Times are tough now and the future looks grim, I ask everyone here are you prepared for the worst. Safety of our families is something we all invested in at some point for some type of scenarios. We all installed locks on our doors or we went out and bought a gun just in case an intruder was lurking. While being prepared for some scenarios many dismiss some that we Americans take for granted because we never seen it in our lifetime.

If you woke up his morning and found the money in your pocket was only good for toilet paper how long could you last. Imagine going to the market only to see the shelves stripped clean, you now have to make due with what you have at home. If lucky you have 2-3 weeks of food at home (that includes that can of Lima beans that's been sitting in the back of your cabinet since the Clinton Administration). Now imagine that 2-3 week supply ran out and nothing has changed, you are in deep shit because you didn't prepare.

Sadly 94% of Americans aren't prepared for that type of scenario and like always the government isn't going to be there to help. To those who lived through a power outage or a natural disaster one thing is always the same, the majority was never prepared. If you hit up the market during or after the crisis it's always the same thing, everything is gone. With so much experience that shit happens why is it we take things for granted until the last minute, your guess is as good as mine. So I would like to take the time to maybe give you some tips on not being in that 94% crowd.

Food- It is what it is we need it to survive, problem is so many expect to leave the house and expect to find it in stock (bad idea). Be prepared and stock up on what you can afford every week. An extra bag of canned goods or a extra bag of rice may be the life saver. Buy what you eat, in a SHTF scenario life will be tough enough, eating something that you usually never eat will bring your moral down.

Rotating your supply is a must, the rule here is eat what you store and store what you eat. No point of having 2 tons of food and when you need it its all spoiled. As for quantity to have that is up to you. Some say to work for a years supply but to me you can never have enough.

Water- Again store what you can however you can. This is something else people take for granted, they always expect water will come out of their faucet when they turn it on. Regular water from the tap will stay good up to 6 months, many say to add a little bleach but I never found a need to do that. Mark dates on your containers so you know when to rotate it. If you know a disaster is coming fill up every container you have with water, this includes your bathtub.

If you get caught off guard with no water don't panic, most homes have a fair supply of water already stored. Do you have a hot water heater, there you go water stored. Although make sure you run it until clear water is coming out, rust usually settles to the bottom of the heater. The back of your toilet there is water in the tank, although I would suggest boiling this if planned on using for drinking. If you use one of those cleaners you stick in the tank don't use it for drinking even if boiled.

Others- Think about what else you use on a regular day that you take for granted. We all use soap, toothpaste, toilet paper,etc. Stock up on this as well, hygiene is very important to our health and shouldn't be overlooked (plus who wants to smell peoples BO and ball cheese for days lol). Medicine and first aid should be well stocked up. I'm not talking about the basic band-aids and Asprin either here, if a family member uses prescription drugs you know that will be needed stock up. Garbage bags, paper plates, throw away plastic forks and cups is a good idea. If water is limited you don't want to waste it on washing dishes.

Protection- This isn't the time to be some anti-gun liberal (you know who you are). Owning a gun or having some way to protect your family is a must. Even if you hate guns buy one and stick it in your closet, pray you never have to use it. I'm not going to go into which gun is best because the discussion is never ending, any gun in the right trained hands is deadly. I would rather have someone trained with Grampa's old double barrel than some idiot with a $3000 custom AR-15 backing me any day. As with guns comes ammo so stock up as well.

Being prepared should be a personal thing, when I say that I mean don't go out and tell the world you are preparing for the end of the world lol. If word gets out that you are prepared who's door do you think they will be knocking on if things get bad. Also don't give out any of your supplies to strangers, they will only come back for more and probably with more people this time. If people are watching their kids starve they are desperate and will do desperate things to feed their kids, that's includes killing you to get your stuff. With the welfare entitlement state we live in people expect everything giving to them, these people are extremely dangerous and expect you to help them. Be prepared to hold your own.

Thanks for reading and prepare yourself