8 Ways to Convince Your Loved Ones to Prep
Being a prepper ain’t easy. In fact, it can be very, very, hard at times. Especially when you’re trying to get all your friends and family on board with your way of thinking on the subject. While you may want them all to be safe and sound following a disaster, you’re also worried that they’ll think you’re crazy, or the prepper dialogue may even lead to a family feud during dinner. Let’s talk about how to convince your loved ones to prep. In case you missed this post, How to Prepare for the Second Wave of COVID-19
How to Convince Your Loved Ones to Prep
It’s hard to know the right way to go about discussing prepping without freaking people out, and you certainly don’t want to strain any of those relationships. But you’re torn because you feel like you have to do something to help encourage them.
There are a number of ways you can naturally start those types of conversations and also one or two ways to prepare your loved ones without directly sharing your motives upfront. Here are 8 helpful tips on how to convince your loved ones to prep.
#1. Don’t Try the Scare Tactic
I’ll tell you right now if you decide to sit down with your loved one and start the conversation by warning them of all the potential doomsday scenarios that could possibly happen, I can guarantee you’re not going to win over your audience.
Not only will you scare them half to death, but they may even become argumentative, call you crazy, or try and change the subject altogether. It’s best not to point out apocalyptic events that they need to prepare for, instead talk with them about real emergency disasters that could certainly happen in their area.
#2. Encourage them to Start Small
Maybe they’ll have the excuse that prepping costs too much money or is hard to do? There’s no denying or trying to debunk those excuses because they’re true. Prepping can be expensive and take a lot of time and energy to gather everything that you’ll need.
But I’d encourage you to tell them to start small by preparing a 72-hour emergency kit and go from there. They can also buy one or two prepping items every few weeks or months and they’ll be surprised how quickly their supply starts to add up. I recommend starting with the following items:
Flashlights with Batteries or Solar Flashlights
#3. Show them How a Food Pantry Saves Money
You may have the kind of family members who won’t take you too seriously when talking with them about prepping. But that’s okay, almost all of us have family members like that. Instead of urging your loved ones to prepare for SHTF, talk with them about how a food pantry can save them a lot of money.
And it’s easy to discuss because it’s the truth! Just pointing them to this past pandemic when the grocery shelves were beginning to grow scarce should also be enough to motivate them to have some food in a pantry for extra backup.
#4. Watch a Disaster Movie with Them
What could be more innocent than sitting down with your loved ones while grabbing some popcorn and enjoying a film? Watching a disaster movie with them is a great conversation starter and a way to get them thinking about what could happen.
Since they know that you’re a prepper, they may ask you questions or wonder how you’d be prepared for that type of scenario. Now you have an awesome window of opportunity to talk about the why’s and how’s of being properly prepared.
#5. Gift them a Preparedness Kit
Sometimes you just have to do things yourself, but don’t be surprised if you get a few raised eyebrows by gifting your loved ones with a small preparedness kit. You also don’t have to wait until Christmas or their birthday to present them with one.
If they give you a crazy look, just tell them to throw it in their closet where they’ll forget about it, but one day they may very well thank you for gifting them the kit that they used.
#6. Flip on Your Local News
As I mentioned earlier, talk with your loved ones about natural disasters that can certainly happen in their area. All you need to do is to flip on your local news channel. I can almost 100% guarantee that there will be at least one disaster scenario unfolding within your first half-hour of watching.
Tornadoes, flooding, earthquakes, wildfires, and snowstorms are happening more and more these days, and there is a good chance there may be one that’s close to you. Ask your loved ones to put themselves in those people’s shoes.
Would they know where to go, what to do, or have the right supplies to survive the threat? This will provide them with an eye-opening moment and hopefully they’ll begin to wonder more about what they need to do.
#7. Get them a Survival Book
You can also try introducing them to the subject by getting them a survival book that they can read and study. There’s also prepper fiction out there that makes for an interesting read that may be more up their alley.
Related: Should You Tell Others You’re Prepping?
#8. Be Respectful While Knowing Your Audience
I can’t stress this enough. Be respectful without calling your friends and family stupid, or getting angry when they refuse to listen. A shouting match or an argument isn’t a great method to show someone that you care about them and their survival and overall safety.
- They don’t want to see things the way that you do, not only because it’s a scary subject, but because they’ve trained their mind not to worry about something that may never happen. Simply agree to disagree, with the appropriate tone, that way you don’t hurt your relationship.
