Author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
There are a lot of things in the prepping world that seem out of reach for the average Jack or Jill. Going to the range and burning through two boxes of precious ammo (ouch – that’s a lot of money!). Stocking up on the healthiest and best quality emergency foods (again, ouch – that’s a lot of money!). Ten-mile hikes in extreme weather just for fun and conditioning (dude, I’m disabled!). Gardens that rival Martha Stewart’s estates’ green spaces that are cared for by a team of dedicated workers (hello – I live in an apartment!)
There’s a point of view between being bummed out and thinking there’s no way ever, and finding these legitimate, aspirational things to do.
That is simply doing the best that YOU can.
We all have unique circumstances, benefits, and limitations. It’s up to us to find a way to do the very best we can in those circumstances. And that is unique to every single one of us.
Here are some budget-friendly examples.
As far as the shooting range, I don’t get there nearly as much as I wish I did. I simply can’t afford to spend a week’s grocery budget plunking away at targets, as much fun as that is. So, I do dry-fire practice on a regular basis. Is it the same? Of course not. But is it better than doing nothing but bemoaning the fact I can’t afford to spend the ammo like that? Absolutely. I’m doing the best I can.
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Stocking up on the healthiest and best-quality emergency food is a very worthwhile goal. But for many of us, actually paying for all the groceries we need in a week is challenge enough. And trust me, those of us struggling to pay for those groceries aren’t putting grass-fed wagyu beef and the finest organic produce in our carts.
Instead, I make certain to add these items every trip: a shelf-stable protein, a shelf-stable fruit or veggie, and a shelf-stable meal. That might look like a can of tuna, a can of green beans, and a can of ravioli. Is it absolutely the peak of nutrition? Of course not. But it’s the best that I can do right now. When the budget allows, I get multiples of these items. They can be added to my previous bulk purchases of rice, pasta, and dried beans to make even more filling meals.
Here are some physically-friendly examples.
Before I became disabled, I was pretty active. I walked everywhere that I could, sometimes worked out in the gym, and went on more conservative 3-5 mile hikes. However, that’s no longer possible. It took me a while to wrap my brain around the fact that this part of my life was over. I moped for quite a while, but then I began another round of physical therapy to get the most use out of this worn-out body that I can. I’ve recently begun taking short walks multiple times per day using a mobility aid. As this gets easier, I’m combining two quarter-mile walks into one half-mile walk, and so on, until I can once again walk a mile. If you had told me a few years ago, I’d be excited about walking a quarter of a mile outdoors, I would have thought you were insane.
The progress is slow, but now at least I can go a quarter mile all at once without it totally wiping me out, which this time last year seemed like a pipe dream. My goal isn’t just to walk a mile. It’s not to be a burden on my loved ones in the event of an emergency. I remind myself of this when unused muscles beg me to stop and when I get frustrated with the slow progress. I’m doing the best that I can in the circumstances I’ve been given.
The way you move may be different than the way I move. But I challenge you to move as much as you safely can in the circumstances you have. Start slowly and continue slowly, for every single bit of progress is a success you didn’t have before.
I’ve always loved Martha Stewart (you can see my ode to her here), and her gardens always inspired me when I lived on bigger properties and was more able-bodied. Right now, I have a few herbs in pots thriving on my apartment patio. I have limited space and moved here midsummer, but those herbs keep me in touch with growing living things. I make homemade jam and marinara sauce, and can these things, and it keeps my preservation skills on point. It may not be much compared to lots of preppers, but I’m doing the best that I can in the space that I have.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Aden wrote about this a few years back. And it’s so true. It’s impossible to be happy with what you have and where you are if you are constantly comparing yourself to other peoples’ highlight reels on social media.
It takes away the happiness of what you can accomplish (I walked half a mile using a rollator and my own scrawny legs yesterday!) when you look at someone else who is posting the map of their five-mile run and compare your feat to theirs. We absolutely must stop doing this to ourselves. If we must compete and compare, what if we just compare what we did today to what we did last week?
Better yet, let’s not compete and compare at all. Let’s just live lives that let us be satisfied at the end of the day that we did the best that we could. Let that gentle acceleration of being well, a bit active, and a bit productive fuel us, especially if we are in tenuous health or stressful financial situations.
