Hello my friend and welcome back! Are you keeping a Preppers Journal? You should, because there are many benefits of doing it that you are going to really want. In today’s post, we are going to look at what one is and how to use it. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and have a seat while we visit.
While there are many ways to keep track of your preps and all of the information about them, I find a Preppers Journal to be the best. While spreadsheets are great for tracking inventory, they lack the ability to record all of the information that you may need about certain items.
For example, let’s say that you purchased a new water filter. Later down the road, you decide to purchase more filters for it. Which filters do you need for it, and where do you get them? If you tried to add all of this information to a spreadsheet, it would quickly become unmanageable. How about tracking and recording warranty information about them? (Not that a warranty on anything would do you much good post SHTF.)
A Preppers Journal will allow you to track all of this information and keep it in one place. Did you find a cheaper place to buy one? What about buying items in bulk? A journal is great for tracking all of this information. When was the last time you purchased them and has the price changed since then? Are they available anymore, as I have found a lot of things say “no longer available” these days.
A Preppers Journal is also an excellent place to track your ideas about things you want to add to your preps or new skills you need to learn. I have always found that writing things down, seems to help me keep them straight in my head. It’s easy to get carried away when prepping and focus on only one area, such as food or firepower and overlook things like OTC medications that you take on a regular basis.
A Preppers Journal is also a great place for keeping information on different survival skills you may have learned. Things like some of the subtler elements of canning food or tanning an animal hide. You could also include how to do a certain task or how to make different herbal medications. Use it like a custom personal textbook for things you want to remember how to do.
Simply review your Journal from time to time, to remind you of things you may have forgotten about. I know at my age, I tend to forget things when I get busy or sidetracked. It is just a part of growing older.
How do you get started making a Preppers Journal? I originally started out using an old spiral notebook, yet quickly found that it was not the best way to create one. The thing is that you want something that is on paper. After SHTF you may not have access to computer files. This means that keeping your journal solely in electronic format just isn’t practical. However, having a binder with pages of scratched through information in it isn’t very useful either.
I find that by keeping it in a software based format and printing it out on paper from time to time, works best for me. Others may have different preferences than I do and in the end, it comes down to what works best for you. The important thing is to have one.
I use am currently using a program called “Journal” that I got for free, in the windows 10 store. There are also a ton of them on the internet as well. Just be sure to get one that allows you to search your information and print it as well. I also use a couple of spreadsheets for quickly looking to see what I have in inventory and where I need to expand my preps. The combination of the two is a match made in heaven.
I hope that you find using a Preppers Journal to be as helpful as I have. After all, when it comes right down to it, the only skills you have are the ones you can remember and ideas that you have written down. I hope you have enjoyed today’s post. Until next time, stay safe, stay strong and stay prepared. God Save America!
-The Sargent-