- Another important tactic to consider is for you to know your audience. Think about how they would respond or what type of questions they might have ahead of time. This gives you more time to come up with answers that are comforting and so that you’re not thrown off by their response. It may even require you to be patient and wait for the opportunity to present the subject again in the future.
8 Ways to Convince Your Loved Ones to Prep
Final Word
At the end of the day, your kids and your spouse are your number one priority as far as prepping for disasters is concerned. You may never be able to convince everyone in your small circle of extended family and close friends.
All you can do is present them with the information in a calm and respectable way without doing it all at once. Lastly, know your audience ahead of time and find ways they can relate to the things you are telling them. What are some ways you try to convince your loved ones to prep? May God Bless this world, Linda.
Copyright Images: Emergency Preparedness List AdobeStock_277831567 by Roger
If number 8 does not convince them to prep, they are probably a lost cause. And, again, TP and paper towels are getting in short supply. Luckily, we are fairly well stocked with both. But, can’t let the supply run short before restocking. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone. It will be an unusual one during these trying times. Pat and I are spending it together at home alone since we are both vulnerable to the Chinavirus.
Hi Harry, oh how I love the term Chinavirus!! (not the virus but it makes me giggle) You always make me laugh! Happy Thanksgiving to you and Pat! Stay well, my friends! Linda
#7 Get Them A Survival Book … hmmm, I think this is a great idea and guess what? I know the PERFECT, best book out there…YOURS!!!! I refer to your book alot. I’ve given copies to so many people and most everyone says it’s one of the best and that they refer to it alot, also. I’ve read a ton of books out there and most of them are too, er, too…I don’t know but they’re NOT practical! They don’t help the average, everyday person out there. They’re too complicated, too expensive, I don’t know. Your books isn’t that way. So yeah! Give everyone out there your book!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Hi Robbie, you are so kind! You made my day! It looks like there are only 2 left in stock. I got one bad review on Amazon from some grumpy guy. That didn’t help with sales. Dang, it. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! I pray for a healthy holiday for all! Linda
I agree with Robbie – give them your book!
I have a daughter/son-in-law (and 4 grands) who are minimalists. My daughter’s excuse is that they don’t want “stuff” just hanging out. I asked how they managed their supply of TP when the stores were out or they were limited to just one package at a time? She always has an answer – family cloths! So, she recently told me that they had to go from $800/month food budget to $1,000/month. The grands are getting bigger and eating more! I guess my 9 year old grandson said he would eat less to save money! A 9 year old should NOT have to think that way. My daughter said, simply, that the cost of food was increasing significantly and that was the reason for increasing the budget. I explained to her that if she purchased a few extra cans/boxes of things they use regularly and had them on the shelf, she could save money – buy at today’s price so tomorrow’s price doesn’t give you a heart attack!! They are pretty frugal in all ways and eat a lot of rice and beans but not a whole lot of meat. I applaud that but again, think that they could ultimately save money if they stocked up now.
I am at a place where I can resist going to the grocery store(s) often. I go once every couple of weeks now but I still pick up things I eat that are on sale – cans of tomato products, pasta, rice, beans, etc.
As for neighbors and others (friends, family), well I have talked about this a number of times and now it is simply up to them. I cannot keep talking about it when they don’t or won’t take heed.
Hi Leanne, thank you for your kind words. It’s crazy, I do not know how families feed their families. But, I remember raising my girls and we ate very little meat. But I made bread, breadsticks, soup, and more soup. We had casseroles galore. And we survived and never felt short-handed. I grew up poor so it was easy for me to make the transition of not wanting for much. I have cases of food and feel like I have my own grocery store. Life is good! Happy Thanksgiving, my friend! Linda
If hard times don’t teach them to prep, I don’t think anything will. Right now, my son and DIL are having a hard time of it. We’ve already loaned them almost $900. Their water just got turned off, a d we can’t afford to pay it for them. We did give them some food so they won’t be hungry. That was before the water got turned off.
