Emergency Preparedness, Food Storage and Monthly Assignments (Week of May 1st)

Hi Torrance Stake Family,  Carson Ward Family, Family and Friends,

Money . . . 
     Another Important Part of    
                   Emergency Preparedness

Money on hand for emergencies is just as important as your food and water storage, 72 Hour Individual Emergency Bags, Medical Supplies, Emergency Supplies and evacuation plans. Each household should have money stored in their house in small bills and change in a fire proof lock box or safe. I have read from many financial experts we should have at least one month's worth of our income stored in our house in cash, more if possible. We should have 6 months worth of income in our bank or credit union savings account. Some is better than none!

Why cash at home, at the office and in the car?

1) What if the economy started to tank? Look what happened in Greece awhile back, they could only get a few dollars out of the ATM machines each day.

2) What if there was a freeze on the banks and credit unions and you could not get your money?

3) What if the power grid goes down keeping you from using you ATM cards or other credit cards?  Stores and banks today all use electricity to work their computers and cash registers. When this happens they will only accept cash.

4) What if there was a disaster, natural or man made? You will probably not be able to access your money.

Why store cash at home, at work and in your car?


Because if you cannot access it through your bank, credit union or using your ATM card at the ATM machine you will not have cash on hand. After a disaster or other emergency situation you will only be able to pay for the things you need with cash. Hopefully, you will have some food and water stored already and emergency supplies.

It is also a good idea to keep some cash at work in a safe place and in your car. You should also have small bills and change in each family member's 72 Hour Individual Emergency Bags. It is up to you how much that should be.

How to store your cash at home . . .

1) Store only small bills ($1 and $5 bills) and change. If you store larger bills when you try to purchase something the person selling it will say I cannot make change, causing you to spend more than if you had the right amount in small bills and change. Keep as much as you can at home, at least several hundreds or a few thousand.





2) Store the cash in a fire/water proof lock box or safe. Keep it hidden in a place where thieves will probably not look.




How to save for a savings account and rainy days . . .




1) Get out of debt as soon as possible.

2) Stay out of debt.






3) Even while in debt start a saving account. Even if you only put in a few dollars a month it is a start. You will be surprised how fast your savings will grow.





4) Take your change at the end of the day and put it into a jar. Once the jar is full deposit it into your savings account.






5) Know needs from wants. If it is something you just want, save your money until you can pay cash for it, only purchase when on sale, do not go into debt for it. Let the wants go by until you have money at home and in your savings account. Try not to eat out so much, take a sack lunch to work, keep snacks in the car so you will not be tempted to go to a fast food place, leave out those sodas (drink water, healthier) and other unhealthy treats and put the money into your savings account or jar.




6) If you do use your credit card for a purchase write a check for that credit card for the amount and set aside until the bills comes. If you cannot write a check for it immediately, do not purchase the item unless it is an absolute emergency and you have thought it through.



7) Try using the cash method for when you purchase items like groceries, things from Target or other department stores and when you buy gas. You will be surprised how you will think first before
handing over your hard earned cash. I know it is a bother to carry cash around, but it you have a problem with using your credit cards or ATM for all your purchases you will think twice before doing it. We have gone to the cash system and like it so much better than using our ATM or credit cards for everyday purchases.





8) Teach your children the value of money, saving and the difference between needs and wants.
Involve them in your savings goals. 

Be Smart, Be Wise, Be Prepared!

The scriptures say, 

"Organized yourselves, prepare every needful thing, . . . ." 

(Doctrine and Covenants 88:119) 

New May Monthly Assignments

Food Storage . . .  

              Vitamins and Supplements

Vitamins, minerals and supplements are a very important part of your food storage. As you know they will give you the extra vitamins, minerals and supplements your body needs and that your food may not provide. Store only those types of vitamins, minerals and supplements your family takes. Also, store them for the different ages in your family. 

How many to store? Store at least a years supply. Store a good multi-vitamin (according to age) and additional vitamins and supplements as needed and used by your family. Buy only from a good reliable company and that are not filled with fillers.

How long to store? According to the expiration date on the bottle.

Where to store? Store in dark bottles in a brown paper bag in a cool, dry, dark place where the temperature is 70 degrees or lower. Do not store in cupboards near your stove or a heater, too hot.

Emergency Preparedness . . . Shelter                                          

There may come a time when you cannot stay in your home due to the damages from a disaster or other unforeseen reasons.  It is a good idea to have some type of shelter just for these emergencies. 

Purchase a tent to accommodate your family. If you have a large family you might want to consider several smaller tents. It is also a good idea to store tarps, rope, nails, a hammer and duck take so you can construct a shelter or other structures you might need. Learn different types of shelters you can construct if away from home during a disaster. The Boy Scout manual and the Internet has some good resources and ideas.

