One of mankind's challenges is to provide security in times of uncertainty. If we live such that we can live well the tomorrows, we are stepping on the principles of provident living. This means prudence not just in preserving and storing food like the ant in Aesop's fable. It means that we are taking thought and action in all areas of living: family development, literacy, career development, financial and resource management, home production, and food storage. It, therefore, signifies that we are taking action for our future. Provident living can give us peace of mind when eventualities arise that otherwise threaten our stability!
Suggestions Toward Provident Living
We should not get into debt in order to accumulate food storage. Panic buying is not provient living. If we do not believe we can grow a garden or do any canning, we can buy extra food and other essentials, a little bit at a time, whenever we shop. Just make sure that they are items that our family wants to eat. We should do some research on the shelf life of the products we buy for food storage.
Provident living dictates building our storage of other essential items. Examples are candles, matches, bottled water, vitamins, etc. We can observe our families and see what they cannot do without in case of emergencies.
Provident living also means building some cash reserves in our homes. One way to start is by putting our change in a jar. In most big stores, there are coin machines that will sort coins and then supply a receipt. We take the receipt to the cashier for cash (minus a small percentage for the coin machine owners). We can then keep the cash in a safe place in our homes and let it accumulate. This is a good project for children.
We should learn to make a distinction between wants and needs. If we are not careful, we can delude ourselves into thinking that our wants are needs.
