Emergency Preparedness: Car

This month we decided to get stuff for our car.
In our trunk we already have: a small first aid kit, toilet paper, an extra blanket, tire gauge, rags, extra container of water and a case of water bottles, extra container of motor oil, spare tire with jack, and jumper cables- all of which we have used.

On the website DMV.org I found this post: 

Outdoor Lodge recommends the following list of items:

• Flashlights and extra batteries.

• A folding camping (Army) shovel.

• Jumper cables (8-12 feet long).

• Set of tire chains. Know how to install these beforehand.

• Fuses. There are several types, so make sure you have the right ones for your car.

• Tools: pliers, flat and Phillips-head screwdrivers, and an adjustable wrench.

• Wool blanket.

• All the necessary fluids for your car, including 2 quarts of motor oil, brake fluid, power-steering fluid (if applicable), automatic transmission fluid (if applicable), a gallon of water, and a gallon of antifreeze. Also include a funnel, and keep a few rags handy in case of spills.

• Fire extinguisher.

• Road flares.

• Gloves, wool socks, and a pair of boots.

• Electrical and duct tape.

• WD-40.

• Knife.

• Bright cloth or emergency road sign to display in your window in case of trouble.

Other items to consider are:

• Non-perishable food items and a can opener

• Rain gear

• Extra clothes

• Folding chair(s)

• Pillows

• Sleeping bags

• Snacks

• Books and games

• Toilet paper

http://www.dmv.org/how-to-guides/emergency-kit.php

Other items I have seen from other websites are:

• cell phone charger
• cat litter (great for adding traction in winter- I have also used this!)
• windshield scrapper (I thought this was a given- in winter it is an essential everyday tool- unless your found of scrapping your windshield with a credit card)
• foam tire sealant
• tow straps

Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/20-must-haves-in-your-car-emergency-kit-1.aspx#ixzz3F5we0tMP

Once again with such a long list, we plan on getting just a few things at once and slowly building our car emergency kit.  Safe driving to you!

Emergency Preparedness: Financial Reserve

Emergency Preparedness: Financial Reserve

Not all disasters are natural disasters or ones that effect entire neighborhoods.  Some just affect your family.  When hard times hit it is comforting to know you can pay your bills and feed your family.

Way back when I began this blog it was because we knew our money was going to be tight for a few months.  As it turned out we needed our finical reserve to stretch for more than a year.

I have heard the recommendation of putting 10% of your income into savings every month for emergencies.

Dave Ramsey suggest getting a 1,000 dollar emergency fund, paying off all debt, if you have any, and then building your savings to a 3-6 month fund.

When the financial storms come you will also be surprised at all the things you are able to cut out of your budget.  You are simply able to live on less.

I've know people that have been out of work for months.  What a comfort for those that have- and a nightmare for those who don't have- a financial reserve. And you avoid more debt.

This isn't something you build up in one month- it happens over the course of many months.  Being consistent and aware of your money is the key.

Savings is worth it.

Food Storage

Where I live we have what is called Case Lot Sales.  Around here people love to store food and case lot sales are a way to buy several months worth of canned goods at a discount price.  I love having food on hand, it's great when needing a quick meal, when you can't just run to the store every day (nearest one from me is 20 miles), or for security in an emergency.  When my husband didn't find a permanent job right after graduating college, it was good to know that at least we would not starve.  Between that and a financial reserve we were able to save ourselves a lot of stress and worry.

I realize most places don't have case lots, but canned goods and other frequently used items do go on sale.  I have a list of things we go through quickly- chocolate chips anyone? When they go one sale, we buy. We also store hygiene and other commonly used products.  Seriously, toilet paper is one thing I want to have plenty of!

Whether you buy food storage slowly as things come on sale or stock up at the once or twice a year sales, things we use everyday are always good to have extra of.  I recommend stocking up on at least a three month supply of items you use regularly and rotating your stock so it does not go bad.


What if you don't have the space???

Be creative.  Some people use long term food storage as a base for a bed. I use all my storage, even the wheat, so I keep it in a more accessible place...our closet.  We also have our cupboards full and an extra shelf in our kitchen. I look forward to when baby comes all we'll need to run to the store for is the perishable items- milk, eggs, cheese, fruit/veggies.

