Newspapers for an Emergency?

newspaper-stackI pay a whopping $15.18 a month for FIVE Sunday newspapers.  I do this primarily for the coupons which afford me to feed our family well and feed our food storage abundantly.  I easily multiply my investment by 10 times each month just considering the grocery savings.  But the multiple other purposes I use the newspapers for after compound those rewards and even makes me eager to take spare newspapers off of another persons’ hands.

Independence in Preparation

Ultimately, emergency preparedness is about independence—the ability to rely on yourself to provide for you and your family’s needs.  That’s really what being prepared boils down to.  It’s not about absolving fear in your life.  It’s about celebrating your independence, your abilities, and your responsibilities.  It’s about proactively ensuring your future health and happiness.  In my opinion, your continual acts of preparation manifest your commitment to independence.

Honey, O, Honey

[caption id="attachment_1089" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Honey photo c/o Getty"]Honey photo c/o Getty[/caption]

My drug of choice?  Well, I could say chocolate, or a Dr. Pepper, or even a sweet kiss from my hubby (those make my knees buckle).  But there’s nothing like a small spoonful of honey to put me in a happy, delicious mood.  Seriously.  Perhaps it’s because each time I steal a taste, I’m not just tasting the substance of honey, but its overwhelming value everyday, and in an emergency.  Honey not only tastes good, but it has numerous medicinal and comfort uses as well.  You know me, I love items that have multiple uses.  Honey is one of the super stars of my food storage AND first-aid supplies.

Why I DON’T Have a Generator

[caption id="attachment_1067" align="alignright" width="234" caption="Gasonline Generator photo c/o germes-online.com"]Gasonline Generator photo c/o germes-online.com[/caption]

Obviously, given my line of work, I’m frequently told by people that they are prepared because they have a generator.  Well, I see a whole lot of downsides of owning and relying on one, so I thought I’d share my two cents as to why I don’t plan on ever owning a generator.

Fuel for an Emergency

[caption id="attachment_1035" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Fuel photo c/o pgdb.co.nz"]Fuel photo c/o pgdb.co.nz[/caption] One of the ten areas of emergency preparedness is fuel.  Fuel brings us the much needed light that we will require not only to see, but also to feel good.  It includes any fuel we’ll need for cooking, and the fuel we’ll need for keeping warm. Before you elect to get a years supply of fuel for these purposes, consider

Get Rid of Your Chase Bank Cards

I don’t usually post on Saturdays, but an important issue came up this morning.  In the name of financial preparedness, I’m sharing it with you as I believe it’s vital to those who are trying to make the best financial decisions to be better prepared.

chase-credit-cardChase Bank has just informed hundreds of thousands of card holders

The Silence of the Swine Flu

[caption id="attachment_996" align="alignright" width="224" caption="Photo c/o AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano"]Photo c/o AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano[/caption]

Why are we hearing the silence of Swine Flu news so loudly?  Why did the fact that the deaths doubled in Utah due to Swine flu not make all of the front page news?  Why is the word quarantine used so sparingly in what little news there is available?  WHO classifies the Swine flu at “Pandemic” status and yet our border officials don’t ask a single health related question still.

I’ll tell you why.  But I warn you,

A Swine Flu Wake-Up Call?

Whether or not this article serves as a wake-up call regarding the Swine Flu (H1N1 virus) is up to you.

I hope that no one who reads this feels that I’m motivated by “fear mongering.”  I do not share this information for any other reason than to reinforce the reality that you cannot continue to ignore or put off your emergency preparedness efforts.

Cooking With Your Food Storage

Over the weekend I canned about 15 pounds of ground beef and about 20 pounds of some pork roast.  They both turned out marvelous.  I’ve heard of some myths that canned meats don’t have a great texture or don’t taste as well.  That’s just hogwash, folks!  Remember, I LOVE to eat, and I refuse to eat garbage, even in an emergency.  So for today’s post, here are some of my favorite food storage recipes.  I use these in my everyday cooking and I use them as well in my

To Bottle or Not To Bottle Butter

bottling-butter

June 12, 2007.  That was a day I experienced a moment of euphoria as a concern of mine had just been satisfied completely.  That was the day I discovered you could bottle butter.  It was a very, very happy day for me, until I began doing research on it.  There were an abundance of comments surfacing on the internet stating that bottling butter simply wasn’t safe because it was “impossible” to get rid of any botulism.  My joy was squashed.  But after speaking to many lifetime emergency preparedness folks who swore that bottling butter was just fine, I decided to