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Once the prepping bug hits, it is easy to want to go for it. You know what I mean: Let’s do it and let’s do it all Right Now!
There are some problems with this. First there are time constraints, and second there are money and budget issues. But the biggest problem and undoubtedly the one that is overlooked in the initial flurry of readiness preparations, is that without reasonable care and thought given to the process, the tasks and the actual products involved, you can make some costly mistakes. I say this from experience. In my haste to get “stocked up” I bought gear that I don’t like and will never use. I purchased foodstuffs I will never eat. Stupid stupid stupid of me. I should have taken my time, done my research, and made a well thought out and educated decision before I even got started.
Today I would like to help you break down the overwhelming task of emergency preparation by providing you with a month-by-month calendar of things to do, tasks to complete and items to purchase. For the newbies, this gives you a manageable number of things to do in a short period of time. Instead of looking at a task list 10 pages long, you have a short list that is eminently doable in 30 days or less.
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I love lists. So bear with me as I present a readiness calendar to guide your through twelve months of prepping. Hopefully you will find that one month’s work is not too costly, not too time-consuming and not too difficult. The most difficult part as I see it will be getting off your bum and starting. So let’s do it!
MONTH 1
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
- Water-3 gallons per person and per pet
- Hand-operated can opener and bottle opener
- Canned meat, stew, or pasta meals – 5 per person
- 2 flashlights with batteries
TASKS:
- Inventory the disaster supplies you already have on hand, including your camping gear
- If you fill your own water containers, mark them with the date they were filled
- Date cans of food and food containers if you have not already done so
MONTH 2
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Canned vegetables – 4 per person
- Toilet paper – 3 rolls per person
- Sanitary napkins – 2 months’ supply
- Instant drinks (coffee, tea, powdered soft drinks)
- Family sized first aid kit
- Change the batteries and test your smoke detectors. Purchase and install smoke detectors if you don’t have them
- Make an inventory of home contents for insurance purposes. Take photographs (digital are easiest) of your house and contents. Store a copy away from your home.
MONTH 3
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Canned fruits – 3 cans per person
- Any foods for special dietary needs (enough for 3 days)
- A large plastic tub or bin for storage of food and other emergency supplies.
- Conduct a home fire drill
- Locate the gas meter and water shutoff points and attach/store a wrench or shutoff tool near them. Also store special shutoff instruction, if any.
- Establish and out-of-state contact to call in case of an emergency
- Identify a location for your storage of plastic bin or tub.
MONTH 4
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Extra baby bottles, formula and diapers if needed
- Extra pet supplies; food, collar, leash, etc.
- A stash of at least $100 in small bills – more if you can afford it
- Begin to stockpile extra supplies of critical prescription medications. Talk to your pharmacist for help in making this happen.
- Place a supply of prescription medicine(s) in a storage container and date the medicine(s) if not already indicated on its label
- Start putting supplies in storage container(s) and include blankets or sleeping bags for each family member
MONTH 5
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Canned, ready-to-eat soup – 4 per person
- Liquid dish soap
- Plain liquid bleach
- Portable am/FM radio with batteries
- Liquid hand soap and hand sanitizer
- Disposable hand wipes
- Disposable latex or nutile gloves
- Make two photocopies of important papers and put one in the storage container, and one away from your home.
- Talk with neighbors about organizing a neighborhood preparedness group.
MONTH 6
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Box of granola or power bars – 1 per person
- 6 rolls of paper towels
- Box of N-95 or N-100 face masks – 1 per person.
- Check to see if stored water has expired and needs to be replaced
- Put an extra pair of eyeglasses in the supply container
- Find out about your workplace disaster plans and the disaster plans at your children’s schools
MONTH 7
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- NOAA Alert Weather Radio
- ABC fire extinguisher
- Jug of juice – 1 per person
- Adult and children’s vitamins
- A pair of pliers and/or vise grip
- 100 feet of rope or paracord
- Take a first aid/CPR class
- Show family members where and how to shut off utilities
MONTH 8
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Box of crackers or graham crackers – 1 per person
- Dry cereal or instant oatmeal – 1 weeks’ worth per person
- 1 box of large, heavy-duty garbage bags
- Make a small preparedness kit for your car. Include food, water, blanket, small first aid kit, a list of important phone numbers
- Secure water heaters to wall studs (if not already done)
MONTH 9
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Extra batteries for flashlights, radio and hearing aids (if needed)
- Duct tape
- Add an additional 3 days of water to your supply per person and per pet
- Follow up on efforts to organize your neighborhood
- Conduct an earthquake drill at home: stop, drop and hold, then go outside. (Remember, and earthquake can happen anywhere as recent events have demonstrated.)
- Replace prescription medicines as required by expiration dates
MONTH 10
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Take the month off from purchases. Yay!
- Secure shelves, cabinets and drawers to prevent them from falling and/or opening during earthquakes
- Imagine your house with no electricity. What more do you need?
