younger. Dude can fight, and he can drive, but you never see him running a marathon. Like a lot of us, guy has old injuries that he has to deal with, but he adapts to them.

If civilization goes back to medieval times, I don't want to live in it very long. For what?
To sit around and tell children how great it was back when we had electric washing-machines?

I want to sit around and tell them how terrible it was when we had washing machines and what it was like to take down the Lord Humongus the year before they where born.

 

[joel]

I have no idea how long I'll live, but I always have grandkids around me, so they'll need stuff. So far, mom is 88, Uncle Mel is 97, my dad passed at 96, and Great Aunt Edna lived to 105 and just passed a few years ago. I know I'll always need extra food because if things go really bad, our grown kids will end up here and not in the cities where they're at. We grew alot this year and trade alot locally for what we don't have, but having lots of storage is a buffer I like to have.

 

[Amish Heart]

Hey that's me! Although she's showing a bit more leg than I do.
Our family reunion is happening in a few hours and we'll be visiting my great grandpa's house. My grandparents lived down the road and were married in 1920. They always had plenty to eat, even with the depression going on. Looking forward to all the stories today about how it all was. Most of the reunion attendees and those touring the old house first this afternoon are in their 80's and 90's and are going to be telling stories about how it was here.

 

[goshengirl]

Most of the reunion attendees and those touring the old house first this afternoon are in their 80's and 90's and are going to be telling stories about how it was here.

I'd love to take that tour and hear those stories.

 

[Alaskajohn]

Hey that's me! Although she's showing a bit more leg than I do.
Our family reunion is happening in a few hours and we'll be visiting my great grandpa's house. My grandparents lived down the road and were married in 1920. They always had plenty to eat, even with the depression going on. Looking forward to all the stories today about how it all was. Most of the reunion attendees and those touring the old house first this afternoon are in their 80's and 90's and are going to be telling stories about how it was here.

My parents were born around 1930 in Appalachia, so they had some memories, and obviously our grandparents and older aunts and uncles had extensive memories. Up until almost 6 years old, I lived on that same “hollar” among the farms of all my kinfolks. Talks of the depression era was about financial hardships and how little of those specific hardships had changed up and into the early 1960s. But they all said that no one went hungry as the hollar provided the extended family with more than enough to eat.

I continued to visit the hollar my entire life every year up until the last of the property owning kinfolk passed about 12 years ago. Now I only get back for funerals as we will all be buried in that same soil.

 

[LadyLocust]

Hey that's me! Although she's showing a bit more leg than I do.
Our family reunion is happening in a few hours and we'll be visiting my great grandpa's house. My grandparents lived down the road and were married in 1920. They always had plenty to eat, even with the depression going on. Looking forward to all the stories today about how it all was. Most of the reunion attendees and those touring the old house first this afternoon are in their 80's and 90's and are going to be telling stories about how it was here.

Write it down when you return home in the evening. You will thank yourself later.
@joel As of a couple years ago, the average age of the widow was 57. I was stunned when I learned that - so young.

As for preps with aging, I think we have a few years on @Rebecca but are similar in thinking. We don't specifically prep for life, but to sustain if all goes haywire. That said, I'm not really fond of shopping so my thought is usually "What can I do or purchase so I will never have to buy this again?" So we've ended up with antique items that should outlast us. Again like R. we don't have TV, microwave, or dishwasher. We do still have a dryer but seldom use it (when our air was so gross with smoke I did) and we won't be buying another one. Also, at the moment we are renting so are grid tied. @Aerindal we have a few generators but seem to use them a lot so not just a SHTF supply with the exception of 1 which is huge and when we find a piece of land to purchase will have it to run our entire house. We bought it new, in box for a great $ from some friends who were moving and didn't want to pay to have it moved. We are hopeful that we can make things happen and get out of Dodge before "it" hits.

 

[calebj]

I have thought about this for some time, and want to pose the question here. Some may think it is a morbid discussion, but just hear me out. How long do you realistically think you are going to live? 20 years? 30 years? 40 years? For arguments sake let's use these numbers as a reference. Life expectancy in the U.S. is 81 for women and 77 for men. We can all do the math. Of course, family history and genetics will be a factor.

If I consider a realistic time frame how long do my preps have to last? I am basing mine on 20 years. If the world shut down tomorrow, there are some things I know I will never have to buy again. I have enough Winter coats to last two lifetimes. I have enough boots and shoes to last for two lifetimes. Clothes would certainly last for twenty years. Good Lord willing, and the Creek don't rise, unless something cataclysmic happens, my house will last far longer than I will.

Neither of my children could give a lick about prepping. I have preached. I have pointed out examples as nauseum. Prepping is (eye roll) Dad's Hobby. My daughter is a thousand miles away. I can't help her with my cache. I do not factor them into my long term plans.

Am I way off base with this logic? Does anybody else consider a time frame when they prep?

I've never set a specific time frame. I'll just prep until something happens and whatever I have on hand is what I've got.