Doing What Works For You

One of the main things I try to stress in this blog is doing what works for you. Each person's situation is different so what works for one person, or a whole bunch of people, may not work for you. Case in point, today I bought a new digital camera. I have a fairly new 10 meg camera with all of the bells and whistles but I just don't like it very much. It is a great camera but my older camera seemed to take clearer pictures with less hassle (you can't erase the pictures from the memory card via computer, you have to do it on the camera itself on the newer camera, and some other minor annoyances).

So, while I was looking for a camera today, I came across a 4 meg version of the older camera that I really liked (the older camera was old--I think it was a two meg camera). Most people--myself included often times--would think "I should go for the best camera available...I might want the extra bells and whistles some day...what will people think if I don't have the best I can afford?" And then common sense kicked in and I asked myself what do I really need? I need very clear pictures, I prefer SD memory cards over XD, I have never taken a 4 meg picture let alone a 10 meg picture since almost all of my photos are posted on websites and I want them to be able to load before next week, and even though it is a very basic camera, it works for my purposes. I chose the lowly 4 meg camera, got a great deal (about a quarter of what I was thinking of spending), and I don't much care what others think when they see me use it.

This situation comes up again and again. both in preparedness and in life. Many people need transportation to get to and from work. Then they meet a salesman, and before they know it, they have a brand new car and are in debt up to their eyeballs when a $3000 used Honda would have worked for their purposes. I see this OFTEN with firearms. I've seen ME do this with firearms. When I was much younger and much poorer, I would get all excited over buying a new handgun and end up with a Sig or H & K when something much more affordable and of some lesser quality would have worked just fine for my purposes.

The bottom line is that no matter what you do, preparedness tasks included, you should do so in ways that work for you. Just because all of the survival forums are talking about having a year's worth of food stockpiled in your garage, doesn't mean it may be a smart thing for you to do. What if you're planning to move across the country in six months? What if you are hammering away on your credit card debt that is sitting at 28% interest? What if your kids will be moving out soon and will reduce the household from four to two? There are so many variables for any situation that blanket advice which you receive here and in all other blogs is just that, blanket advice that may or may not work for you. Take the time to evaluate each situation and make your own decisions as to what is the best course of action for you to take.