The key to a well thought out and implemented project is to plan ahead of time. Knee jerk reactions such as spending an entire paycheck on groceries to store isn't the way to begin a successful emergency preparedness state. You ask, where do I start, what do I need to know, what do I need to consider? The best advice I can give is to look within the 4 outer walls of your home. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who resides in my home, who am I responsible to provide for? Adults, children,
infants, seniors, people with special needs, pets, livestock.

2. What is my general locale? What is the general environment here? hot, warm,
rainy, cold, windy. Do I live in an area prone to earthquakes, tornadoes,
hurricanes, etc.?

3. What is the percentage of my income that I can allot for emergency preparation?
(You have other financial responsibilities that must be met also)

4. How much storage space do I have? How can I increase that storage space if needed?

Be realistic. Set small goals and add to them as time and finances allow. What do you need to survive for 3 days, a month, 3 months, 6 months, a year? Did you notice that I said "survive"? This means that you will have the basics of what is needed remain alive, not necessarily live a comfy, cushy existence eating steak and potatoes or going to the beauty salon once a week. It means that if you were cut off from all outside resources, the roads were destroyed, you were without gas and electricity, how would you LIVE?

I started by creating a chart, listing everyone in my household and added what their basic needs were. At the time that I created the chart, we had 3 adults living in the house, myself, my husband and his elderly mother. That meant special needs planning because mom was on oxygen and used an O2 concentrator. Without it, she could not breathe. She was also on multiple medications. More special needs planning. About a year after she passed away, my son and daughter-in-law and their 12month old daughter came to live with us for awhile. My Daughter-in-law found out she was pregnant with their 2nd child. More special needs planning...diapers, infant food, infant and child clothing, etc. She was going to nurse the newborn so we didn't have to plan for and stock infant formula. We also created a delivery kit, just in case things were bad enough that we couldn't make it to the hospital for the baby to be born. I am a nurse, so the skill set was there to take care of this type of an event. If you don't have medical training, layperson type books on these sorts of things are invaluable to have at home.

Now that we are back to a 2 adult household, the list changed again, to care for myself and my husband. Do you see where I'm going with this? The list isn't concrete. It is static, always changing with life events, health changes, etc.
There are a number of resources available online and free for planning what food items you need, for emergency medical supplies and for household maintenance supplies.

My suggestion is to go through your home, take a written inventory of what you have on hand. Determine what you need and shop in thrift stores or dollar stores...where your money gets the most bang for the buck, and add the items you need the most. Prioritize your needs. The basic need for life is water, The second is food, The third is shelter

You can't live more than a few days without water but you can survive for weeks without food. Shelter protects the body form the elements, creating less physical demand for external resources to use the body's energy reserve.

After you've taken inventory of your household, as I've listed above, read through the resources that I have listed below. Stay tuned for part II, storing water and food. In other articles coming to this blog, we'll discuss shelter, storage of medications and first aid supplies, acquisition and storage of other emergency essentials, how to maintain the home front in the event of a disaster, shelter, evacuation and evacuation kits, preparing for your pets and livestock.


Resources: http://www.ready.gov, http://readync.org, http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm, www.survivaltopics.com