A bunch of newbies have hit our little prepping world, who are either totally on board, or looking for a reason to do prepper-related stuff. All of these modern preppers are only trying to behave to help them sleep at night in a way that will help them.
Never forget that the average American went from looking at their phones and whining about their work to losing or almost losing their jobs, being stuck inside a packed home, teaching their children, witnessing riots and a pandemic from their front porch, and asking “What’s next!?”.
There’s a real battle to get off the ground in prepping on a small budget, because many new preppers don’t have the resources to put into prepping. The good news is, I’m here with 30 days of no money preps that really make a difference.
Related: How to Prepare For A Pandemic
#1. ERP (Emergency Response Plan)
You need to develop an ERP or Emergency Response Plan before you start a business to ensure your employees know how to respond to a variety of emergencies.
You need everyone to know where the ERP is and what’s inside of it, from stuff such as fire drills to active shooters.
So, you can start writing an ERP and make a difference as long as you have access to a computer. It doesn’t cost you any money. In the world of prepping and survival, written plans are highly underestimated. In the corporate world, they save lives all the time. Build your ERP.
#2. Go for a Run
Although this might seem easy, a lot of things are done by going out for a run. This gives you time to think about the country, about yourself, and about the world around you.
It also gives you the chance to clear your mind and get one foot in front of the other in the meditative movement of plodding. Most importantly, every time you run and believe me, you’ll need it, you’re practicing stamina.
#3. Meetup with Your Neighbors
This doesn’t need to be a meeting with a prepper. To address how you’re going to protect your neighborhood from riots, it doesn’t have to be a conference. We all want, of course, to be ready if anything like that happens.
Start off with a cookout, picnic, block party, etc. Make sure you can get out and look in the eye at the people living around you, and enjoy spending time with them! A stronger partnership would be much more successful from that point on.
Related: 3 Things Every Prepper Must Realize
#4. Workout
Your physical health is crucial to your preparedness level. Fitness is not a part of the prepping puzzle, instead, prepping is just a piece of the fitness of the puzzle.
Fitness is a testament to your overall well-being and you don’t have much without that. Take care of yourself, do some push-ups, squats, and sit-ups everyday.
#5. Wild Edibles
You can spend a couple of hours in the woods or around your neighborhood learning about and sampling wild edible plants, whether you use a library book, a tablet, or a phone app.
#6. Useful Trees
Although wild edible plants are awesome, since they are around all year, trees are even better. 90 percent of your wild edible information is useless after the first freeze. You can keep the wild foraging going year-round if you recognize medicinal and edible trees.
Related: 10 Trees Every Survivalist Should Know and Why
#7. All Your Blades
You can spend a day literally sharpening all your blades whether you have a stone or a sharpener. You can go into the shed and sharpen stuff, such as axes and chainsaws, if you have a chainsaw sharpener and a puck style sharpener.
#8. QA Bugout Bags
When was the last time you had your bug-out bag opened? Do you have any idea how old those granola bars in your bugout bag are?
You need to open the bugout bag at least once a year and take out everything. Lay it on the floor of your kitchen and have a peek at the contents. Modify the content according to what you really need.
#9. Conduct an Area Study
A field study is free to perform, popularized by Sam Culper of The Forward Observer, and will describe your region in depth to you. It needs time and thinking, but without any resources, you can practically knock the whole thing out. There are some great videos on YouTube about how to make your own analysis of the area.
This is a job that most people don’t want to do because you need to find out about your area’s resources, violence and even gangs. Maybe you’re not thrilled with the outcome.
#10. Zero Rifles and Firearms
In the month of July, 5 million Americans purchased weapons. That means that there are a lot of people with guns that aren’t nil yet. Are you one of these individuals?
If you have bore sight and a quiet spot to concentrate, you can zero a weapon for free.
Related: Some Firearm Tips for New Preppers and/or Those Who are New to Firearms
#11. Free Mobile Apps
There are a host of fantastic smartphone applications for preparedness. In a survival game, you can plan your plans, learn about bushcraft, or even practice some tactics. The advantage of a little survival simulation gaming is not denied.
#12. Your Pantry
You haven’t had any business in a long time. Owing to masks and protests and injustice and so on, people have hidden from you.
