“Let’s Make a Plan”
Guest Article by NRP & Blue, March 8, 2021.
Part Three of Four
Good morning All:
Seems there is always a Thunderstorm on the Horizon.
Going to start this out with a Question:\
Who is the most important person for you to take care of?
Try not to overthink it.
Simply…. You. For if you’re not in good health mentally and physically you cannot take care of your family or others…. Right?
So first on our to-do list/Plan is figuring how to better take care of yourself. Make a Plan to lose that extra 20-50 pounds, Eat better, exercise, and all the rest of the stuff that goes along with living a Longer and Better Lifestyle, do it for your Family and Friends if not for yourself.
Ok, let’s think on our overall Plan:
By now you should have a good list of your usage on Food and other stuff going on for the month, KEEP it going.
We have talked about getting your family safe, how about what’s going to happen once you realize this ‘SHTF’ is not just a 3 hour event. What are you going to need?
I’m not going into details; that’s your job, I’ll hit the high points and let you figure out the rest.
Security:
Can you keep your Family Safe? Good locks on the doors, a way to monitor the ways in and out of your “place/property”, Self Defense, A firearm AND Training, good storage for your “Deep Pantry”?
All of the preps in the world will do no good if someone invades your refuge.
Shelter:
Do you have a roof over your head that will stay there if a Hurricane is heading nearby, good rain deflection around your home if it rains 18”, how about heat (secondary heat) if the power is off and it’s -15 outside, a way to stay cool if it’s 115 outside?
You MUST be ably to protect yourself from the elements of Ma-Nature.
Water:
Millions of Articles around about water. Read what Connie has here on Frugal, she goes into good details.
No water? You’re in deep poop in a couple of days.
If nothing else get to a Safeway and pick up 2 24-bottle cases of Bottled Water for each member of your group. I seriously suggest you get a Filter and find a secondary source of Water. Most say 1 gallon per person per day… NOPE, more like 5 gallons total, the 1 gallon is for drinking only.
Food:
Get those lists going and done, this will give you a GREAT starting place.
Read and follow Frugal’s “Deep Pantry Food/Storage Challenge” and many more Connie has written over the years.
FEMA suggest that everyone has 3 days of food in their homes, ridiculous, I do NOT believe that during a major SHTF there will be ANY “help” out there for weeks, if then, is 3 days going to suffice for your family if “Lights Out” for 3 months?
PS: make sure you have a way to cook that Food you have in your Deep Pantry.
Communications, Entertainment:
You need a way to know what’s going on out there.
Get a couple of Solar Rechargeable Radios:
1. A Ham Radio, yeah yeah I know, but NO you do NOT need to get a License to listen, AND if everything has gone to ‘poop’ who is going to care if you ask a question on it?
A good Weather Radio would be nice to know if a HUGE storm is heading your way, IF the stations are still operating
Get a very good Multi-Band Radio, maybe just maybe some of the emergency stations will still be running.
Have some Games and Books for the young people, they will get bored very fast, and most of you know that a bored youngster is not a good thing
Also, get some “How To” books for yourself… How To Garden, Build a Shelter, Medical, Raise Chickens/Rabbits/Meat, Herbal books, and Foraging for a start.
Ok, enough of that, just remember, I’m not going to make this Plan for you, you need to do that.
Here is one of the many first things you need to do…….
“Get OUT of Debit”:
Get those Credit Cards paid off, get rid of that New Car payment.
Live Frugally and start saving a little money for “Just In Case”.
STOP going out to Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner every day, Start eating better and cook for yourself. BTW, the food tastes a LOT better and usually about 1/5 the cost.
Next:
Fine ways to save more and more money; How about a Garden? Yes it cost a little to get it set up, but it does pay for itself very quickly. Learn to Can and Preserve food, Figure out how you can start saving on Heating and Cooling cost in your home (wood Stove comes to mind). How about those $20 each Movies you go out to see? Family of 4, $80 for 1.5 hours of entertainment? Really? How about having a Dinner on the porch and watch Nature and the Sun Set?
Ok, done for the week.
Please PLEASE find ways to safeguard your family from “TSHTF” events.
I know a lot of people that completely refuse to believe that anything can happen that the .gov or others will not be there the next day to fix.
I doubt if anyone here reading this are some of those hopefuls.
Make a Plan, than start to implement it.
And guess what, if Nothing happens… Fantastic; I got a $10 bet that sometime in your lifetime you just may need that Deep Pantry and the Knowledge to be safe. Just ask Texas, or those 1000’s that just got laid off (approx. 12.6 Million on unemployment right now), or the tens of thousands now without their businesses or the thousands that will lose their homes because of the economy, or how about all the rest of the “common” events that can and do happen whereas you need that little extra safeguard.
If you’re prepared for the Thunderstorm there is always a nice Sunrise waiting for you.
