Jean Marie Bauhaus

Happy new year, fellow preppers! At least, here’s hoping that it’s happy and all of our concern about the economy, et al, fails to pan out.

A new year is always a good time to take stock and set some goals, and Casa Prepper has plenty of goals for the coming year, not the least of which is simply to survive it. To that end, here are the things we’re working toward this year:

• Getting in shape. While this goal makes the top of most people’s new year’s resolutions, for preppers it takes on a higher degree of importance, as being healthy and in good shape is a vital component of survival. After all, having a garage full of freeze-dried food and water won’t help you much if you’re unable to run for your life if need be, which I’m not sure I could do successfully at the moment. We also face the possibility of having to bug out on foot, hiking for miles over uncertain terrain while carrying many pounds of gear on our backs. And working on strength training so that I won’t be easily overpowered by “zombies” is also on my to do list.



 

• Speaking of which, beefing up our defenses is also a major goal this year. This means obtaining additional firearms and ammo, including a boom stick for home defense and a small-caliber rifle for hunting (not something we really want to ever have to do, but nevertheless we’ll be prepared to do it if the need arises). We also want to obtain concealed carry licenses, as well as studying and practicing hand-to-hand defense maneuvers.

 

• Learning and practicing new skills is another goal for this year. Last year we obtained some nifty tools and gear, but we have yet to really practice with any of them. So we’ll doing some backyard bush crafting to help remedy that, as well as hopefully going on some camping and hiking expeditions. We want to get better at gardening and start growing more than just peppers and tomatoes, and I also want to learn how to can and preserve food, and how to bake bread from scratch. And I want to start a medicinal herb garden and learn more about herbal medicine and home remedies, as well as learning First Aid and field medicine.

 

• Another high priority is to build up our food and water stash. We were close to, if not quite at, a 100 level in this area before the holidays, but with our finances being tight we’ve had to dip into our food stash to help stretch our money. So I would like us to get back up to having a month’s worth on hand as soon as possible, and aim for at least a three-month supply by the end of the first quarter, and double that by the end of the second quarter.

 

• To help with that, one of our biggest goals right now is to grow our income. My husband has agreed to help me out with my freelance business, and I also plan to try my hand seriously at affiliate marketing, both here and on other blogs and mini-sites. We’re also kicking around the idea of setting up a storefront for a drop-ship survival gear site. I also need to put more energy into my knit and crochet shop on Etsy, and into paring down our belongings by selling off our collectible clutter.

 

• This next goal seems to be controversial among the survival community, with a lot of disagreement over how much of a priority it should be in our unstable economy, but we’re setting a goal to pay down our debt. Whether or not it’s a good idea to focus on eliminating consumer debt in the face of an economic collapse, the fact is that our minimum monthly credit card payment is at a ridiculous and unmanageable level right now, so at the very least we have no choice but to focus on paying it down to a more manageable level. Although I would like to pay it off completely, if possible, regardless of what’s going to happen. I feel it would be safer to simply not have debt than to wonder what will happen to it after a collapse, because I have a feeling it isn’t simply going to go away. Besides, we tend to believe that we should take personal responsibility for paying back the money that we borrowed. I know that’s a wacky concept in this day and age.

 

• Finally, our biggest goal for this year, which is so big that it’s really more of a dream at this point, is to buy some land and get out of the city. I’ll be posting more about this later, but suffice to say that this is a goal that will only happen for us through God’s provision, but nevertheless, it’s something toward which we both feel strongly that we should be working.

So those are our goals for the coming year here at Casa Prepper. What about you, dear reader? Do you have any special goals or preparedness resolutions for the new year? If so, please share them in the comments!