Who is 100% alone in trying to prep.

Your in a hard spot. I have my wife's support, but that's all. I have planned on most of my family showing up when the SHTF. None of them make any effort, they don't think things will ever south.

So not as bad as you, but I understand.

 

All you can do is ... well ... what you can.

I can't say I know how you feel because I don't but as a fire and life safety educator, I can say you are not alone with your problem. Many people have ask me how to get the family on the boat. (so to speak)

It will not be easy ... but it can be done. You have friends "here" that WILL help you along your way.

Ask yourself where you want to start and go from there... Right now ... what would you like to do first?

 

My wife believes in stcoking up and she hunts and is really good with guns, but she does not like the idea of being a "prepper". I'm slowly trying to get her past that. We are not a rich family and we all know the value of putting things back for the future. So thankfully it's more of a team effort here. I'm sure you will persevere, Kyfarmer, and they will come around sooner or later. You can vent here any time you need to. That's what we're here for.

 

WOW!!! I feel really blessed. She's on board with all of it. This year we agreed it was time to really put up a lot more stuff. Every time we go to the store we get a little extra. I had to put up three more shelving units to hold it. I filled a 250 gal. tank of diesel and as soon as I go get the tank, I'm going to fill another.
The only thing she is not willing to do is a dry run. Shut off the main breaker and spend a weekend in the 19th century.

 

A woman's suggestion - Get her into couponing. The "coupon culture" is also one of stockpilers which is extremely helpful when prepping. Depending on what area of the country (deals are harder to find in Canada, especially if you don't have a safeway) I can suggest some blogs to show your wife. Anyway, deal hunting and couponing is like a high, every week I save AT LEAST 50% on my groceries most weeks I save more like 80%. It's very cool to see your grocery bill to go from $150 to $30. It may be the motivation she needs to see that prepping is worth while. I know that's how my DH and I work. He takes care of the financial prepping, and drills (fire and bug out) and I take care of the more domestic things like food and house supplies like making soap and the such.

I do feel for you, my DH was mega skeptical of my "sillyness" until my job went under and we lived on my "sillyness" for 2 months.

 

I have been gently getting hubby into the game.

• 
  Last year, around election time, I started mentioning on a frequent basis all the anti gun nuts out there trying to take away our rights to keep and bear. That netted me a handgun for my birthday, and a shotgun for oldest DD for Christmas.

• 
  
  He has known about my bug out bag for 2 yrs. Yesterday I was repacking it into a wheeled carry on someone had thrown away( in a separate post I should expound upon the benefits of being married to the person responsible for the garbage pick up in our small community). He saw that I had clothes for everyone for a couple of days, toothbrushes, soap, a month supply of our prescription meds, and some small cans of spam, tuna, freeze dried meals,etc. He suggested a box of ammo for my handgun, and gave me 2 more flashlights and 2 folder knives to go in it.

• 
  I showed him a photo of ahome made self rotating can shelf I found on the net. He has built an acceptable replica for me, and the stepdaughter and daughter in law are both interested in having one, as are all of his sisters.

So it has been in small steps. We are no where near where we need to be, but..... I know we can survive the more probable scenarios right now. Working on the next level.
Now I have begun planting the ideas of food becoming too expensive to afford and maybe needing to provide more of our own meat than in season hunting provides (interpret that statement however you want too )

 

Start with the goodies!

I was faced with your exact situation years ago with my first wife. I dealt with it by explaining my concerns for the well being of my family. I didn’t want them to go through what I did as a child, little to no food in the house during tough times.
I was fortunate enough to work for a company that I could buy cases of damaged can goods, cake mixes and frozen foods at a very low price. When the pantry began to fill up with the goods they liked, it became easier to stock up on the necessities.
So I guess my advice is; stock up on the goodies first, get every one to see that it can be a good idea.

 

this was going to be my advice, My husband thinks im crazy if I talk about prepping for WSHTF but if I get 8 of something because I got them cheap with a coupons/sale then he thinks that's just great, personally I dont see the difference but if that's the way I have to say it so that my husband doesnt think im crazy than that's the way it is.

 

I am not 100% alone in prepping, I have an MSO who is wonderful (for the most part) when it comes to prepping, but, she isn't really one to give up convience - so - when we go grid-free, I have to implement convience into the house. She is willing to spend the money to stock-up on supplies and doesn't mind me spending money on materials to build more shelves. She is anti-clutter though and doesn't like it when my stocking-up fills up too much of the house where it starts to look more like a grocery-store (or worse).