The same is true in reverse, too. If you are an agile endurance sport competitor, independently wealthy, have a military special forces background, and are a master gardener, for example, it’s rather unfair to look at other folks and wonder why on earth they’re not doing what you are doing. It’s even worse to state it and make others who are just trying to get by in an unkind world feel bad about themselves.
If I have learned anything over the past three years, it is that I cannot compare what I can do now to what I could do a few years back. It’s that I cannot be happy and mentally well by living in the past. I can still find ways to improve this less efficient body, but I have to be a thousand times more patient and gentle about it than I ever was in the past.
All we can do is the best we can, and that is different for every single person out there, whether they are preppers or not.
What about you?
As a prepper, trust me when I tell you, you are already so far ahead of the gen pop, just by your mindset alone. You have knowledge and skills, and you know what to expect. You have some things put back, you know when to evacuate and when to hang in there, and you are self-aware. These things are all so valuable in an emergency scenario.
Have you had to adapt to a different standard over the years? Are you prepping with monetary or physical constraints you never had before? What are some ways you are doing the best that you can?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
12 Responses
As part of the aging generation, my husband and I have found that we also can’t do as much as we used to, but we’re happy with our lifestyle which is different from the rest of his family. We don’t have a lot of money, but we also don’t have to worry about our investments of our time and money because we’re basically in control of all of it. (which isn’t much).
Having our house and cars paid off, we’re in a much better financial position than many others. As we become less able to do the things that we used to and as prices go up, we do what we can (with social security checks as our only income). We have several raised garden beds and fabric pots for garden vegetables rather than the huge garden space that we used to have.
We have also been teaching the members of the younger generation of our family how they can grow their own gardens. Our daughter has a fourth floor apartment where she grows herbs and tomatoes on her balcony. This way what we know can be passed onto the next generation.
Daisy, you are so right.
I try to live by these word: Always do your best in the situation you are in at that time.
Sometimes we think back that we should have done this or that 10 years ago or so, but we have to remind our self that the situation we were in that time was a lot different than we have now.
Also, our mindset was probably different too, we got wiser with age 🙂
If, we did our best in the situation we were in at that time, then we can not have any regrets now.
Wish all the best for you Daisy, stay strong and thank you all that you are doing.
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ~ Arthur Ashe
Thanks so much for this uplifting post, Daisy. I appreciate it greatly because I too am not mobile much anymore myself due to car wreck and other health issues in past 2 1/2 years. I also quit my toxic job in July which I was out on unpaid FMLA since around May any ways, and started going hard in my gardens, but this Texas heat has been no joke and we ain’t had no rain except the flood on 4th of July, which devastated our area. It’s so hot my plants are not producing, and my water bill tripled $$$ to triple digits, just like this Texas Heat. Any suggestions for that would be good, because plants are blooming but not producing.
I get pretty ticked off at myself when I can’t do something due to the pain or finances and I need to stop beating myself up. I am pretty much prepped as much as possible and it’s now just my mind set and maneuvering around a bit differently now, especially when I am hurting. I am doing like you, Daisy, and just taking the meds the dr gave me, so that at least I can have better quality of life right now. I figure when stuff hits the fan it’s gonna take my entire community to pull together, and I can’t be no lone wolf any more. I thank God this entire neighborhood is predominantly fully armed and prepped veterans. I also thank God my church is 6 minutes down the road apiece from me.
And I thank God for you, Daisy, and everyone at the OP, because had I not come across this site years ago I’d probably still be in the dark, like most folks out there in LaLa Land.
I’m now on oxygen and everywhere I go in my house I’m taking a 1/4” diameter hose with me. It’s 50’ long. My house has a circle inside which I have to leave to e exact way I went in. It’s extremely frustrating!! But I’m able to keep my blood O2 level up, take care of our disabled daughter and can what my husband brings in from our garden. I’m also 75 years old. Today I canned 9 half pints of zucchini relish. Tomorrow I will be making some Pear Marmalade. No , I can’t do what all that I used to be able to do, but I can’t still do what’s important.
Sometimes “good enough” is good enough. Doing something is better than nothing.
Also, check before your dry fire a weapon. It can damage some of them. There are a couple of systems out there where you can get practice without damaging your weapon. No ammo to buy and you can do it in your home. Mantis X is one and there are others. I don’t know the cost.
I recommend Byrna Launchers for most applications. Shooting and killing a human is a big deal. Most people just need to defend themselves so they can run away.
