If you watch those survival television shows, one thing is present in every episode: The stars of the show choose to put themselves in a controlled survival environment.

This is because survival scenarios are not out there stalking us, waiting to catch us unprepared; it is far more likely we will experience a routine event that takes on a survival element than it is that we will get caught in a major survival incident or its aftermath.

Unemployment – How well would you fare if you lost your job? In the United States, unemployment benefits only pay about half of what you were earning with a maximum of $300 to $600 a week, depending on which state you live in. And in this economy, it can take a long time to find another job. But if you’re a prepper, you will already have food, cash, and supplies on hand to help you get by until you find another job.

Financial Emergencies – Unemployment isn’t the only situation where your preps could come in handy. Life is full of surprise expenses: car repairs, medical bills, death in the family, who knows? Prepping is like buying insurance against all sorts of unexpected problems. But unlike insurance, the money you spend on prepping doesn’t go to waste if nothing happens because most preps are things you will eat or use anyway. So in fact, prepping is better than insurance.

Never Run Out of Anything – Too often people run out of microwaveable meals and don’t have the ingredients to make anything else, so they just order a pizza.

But at least in that case you can get someone to bring you food. What if you run out of dish soap, or painkillers, or toilet paper? Rather than having to order food or make a run to the store, you’ll already have everything you need.

Car Trouble – If your car breaks down and you’re stranded somewhere until help arrives, imagine how much better your situation will be if you have bottled water, snacks, a flashlight, blankets, a solar charger for your phone, and other gear in your emergency vehicle kit or get home bag.

Natural Disasters – Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes… they happen all the time. Every year thousands of people die in these sorts of disasters and the rest of the world barely notices. Although it’s possible doomsday will never arrive, the chance of natural disasters striking hundreds of towns this year is 100%. What if your town is next? But if you’re a prepper, you’ll be able to bug out in time or ride out the disaster until things return to normal.

Power Outage – When there’s a natural disaster, the worst most people experience is a short power outage. But what if the power is out all day? Or all week? Would you be able to light your house, cook your food, and stay warm without power?

Power outages are much more comfortable when you’re a prepper.

Stay in Shape – This depends on the type of prepping you do. But if you work in the garden, or go hunting on a regular basis, or build things for your homestead, you’ll be much healthier than you would be if you sat on the couch every evening.

Peace of Mind – This is one of the most important benefits of prepping. Whether doomsday arrives or not, at least you won’t have to worry about it as much. There’s an unfortunate stereotype that makes preppers look nervous and stressed out. But actually, if you know you can handle almost anything life throws your way, you’ll be much less stressed out than the average person.

With the exception of natural disasters, each of these situations is fairly routine – we all have car trouble at some point and most of us have been unexpectedly unemployed, for instance.

Being prepared for those situations afford us the best reason why everyone should at a minimum be at least basically prepared.

To learn more about everyday situations that justify being prepared, even if you never face a true survival situation, check out the Urban Survival Site.