Happy Savings!

Batteries

So many things need batteries these days, and they can be expensive.  I think about being prepared for emergencies, I want all my flashlights working and since my toddler loves to play with them, extra batteries is one thing we have.

Harbor Freight is the cheapest place I have found them.  We waited for a good sale and stocked up on the sizes we use most.  However, we just saw a coupon they printed for free batteries.  24 FREE AA or AAA batteries no purchase required.  Can't get better than that.

It is probably in store only. I know the coupon can be found online as well. One I saw expired in the middle of September and one at the end of 2014.

Yeah for savings!


They also have coupons for free:
tarps
flashlights
head lamps
tape measures
and other tools

Emergency - First Aid Kit

I guess by default we build up our first aid kit during the month of June.  We are now stocked with bandages, medical scissors, tweezers, gauze, anti-bacterial solution, etc.

I suggest starting with a basic first aid kit- these can be purchased or put together yourself. We have one for both the car and one for the home. Slowly we add things to it. List for good first aid kits can be found on several sites online. Avoid getting overwhelmed by the extensiveness of some list.  You don't have to have it all at once.

Emergency Preparedness

Everything in May fell by the wayside so we missed a month that we'll have to make up.

We could say shelter was our thing of the month as we already have a tent and sleeping bags.
Also emergency blankets, fire starters, rain ponchos to keep dry with- these could also go with shelter.

In an emergency it's most likely that you will NOT find yourself in the wild defending off bears.  It is more likely you will be in a place with crumbled buildings, broken roads, and lots of other people.  Meaning when disaster strikes we don't all get transported to the nearest remote place, we are near our residence with all the other people who live near by.  Most likely a church, school, or large building will become your temporary aboded.

That is why I still recommend a tent and sleeping gear, you will want privacy and will probably be sleeping on a hard floor. Just a thought to keep in mind when planning shelter.  Also, keep it lightweight and compact, you may be moved more than once.

Heat!

I know the weather is going to be warming up soon. (As is it snowing) However, it's better to post this now than, say, in July...

One cold winter morning in the middle of January, the power in a large area surrounding our house went out. We grabbed our flashlights and began getting ready for the day.  Soon the sun came up and light was no longer an issue.  We did, however, have a bigger problem.  Heat.

We turn our furnace down at night to save on utilities, and we like sleeping when it is a little colder.  Our house had not yet warmed up for the day before the power went out the temperature inside was determined to match the temperature outside.  Within an hour our house was 50 degrees and steadily losing heat.  We took hot showers, and bundled up in warm clothing, and while my husband went off to work, my daughter and I stayed bundled in blankets.  I began to think of all the things we could do to stay warm as the power company was unsure when the power would return and within another hour or so we'd be able to use our apartment as an icebox.

If you find yourself in a cold house, shrink it and lower your ceiling. Not literally, but find a way to trap the heat. Seal off one room and heat just that. Having lower ceilings (even artificial ones like a blanket or tent) also makes a room easier to heat.  I have learned things can get toasty in a blanket fort real quick.  I thought about setting up the tent in our living room. My toddler would have loved that. Then again the most logical solution would have been to go visit my parents who lived about 20 minutes away.

It actually wasn't the fear or freezing to death that caused me to pause at how unprepared we were. It was the fact that it was breakfast time and, living on scratch as we do, we didn't exactly have pop-tarts laying around the house. We probably ate cold cereal to fill our bellies, but what if the power (which came on about an hour and a half later) had been out for days? No stove, toaster, microwave.

We have a mini barbecue; we also only had half of a small bottle of propane left.  This month we decided to focus on heat and means of cooking food as our preparedness goal.

Propane- if we had to barbecue all of our food, at least we'd eat. If it got desperate we'd build a fire with some of the dead trees laying around and cook dutch oven.

I found some interesting ways to heat/cook, although I have not tried them- I'd be very aware of CO2 levels in the house if you were to do these indoors.

Heater with flower pots and tea lights- This is a popular method circulating the internet with plenty of critics to go with it. Who knows how efficient it would be- the youtube video I saw was of a very small room.  I'd think I'd try something else first. Such as...

