Prepping for "regular" life

[hatidua]

Far more people are doing financial planning than are buying cases of MRE's

indeed

[CaliRider]

indeed

+1, people just talk about guns, ammo, food, and water in here because of the forum we are in right now.

[docsherm]

This is all just crazy talk..I just invest in Lotto ticket as a form of "real world" prepping.......

[SeriousStudent]

This is all just crazy talk..I just invest in Lotto ticket as a form of "real world" prepping.......

LOL - same here. I still have a habit of doing that myself, when the PowerBall gets north of 300 million.

One of my accounting professors when I was an undergrad told me a great saying: "The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math."

But if those silly people at the Lotto HQ will just start cooperating, I will be set!

[Eurodriver]

To keep them separate we have checkbooks and debit cards for each account and only use those to pay those specific expenses listed with them. For example, our garbage bill and our water bill are each quarterly, and we both wear contacts that we buy quarterly, so I only pay those with a check or debit card from the quarterly account, and nothing else gets taken out of that account. Just like you'd never use a Phillips head screwdriver on allen screws and vice versa. So when reviewing our expenses we take a look at what our quarterly expenses are, name them and the amounts, and then total it up, divide that by 6 (3 months in a quarter with two paychecks a month) and that's the amount that needs to be deposited into that account from paychecks. Same thing with yearly, add up all that stuff like car tags, homeowners insurance, hunting/fishing licenses, NRA membership, then divide that total by 24 and see to it that the correct amount is in the yearly account. What isn't quarterly, semiannual, or annual is what's left to go into the monthly-or-less miscellaneous. These are all in separate banks entirely so I know the green debit card from the red one from the orange one and you sure as heck don't write a check by mistake with big bold letterhead and different background images on them. NO CASH EVER FOR ANYTHING: everything is documented.

So my paycheck allocation is something like 35-30-15-20 across 4 bank accounts. Employer's payroll service does that no sweat, I just check online every payday to make sure it's close to the same as last time or if it's short it's all uniformly short because maybe I worked 28-30 hours one week b/c I was sick or took a day off. If I need the allocation changed, I just change the amount, and that's only maybe twice a year when and if I need to. For spot adjustments maybe once in a while, say 6 month car maintenance was high, I'll write a check from one account and deposit it into another and let that settle out for two weeks or so to make sure it's good--no way will I need every dime of the money in the account all at once at any point in the quarter or year.

....lots of info

Treat money as a tool and it won't treat you like one. As Chris Costa might say, be its master not its bitch.

I started off reading your post saying "This guy is freaking nuts"

Now I'm curious as to how I can get started... the only thing is that I pay cash for everything. Gas, food, groceries, etc.

[Frailer]

I started off reading your post saying "This guy is freaking nuts"

Now I'm curious as to how I can get started... the only thing is that I pay cash for everything. Gas, food, groceries, etc.

I don't go quite that far, but I do have three checking accounts and two savings accounts.

My wife and I each have a checking account for "wants," into which I place a small "allowance" each paycheck. The third checking account is for household expenses, auto repairs, appliance replacement, etc., and I keep roughly 2-3 months' pay in it. One savings account is primarily for automobile replacement (I don't believe in car payments), although I can take a short-term loan from this account if a major expense crops up. The second savings account is for long-term expenses, like home remodels. All-in-all I keep roughly one year's pay in liquid assets.

The smartest thing I ever did was split off the "wants" accounts. Once your hobbies are divorced from your main funds it can be surprising how quickly money can accumulate.

FWIW I pay cash for almost everything, too. I just carry two wallets (is that weird?)

[MurtaughF3]

I started off reading your post saying "This guy is freaking nuts"

Now I'm curious as to how I can get started... the only thing is that I pay cash for everything. Gas, food, groceries, etc.

Since you pay cash for everything you could try an envelope system. Use those in place of checking/savings account.

I'm really liking the financial talk in this thread. I think it is one area most of us like/want to talk about, but it just like anything else, it's nice to see what other are doing that your not. I think it also really goes along with prepping for the real world, because what if we spend all this time and effort on supplies and nothing happens, then what do we do if we haven't financial prepared. I know I don't want to work the rest of my life. So it comes down to finding that happy medium where you are comfortable, and that point will be different for everyone.

[JusticeM4]

I don't necessarily "Prep", but moreso Plan for the future.

I have set goals for my 2yr, 5yr, and 10yrs out. Aside from having guns/ammo, you have to have some form of insurance, investments, and liquid assets. I don't just focus on stockpiling ammo or food; I also focus on everyday things like being in good health/exercising, keeping your home in good condition, and your finances in check.

I know we are in a firearms forum and many here prep with guns/food/supplies. I think it was in the movie "World War Z" where someone said 'Guns are just half-measures'. You also have to fortify/secure your home, have finances in order, and have a decent supply of food/medicines. One thing many people forget is their health. How can you bug out on foot if you can't carry that B.O.B. more than a few miles? Or how can you survive out in the wild if you are in bad health??? Your preps/ammo/stockpiles are no good to you if you can't carry them or bring them with you. (different story of course if you have a disability or physical condition/sicknes).

Funny story on a friend of mine: He is somewhat of a prepper and stockpiles food/ammo for himself (single guy). But he is in terrible shape physically and probably can't run 1 mile and does not go/practice shooting except maybe once a year. Everytime I invite him to the range he declines. Our last 3gun Event he went with his AR's optics not even being zeroed--the poor guy couldn't hit the gong at 100yards--while I was easily hitting them on my rifle.

[fyrediver]

I think you're spot on. Prepare for mundane issues FIRST then worry about Zombies More people lose their jobs or have unexpected bills come up than are involved in actual regional disasters. Of course it's a disaster to them, just not their neighbors.

I too listen to The Survival Podcast and follow Jack's debt free mantra. I highly recommend the show. Your preps should support your life whether or not the going gets tough!

I keep supplies that we use on hand. The only time we run out of things is if my girlfriend uses/consumes something and I don't know then I don't replenish the supplies. She tends to dip into the "emergency/prepping" chocolate stash and then not tell me to buy more. She even makes fun of me -- until she runs out of TP in her bathroom and I can go to the garage and get more! The dog and cats even have spare toys because they get destroyed or lost regularly.

[Eurodriver]

I don't go quite that far, but I do have three checking accounts and two savings accounts.

My wife and I each have a checking account for "wants," into which I place a small "allowance" each paycheck. The third checking account is for household expenses, auto repairs, appliance replacement, etc., and I keep roughly 2-3 months' pay in it. One savings account is primarily for automobile replacement (I don't believe in car payments), although I can take a short-term loan from this account if a major expense crops up. The second savings account is for long-term expenses, like home remodels. All-in-all I keep roughly one year's pay in liquid assets.

The smartest thing I ever did was split off the "wants" accounts. Once your hobbies are divorced from your main funds it can be surprising how quickly money can accumulate.

FWIW I pay cash for almost everything, too. I just carry two wallets (is that weird?)

I think I'm going to open a second checking account tomorrow and give this a shot. I have my monthly bills (including groceries, gas, savings, etc) pretty well mapped out, but what screws me up is when I spend "grocery money" on something totally unnecessary, like an "AR15 Lower Receiver". Which then takes gas money to buy the "AR15 Lower Parts Kit"...which then takes money I'd normally put in savings to buy an "AR15 Upper Receiver"...and you get the idea.

I'd like to have a separate account so that when it gets to zero (theoretically) I can physically see that all of my "toy" money is gone and to wait until it is replenished.

It's easy to see $1,852 in the checking account and go "What's $120 for a lower receiver?"