Week 19

1. Add hand towels to all 72 hour kits. Hand towels take up much less room than a full size towel but are still adequate to dry off if you are fortunate enough to have water to bathe. They are also useful as compresses and even a diaper.

2. Add collars to your pet’s 72 hour kit(s).

3. Purchase a container of baking soda, baking powder, and cornstarch for your food storage.

4. Purchase the ingredients for 5 desserts.

5. Strap your water heater to the wall.

6. Add sewing kits to your 72 hour kits. You can add the small ones you receive during a hotel stay or just a spool of white and a spool of black thread and a few sewing needles.

7. Do a little more rearranging and make more room for your food storage or 72 hour kits.

… next week. It is another check our progress week and you are going to be astonished at all you have done! A few steps each week means huge results in a short period of time.

Week 18

Each week the news of emergencies seems to grow. I feel great when I look at my preparations and I hope you are feeling the same way. This week:

1. Add prescription eye glasses to all 72 hour kits, when appropriate. I have my old pair in mine but I also have a pair of magnifiers in my car.

2. Purchase or find a container to hold your pet’s 72 hour kit. This could be a back pack, messenger bag, or even a bucket with a lid.

3. Add biohazard bags, both large and small, to your 72 hour kits and also to your car kit. Biohazard bags are wonderful because they are red in color and say hazardous materials right on the side. You will want top use these to line a port-a-potty. It is easy to tell children the stuff in the red bag is dangerous so don’t touch it, keeping them safe. If you use a regular plastic garbage bag be sure you label it clearly and brightly so everyone can tell the difference between these bags and bags of trash or debris.

4. Sweeten things up! Add 10 pounds of white sugar, 2 pounds of brown sugar and 2 pounds of powdered sugar to your storage.

5. Add two gallons of water to your supply. You can fill bleach bottles, canning jars or other containers with a tight fitting lid or you can purchase water at the store.

6. Go over the Water Storage article . Study it and add it to your binder.

7. Add a one month supply of hand soap to your storage and a small bar to your 72 hour kits. This is one of the items you should have dated and if you did, you will know how many to purchase for a month.

We all need to be ready for whatever comes. I am amazed how many people have told me they are feeling a real need to prepare.
If you fail to plan you plan to fail! (Benjamin Franklin)

Week 17

This week we are going to spend a few days focusing on our other family members, our pets, as well as a few more odds and ends.

1. Purchase vitamins. You know what you normally use so stock up. This is easy as it will tell you right on the bottle how many days a bottle will last. If you have someone on other supplements make sure you include those also. Watch your newspaper ads as these are often on sale buy one get one free at Longs, Rite Aid and the like. During a time of stress our bodies need more nutrients and they may not be available in the form of foods so don’t ignore vitamins.

2. Purchase sun screen for your 72 hour kits. Sunscreen wipes are also available and will not leak in your kits.

3. Begin a 72 hour kit for your pets. Use an old backpack or even a box. This week, purchase food and water dishes. These can be any kind of a cheap plastic dish. Don’t get expensive ones.

4. Copy all of your pet’s immunization and other medical records. Add these to your 72 hour kit and also place a copy in the envelope to mail to your out of state contact.

5. Copy your will and any wills for family members such as parents. You know what to do with them, same as always.

6. Purchase one bottle of 100% juice for each family member. These will not only count as a fruit in your 3 month storage plan but also as water storage when you calculate the amount of water you need to store for each person. Any juice will count as water but only 100% juice will count as fruit so buy the good stuff. Soda and alcohol will dehydrate you so they never count as anything!

7. Place all those copies you have been collecting and any other discs with copies of photos or other important info, into your envelope and mail it to your out of state contact.

Good luck!

Week 16

This week we will:

1. Add eye wash to your 72 hour, car and office kits. Also add some to your medical supplies in your home.

2. Add insect repellent to your kits and home.

3. Purchase the ingredients for 5 of your favorite meals. Calculate exactly how much more of each item in your storage you will need to purchase to reach a 3 month supply.

4. Copy all the death certificates and military record in your possession and add them to your adult 72 hour kits and add a set to the envelope to mail off to your contact person.

5. Move all your photos, journals and scrap books to one area in your home, making them easier to grab if you should have to evacuate.

6. You have spoken with your family about evacuating and have a plan. Now is the time to check the plans. You will need to enlist the help of a friend to accomplish this goal. Ask a friend to call your home and inform your family that they need to evacuate (use any excuse that sounds viable in your area, tornado, hurricane, wild fire..). You have 15 minutes to get out. Set a timer and go… When the timer goes off everyone can take whatever is in their hands and anything they have already put in the car, but nothing else. Pile in the car and drive to a park, your friend’s home, or even to grandma’s and evaluate how you have done. Did you all fit in the car or did you have to throw some items out so you would all fit? Did you remember the fish and bird? Do you have your 72 hour kits? Does everyone have both shoes? How about photos, favorite toy, important documents, backup computer files? Ask everyone if they could never return home do they have everything they need or would want. What do they wish they had taken? When you have evaluated what you need to plan for when the “real” emergency happens, pile back in the car and go for milk shakes.

7. It’s been a busy week so relax and watch a movie with the kids.

Have a great week