Frugal lifestyle is Emergency Planning!

Random Readiness notes:

As a driver in a busy city I never know where my day may wind up. I am always starting a new adventure when I clock in at the office and am issued the keys to the car of the day. Some days it may be easy to do lunch at a fast food joint. The other days however may find me camped out somewhere (in a shady spot hopefully) and waiting for my client. These types of work have me either thanking God I brought my lunch pail with me or kicking myself that I did not. I want to be as prepared as I can for the job I do. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow will be a round trip charter to LAX and back to Vegas. That's a long day and I do NOT want to stop for long. The sooner I can get home safely the better off I am and the company's expenses are as well.

The same thing applies to any planning of a long term trip, building a contingency plan for emergency survival,  or that just in case unknown minor emergency. Bring a bag that's small enough to not be a bother but roomy enough to keep a few readiness items in it.

Planning ahead well enough you take pressure off of the situation and can apply that energy to using other skills.

This has been covered this in  other posts but I really want to stress how much easier it is to plan ahead for crisis than it is to have to live through it with out any back up what so ever.

I have people tell me all the time I am wasting my time. Laugh out Loud, I think to myself. I have used these plans and supplies a number of times though not on a serious scale, yet. Times of tight budget, illness, unemployment, and seriously busy scheduling have me accessing my preparedness planning. Time and again I am grateful that I am NOT wasting my time but adding to the things that help me.. Saving time and money in the process.

Frugal lifestyle IS Emergency Planning!

More info on these handy links:

Survival Food Basics:

http://www.squidoo.com/survival-foods-requirements

AND

Survival Recovery Site: www.survival-recovery.com

Survival Kit Ideas: 

http://www.squidoo.com/a-survival-kit-list

Food Ideas For 72 Hour Kits

Emergency meal and power bars packed with nutritious ingredients lend much needed nutritional resources to our supply. For situations where cooking a regular meal is not possible or the need to conserve our resources is present, a power bar can float us through to a more convenient place and time.

High calorie energy bars don't have to be expensive.

In seeking the right ones make sure they can with stand heat and have long, stable shelf life.

Garden of Life's Raw Meal is a great addition to your list. With a full meal daily requirement in a simple mix and consume powder you don't have to skimp out on your full dietary needs.

For more nutritional information on what to store see article: Survival Foods Requirements

Additional food support for emergencies see site: Survival Recovery

Vitamins for Emergencies

Vitamin's Benefit in High Stress Crisis

Disasters and crisis deplete our bodies of necessary nutrients. Stress can rob us of the building blocks we need to recover quickly and the stores we gain energy from. Vitamin and supplement items added to a bug out kit and emergency food stock makes great sense.

Tablets and powders that contain high nutrients take up very little space. The nutritional supplements help replace needed vitamins and minerals burned by stress. Common vitamins such as Vit C and D reward the body with defence against colds and support the immune system. With the nutritional needs packed into tiny tablets and helpful powders space is conserved and our daily required amounts (RDA) are helped to be met.

Multi-vitamins and other convenient supplements can aid our body's energy stores and carry us through events that could deplete our systems nutrients through stresses and physical effort. Choose wisely and match your family's particular health needs to the right supplement.

Additional Links:

USDA's site for vitamin nutrition
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/food-composition/vitamins-and-minerals

Survival Recovery.com

72 Hour Kit and Bug Out Kits

A 72 hour kit usually entails a couple days of supplies. Small easy to eat foods, MRE's, and a few bottles of water. A bag of hygiene products such as a roll of toilet paper, a small towel, washcloth, and some kind of soap or hand sanitizer, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant. Packed, also, is a change of clothes with a couple of pairs of socks and under garments, a warm jacket to double as a pillow. A space blanket or a microfiber blanket is a nice item to have. Even if it isn't cold you can have it for comfort.