Hi Deborah, times are hard right now. Can they sell anything? Can they get food stamps? I have a few family members out of work right now. Thankfully, they are okay. They have food banks handing out turkeys and lots of fresh food. It’s so hard right now. Linda
As far as I know they don’t have anything they can sell. They are both working, but she just got back to work from having surgery. They have a 16 year old boy and an almost 18 year old girl living with them. The girl will be moving out around the 29th. She’ll be 18 then. They will be moving on the 1st to a smaller place. So they could probably have a garage sale of things they won’t be able to take. From a large 3 bedroom house to a smaller 2 bedroom apartment. Some people just have to learn the hard way. Luckily I didn’t. I learned from my grandmother and mother to stock up when things we used were on sale. So glad I did in my early years. Oh, and reading the book One Second After helped put a bur under my saddle
Hi Deborah, when I worked at a bank (Private Banking) I still remember one class I took at the bank. We were taught to explain in a kind way, that the assets our clients had, needed to be guarded. We suggested they should not “give money” to their kids because my clients were at an age they had a shorter time to save more money going forward. The younger adult kids could rebuild a savings account because they had more years to do it. I never forgot that. I had clients and neighbors telling me their kids kept asking them for money. I always said: TURN OFF THE ATM. I also remember telling my clients the old story, teach a man to fish. I quote “The Bible says that if you give a man a fish, he will eat today, but teach a man to fish and he will eat forever.” It’s a lot easier to write a check than to teach them to be self-sufficient. I’m not being critical of anything you did, my friend. But I also taught people how to get out of debt when I owned my own mortgage company. Let’s hope this country can turn around this mess we’re in. Hugs, Linda
We will see if they pay us back. We told them to wait until after Christmas to start. If they don’t pay it back, then the ATM is out of money. We do have the money to help with the water, but we aren’t going to. We can’t support 2 households. We don’t live pay check to pay check any more, but we need to have some savings for whatever could happen.
I just found out that I have Stage 3 kidney failure. Any have a tumor on my parathyroid. We’ll see what my primary doctor says when she gets the report from the nephrologist. I’m to contact her after Thanksgiving to see about seeing an endocrinologist. Then we’ll go from there. I’m feeling just fine. I’m drinking a lot of water. But I do love me some good water. Oh, and it’s filtered 7 different ways. I do love my home water filter system. It’s only on my kitchen sink, but I would love to have it for the whole house.
Hi Deborah. oh no, I’m so sorry to hear this about your kidneys!! Hugs!! I only have the water filtered in my kitchen. The system to do the whole house was too expensive. AND the filters are way too expensive to change out every year. So I opted for only the kitchen. I love good water too. I’m a bit of a water snob. I own it!! LOL! Keep me posted on your health. Love and hugs from me to you! Linda
Times are definately hard for many right now. Just the other day my husband and I were blessed by the church we attend with a $50 giftcard to a local grocery store! I’m hanging onto it for when my store has some good deals. Now, mind you, we are not hurting for food. We have an over full pantry but my husband’s unemployment runs out very soon so we know it will come in handy. We have plans to get foodstamps to continue to survive this pandemic. We have a plan to ask our church for help with rent if his hours do not increase. I am very thankful for everything we have. And for the love of so many people who have had the willingness to want to help us. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there!!!
Hi Audrey, what a blessing that card will be when you need it. There are so many out of work, something has got to change. Who would have ever guessed a pandemic would be so catastrophic. My God bless you that a door opens very soon for you and your family. Linda
Audrey, you already have the battle won by your attitude. I’m so glad that you are so upbeat. God will see you through this. I will be praying for more hours for your dear husband. May our Precious Lord bless you with all you need.
I think I’ll be fine. I’m not worrying yet. LOL After all God is in charge. If He knows the number of hairs on my head, he knows my expiration date. =^) I just don’t want my family to suffer if I linger on. I don’t want to suffer either. But, I’m ready when He calls me home.
In the meantime, I’m drinking lots of water. Well, the recommended amount. I prefer it cool, but not ice cold. I seem to be able to drink more cool than cold. I’m also a water snob. We have a separate faucet for just water. I use it to cook with, too. The main faucet is used for washing dishes and such.
Thank you so much for your concern. It’ll probably sometimes in December or January before I see another doctor.
Hi Deborah, I hear you on the “when it’s my time, it’s my time”, attitude. I love hearing you are a water snob! Keep me posted, praying for you, my friend. Linda
Thank you so much. Prayers mean more to me than diamonds or gold.
Deborah, friends are worth more than diamonds or gold as well, my friend. Hugs! Linda
Linda, yes they are. But then friends pray for friends as well. May God bless you with all you need!
Thank you, Linda