The Discount Apocalypse Guide: Survival Strategies that Won't Break the Bank

Prepping for the End of the World on a Budget

Ann woke at 5am just like every morning, her internal clock more reliable than any alarm. She needed that jump on the day because once her four school-age kids woke up, the small home in rural Kansas transformed into a war zone of backpacks, homework arguments, and missing socks. She moved through the dark kitchen on autopilot, packing lunches with practiced efficiency, cracking eggs into the skillet before the first footsteps thundered down the hallway.

John stumbled in at 5:45 already hunting for his truck keys. Factory foreman shifts started early and forgave nothing. Ann pointed to the hook by the door where the keys always hung when he actually remembered to use it. Normal morning chaos, the kind of day they’d lived a thousand times before.

Then Good Morning America cut to the emergency broadcast signal.

The sound froze her mid-pour with coffee splashing onto the counter. The kids’ phones erupted simultaneously with that specific screech that meant something had gone catastrophicall…