Preparing for an Emergency

As a lot of you know, we're Mormons. And one of the teaching of the latter day prophets is to store a supply of food, clothing and other necessities to help in times of need. Now this can mean that using you stored supplies helps with stretching your budget if you lose your job, getting through a natural disaster, and some people believe that if the economy crashes you'll need it too. This advice has been around for many many years though and it's not something new. What IS new are the types of people who now call themselves 'preppers'. They read things about the economy, politics, peak oil, and the many predictions that we as a world are heading for another depression. Probably one of the most famous late commers to the movement is Robert Kiyosaki, author of the famously popular "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" series of books about investing and money management. There's an interesting intervies with him over at Total Investor and I've included the video below.

Now of course several guys mention about firearms and that is a subject I don't wish to discuss on the blog right now. But the other ideas about storing supplies are something that we are hearing the world over and not just from church leaders. Governments and community groups are urging people everywhere to have a 72 hour kit ready so that in case of a disaster they can get by on their own for a few days before help can reach them. I noticed recently that many are now suggesting 96 hours (4 days) or upto a week if you live in a remote area.

If and what you decide to store are very individual choices. Some people simply don't want to store food. Some have limited resources or space for it. Whereas others will go gung ho and spend money on a lot of stuff that's really not essential. I would simply urge you to think about this....If something happens to disrupt the supply of food in Canada (3 days or less), or your neighbourhood, how long can you last? Do you have a source of heat, water, food and shelter? In a pinch this is as simple as a small tent, sleeping bag, cooking pot with matches, water and some canned food or granola bars in the trunk of your car. We're not talking about building a fallout shelter in the back yard. It's best, in my opinion, to start slowly and to gradually store what you will use and eat. Even those on the leanest budget should be able to find a way to store an extra can of soup or a small bag of oatmeal every week. It quickly adds up to the point that you have to begin rotating your food. And if you look closely you can find room to store it. When I was first married I had my boxes of food supporting the mattress of my bed and I used jars of blackberry jam to hold up the individual boards of my shelves. They work just as well as bricks :)Think about a motorhome, it's laid out to have as much usable storage and space as possible. If you need some help, just send me a message.

I have to go get the kids but will finish this post later on what to have in your 72 hour kit.