Be Prepared

Am I prepared to be able to feed my family if a disaster strikes? Am I prepared to be able to live off of our food storage for a year if Eric loses his job?  Am I prepared with six stocked 72 hour kits if we need to leave our home in an emergency? Answer...NO! But I feel like we are getting there a little at a time and that helps me to not fear what the future may bring. Here are some of the things that I am doing.

• I try to stock up during case lot sales with canned goods that we eat a lot...hopefully the disaster comes right after the sale and not when we are running low and waiting for the next sale!
• I pulled out my wheat grinder that I have had for about 2 years and finally learned how to use it to grind some wheat to use in a recipe. It was a lot easier than I thought and even gave my arms a great work-out.
• We are planting a garden and hopefully we will have fresh produce out of our own backyard. The peas that I planted are just starting to come up...mmmm, I love fresh garden peas!
• We have five 72 hours kits stocked with food and water that is 2 years old...time to go through them again.

My point in all of this is not to brag about my awesome self reliance...because I am lacking in a lot of areas. My point is that we can all be prepared. Just start small and go from there. Learn how to use ingredients that have a long shelf life. Look for sales and when they come, stock up. Learn how to plant a garden. Grab a backpack and throughout the year fill it with things to help you get through an emergency. What a triumph it would be to be prepared for a disaster/emergency/job loss. And if it never comes...it's a triumph just having that peace of mind! Here is a great website with helpful tips - Provident Living.