Do you see something you’re proud of as you stare into your pantry? Know, the more you’re prepared, the more space you have for more preps!
Related: How to Stock Up Your Prepper Pantry
#13. Library
The library is full of free books to read about history, preparedness, nature, and survival.
If your library is locked, you can also use “Hoopla” as an application. This enables you, without going there, to take eBooks and audio books from your library.
#14. Freecycle for Preps
To see if there are local free preps you can pick up, search the local classifieds, craigslist, and other similar websites.
There are still great choices for gardening equipment, firewood and construction materials.
#15. Free Classes
In your local area, there are plenty of free classes online and free classes. The annual first aid courses in your local area are one of the best examples of this.
You can also visit Red Cross to see the courses they give free of charge.
#16. Make Some Money
You probably have a little foothold in your knowledge of preparedness. I’m sure you’ve got at least one thing the people around you can show you.
So, knowing that, you can build a course on sites like UDEMY that you can charge money for or just teach for free.
These courses also help you improve your skills in prepping.
Related: Simple Guide To Money
#17. Free books
These things are everywhere! You might have to sacrifice an email, but you can get a ton of free prepping eBooks just by search “free prepping books”.
#18. Meditate
Prepping will make you absolutely nuts! If you are not patient, you can only be killed by a diet of catastrophe and apocalypse.
Finding a peaceful spot and just repeating a mantra over and over in your head is one of the easiest ways to deal with this. To start, do it for 5 minutes and simply try to keep your mind free of thoughts.
#19. Hike with Your Bugout Bag
A simple walk, ruck, or hike with your bugout bag on is great for fitness and a better understanding of your gear.
#20. Go Fishing
Get out and have some fun catching fish whether you’ve got some old fishing gear or new fishing gear.
Note, in a survival situation, each fish you catch is food. Fishing is a survival ability that is underestimated, but it’s one that can really make a difference.
Related: DIY Hunting Fishing Cooking Kit for Preppers
#21. Walk or Drive to Your Bugout Location
It is never a bad idea to take a trip to the old bugout location. Whether you run, walk, or drive there, you can learn so much about your route/routes by simply heading there.
Don’t wait ‘till you have to go in a hurry.
#22. Practice Bandaging a Wound
Make a red dot on your arm or the arm of a family member. This is now a wound that is bleeding profusely. Bandage that wound with your current first aid preps.
What do you need more of, or what do you need to learn?
#23. Tap Water
Storing tap water is just a matter of having some clean empty containers. Store these out of sunlight, as they can grow algae if exposed to light.
#24. Sell
We’ve all got too much material! Someone might really appreciate the old thing you’ve been hanging on to for years. Have a yard sale or place a few things up for sale.
Maybe you can make some cash for more preps.
#25. Build a Fire
There is always the option of working on the craft of making fire. A fire is not only a great skill to practice, but setting down by a fire is a great feeling.
#26. Free Checklist
The internet is full of free checklists for prepping and they will help you understand certain items that may be lacking from your preps for a long time.
#27. Gather Seeds
Spend a day only collecting seeds from the plants if you have a garden out back. Now is a perfect time for this. Collect seeds and store them for next year’s garden in an ordered manner.
#28. Battle Tracking
You can sit down next time there’s a riot, and battle track the riot. To track the riots in an area in real time, you can use stuff like social media, the Broadcastify app, and other intel sources. For this, Twitter is perfect.
Take a map of the area and try to find the place of the riots. Then track the riot in real time using intel, and track the police activities, too.
To show you where the crime, explosions, police, firemen and other stuff like road closures might be, mark up your map. This is a fun little activity for learning.
Related: 6 Essential Maps to Store Before an EMP
#29. Survival Caches
The spread of their preps into new areas will help all preppers. It’s a difficult situation to be in, having everything in one place. A lot could go wrong.
With scrap PVC and epoxy, you can make a survival cache, and bury those preps in a special location.
#30. Always a Great Option
Camping is still an ideal choice. Good places to go to and camp for free are your nearest wildlife management area or public lands!
There are all sorts of things you can do for free, as you can see, that will improve your preparedness level. Although money can really help you make great prepping strides, you don’t need a deep bank account to spend a full month prepping and planning for what could happen.
