Daily Routine

OK, this has probably been covered somewhere else, but it's an idea of how one could go about deciding what will be needed when TSHTF.

Alarm clock wakes me up in the morning. Hmmm, do I really need an alarm clock if I have no job to go to? Maybe I do for other things. If so, I better have a battery powered clock, or better yet, one of those old time wind up clocks.

I go get my two cups of coffee. Hmmm, how important will coffee be in the bad times? Do I use my limited storage space and food budget to stockpile coffee, knowing that means less space and money for beans and rice? If space and money are no object, making coffee means using water and heat. How much of my stored water am I willing to use for coffee? How much propane, wood, etc. am I willing to commit to making coffee? Maybe this becomes a luxury item.

Breakfast? Better be thinking about what foods will provide filling, nutritious breakfasts without the need for a lot of water and heat. Remember, water that I commit to making oatmeal with is water that I won't have later for drinking. Heating supplies (see coffee above) that I commit to cooking with are gone once used.

Go to the bathroom. Yep, need TP. Some kind of TP whether it's regular rolls, Sears catalogs or whatever. Better work on that one.

Take a shower. I get the feeling that daily showers will be a luxury in the bad times. What can I do to take a partial bath? How will I rinse off even if I only wash part of my body? Got to start thinking about those things, too. Having a big supply of soap and shampoo will be good, but without a big supply of rinse water they won't help much.

Shave. Something tells me that in the bad times, beards will become more popular as shaving may become a luxury. Remember, shaving takes water, and even a little water to shave with every day starts to add up over time.

Brush teeth. Must have an extra toothbrush or two. And extra toothpaste stored up. Good dental hygiene (for that matter, overall hygiene) will be extremely important to remaining healthy and strong.


Put in contact lenses. Here's an interesting one. I can stock up on extra lenses, cleaner, drops, etc. But if the bad times last for a few years, sooner or later I'm going to run out of all of that. I guess I better have a few extra pairs of glasses around just in case. Getting emergency glasses with cheap, durable frames will help me buy more pairs than if I got the nicer frames which won't matter much in the bad times. Of course, my prescription may change over a period of a few years, but having glasses which are close to what I need will be better than having none at all.

Put on deodorant. Well, maybe I can live without that, although it won't be pleasant.

Get dressed. OK, Most of us can probably get by with the clothes we have, but it's good to consider.

Drive to work. Oh, well, that's gonna change when the TSHTF.

Just a few ideas about things to consider that we do and what we use every day. This certainly doesn't come close to covering everything, but it's maybe a good starting point to think about your own routine.