Preparing for the Economic Storm Ahead

In the tough storm of economic times the advice I hear most often is "save your money". I am starting to question this wisdom. Thinking ahead to what the future might hold, goods may what will be in short supply. With tougher economic times looming in the distance, my thoughts turn toward preparation. The storm may be long and hard, but we want to be able to ride it out and to be able to serve others.

When you tell others you are saving money for the tough times, they nod in agreement. But tell someone you are storing up food, and they look at you with a puzzled look in their eye. Why? Food is abundant and somewhat inexpensive now. Wouldn't you be wise to buy it while it is inexpensive and store it for later? It is actually a better investment than squirrling all your money away. Who knows what kind of value our money will have in the near future. What if your loved one loses their job? Wouldn't you feel better knowing you had a nice supply of food to take you through a tough time? I'm not saying you shouldn't also have a nest egg for hard times. That's important too. You can't pay your light bill with canned food.

What does the Bible say?

The virtueous woman in Proverbs 31 gives.

She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. Proverbs 31:20

How can she help the poor if she hasn't prepared something to give them?

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Proverbs 6:6-9

Ants prepare during times of plenty. So should we.

As Christians, we have to wake up and look around. We need to be prepared for our family and others. Can we prepare for the storm without losing our heads? Can we gather without being alarmists? We should be ruled by wisdom, not fear. Anything that has fear attached to it is not of God.

Today I was digging around for my Y2K food preparation list. (Yes, I stored up for Y2K.) At the time, I thought it was kinda silly, but I thought it would be better to be safe and sorry. After nothing happened at the stroke of midnight, we were able to use our food storage for the next three months. Nothing was wasted and I was glad for the added convenience of the stockpile.

Y2K was actually a great "dry run" for this next project of mine. I'm going to store up a three month supply of non-perishables and find alternative suppliers for perishables. I'll continue to post my progress here. My intention is to very slowly gather up a 3 month supply of non-perishables that we currently use on a daily basis... nothing new or strange. Nothing to strain my already tight budget. Just an extra can of beans here and a extra bag of flour there. If something is on sale, maybe I'll pick up a few more. We also plan to extend our garden and plant more produce.