[johnnyprepper]

hi everyone im new to the forums and prepping in general. ive been prepping for about 6 months now and ive narrowed down what im prepping for. my wife thinks im nuts but i keep telling her its better to be safe and prepared than sorry but it only seems to work good if theres things she enjoys. i dont look at it as far as conspericies go im more less prepping for natural disasters and economic calapse. i think of my self as trying to be self sufficent emergency preparedness thank you for the help:smile:

 

[punch]

Howdy from Texas! Welcome to the forum.

punch

 

[mwhartman]

Welcome! I suggest you both have a conversation about the things to took place in New Orleans after Katerina and what just took place with Sandy. Those images should get her thinking that preparing for the worst is not a waste of time and money.

 

[Lucky Jim]

Tell your beloved that it's best to stock up now rather than try to do it after the rioting and looting starts..

 

[mulle46]

hi everyone im new to the forums and prepping in general. ive been prepping for about 6 months now and ive narrowed down what im prepping for. my wife thinks im nuts but i keep telling her its better to be safe and prepared than sorry but it only seems to work good if theres things she enjoys. i dont look at it as far as conspericies go im more less prepping for natural disasters and economic calapse. i think of my self as trying to be self sufficent emergency preparedness thank you for the help:smile:

what things does she enjoy?what general area are you in, what natural disasters do you have to prepare for?

 

[shotlady]

i was going to say turn on the news. lucky jim covered that market lol!
let her know its your job as a husband to prepare for her comfort and safety. if you are parents, its both your jobs to prepare for the survival and safety of the children. its good husbandry and parenting.

 

[survival]

Jim, photo number 3 with the guy with the cart full of stella artois really knows his priorities don't he?

I agree with what the others have said and recommended, and one thing to note, go slooooow. Don't freak her out with a photo of the guy with the stella artois. Seriously, I've seen a HUGE increase in attitudes towards prepping here in the last year with a lot of people at least thinking about it.

A lot of preppers go out and buy a lot of preps right off, which is fine, but can also lead to a self inflicted financial disaster at the homefront which I have seen coworkers asking me for an advancement to get by to the next paycheck. Some even recommend to use all credit cards and run them all up so you don't have to pay for them when shtf. Great if your expecting shtf before your next billing cycle comes in, but terrible if nothing happens, thus ruining your life.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

 

[Lucky Jim]

Jim, photo number 3 with the guy with the cart full of stella artois really knows his priorities don't he?

Yeah that raises an interesting point about what our personal priorities will be, I don't drink or smoke so won't have to waste time stocking up with booze and cigs. I also don't drive, so fuel doesn't interest me. Also I don't even have a gun, so ammo stocks are not on my list.
It's obvious what this dood's priorities are..-

 

[WVTactics]

This is what I am going through as well and I am becoming more successful with this each and every day and this is some of the steps I take. I told her that I am what people call a prepper and I wanted her to help, I go the general answer like... "Why, do we really need all of this stuff??" So this is how I take this approach.

1. Find things she and yourself both enjoy stocking up on.
2. If she is looking for something that you have already in your bag or stored away tell her where it is and let her know that you had that stored for occasions like this.
3. Find things you know she is interested in and try to find away that what she is doing will help your preps.
4. Let her know that when SHTF happens you know she is good at certain things and keep her active in doing those things.

This is just some things I am trying to do just make it fun for her and she should come right along for the ride.

 

[jimb1972]

I keep quite a bit of booze on hand, I don't drink much but someone who does may have something I want.

 

[Denton]

My house was already prepped for storms, earthquakes and Democrat presidents before we got married.
As I am always in the process of prepping and don't alter course because of anyone, she might as well go with it and help!

 

[Lucky Jim]

These sickening true-life pics should convince any wifeys/girlfriends of the danger of going out when mobs are about.

 

[insatiable ONE]

Jim, photo number 3 with the guy with the cart full of stella artois really knows his priorities don't he?

I tell you what he chose the wrong alcohol, he should have got all of the liquor he could carry.
In tough times it is better than gold.
One of the best for barter, you can drink it ( I don't drink ), you can use it for an anti septic, pain killer, disinfectant, I'm sure a few that I missed also.

101 uses for alcohol.

 

[Verteidiger]

Start by buying emergency supplies for power outages. Flashlights, batteries, bottled water, canned foods, items that lend comfort when a storm hits. She will be glad you did once it goes dark. Remind her that the Boy Scout motto is "Be prepared." Then explain your rationale for prepping, and how what you plan to purchase also has general purpose use value as well (toilet paper, hand wipes, etc.) and make sure you get items for her in the process -- so she feels involved in the decision making and planning process. Buy items that will be usable even if there is not an emergency -- canned tuna and canned chili serve as food either way. She will come around...my wife is now totally on board and feels safer now that we can withstand the grid going down. Build from there gradually.

 

[Leon]

not prepping:

Prepping:

 

[johnnyprepper]

WOW thank guys and i think i seen some girls ill have to try harder to get her prepping she imo is slowly coming around so maybe ill get her on board again thank you

 

[preppermama]

i was going to say turn on the news. lucky jim covered that market lol!
let her know its your job as a husband to prepare for her comfort and safety. if you are parents, its both your jobs to prepare for the survival and safety of the children. its good husbandry and parenting.

This is basically how I framed it to my husband.

My advice would be to take things slow. Don't just drop all this on her all at once. Prepping tends to freak spouses out if you don't go about it properly. I slowly eased my husband into prepping over the last 6 months. Don't just suddenly sit down and tell your wife suddenly that you think Canada is going to bomb us or an EMP is going to take down the grid on May 6th, 2013. That stuff will freak her out. Just talk basic economics and use the news as your backdrop. Then slowly start preparing your prepping space. I started just by picking up extra food each week, slowly building a library, etc.

My husband is all for prepping now, but not to the extreme. I have a closet in our house that's devoted to our prepping stuff and some space in the garage. That's it. My husband is fine with it as long as it doesn't turn into a hoarding situation where stuff has overtaken our house. I kind of agree with him actually.

 

[Retronatrix]

Welcome, welcome, welcome! I had the same issue with my husband once I started to honestly study and look in to prepping. It took a while for me to assure him I'm not getting ready for some huge radical alien invasion or something, but rather common sense and emergency. All of a sudden he was laid off the day after the election and the first thing he saw me do was canning and drying food to put in to my stockpile. I think something clicked and now he's excited at all the info out there and how much he's learning.

Like mentioned before I think it's a mixture of finding something that interests the spouse as well as personal drive to provide. Odds are that once you sit down and talk with her in an honest heart to heart about how you want to provide for you family in case of emergencies she'll see the common sense of it.

 

[lyz.grace]

As someone whose husband jumped on the prepping wagon before I did, I would strongly suggest AGAINST using horror stories and "just think of all the terrible things that could happen!!" Quite honestly most non-preppers already think we have gone crazy and can't stand the sky-is-falling propaganda. She will come around when she's ready to come around, and that will happen a lot quicker if you don't push the issue.

What about asking her for some space and a budget? Barter with her. Say that you will keep your stuff in the garage and only spend $$ per month. For me, the financial burden of prepping was a bigger deal than the stigma.

 

[mulle46]

My wife got on board because of the storms we just had. We came to agreement about budget per month to prep. Our prep is more about natural disasters than anything else, but same principles apply.