These 10 tips can help get Beginner Preppers on the right track to meeting their preparedness needs:

1. Do something everyday, no matter how small. Get more food, an extra tool, more ammo, whatever. Learn a new skill like how to purify water or cook a gourmet meal using an old tire and a piece of broken glass.
2. List goals and develop plans. This gives you something to look back on so you can see where you need to go.
3. Study, learn the skills needed to be self-sufficient: Gardening, canning, hunting, water purification and home defense. The two most violent phases of any nation are 1) When it's being established and 2) When it starts to deteriorate.
4. Get a survival book. I recommend Survival Center's 3 DVD and book, "Basic Preparedness Home Study Course.” Don't just buy it... READ AND WATCH IT! After an EMP wipes out power is NOT the time to try and watch a DVD!
5. Get started. No matter what you hear, there is no 'best gun'. You can spend the rest of your life searching for the ultimate bug-out-bag. Basic food and water for one week is a good place to start. Priority #1: Water Filtration. Without water, you're dead.
6. Whatever you do, DON’T go into debt getting prepared. Find some other way. Sell something. Trade something. Work extra hours. Have a Prepper Garage Sale. Pay with cash whenever possible.
7. Have back-ups for your back-ups. Have a Plan A, Plan B, and then Plan C. A guy I know dodged a bullet during a Texas tornado. While other units were destroyed, his was untouched. But what if there had been a direct hit? All his Prepper stuff was inside! Why not divide what you have into each car AND the house? Your mom's shed across town? Your abandoned camper at the lake house? Your office? Think people!
8. Break preparedness down into smaller chunks: water, food, security, health/hygiene, barter. Then, break each of those down by levels of preparation. This makes it less overwhelming.
9. NEWBIE? START TODAY! Do SOMETHING every day, whether it’s buying, gathering, or reading. My wife and I started over two years ago with ten extra cans of soup every time we shopped. Later, we got a Sam's card and bought some bulk stuff. Now, let's just say we sleep peacefully and confidently.
10. Don’t announce what you're doing to the world, unless you really don't care what people think about you. Personally, I'm trying to save lives. I'm sure Noah's neighbors mocked him while he was ark-building, too.


Remember this: God, guns, gold, groceries... and water.


You might want to join my eMail group "PREPARE TODAY!" Just send an eMail with the word "HELP" in your Subject Bar.


Every blessing,
Michael Tummillo
miketummillo@me.com