Ok, so you’ve spent thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours and a lot of brain power on developing a personalized and optimal storage system. How safe is it? It is really easy to get lulled into a sense of complacency or false sense of security as we personally establish our nest-egg over the course of time. The reality is that it doesn’t take much for someone, or a group of people to gain entry into most homes, locate the pantry or closet downstairs and plunder until there’s nothing left. Not only that, but it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that your own access to your stores may one day be compromised as well.

Make your stores work for you.

It is important that you don’t serve your storage setup, rather, let your storage system work for you. Don’t continue to stockpile item after item just because you can use it in the future, or because it was on sale. Quality is better than quantity, and we can easily get stuck in the mode of making sure that we have everything instead of enough of what we need. The more goodies that you have laying around in one place makes you more susceptible to theft or even violent crime.

Consider diversifying and placing items in different locations, in smaller quantities. Don’t put your eggs into one basket. What will you do if you can’t get to your stores, someone steals them or your home is destroyed? Having supplies in different locations minimizes the damage caused by an unforeseen event while also giving you more options at your disposal. Don’t focus on building and securing one location like a fortress. Focus on building numerous little storehouses instead.

Don’t advertise your level of readiness.

The biggest contribution that you can give to protecting your interests is to keep a low profile. Don’t advertise the setup you have or the plans that are currently in the works. The last thing you need is people that you think you can trust telling the world that they know someone who has a year’s supply of water and ammo.

Be discreet, don’t give people a reason to think that you are ready for doomsday. If you don’t attract attention to yourself, then you will be encouraging people to look elsewhere for resources in the future. Discretion also protects your family. Remember that guarding your stores and supplies also involves guarding people under your roof. A low profile will also reduce the risk of suffering from an intrusion or attack in the middle of the night.

Never think that your supplies are safe. One of the biggest things to worry about is having all that you’ve saved up snatched from beneath your feet. Diversify, be discreet and make sure that you are keeping your supplies out of sight and out of mind. It only takes one unfortunate event to put your resources in jeopardy. Give serious thought as to how you can expand and reinforce your storage capabilities in order to have these items on hand when you need them the most.