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The LDS church has the right approach to this I think. Not only to individuals maintain their own years worth of food but the church maintains a warehouse for members. Not a bad idea for a longer term disaster. I’m always puzzled by people who do not have more than a few days canned food in the house. Is a few bags of rice and $150 worth of (Progresso, Campbell’s, Dole, King Oscar, Dinty Moore) what-have-you going to put that much of a financial strain on the household?

Figure $45/week/person for non perishable food and supplies.

This requires drawing up a menu of 3 meals a day that is food you normally eat. A bucket of beans and rice is not going to work.

2 months is an absolute minimum, 6 months is workable. Water must be figured in as well for both nutrition and hygiene. Look at your water bill and see how much your household uses.

For most folks 2 or more years of stored food is nice, but unworkable from a storage, maintenance, and economic standpoint.

I’m always puzzled by people who do not have more than a few days canned food in the house. Is a few bags of rice and $150 worth of (Progresso, Campbell’s, Dole, King Oscar, Dinty Moore) what-have-you going to put that much of a financial strain on the household? ___________________________________________________________ That's how I feel. I'm not really afraid of 'apocalypse'; nor of war; I'm concerned about temporary natural disasters, and glitchy breakdowns in systems.

Near us, a neighborhood in the District of Columbia recently had a water issue; they couldn't use tap water for drinking, cooking or bathing for days. So they all went out and bought bottled water.

How much does it cost, to keep a few weeks of bottled water around - and the other things you mentioned - so that you're not battling the shortages, at the local store?

We've had one really bad experience with a power-outage that lasted a few days, during a very hot week in Summer. We learned from that, to be prepared. Now we keep water and ice, and sterno to heat-up soup and hot dogs, make hot water,etc., and we bought a few battery-operated fans.

This is just simple stuff that our ancestors always knew. It was just normal living, in the past. Start small, thinking of the things you'd be most miserable without. Over time, you'll get more ideas, and slowly you'll be prepared for the usual things that can happen. Matching coupons with sales, is a boon: after only a year of 'prep', we are at the point where we never have to buy anything for full-price, unless it's fresh veggies

-JT

I recently gave a presentation at work (in Houston) to about 35 people on winter weather. I asked how many would be able to live on what they have in their homes for a mere three days if they were not able to leave their house and had no utility services. Only four people raised their hands.

They were surprised when I told them that even the FEMA website recommends they have a minimum of three days supply on hand.