My kit includes a whistle, a flashlight, meal bars that supply a high calorie count for energy. Small water packages are tucked in there. It has a tube tent and hand warmers, though here in the desert where I live I don't think the hand warmers are going to be used, but you never know. I added a camp dish set and the utensil set to it to make sure I had something to eat out of and cook with. I grab this kit and my handbag and I can go anywhere in a moments notice.

These things are extremely important to anyone living in an earthquake zone, coastal areas that experience hurricanes or strong storms, and the tornado prone states. Civil unrest and natural disasters can occur anywhere.

For More information:
Survival and Emergency Management at Home

Frugal Living Storage Tips

Frugal Living

Rotation Ideas

A great idea for storage items is using basic items to substitute for name brand fancy cleaning products. Salt makes a great scouring agent. Baking soda has always been a useful tool for cleaning. Bleach has many uses from whitening to sanitizing. Used in small quantities it can purify water and sanitize surfaces. Spearmint Rubbing alcohol and water makes a great window and surface cleaner.

The more ways you find a use for your storage in your household needs the easier it will be to keep the fresh items up front. Set routines for regular use so things don't go bad. This helps with the budget, too, frugal living is one of the keys to successful storage planning.

See Full Article: How To Properly Store Survival Foods

Storing Foods

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Storing Foods At Home and In Emergency Kits

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Assure your food supply at home and in emergency kits is stored in the right container and at the right temperatures. 

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This makes a big difference in what you choose to store and how you go about storing foods. Use these foods! Rotating your home food stock is necessary to preserve it's freshness and quality. Plan regular meals around your food storage items and replenish products every now and then.



Preventing the infestation of food destroying bugs and preserving the quality of the food stored should be considered when selecting containers or when you are making the initial purchase.


Make a note of the expiration dates. Some foods keep for a couple years. Some only keep for a few months.


Whether you are using dry storage or a freezer, small pantry or a large bulk preparedness storage room, keeping the product usable is as important as what to store.

Pantry Emergency Food Store:

Canned goods keep for about 2 years where a freeze-dried food choice will keep at the right temperature for over 5 in a mylar bag and up to 20+ in specially lined cans. Store foods in cool dark places. Ideally temperatures should be between 60 and 72 degrees.

Storing Foods - The 72 Hour Kit

Collect foods for 3 days to set aside in a bug out bag or 72 hour kit. Food that can tolerate temperatures up to 140 like the Mayday High Calorie Emergency Bar will fit nicely in an emergency kit. They taste like Oatmeal, Apple Spice cookies and will store well up to around 5 years. They come in 1200, 2400, and 3200 calorie portions. 
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MRE's For Emergency Kits

MRE's are a great addition to emergency bags. They come in packages with a complete meal or just the entree itself. A complete meal has the MRE heater included and a few goodies such as a powdered drink mix and other items to make a balanced meal. The complete MRE Meals are normally sealed in mylar bags so the shelf life on these is recommended at around 5 years. A camping trip is a good time to be creative when using one of these meals. Test out the ones you like and set them aside for your pantry or emergency kit.

A Foodie Tries His First MRE:

for a serious MRE review check this video:

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EXTREMELY SILLY MRE VIDEO:

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That's the silly side of MRE's 

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Other Food Storage Ideas:

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Protein powders keep long as well. Items such as crackers and small canned meats shouldn't be stored in a car but should be stored in an emergency bag ready to go at home.


There are a variety of great emergency food companies in our market place and the value of these foods in an emergency is without question. No matter which company you chose to supply your food storage be assured that to have a balanced meal on hand in times where there is no other option protects our health, insures our comfort. and feeds our strength.
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What are your favorite storage foods?
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Related Articles: 
How To Properly Store Foods - How to properly store survival foods: Survival Food Storage ~ what's the best way to properly store your survival food for long term? Below you will find my favorite tips and tricks! There are some great ways to keep your goodies fresh and (more...)


Survival Foods Requirements  - No, we are not talking about Grandpa's MRE's!Requirements for food in survival are the same as your regular foods. Think about the nutritional guidelines already set forth in our daily requirements. How can I add this to my survival storage? (more...)

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Images: Morguefile; M Burgess