MONTH 11
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Package of paper plates
- Package of napkins
- Package of eating utensils
- Package of paper cups
- Exchange work, home and emergency contact phone numbers with neighbors for use during an emergency
MONTH 12
SUPPLIES & GEAR:
TASKS:
- Heavy work gloves
- Begin to try to expand your food supply to twice of what you have on hand right now. Continue with this effort into coming 12 months.
- Check to see if your stored food and water needs to be replaced.
MONTH 13
Congratulations. You have completed your year of preparations. Now is a good time to go back to month 1 and review, replenish, rotate and drill. Good job!
The Final Word
The final word for today is this:
Emergency preparation is your journey and should be unique to your circumstances, your family, your geographical location and your financial resources. Yes, it can be a chore. But as I have said before, it should be a chore with a happy ending.
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye Levy, the SurvivalWoman, grew up and attended school in the Greater Seattle area. After spending many years as an executive in the software industry, she started a specialized accounting practice offering contract CFO work to emerging high tech and service industries. She has now abandoned city life and moved to a serenely beautiful rural area on an island in NW Washington State. She lives and teaches the principles of a sustainable, self-reliant and stylish lifestyle through emergency preparation and disaster planning through her website at BackdoorSurvival.com. SurvivalWoman speaks her mind and delivers her message with optimism and grace, regardless of mayhem swirling around us. Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
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7 comments:
It's so much easier to just hope.
To Anonymous above, I have nearly 4 years of left over "Hope" that you can have for free. It hasn't worked out for me. I will throw in an equal amont of "Change" that hasn't done a damn thing either. Sorry, but I am not able to remove the Obama stamp on them.
Outstanding post, thanks!
All that supermarket canned food you recommend -- has a very limited shelf life of 6 months to 2 years, especially any acidic foods (juice, fruit, tomatoes, vegetables). Even the canned meat won't last very long.
Anyone consuming aged wet-pack canned food should be very cautious, as it can make you deathly sick or even kill you.
Your 12 month 'program' will already need rotating (consumption) before you end the first year, so you'll need to constantly buy these recommendations each month and consume the oldest items first.
Having food on hand is a good idea, just realize that all supermarket foods will need to be rotated fairly rapidly (consumed).
Same goes for crackers and dry food stuffs, these foods will deteriorate rapidly because of poor packaging. They are not intended to be 'shelved' and the reason why supermarkets are constantly dumping their old stock.
They go stale due to oxygen, bacteria, mold, mildew (humidity) and will need to be consumed fairly rapidly.
Your 'investment' then is very short-lived, which when you think about it, isn't an investment at all, or even a good food storage plan, since you can't set this stuff aside for any reasonable length of time and count on it being edible when you may need it.
There are far better food products available, lighter in weight, easier to store, airtight, with shelf lives of 25 years or more, keeping their nutrition a very long time, making this a very good investment and ready when you need it. Dehydrated or freeze dried food need not be expensive either if you shop wisely.
You also forgot some other basics prep items, essentials for anyone (early on): sturdy shoes, socks, rain gear, fingernail clippers, plastic sheeting, or even a tent. Immediate shelter is a realistic "prep item", as is staying warm dry.
~Survival Acres~
you are planning for a short term disruption to your routine.
think about the END of the system we live under.
store bags of whole grains which can be ground for food or planted for next year.
think about vegetable seeds and if possible some kind of animals for food and fertilizer.
think about keeping warm long term and tools that might be needed.
and bottom line, think about self defense and keeping all the things you have carefully put by for your own use as there will be plenty of people who cant be bothered to prepare but will take yours if they can.
sharing is a good thing but I will choose who I share with.
The two posts above have very valid comments.I feel there is a fine line to preparing in the short term for a long term situation and that the average working family could strive for a bigger,more apropriate list.
Rice is one such thing that is relatively cheap to aquire in bulk in one go.I bought 20kgs for $16 AU in one go,along with 20 cans of soup/beans/vegies and meat meals(5 of each)$40 AU,Sugar..12kgs,salt..10kgs,Flour/bread mix..30kgs all for $65 AU.All up Aprox $120 over two weeks and the rice was the only item on speacial.One should also invest in a vac seal unit(Ours cost $40 on special)to aquire a more stable way of storage of semi perishable items like flour,milk powder and dried fruits.
We have been storing for 6mths now and have well over 2yrs of food and our plan hasn't been hard financially.Now we are ready for a pressure canner to utilise excess meat and vegies we produce,if we don't grow it and it's cheap..we buy it and process it.
Every week we buy 48 rolls of loo paper,8 bars of soap and every mth we buy a 9kg gas bottle/full of gas as well as other non perishables.In 12mths we will have 20 times what is on your list easy.
Unless a group has been storing for yrs,I would suggest going a little harder as time might not be on our side.
storage is fine but has its limits.
things like soap, its not difficult to make soap if you have a source of fat and lye - have even tried making my own lye by dripping water through hardwood ashes.
toilet paper is hard to substitute when one is used to the soft luxurious stuff.
we make maple syrup and sugar every year and trade neighbors for honey.
one other thing that needs to be stored is a large quantity of salt unless you happen to live near the ocean or other source.
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