Byrna also has tear gas.
I caried a weapon for work for 27 years. 24/7. Streets of Miami. I’m female. If you get a byrna, get the orange one so police will know it is non lethal. The new smaller one is ideal. I have both sizes. If they’d had the smaller one when I bought the larger one…I’d have bought that.
During SHTF, Byrna might not be optimal, but NOW it is.
You can purchase snap caps for most calibers that will go in place of a live round and cushion the impact from the firing pin to prevent damage while dry firing.
I notice a big change in the amount I can get done as I age. When I can where I used to be able to can from early morning until bedtime. Now I have to take it slower. I can’t complete 90 quarts in a day anymore. I had to change my mindset from speed, speed, speed to being careful to prevent injury. It made me sad to only get half as much done in a day but it still gets done it just takes a little longer. I congratulate myself on what I am able to accomplish.
I have long wanted a greenhouse, and can’t afford a really high end one, so I bought a cheaper one. If it doesn’t collapse in the snow (maintenance!, I have a broom, and I know how to use it ;-), and doesn’t blow the cover to shreds in the windy spring storms, I might get a few years out of it. If I count the grocery savings up, I may be able to afford a better one in a few years.
I always wanted cherry trees, but couldn’t pay the exorbitant price of 4-5′ tall trees. After about 10 years I realized that if I had bought the $5.00 bare root trees, I would have 10 year old trees bearing fruit already. So, I bought a couple of the bare root ones and planted them 3 years ago. If you think about it that way, a little that you can nurture can become more with time and patience.
As I age, I realize that I can’t bend like I used to, so I have been buying raised planter bed frames, one at a time, and filling them with dirt and plants. A 4 foot bed can make a LOT of Swiss Chard, and peas can grow underneath. So can radishes if you like them. Bought another one and planted late cucumbers and squash in the greenhouse. Once I put the cover on that greenhouse, I might just get a crop out of those by extending my season. (I think I am going to try Rowan’s Crisco candle idea to keep it warm in there!) I currently have two raised beds that are 10′ long, and two 4′ ones, all in the greenhouse frame. I hope to scrounge another trampoline, which makes GREAT weed fabric, so keep your eyes out for that, especially after wind storms. I check craigslist for free ones…
Used chickens! Yep, I get mine from a guy who raises hens for industrial egg production. $10 each for an 18 month old bird, who will lay well for another 5 years. Maybe not well enough for what he does, but certainly good enough for my needs. I really like the Cinnamon Queens that I got earlier in the summer, they are super docile and friendly, and they lay really nice eggs. Procuring more this week because a weasel got 5 of my existing flock before I shot it. It is SO NICE to not have to raise babies in the house, stinking everything up and spending my electricity to keep them warm! Let me tell you, this is the way to go! If you can have an isolation pen separate from your existing flock, you can make sure they are healthy before combining them. If you have one that goes broody and you keep a rooster, let a hen do the work of raising them, otherwise, buy adult hens and save yourself the time, expense, and heartache. I don’t have the energy to work a full time job, care for my elderly mom, my ailing husband, and a dog with kidney disease, along with raising baby birds.
If you don’t have space for chickens, or want a stealthy bird, get quail. You can raise them in smaller cages, they are quiet, and clean, and you can raise them indoors if you want. Small eggs, but lower feed cost too. A pair will rapidly breed and make babies in confinement.
I strongly connect with your comments about not comparing to someone’s highlight reel. I think it’s also important to disconnect from most social media or electronics for a meaningful time. I need some web tools no matter what: Signal for family and few close friends, email, and 2 websites for work. But for a few years I have taken January 1 – April 1 and disconnected from the distractions: Twitter, all news sites, Amazon Prime movies, Netflix, etc. I fill up the time with extra reading. This year I read 16 books during that time, many more than normal. I felt very peaceful. I slept better. My walks were less harried. My ‘best-you-can’ got a little better.
I’ve talked to some veterans that I know and veterans that post online and many have injuries from being in the service.
Sorry to hear about your injuries Daisy.
I really enjoy meat and buy pastured raised meat, both pork and beef. Luckily for me I can afford it and that helps with preventing health problems. Too bad that many that can afford pastured meats don’t support ranches that do
Good for you, Daisy! I was bummed out for a while but your brave words got me going again!
Got to live in the moment, also!