My MSO has posted a few times here, reads only when I email-link a subject to her and only posts if I push her hard enough. Some of my friends are preppers, but, they refuse to spend time on the 'net talking about it.

 

Kyfarmer, my family spends like drunken sailors. :nuts: I have been married for about 8 years, and the step kids look at me for money or cars and other financial aid. :nuts: They have gotten better, but they are basically clueless and don't even want to be clued in. I know I need to keep planning and prepping so I do. I don't know what would happen if things really got bad. It would probably boil down to everyone for them self in the end. I would like a private bug out spot but that would be divulged in time so I guess we are pretty much in the same boat. The youngest one is the worst, 23, college grad., turned down the only job offer she got and is only concerned about her social life and the color of her hair. :nuts: I some times think I will just disappear on my own, but then I remember my partner and the family and start planning again. I also don't know where to stop ad in sister in law, my mom. My brother and his family are just as bad, they think I'm silly.:nuts:

 

It is always difficult to convince your significant other the wisdom of buying 1000.00 dollars worth of MRE’s if he or she isn’t on board with your squirrel instincts. Try thinking a little more outside the box. Who is going to begrudge you or in most case even notice if you buy 3 more cans of food on every grocery trip. I recently took up candle making so I could provide my wife with pretty smelling candles for the living room (wink, wink). They may not be on board but do you think they will care if you learn how to can food, jams and jellies?

 

What do you mean "do they care" mine loves it, I do all the canning, food storage, planning, weapons, shelter, everything. I guess you might call me a Renaissance Man, a man of all trades, master of none, so to speak.:2thumb: Do like I do, make it your hobby, every guy needs one, can't get you in trouble:scratch usually.:sssh:

 

Ditto. I can do all the canning I want as long as I do it. I make sure everything gets rotated, search out and procure what I think we might need and then find a place to store it "where it won't get in the way".
We had a situation this week which vindicated me on one of my quirks that she just couldn't understand. This past summer I put up 50 gal. of water. She thought that was just plain silly since we can take water out of the well with buckets if it came down to that. Well... something went wrong with the pump on Tuesday. We could only get about 8lbs of pressure and I thought it was the pressure switch. A nice quick, easy fix. Went to get the switch and they didn't have one. So now we go home and need to get through the night with only a trickle of water. She sheepishly asked me how much water I had stored.
It turned out that the impeller had a couple cracks in it as well as a couple of small pieces broke off of it so we had to replace the pump, but it sure felt good to have some water around to wash up with, brush our teeth and flush the toilet. :2thumb:

 

I really like the coupon idea. She clips coupons and we shop at discount grocery stores for canned goods and the like. She stays home with the toddler and I don't make a ton of money so we live cheaply out of necessity. So, like you all said, stock up on sale items because they're cheap, not because the world is gonna end.

I believe the political types call it "spin".

 

My wife isn't against the idea, but not an active supporter.
She just doesn't realize that we have been prepping for along time

If SHTW in a serious way, I might have problems with her. Doesn't have the right mindset. She might actually bug. I won't be happy if it happens, but the gate is one way.

Sam

 

My wife knows things are not going well in society, but she doesn't seem very interested in preparing for any kind of emergency. On the bright side she doesn't mind me preparing. Other than certain monetary limitations, she pretty much gives me free reign to do what I think is best for the family. None of my immediate friends and family are preparing, so I'm just going it alone for now.

 

I'm a 52 year old batchelor, no serious relationship and (thankfully!) no kids.
Elderly parents have no interest - Dad just wants to stay on his property, though he is a do-it-hiselfer and a survivor-type. But no real preps beyond basic storm preps. Sister is clueless, a liberal married to a liberal. She once had the basics of a good prepper setup - 8 acres inthe country, well with handpump, enough land to garden and livestock for a family.
BIL corrupted her and they moved to the city, now on their little half-acre of Suburban Hell.

I have been prepping and stocking for about ten years. Got LTS food for a year, water for six months (careful rationing), all else for basic survival. But I too am on a half-acre (further out). Begun gardening and trying to go off-grid next year if the economy doesn't totaly tank by then. Ten years to retirement, so still have to work in town too.

I do have two good buddies who are 'casual preppers', both married. But they aren't as serious about it as I am.
No co-workers are into prepping. One seemed to be interested, but he voted for the current misadministration and really hasn't a clue. He once gave me the old line about "Coming to your house if it gets bad!" I asked him if he could outrun a bullet? Last we talked of prepping.......
I did give him a basic list of preps and online places to look into for info.

Neighbors are mostly elderly on fixed incomes and not interested, or younger folks who are clueless.

So yeah - I'll be 'lone wolfing' it.