Although there's nothing wrong with that if it's what you prefer.
I'm no expert, but I'm willing to share what I know and hope you'll do the same.
Your mind is your most important "prep". It can get you through bad times better than anything you could stockpile. I'm not even talking about the skills you can (and should) learn.
If your mindset is useful you're always in better shape than if it is harmful. It can be the difference between seeing a situation as an insurmountable disaster and seeing it as an opportunity for adventure and testing yourself.
What do I mean? Be adaptable. Embrace the discomfort. See the adventure. Don't be whiny. Don't obsess over the unfairness of it all.
Look at hardships as an adventure-- other people might even pay to experience in some small way what you are going through when you are facing a struggle. People pay to experience escape rooms, after all.
How many times have you enjoyed a movie about a struggle for survival? Disaster movies are popular, as are zombie movies and crazy murderer movies ("Friday the 13th", part what?).
When you find yourself in that situation you have the opportunity to not repeat the stupid mistakes you see on the screen-- the mistakes without which the movie would be over in 5 minutes. Murderer approaches in the parking garage, and instead of fumbling and dropping your keys in a panicked attempt to get in the car (which obviously won't start anyway), you face the potential murderer, draw your gun, and he either flees or dies. End credits roll (other than the legal consequences).
It's better than the alternative.
Being prepared is always better than not being prepared, and having a healthy attitude about events is always better than not.
Yeah, I know. It's easy to say; harder to live. "This is different!" Yes, it is. You don't really notice the problems you're completely at ease dealing with. The ones you notice are the ones that cause you the most trouble. If you can adjust your mindset, those will be less noticeable, too. It's something to think about.
One of the more fun things (to me) that qualifies as prepping is stocking up on ammo.
While prices are better now than they have been in a while, I was still having to travel an hour and a half to find prices that made sense. Locally, ammunition was 2 or 3 times the price that I could pay in the bigger city 90 miles away.
Fortunately, that situation has recently changed, but I found a great way to deal with it before the change, and I'm sticking with it, too.
It's a business called Ammo Squared. You sign up and subscribe for a set dollar amount and they set up an ammunition account for you. Then you can have it shipped to you.
If you use my link-- https://ammo2.me/dullhawk --and spend at least $20 in the first month, both you and I get $25 in free ammo. That's a pretty good deal. Then, after you've set up your account, you can share your own link with your friends and both of you can get free ammo the same way. It's kind of awesome.
If you wait until you have an account value of over ...
Every little bit adds up.
Due to medical situations, I've found myself without money to spend on larger projects such as firewood-- which might be a problem-- but there's always something you can do to prep.
A recent project for me was getting all my oil lamps ready to go. That's not the only alternative lighting I have, but it's my favorite.
I checked and changed the wicks (where needed), cleaned off any dust that had accumulated, and topped off the kerosene. You may prefer liquid paraffin since it stinks less, but I have gallons of kerosene on hand. I only broke one chimney, and I had a spare. (Note to self, keep an eye out for more chimneys at thrift stores and yard sales.)
I also decided to try to address a minor problem with the lamps. If you have oil lamps that you don't use all the time you'll know that the oil evaporates. This time I did something I hope will slow that process.
I covered the wick slot (don't know the technical name, but look at the photo) with aluminum foil I had...
