Spousal Needs

Many of us have spouses/significant others. How do they fit into your plans? My wife has higher social needs than I do. She is a softer touch and more generous and compassionate than I am. She is the one who would take in the strays and want to feed everyone if TTSHTF. That sometimes leads to a lot of juggling. How do you balance those needs?

 

The question need not be limited to only two committed life partners.

The question is equally valid for any "Known" agreed size group, be that 2 or 22 or 222.

It is a simple math question, but first everyone needs to fully come to grip with, when the food is gone, the process of death by starvation starts. Photos of humans literally starving to death, could help communicate how ugly that process is.

Once that point is clear..........just ask when do you want to start the process of death by starvation in four months or in two weeks, or in four days.

 

That is all true, but I was thinking more in terms of how do you balance things like social needs, differing priorities on prepping needs, differing emphasis on family etc.

The starvation issue is a tough one. I think my wife and I would both rather starve than see the other starve. Only time will tell, but I think for the two of us is both eat and if need be save two bullets. Of course all those things cannot truly be known until you hav3 to make the decision. For those sample, I am ex military but never saw combat. I’ve seen a lot of death and dying, some by brutal means. I believe I could pull the trigger on another if it came to it, but I wont know for sure til then

 

My wife has always been O.K. with all of the gear I have purchased. She is O.K. with most of the food storage, and extra provisions put aside. She has been O.K. with the extra supplies we have put aside to barter. We all have BOB's. She understands the concept that we might have to leave, and she is O.K. with that. She is even on board with all of the firearms and ammunition. I would say we are probably 95% in agreement with everything we have done.

She would be the one to take in all of the strays, especially if they were children. I really don't know if push came to shove if she could ever draw the line and say NO. We have never discussed it, but I am quite certain we would be taking in some family members that I don't have much use for, but they are her family. They would not be turned away.

For this reason I have put additional things aside knowing that we need to be planning for more than our immediate family. There is additional food, clothing, water, water purification systems, blankets, really just about everything. It has not been a financial hardship, nor do we have any problems with space or storage.

Admittedly, my wife is a hoarder, and this has turned out to be a blessing and a curse. One side of the argument is that several rooms in our house, the basement, and the garage are absolute $%^t holes. Jimmy Hoffa could be buried there and no one would find him. The other side is that I have enough inventory to stock a Super Wal-Mart. I could supply several families with old clothes, shoes, blankets, bedding. We have everything 10 families would need. When you haven't thrown anything away in 40 + years it tends to add up. I tend to look at it as barter material, and not just junk, which is what it really is. But it could be useful if the situation arose.

I hope this helps. Maybe you could give some specific situations where you think you might differ, and it could become a problem.

 

I am divorced, and the kids start college in a few weeks. They are like their mother when it comes to prepping. So, I am on my own.

 

My wife is a LOT meaner than me!!! She is my executive officer and has my back. The only time that is a disadvantage is when she decides that I am being too nice and goes after someone with me in the MIDDLE! I am probably the most liberal and gentle person in my circle of friends in a lot of ways. Scary isn't it???

 

My wife is a little more hard core than me, but we see pretty much eye to eye on almost all things. She won’t want to help anyone except our neighbor who is a few decades ahead of us in prepping. My wife has a certain medical condition so she won’t last too long if the world turns to total crap. This is probably when I’ll completely disappear into the woods if I haven’t done so already.