Toilet Paper and Rubbing Alcohol heater in a can. All it is is this- place a roll of toilet paper (cardboard removed) in a can just large enough for it (some have used a quart size paint can with lid others have used a tomato can).  Fill with alcohol and light.  It will create a flame (duh) so keep away from kids and clumsy adults.  One woman stuck her heater in the sink.  (She also placed a baking rack over the sink to turn it into a stove)  I like this heater because cover it with a #10 can and you have a stove as well.  One man claimed he could bring 2 cups of water to a boil in 3 minutes.  Elevation plays a factor in boiling water so I'd guess it would take us longer.  Once the flame begins to burn the toilet paper use a lid to snuff it out.  You can then refill with rubbing alcohol and burn it again.  The average time I have found this last for was 4-6 hours.
I like the idea of heat and a way to cook at the same time.  That is the reason in a emergency situation I would try this method first...Or just go to Grandma's house.

A few of the Toilet Paper and Alchohol Stove websites I checked out:
http://www.iwillprepare.com/cooking_files/Alcohol_Stove_In_A_Paint_Can.htm
http://theparsimoniousprincess.blogspot.com/2011/02/canned-heat-how-to-make-emergency.html
http://doablesurvival.blogspot.com/2012/11/emergency-heatercooker-there-are-many.html


We also stocked up on some fleece blankets.  They are cheap, lightweight and incredibly warm. One survival expert said when he uses the space blankets (The small emergency foil ones) he wraps up in a fleece blanket as well.  Not only does this add extra warmth, it soaks up all the sweat as well.  Not very breathable those foil blankets.

Water Storage

February is Water Storage Month at our house.

Your water can become unusable at anytime. For 300,000 people in West Virginia a chemical spill made all tap water undrinkable. How fortunate were those with water storage.

The minimal amount you should be storing is a 3 day supply of a gallon per a person per a day- 3 gallons per a person and per a pet.  It is recommended if you can store more to do so.  Ideally you would want 2 gallons per a person per a day for a 2 week period of time.  This would included drinking, cooking, and washing.

Our apartment is small so we decided to store 2 gallons per a person for 3 day, or 18 gallons of water.  We used old juice bottles.  We also put a gallon in our car for emergencies (car overheats, you overheat) and a case of bottled water that gets used on trips and camping and what not.  Water is one thing I always want to have.

Make sure you rotate your water storage with fresh water every six months.

Under the Bed Kit

This idea came for a friend's mother on her website apreparedhome.com

It is a small kit to be kept by the bed in case something happens in the middle of the night
It consist of:

•  A container to put stuff in- (Pillowcase, shoe box, plastic bag, whatever)
• Slip on closed toed shoes- you can get cheap one.
• Working gloves
• Flashlight with working batteries
• Whistle

Things I would add:

• bottle of water
• snack- granola bar or the like
• warm blanket (fleece is warm and doesn't take up much room)
• maybe an extra pair of clothes, socks, underwear- this can be part of a 72 hour kit.

Keep the kit in a place you can grab and use in the dark.

Emergency Preparedness- Fire Saftey

This year my family has decided we needed get more prepared for calamities that could happen personally to our family or to our community.  With a tight budget these past few months we have been grateful for both our financial reserves and our food storage.  However, there is room to improve.

Sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming, that is why this year we have decided to do one or two things each month to get further prepared for whatever may happen.  This month we chose:

FIRE SAFETY AND PREPAREDNESS

After clumsily setting the oven on the wrong setting and filling my kitchen with smoke.  I decided the batteries in the smoke detector had to be dead.  Checking the detector I discovered there were no batteries in the device. (So much for working detectors when you move into an apartment)  A fire alarm makes an ugly decoration, now it is actually useful.

This also made me realize we had no fire extinguisher in the house.  Hm, I would much rather extinguish a small fire than run from a big one.

Speaking of evacuating if a fire did happen what would  I want accessible to grab quickly and go- like a flashlight, shoes, or blanket.

We do have an evacuation plan though!  One out of four.
So this month our checklist consisted of:

1. Make an evacuation plan
2. Make Bedside emergency kits for everyone
3. Test all smoke detectors and change batteries
4. Get a fire extinguisher- replace expired ones