Debt free or away from densly populated areas when SHTF?

[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.