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Disaster Prep On a Dime

The headlines can be scary but with a little prep ahead of time, you and your family will not have to deal with food and household shortages.

20+ ITEMS IN HIGH DEMAND:

Bottled water and brand-name seltzers

Canned goods

Pasta

Baked goods

Yeast

Flour

Butter

Cream

Cheese

Bread

Premade/ready-made fresh foods and cold cuts

Meats, poultry and fish — even less popular fish, like halibut

Toilet paper and paper towels

Cleaning supplies

Frozen foods, particularly frozen meals and pizzas.

Turmeric, Vitamin D, Vitamin C

Citrus fruits (also known to be immunity building)

Jarred salsa

Pasta sauces, especially marinara.

Liquor, beer and wine — even the top-shelf stuff

EMERGENCY TIPS:

1. Emergency basics- have flashlights and/or a lantern in case of power outage. At the min, matches and candles, which can be bought on clearance after the holidays.

2. If your heat is electric, think ahead to how you’ll keep warm in a cold climate. Portable heaterFireplace? Blankets work, until it’s 40 degrees in your home.

3. Stock up on water and food. Food should be ready to eat in a can, that doesn’t require heating. This assortment of camping foods is a good idea too.

4. Speaking of food, food in the fridge lasts 6 hours, the freezer a little longer. Keep the fridge closed during the outage and your food may last a little longer.

5. Cell phone. Our cordless phone went completely dead in the outage and I couldn’t find the corded phone. Luckily, we had a battery-powered cell phone charger like this one, which was a lifesaver.

6. Cash. It’s good to have cash on hand for emergencies, in cash you need to go to the store and their credit card machines aren’t working. This actually happened a few times to me.

7. Full gas tank. This is one thing I try and have all winter long but the last few days I didn’t have even a 1/4 tank of gasoline. In an emergency, everyone heads to the gas stations and as you may have seen on the news in the past, it can be total chaos.

8. Games and books for everyone. Uncharged iPads and computers are useless in an outage. But if you know bad weather is heading your way, charge up your electronics ahead of time. And have a stash of games and books just in case.

9. Camping stove or bbq grill to cook food.

10. One gallon of water per person, per day of an emergency. Gallon jugs are good for this, or even a few cases of bottled water.

11. Generators run on gasoline are a good option if your area has frequent power outages. Amazon sells them, along with Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc. Base the kind you get on the size of your house and/or the appliances you need to keep running.

12. An extra freezer for storing food such a meat, veggies and more.

13. Extra medication. We always have extra over-the-counter medications, like Tylenol, Pepcid, Excedrin, etc. Also, a good idea to have extra prescription medication on hand, especially emergency medications like asthma inhalers and blood pressure medication.

14. A bucket toilet. This can be DIY or Amazon sells several different versions.

15. Costco or Sam’s Club membership. Both seem to be able to keep food and supplies in stock a lot easier than the local grocery store.

Ideas If You Are Staying Home/ Social Distance/ Quarantine:

FREE $15 BOXED GROCERIES- SHIPPED TO YOU

INSTACART DELIVERS GROCERIES TO YOU- SAME DAY

WALMART $10 OFF GROCERY PICK UP

FREE TWITCH PRIME

2 FREE MONTHS OF KINDLE BOOKS

TRY AUDIBLE FOR FREE

FREE STARZ, SHOWTIME, MORE

Here are more supplies to have on hand:

  • 2 week supply of non-perishable food

  • 1–2 week supply of water — one gallon of water per person, per day.

  • Portable, battery-powered radio or television and extra batteries

  • Flashlight and extra batteries.

  • First aid kit and manual.

  • Sanitation and hygiene items (moist towelettes and toilet paper).

  • Applesauce and other fruit purees

  • Canned fruit in water

  • Frozen fruit

  • Dried fruit

  • Canned vegetables (i.e., green beans, carrots, peas, diced tomatoes, pumpkin puree), low-sodium if possible

  • Canned vegetable-based soups and chilis, low-sodium if possible

  • Frozen vegetables (i.e, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus)

  • Jarred tomato sauce

  • Tuna or salmon, canned or in a pouch

  • Chicken or turkey, canned or in a pouch

  • Frozen fish, such as shrimp or individually portioned pieces of salmon

  • Shelf-stable silken tofu

  • Lentils, canned or vacuum-sealed

  • Eggs and egg beaters

  • Nut/seed butter

  • Nuts and seeds

  • Trail mix

  • Dry or canned beans

  • Whole wheat pasta or chickpea pasta

  • Brown rice

  • Ancient grains (i.e., quinoa, farro)

