UN-PREPPING

Time to time , I notice some You-tubers talking about moving to another house, and can’t help but feel how vulnerable they are during the move without their stocked pantry and blooming kitchen garden. They definitely need some time before they settle and re-build their prep resources.

However, that kind of move is planned at least. They may have contingency plans for what-if something happens when they are just starting the new home.

But sometimes, we are faced with events completely un-prepared. It seems to be my situation now. Reading all news and thoughts about the impeding supply-chain crisis, and at the same time our house is going to be upside down (almost literally).

Our project of building another home is postponed and another project suddenly has first priority. It is fixing/remodeling the upper floor of our current house. This upper floor is full of furniture (we lived there before finishing the ground floor). Old plan was to build the other house (in another town) and take this furniture there. When this floor is empty we can start the project. But now, with priorities upside down, we have to find somewhere to store the extra furniture and start the project. Not very good timing.

I am planning to build two sheds to contain some of this stuff. But there is another more troubling factor. In this process, I am losing my 2 man caves: the home office, and workshop. They both have to be moved and stored until the project is finished, and then office will be moved to a room downstairs (occupied now by our son), and the workshop will be moved down the shed in the garden which will be used now for storage.

I feel naked, to put it mildly. Actually, I am feeling insecure without these two. The office is where I do all planning, have my computer and paper files, and part of my library. The workshop is where I execute the plans and implement solutions to any problem. Losing them both while waiting for something like this supply chain crisis is unnerving.

And yes, we are losing the pantry upstairs, to be substituted with a smaller pantry downstairs, which needs some time to be ready.

After this long rant, what do you do if you are prepping minded, but events are pushing you to un-prepping ???

Can you move your computer to your bedroom? That's where I have my desktop.

Can you keep at least part of your pantry on the upper floor and move things around as needed? If not, you will have to put things anywhere you have space even if it presents another problem, which I had to do. With boxes blocking my shelves, drinks stacked in the corner, and emergency supplies beside my bed, my room looks more like a storage room with a bed than an actual bedroom.

Jeanette Isabelle

just a comment... a friend is storing his furniture in a couple of 40' CONEX containers,and living temporarily with his in-laws..., he received a very good price for his previous home, but needed to vacate immediately... will be several months for his new home to be completed... IIRC he said the rental was about $185/mo per container

I have a different view. I'm activly reducing the amount of stuff I have.

Working from home, ment I had time to sort things out and i actively used up/wear out all the old stuff first. I don't want a large amount of semi-worn / old stuff. I want a enough amount of good stuff. From old stuff from the pantry to clothing. Not wanting to go to the supermarket is a great way to clear our the pantry of the old stuff. Old clothing; they are on top of the stack and worn untill they are worned out. I do keep enough around.

Tools and appliances that broke/wore out are replaced with quality gear that shouldn't break under normal usage. My large toolbox is big and heavy and rarly gets used because of it. Now I have a toolbag which is far more portable and with quality tools focused on what i actually use. It makes just grabbing it and starting a project much faster and easier.

Space is expensive and lots of stuff is a logistical nightmare. Maybe it's the reaction i have from the days i worked for a regional fireservice, when we had a huge supply of things. Including stuff dating back from the coldwar. Keeping everything maintained, people trained for it, moving things around and just keeping track of everything just takes up so much time.

Small, light, enough just make me feel agile. I can put everything i have, except from the furniture, in my car and go if needed.

Thanks everyone



Yes, bedroom is the first option. In addition to desk, I am planning to move a small sofa. That would be one less piece of furniture to worry about, and will be something to sit and relax on when the going gets tough.

The wife refused to utilize other rooms in the front part of the house. Daughter is engaged and we expect some visitors from time to time. So, there is a conflict of priorities right there.

This option is not available in my corner of the world.

It would be the perfect solution to dump everything in temporary storage units and finish the project. When the other project (second house) is built, I could shift the stuff there. But ...

It is not very different from what I intend to do. But instead of throwing the extra stuff, I am planning to utilize it in the second house when we build it. It looks like waste of money to throw away this stuff, and a few years later we buy new furniture for the other house.

That house will be secondary, for those times we visit in-laws and extended families in the other town. So, the old furniture is good enough. Actually it is perfect for security reasons, burglars won't be tempted to steal much the stuff if they break in while we are away.



I agree, but there are heavier tools like concrete drills and circular saw. They need somewhere to be stored and used. Actually I am salvaging a bathroom cupboard from upstairs to put in the shed to store these tools and other accessories.

I move around a lot because of my career. So some forms of prep don't make sense for my situation. I can't modify a house if I'll leave it in a few years. It doesn't make sense to buy a big generator or anything that is bulky, heavy, and hard to move long distance or overseas. I can't stock a year's worth of food or a lot of fuel.

You can make do with a lot less than prepping guides would have you believe. When you realize you just cannot take that much with you, you ask yourself what you really need to meet your survival goals. It just takes some planning.

Equipment makes some things easier, but, you know, this prepping thing is also a business. Vendors want to sell you more and more stuff. Some websites offering prep info might as well be called a shopping guide. I sometimes wonder how indigenous tribes in the Amazons ever survived without deliveries from Amazon. We don't really need all that.

When I get on the road moving from one location to another, I do feel naked without all my prep stuff. It's weird when all your possessions are on a truck somewhere. But somehow I've always managed to survive in hotels. Can you imagine that?

Emergencies and disasters do happen, but they rarely happen. If they happen to me while I'm moving, then it's just really bad luck. I accept that possibility.

What kind of furniture? Is it like antique, good solid quality, sentimental? Or is it just regular store bought furniture made of termite barf?
If its good stuff worth keeping, can you use it in the interim, i.e. use a dresser for part of your work desk, or store some of your pantry items in it.

I'm in a place where we've refinanced our house multiple times to try to pay medical bills and most of the walls are patches on patches so once the kids graduate school we'll probably end up moving somewhere so I'm trying to figure out how to make all out stuff as portable/moveable as possible. Think about workbenches that are like big crates on wheels like those home remodel shows that were popular for a while. So you take the tools off the workbench, open the top, stick everything inside, close it up and wheel it on the truck.

Pure wisdom right there. Thanks



I agree. But given this looming supply chain crisis, and the gas problem in Europe, it s only prudent to double the pantry size. Instead, the pantry itself is gone. And losing the office and workshop at the same time, I feel like McGyver without duct tape.

It's a mix

Nothing sentimental, but some of it I have designed myself and would not want to lose it under any circumstances. Not because of sentimental (emotional) value, but because of practical reasons. I designed it to be the most efficient in space utilization. Nothing in the market would be close in quality and efficiency and closeness to my mindset.

One example is the desk I am going to depend on during this mess. I have designed it in two solid pieces; a heavy desk and a tower of shelves on top. Have used it for 30 years, sometimes as an office desk, and sometimes as a light workshop in the office room. During this phase, and because of shortage of space, I will bring it down in the bedroom to use it as an office. After the project is done, I will have a whole room for my office, then I will bring the two tables I use for office (one for computer and one for reference books and general office work), and this desk will be in that same room to serve as a light workshop again.

By (light workshop) I mean fixing wife jewelery or watch bands .
Things of that nature.
Woodworking and most electric work is done in the bigger workshop.