Home Storage

Back when we were still newlyweds and living in Antioch, TN, Chris woke up in the middle of the night and woke me up. He told me we needed 12 days of food storage. He was very specific that we needed 12 days. He said he just had a "feeling" and that he said he felt it was urgent that I go and buy the food the following day. So, the next day, I bought our 12 days of food storage with some savings that we had left over from when I was working, before I had Landon.
In TN, we were always living paycheck to paycheck, with only pennies to spare. We didn't have a phone line, a TV service, internet, debt and even spending $10 on a pizza was near impossible, but we were always provided for.
Weeks later, after buying the food storage, we found ourselves without any money or a job. As we sat down to budget the remainder of our savings we realized that we only had enough money to get our family and things back to Utah. We didn't have money for a single thing more. It was, also, then that we realized that we had exactly 12 days before heading home to Utah and because Chris had followed the promptings to get food storage, we had exactly 12 days of food. We felt very blessed.
Over time, I have built up a food storage, but unfortunetly due to Indian moths, in our old house, it all had to be thrown away. So, I am again, starting with very little food storage. Probably only enough to last my family a month or two and that'd be with some very strange combinations.
I am rebeginning a small program that our last ward put into place, as well as doing some things of my own. If you'd like to join me in the goal to aquire 1 years worth of home/food storage, then let the fun begin! I certainly don't know it all, very little, in fact, but I have some good handouts behind me. lol!

Here's how it works:
Each week I am going to post some items for you to buy for your home storage. It may not some like much, but over time, it will build. It's better to be taking small steady steps than doing nothing at all.

1- Buy the largest amount you can afford and what your family will use.
2- Mark each item with a date and rotate them as you use them.
3- Replace items as you use them.
4- If you found other items on sale, pick them up and buy the thing I post another time.
5- If you miss a week, don't worry and skip it. Eventually, it all comes full circle.
6- If you can, set aside an exact amount of money each week that you can spend on these items, in addition, to your regular budgeted grocery bill. (Do what you can afford, even if it's only $10 a week.)

This weeks items are:
Week 1- hygiene products, soap, shampoo, deodorant, etc.

Also, water is going to be CRUCIAL in a time of disaster. Most of our dehydrated or freeze dried foods that we buy for emergency supply NEED water. Not only that, but our bodies need water to survive. I am going to do a seperate post on water. (I have an AWESOME hand out, from a class I took.) For now, I try and buy 2-4 gallons of water a week, as part of my grocery bill. (I've just budgeted that in.) So, I'd encourage you to build your water supply, also.

As we all know and have been hearing for a long, long time, "WE ARE DUE FOR ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE." Just be ready. It may be days before emergency crews reach us. We can't rely on other's preperations. We have to be ready.
Not only that, but economic times are not as stable as they were just a couple of years ago. We have recently, heard personally, of many people being laid off. People that have been with the companies for years and have been great workers, people we know. Some very good friends of mine are in this situation right now and they are struggling to buy food each week. Also, last night, we overheard a man say that a very prominent Utah company laid of 50 people yesterday and are planning more lay offs. I'm definetly not trying to say it's "dooms day", but we just ought to be ready.
So, now I will step down off of my soap box and if you'd like to do this little thing with me, then get ready.