Prepping is not just being ready for the end of the world as we know it, but for any event such as economic turbulence, job loss, sickness, and so on. We can be better prepared for such things in our finances. Here are some simple steps.
Avoid debt. There is good debt and bad debt and then there is some debt that may not be good, but probably necessary. Good debt is an investment that makes you money. We are talking about bad debt. That boat seems like it would be a lot of fun, but if you are living paycheck to paycheck it is a bad idea. If someone loses a job or you get an unexpected bill, you may have problems with that boat. If money isn't falling into your lap, buy a modest home and car. Use cash for auto or other large purchases though that is difficult for the average person so you may be getting a loan. Pay a little extra towards your principle on payments if you can and shave some payments off of the loan and save on interest.
Use a budget. I find this difficult for all the little purchases we make day to day. What we have found is that we spend a lot of money on food. More than we thought without tracking it. I keep a spreadsheet of our monthly income and expenditures so I can see it at a glance and know where we are at, and make sure I pay bills on time. You can see after tracking your monthly expenses where to cut and save. We avoid extra, unnecessary monthly expenses like cable, satellite, or netflix. They are nice, but we don't need them. We have free tv and occasionally rent a movie or purchase them at a thrift store for less than the cost to rent them.
Build your savings. Try to set a side 10% of your income for savings and only use it for emergencies. We have to constrain ourselves and tell ourselves that we don't have the money sometimes to purchase something even though we really do. It is in our savings and we don't want to touch it. Otherwise we gradually spend our savings and it doesn't grow.
Donate a little to a charity that you know uses the majority of the money for the needs and not the organization. Pay a tithing if you do that. It isn't "saving" you money, but I'm surprised that it often comes back in other ways. I do side work and it is an important extra income to save or help purchase prepping supplies outside our normal budget.
In emergencies when the bank may be closed or you have no access to funds, it is important to keep some cash safely stored at home. Gold or silver is an excellent way to store a valuable commodity in case cash becomes useless in an economic crisis.
Financial preparation can give you peace of mind when things feel beyond your control. Later!
