Frugal Living    Thrift     Saving Money     Penny Pinching       Home

Frugal Living Tips and Frugal Living Articles for
Frugal Happy Families

The Frugal Library

Search Frugal and Simple Living Sites by Keyword Below

 

 

Welcome to one of the thousands of pages on Frugal Happy Families.

Emergency Supplies by Nikki Willhite Storing Food and other Necessities Before you begin planning your supplies, you must decide how big of a catastrophe you want to be prepared to handle. Some people find it adequate to have enough supplies for a few weeks. Others prefer several months. I know many people that have a year's supply of food and other necessities on hand. While a year's supply of provisions may seem a lot, I have to say that I've also known several families where the husband has lost his job, and the family was able to survive his period of unemployment because of their food storage and savings. Sometimes a family is forced to hurriedly evacuate their home, either for an act of nature or a toxic spill on a nearby road. Many families keep a few days of supplies in a container that they can hurriedly grab should the necessity arise. Anyone can store food for a few weeks without much thought. It is when you are storing food for longer periods of time that you have to give more attention to what you are storing, and the nutritional value. For that reason, I am concentrating on long term storage. Here are some long term storage ideas: Wheat Bread is the "staff of life". Unfortunately, white flour does not store well. For that reason, most people who are storing food for long periods of time store wheat. Nonfat Dried/Powdered Milk Obviously you cannot store whole milk. Yet you need the nutrients that milk provides. For this reason powdered milk is stored. Sugar or Honey Sugar is a necessary dietary ingredient, and a necessity for baking. Salt Salt is also necessary in the diet and in baking and cooking. Some people think that the above 4 ingredients will combine to give you emergency food for one year. The wheat can be sprouted for vitamin C. While this may be true, a much more palatable diet will be had by storing more of the items you eat every day.  Here are some of the basics: vitamins vegetable shortening and oil grains, rice, oats, etc. dried beans, peas, etc. peanut butter canned vegetables dried Potatoes fruit Juices gelatin, puddings cakes and other dessert mixes powdered eggs canned meats water If you store dehydrated foods, you will need a lot more water. Non-food Necessities water purifier or tablets wheat and grain Grinder camping stove candles and lanterns, flashlights and batteries battery powered radio axe for cutting wood pick and shovel sleeping bags supply of wood, oil, kerosene, or other source of heat. thermos ice chest prescriptions over-the-counter medications, such as aspirin sanitary supplies, including toilet paper seeds and a spot prepared for gardening where possible, and gardening supplies personal hygiene supplies, such as shampoo and toothpaste kitchen supplies, such as aluminum foil and a manual can opener clothing, with special emphasis on work clothes linens and other household necessities, such as blankets As you can see, there are many items that we would feel "lost" without. Just how far you want to go in feeling secure is up to you.   About the Author: Nikki Willhite, mother of 3 and an interior design graduate, has been writing and publishing articles on the topic of frugal living for over a decade. Visit her at www.frugalhappyfamilies.com - where you will find hundreds of frugal living tips and articles. Frugal Happy Families- more than just money!  Article first published at www.allthingsfrugal.com

 

 

 

The Frugal Network
Free Clipart	Frugal Happy Families	Mini Preppers	Scrappy Quilting	Simple Living Toolbox
Be warm, be safe;   save time and money.    Be frugal and be happy.

Home