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To: Utah Girl
Great post, Utah Girl. I think all Americans would be well-served to think about how to best plan for the immediate future. I know your post has opened my eyes.

Do you have any estimated costs of what the total monthly investment is to fund these purchases for General Storage and 72hr kit that you would be willing to share with us?

We should all think of it as self-insurance, instead of paying premiums we invest in a safety net of commodities and foods. Saved for a short winter storm that we hope never appears but we must prepared for...

Please add me to your 'ping' list for future useful posts such as this one. FReegards,

76 posted on 09/15/2001 7:51:06 PM PDT by RobFromGa
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To: RobFromGa
Do you have any estimated costs of what the total monthly investment is to fund these purchases for General Storage

If you do as UG suggests, you actually wind up spending less for groceries. If tuna is on sale, and you eat it, buy extra. You are cost averaging. When you have your larder complete, you find yourself only buying the stuff that's on sale. From personal experience, I save 20% over what I would have paid if I had bought everything at premium price.

/john

80 posted on 09/15/2001 8:04:15 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper
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To: RobFromGa
Do you have any estimated costs of what the total monthly investment is to fund these purchases for General Storage and 72hr kit that you would be willing to share with us?

We should all think of it as self-insurance, instead of paying premiums we invest in a safety net of commodities and foods. Saved for a short winter storm that we hope never appears but we must prepared for...

I don't have any idea what a monthly list like this would cost. It totally depends upon the number of people in your family, and their ages (children eat less than teenagers, adults eat less than teenage boys.) And if you rotate through the food storage, you kind of save money by buying in bulk and when it is on sale. I know that a local grocery store here has a canned goods sale every July. So I save a couple of hundred dollars for July and buy a lot of canned goods. Then when I use a can of something, I just buy one can to replace it as I go along.

In the future I'm going to post some ideas on what to buy, how to store it, and some recipes. I have a friend who is rich and a gourment cook. You should see her food storage. ;-)

Personally what I would recommend is to perhaps get your 72 hour kit together first. A lot of the stuff is lying around the house, I didn't buy hardly anything new. I did buy a solar, battery operated radio from Radio Shack for ten dollars. Here is the total list in one spot. I probably spent under 25 dollars for my kit, but I am single without children. The most money was buying the stuff for the first aid kit. One extra thing I threw in the first aid kit is four sanitray napkins. They work really well for compressing against a bleeding wound that needs to be staunched. I also store my sleeping bag and blanket right next to the 72 hour kit. I still use the sleeping bag when I go camping, so I didn't buy another one.

This 72 hour kit should meet the needs of your family. Use ready to eat foods your family will eat and hobbies and entertainment your family likes to do. Include individual medication as required by your family members. Whatever container is used should be portable.


You should have:

  • Immediately available
    • Battery powered radio
    • Flashlight and extra batteries
  • Emergency Needs
    • Instruction Manuals on Emergency Preparedness
    • Water storage
    • Sleeping bags and blankets
  • Sanitation Kit
    • Plastic bucket with tight fitted lid
    • Plastic bags and ties
    • toilet paper
    • disinfectant
    • improvised toilet seat (for bucket)
    • feminine hygiene needs
    • paper towels
    • soap
    • paper cups
    • paper plates
    • plastic utensils
    • can opener
    • utility knife
  • Stress Factors
    • Children - coloring book, crayons
    • Adults - books, needle work
  • In the Car
    • Standard First Aid Kit
    • Blanket
    • Flashlight and batteries
    • Reflectors and flares
  • Individual Medical Needs
  • Suggested Additions
    • Family Photographs
    • Medical Information Sheet
    • Insurance Information
    • Identification for each Family Member
    • Will or Trust Information (copies of each)
  • Food - Ready-to-eat
    • Meats: canned
    • Fruit Cocktail
    • Peanut Butter
    • Powdered Milk
    • Infant Care: Canned milk and bottles
    • Dried Fruit: (caution - drink plenty of water.)
    • Raisins, prunes, fruit leather
    • Crackers
  • Stress Foods
    • Sugar Cookies
    • Sweetened Cereals
    • Hard Candy
  • Standard First Aid Kit
    • First Aid manual
    • Spirits of ammonia
    • Scissors
    • Table salt
    • Baking soda
    • Eye drops
    • Safety pins
    • Matches
    • Adhesive or paper tape
    • Bandages
      • Telfa pads (4"x4")
      • Triangle Bandage (37"x37"x37")
      • Roll of Gauze
      • Elastic Bandage
    • Splints
      • Popsicle sticks
      • shingles or thin board
      • 40 page newspaper or magazines
    • Heavy String
  • At least one change of clothing for everyone
    • including shoes

I've also thrown in a sweatshirt with a hood, an inflatable pillow, my scriptures (Bible, Book of Mormon)
88 posted on 09/15/2001 8:34:45 PM PDT by Utah Girl
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