  • Oats

  • Instant oatmeal packets/cups

  • Whole wheat or seed crackers

  • Whole wheat or sprouted bread (can keep in freezer and toast when ready to eat)

  • Shelf-stable boxes of milk (shelf-stable varieties are available for regular and non-dairy milks)

  • Powdered milk

  • Olive oil

  • Avocado oil

  • Flax seeds

  • Chia seeds

  • Low-sugar electrolyte drinks

  • Pre-made protein-shakes or meal-replacement shakes (in case you get sick and lose your appetite)

  • Canned or boxed low-sodium broth

  • Coffee

  • Cooking Oil

  • Coffee filters

  • Pepper

  • Sugar

  • Salt

  • Cocoa

  • water

  • Kraft mac and cheese

  • canned veggies

  • cup of noodles

  • canned chicken noodle soup

  • baked beans

  • bags of rice

  • spam

  • canned chili

  • peanut butter

  • flour

  • sugar

  • salt

  • baking soda

  • cooking oil

  • noodles

  • dry beans

  • frozen foods

  • pasta

  • pasta sauce

  • Baking Soda

  • Hand crank or manual can openers

  • Canned food — any type

  • Wooden, strike anywhere matches

  • Old newspapers

  • Wax for fire-starting

  • Large cotton balls with soaked in petroleum jelly (also for starting fires)

  • Bleach (or freshly made pool shock)

  • Baby wipes

  • Diapers

  • Coloring books & crayons

  • Tooth paste

  • Toothbrushes

  • Dental floss

  • Combs

  • Hard candy

  • Hair brushes

  • Disposable razors

  • Nail clippers and files

  • Feminine products

  • Bars of soap

  • Hair pins

  • Cigarette lighters

  • Aluminum foil

  • toilet paper

  • Plastic sheeting

  • Socks — all sizes & colors

  • Shoe laces

  • Reading glasses

  • Garbage bags

  • Brooms

  • Dustpans

  • Clothespins

  • Clotheslines

  • Garbage cans

  • Dryer Lint (to use as firestarter)

  • Rope of any type

  • Honey

  • Popcorn

  • Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and aspirin

  • pet food

  • Essential oils

  • Cough syrup

  • Eye drops

  • Whistle.

  • Extra clothing.

  • Photocopies of credit and identification cards.

  • Cash and coins.

  • Special needs items, such as prescription medications, eye glasses, contact lens solutions, and hearing aid batteries.

  • Items for infants, such as formula, diapers, bottles, and pacifiers.

  • Needles

  • Straight pins

  • Safety pins

  • Buttons

  • Thread

  • Elastic-material

  • Dry beans

  • Rice

  • Noodles

  • Flour

  • Band-aids

  • Laxatives

  • Lip balm or chapstick

  • Nails, nuts, bolts, & screws

  • Heirloom garden seeds

  • Fresh garden produce and herbs

  • Herb plants

  • Duct tape

  • Hand garden tools

  • Two-cycle oil

  • Automotive oil and air filters

  • Paperback books

  • Plastic tarps

  • Fels naphtha bar soap

  • Borax

  • Oxyclean

  • Homemade laundry detergent

  • Plastic tubs & containers

  • Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)

  • Laundry detergent

BLEACH

Clorox Bleach Tablets

Bleach tablets are an excellent choice for those that have limited space and do not want to deal with storing a lot of liquid bleach. The tablets also have a much longer shelf life than liquid bleach.

Here are some of the registered disinfectants on the EPA’s list. Find the full here.

  • Clorox Disinfecting Wipes

  • Clorox Commercial Solutions

  • Clorox Disinfecting Spray

  • Clorox Multi-Surface Cleaner + Bleach

  • Klercide 70/30

  • Lonza Formulation

  • Lysol Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner

  • Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist

  • Lysol Heavy-Duty Cleaner Disinfectant Concentrate

MEDICATIONS FOR FEVER AND FLU

Mucinex Extended-Release Maximum Strength– Helps expel mucus for 12 hours with a single tablet dose. I looked it up and even with high blood pressure, my Dad can take this too.

Advil Liqui-Gels. If you have a family and they are all feverish, you can go through a lot of fever reducers. I ordered a 200 count bottle of Liqui-Gels the other day. They take effect a bit faster than tablets.

Also stock up on your prescription medications.

DONATE YOUR STOCKPILE:

- Consider buying a few extra, especially on 10/$10 sales and donating to your local food bank. Here in Cleveland, we donate to:

City Mission

Feeding America

Cleveland Food Bank

- Donate pet food and supplies to local animal shelters

- Pregnancy crisis center