From the comments: When you get visitors who expect charity

From the comments: I’m checking stock to make sure I have more of whatever. Also had thoughts what do we do if he/she/they show up expecting us to help or take them in. Who do you turn away? Can’t help everyone.

You are the Chief Executive (along with your spouse) of your domain. Who you "hire" and who you "fire" is a key role of management.

In a factory, the role of management is to ensure the smooth, efficient and economical operation of the enterprise by minimizing waste and maximizing the production of the highest-value products within the constraints of the facility and inputs. Management's role is to create harmony.

For starters, turn away quarrelsome people. Not just for your benefit but for the benefit of everybody who you extend the privilege of being your guests. Figuring out who is quarrelsome is not rocket-science. They announce themselves. They demand.

Proverbs 21:9 "It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than in a mansion with a quarrelsome woman" but let's be honest here, men can be every bit as quarrelsome as women. People who hold on to grudges and who argue until the other party submits destroy harmony. 

Don't let them in the door, even if they are your child. They might be "good" for a short period but will regress to their true nature as soon as they become comfortable.

 

People who stir-the-pot are destroyers of harmony and value their own power and status more than the success of the group. People who raise legitimate questions are not stirring-the-pot but ask the question to ensure they don't fail the organization.

Turn away people with a history of gossiping. Loose lips sink ships...and destroy cohesiveness. It isn't that "you hate them", it is that your life-boat cannot afford to have them on the premises. You are not acting as a person. You are acting in the role of Chief Executive (or Captain) of the life-boat.

With respect to neighbors and tools..."You asked to borrow my chainsaw. The deal is that if I loan out my chainsaw then I also loan-out my labor running it. You get me AND my chainsaw." At that point, you might start dickering about what three hours of your time + chainsaw are worth. If you don't have firewood, you might do it on shares. If you don't have a bicycle but the neighbor has extras, it might get you a bicycle. If you are running short of gasoline, maybe you can siphon five gallons out of the old lady's Suburu.

Courtesy of Google: Grocery stores in Kent County, Michigan. It is 23 miles as-the-crow-flies from the upper-right corner to the closest major grocery store.

Contrary to what you will read in fiction, most refugees will flee to the cities, that is, to where the "services" are. They will be camping (sleeping in their cars) in the Kroger's and Walmart parking lots long before they think to show up at your front door. If government intervenes (and they will because they cannot resist) they will inject "help" through the largest, existing infrastructure.

People who shop every day (even if it is buying a coffee or a bagel) or get two Grub-hub deliveries a day cannot imagine living eight miles from a store and having to walk or ride a bike to get there.

Throw in the fact that power and internet are likely to be more intermittent in the boonies than in the city and things will have to be totally Mad Max before your little bit of heaven is attractive to most people. 

During famines in India, people leave the countryside and go to the big cities looking for work.

During the ending days of WWII, people stayed in Berlin until the Soviets were within just a few miles of the city limits.

So, my gut-feel is that almost all of the people you DON'T want as "guests" will self-select to stay away from your life-boat (especially if you have the foresight to turn off the internet router during the daylight hours when they are most likely to show up).

The power of language

I need a better word than "guest". The word "guest" implies hospitality and the life-boat can only afford about three days per person of hospitality. After than, the relationship has to change. The person who is living on your property must become a value-producing part of the domestic ecosystem. They have to earn their keep.

I am open to suggestions regarding a better noun than "guest".