I think we can all agree that the events from the past two years have caused us to pause and really think about how to be better prepared for uncertain times. I never thought I would panic so much about not being able to supply the bathrooms for my family with toilet paper or my kitchen with grocery basics.
I will never forget that panic I had when I was out of yeast and flour and could not find it anywhere. I never want to have to feel that panic again and I want to make sure that you do not experience that either! Here are some habits and things I have done to make sure that I am more prepared in case we experience more supply chain issues in the future.
Build Up a Food Storage
You have probably often seen preppers with giant food storage that will get them through years without going to the grocery store just fine. That is great, however let’s look at an approach that is a little more realistic. Some of the habits that I have started have helped me to slowly gain food storage little by little instead of spending all my money at once for a big stockpile.
Everytime I go to the grocery store, even if I do not need it, I buy a couple cans of beans, pasta sauce, and diced tomatoes. These are cans that I know how to cook with and use often and know that even if I do not plan on using them this week, I know that I will use them eventually.
One mistake that a lot of people make when trying to build up a food storage is that they often buy food items that they never use or don’t even know how to cook with, like for example powdered milk. Although powdered milk is a good item to have incase of an extreme emergency, I know that my kids would never drink it and I also don’t know how to use it. Maybe it is something that I will add to my supply in the future, but it is not something great for starting a supply from nothing.
I also always make sure that I have extras of my necessities such as: toothbrushes, toothpaste, medicines, paper goods, etc. I make sure that I never get down to one roll of toilet paper before I go to the store for more. These are great habits to start with!
Create an Emergency Disaster Game Plan
I know it can be scary to think about what might happen in case of a disaster, but being prepared is much safer, and in the event that something does happen, it will be much less scary if you have a plan. When I was in high school, my neighborhood burnt down due to a wildfire in California.
I always heard people asking the silly question, “what would you bring with you in case of a fire?” I always thought that question was silly and unrealistic until it actually happened to me and my family. We had about 10 mins to evacuate. 10 mins to grab as much as we possibly could and shove into our cars with our family pets.
The panic makes your mind really blurry and difficult to think straight. If our family had a game plan, I think we all would have been a lot more calm and a lot less stressed and scared. We would have also been able to save important photos and documents that we did not even think about. Some things to consider for a “plan” would be: designate a meeting place for your family.
If not everyone is home when you evacuate, make sure everyone knows of a place that your family could meet up to find each other. When the fire roared through our street, none of the cell lines worked because they were jammed and also many lines were already burned.
If you have a pre-planned location, you will be okay without communication. Another thing to plan is to have an emergency backpack that you would take, and fill it with a first aid kit, along with snacks, a flash drive of your photos, keepsakes and important documents.
Get an Idaho Falls Electrician to Install a Back-up Generator
We have been seeing lots of natural disasters happen lately and it is not a farfetched idea anymore to think that it is possible that your electricity might go out. Having a back-up generator could really save your family. If you have a big supply of meat in the freezer, and your electricity goes out for an extended amount of time, all your food will spoil.
A back-up generator will come on automatically when you lose power, and be able to power everything in your house. Luckily an Idaho Falls electrician will be able to come and install the generator for you. They are actually pretty cost-effective and they come in all different sizes, depending on your need and size of home.
When disasters happen, I know our initial reaction is to panic, but if you are prepared and have a plan, there is no need for panic, and you can focus more on comforting your family and helping them to understand what is going on instead of what you will do to feed and protect them.
