Debt free or away from densly populated areas when SHTF?

[Straight Shooter]

Only if you believe , truly believe in shtf will indeed happen ...or treat your preps as a hedge , insurance, ...however ...the latter WILL catch you out in some form ....a difficult one for most to comprehend....but true in real life.

[iaaems]

Apart from a mortgage I have always been debt free. I saved hard and became mortgage free.
It was not easy but getting to the point where I could accumulate 'flexible asset' instead of constantly giving it to someone else was a tremendous relief. As you get older you find that you need more flexible assets than non flexible assets so 'downsizing' has to be considered. It is a balance thing. Only the idividual can decide how this balance can be achieved.
On a personal level if I had to do this all over again I would leave the anthill sooner than I did.

[Lightspeed]

SN
I sympathise with you about wife not being on board with your thoughts.... Without her being of the same mind as you, you're not going to be able to take drastic steps.

Why debt free?: So that if an economic disaster befalls you, the banks cannot asset strip you to get their cash back.

Why live remote?: Search on here about how city populations are unknowingly totally dependent on essential goods and services supplied to them daily by fragile and fully stretched supply chains. If electrical power fails the knock on effects will knock out water supply, food supply, and for the most part sewerage pumping too.

There's loads on this forum and the main SUK site to read through so as to make up your own mind on how big the risk is. Whatever you determine, it'll be for nothing if your wife is not on side with you/

Good luck

[CharlesHarris]

Great discussion and comments! Bravo Zulu all!

[MaryN]

Loads of good advice on here. You don't indicate how old you are or if you have any children, this could affect your future timing. There is, unfortunately, no such place as Utopia, so you may have to do a fair bit of compromising. Surrey isn't much better than London for living, imho, it's crowded, busy and overpriced. There are other up and coming hotspots in the country - East Anglia (Cambridge, Norwich etc.) is coming up fast on the popularity list for work and lifestyle, and you have a better chance of a property with more options to pursue the prepper lifestyle. Tough for you if your wife is not really onside yet - I have the same problem with my OH, but he's getting there. Global news at the moment is not good, and things could go downhill at one hell of a rate, so you are on the right track by just being concerned.

[bigpaul]

with the population of the capital now being in the region of 8.1 million nowhere in that locale would be either safe or survivable in a long term scenario, as for getting out just by looking at a map you can see that one would need to be West of Portsmouth/Southampton say somewhere into Wiltshire at the very least, and Northwards as near as to Norfolk as one can get, at least somewhere the other side of Cambridge and into Suffolk maybe. just a general observation on my part.

[Sardo_Numpsa]

Thanks for all the replies.

It really is a choice between Surrey and London, simple as that. There is no chance in hell I can convince my wife to move to East Anglia, Portsmouth Southampton etc. so no point considering, although of course that would be ideal.

Sure Surrey is expensive, crowded and close to London, the benefits may very well not justify the cost of moving, in which case I will stay put.

[bigpaul]

you don't say where you are in London, so a move to Surrey might no be any improvement just an expensive move.
if moving is not an option, and it seems that it isn't, you will probably be better served by putting your energies into emergency supplies and thinking about suitable routes out of the city should a serious life threatening event occur, not just vehicular routes but pedestrian ones too, forget about motorways, in the event of a serious happening they will end up as glorified car parks. there is more info in the archives of this forum plus look at the files on the main page.

[NorthernRaider]

We cannot all choose where we would ideally like to live, so if circumstance dictates you remain in London then it makes sense to be the absolute best URBAN prepper you can be. We have to work with the hand we are dealt its no use pushing you lady to move to Anglia if she is going to be miserable and unsettled, In the last two or three years I have become aware of some seriously well sorted and organised urban preppers who have made a possibly bad situation very livable so be positive and work with what you have.

You need to become intimate in the local knowledge of every street, lane, path, subway, rat run in your area, you need to be very situationally aware in cities because its far easy to accidentally wander into trouble be it criminal or official.

You need to have a very secure home in a big urban area , composite doors, laminating film on windows ( or shutters) etc

Noting places of interest that you could use to your advantage is a good idea, EG everything from food distribution centres to places with flat roofs you could grow food on out of sight from the street. Joining groups like Sub Brit to get access to expert knowledge about the underground world at your feet, to Guerilla Gardening groups, Transition Town groups, Urb Ex groups etc. Finding water in london should never be to great an issue but ensuring its safe is all together different so where ever you live you WILL need a decent family size Berkfield filter and spare candles for it, water grade jerry cans will be essential. Then the rest of the usual preps food, fuel, comms, security, medical, hygiene, transport, power etc will fall into place. Alternative METHODS of transport other than cars is an issue in Urban areas, as is alternative ROUTES, you need to be able to get about with the least risk of being detected by crims or authorities so cycle paths, canal paths, old tunnels, old rail lines ( when the power is OFF), storm drains, water ways etc.

If you good lady is adamant she does not want to move out of town NOW, then plan for when things get so bad if TSHTF that she changes her mind, so multiple B O Routes are worth learning, noting places out of town you could bug out to if necc ( family, friends, caravan, etc)

[Steve]

You could always talk to your good lady on the idea of a cosy holiday home somewhere safe - perhaps the West Country or Pembrokeshire ?

Keep it well stocked with long life provisions, keep your eye on the news, keep your fuel tank well filled. Enjoy holidays in a relaxed place, always have a bolt hole to use.