If you already have a tent(s) for your family then check them regularly to make sure they are good shape and repair or replace as needed. 

We keep a small 3 person tent in our car just in case we are away from home when a disaster strikes so we will have shelter. 

Click here to go to the posting on the right under "Postings" on "Shelter" for some valuable information. . 

Emergency Preparedness Ideas 

Know how to protect yourself and others in your car when you hit a pole causing downed power lines on your car and around you. Very good advise! I will save your life!

 Burn Treatment . . . 

"Some time ago, I was cooking some corn and stuck my fork in the corn in the boiling water to see if the corm was ready. I missed and my hand went into the boiling water! A friend of mine, who was a Vietnam Vet, came into my house as I was screaming  and asked me if I had some plain old flour. I pulled out the bag of flour and he stuck my hand in it. He told me to keep my hand in the flour for 10 minutes. He said, in Vietnam, there was guy on fire and in their panic, they threw a bag of flour all over him to put out the fire. Well, it not only put out the fire, but he never had a blister. Long story short, I put my hand in the bag of flour for 10 minutes, pulled it out and did not even have a red mark or blister and absolutely NO PAIN. 

 

Keep a bag of flour in your fridge. When you burn yourself put your hand in the bag of flour for 10 minutes. The cold flour works even better than the room temperature flour. I use the flour and have never had a red spot/burn mark, or blister! I burnt my tongue once, put the flour on it for about 10 minutes, the pain was gone and no burn. 



 Try it, experience it! Keep a bag of flour in your fridge and you will happy you did.

Flour has an absorbent property and also has a strong antioxidant property, thus it helps with burn patients if applied within 15 minutes."   (Donald Arbino)

Comments and Questions: Please share your comments and questions below. Remember, we all learn from each others experiences and knowledge. You can also email me at theark.carsonward@gmail.com. Thank you for sharing your comments and questions. They are most appreciated.
 

Hi Torrance Stake Family, Carson Ward Family, Family and Friends,

"By failing to prepare, 
             you are prepared to fail." 
                                   Benjamin Franklin 

Are you ready for today, tomorrow? 

As I look over our family's life I realized there have been things that have happened we were not expecting. Sometimes they happened during the day, sometimes the next day.  Most of them were not from natural disasters nor expected.

Four examples of how heeding the warnings blessed our family . . . 

Several years ago I did not expect a few hours after my husband left for work that he would be in a serious car accident while on the job, spending the next several months recuperating from his injuries, unable to work. Disabilities checks, which we were grateful for, did not cover all the bills and needs for our young family during this time. We were grateful we had listened to the admonishments and warnings of the General Authorities and leaders of our church, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", and had been working on our food storage, we had about 6 months. We also had a little savings to help with the bills. We never had to go to family, church or others for help.

In the 1980's Southern California USA was hit by a strong El Nino causing huge storms. We live along the coast and during one of the storms, with hurricane like winds and rain for two weeks, we lost our electricity for a week, downed power lines were lying on the streets in our neighborhood not allowing us to get out, there was flooding in areas around us, schools and local stores were closed, we had to shelter in place for about a week with our family. The children thought is was great to camp out in the front room, some were to scared to sleep in their bedrooms, cook by using our emergency cooking equipment, I had an electric stove at the time, read stories and play games by lanterns and flashlights and make popcorn on our emergency candles. Once again we were grateful we had heeded the warnings by our church leaders. We were able to shelter in place and use our emergency supplies and food for a week with our family and feel safe.

After almost 30 years of working for the same company, my husband's employer shut their doors. This was a devastating blow to our family, now we had teenagers. Once again our small savings, being very frugal and our food storage got us through a difficult time.

In 1992 the Los Angeles Riots hit Southern California USA. There were fires, rioting, looting, many injures and some deaths. We live in a town about 30 miles outside of Los Angeles were the riots were. The area was blocked off, residences and businesses in surrounding towns were told to shelter in place, there was an 8 o'clock curfew. It was a scaring time, many were afraid the looting and rioting would start in their own neighborhoods. Our daughter and her husband came over to stay with us. We were admonished by the local authorities to shelter in place for a few day until it seemed safe to leave our home. Once again our preparing for emergency situations like this blessed our life. We were able to shelter in place with our family and keep an eye on our neighbors and neighborhood.

Are you listening??? 

As you can see if only takes a second or a day to have our lives, our family's lives, turned upside down, and it does not take a natural disaster. We need to always be striving to be better prepared for future events in our lives. You never know when they will happen or what will happen.

Yes, we can be forewarned of natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, flooding, etc.) heading our way, but we cannot know how devastating it will be to us and our loved ones until during or after the event is over.

Please be ready for those things that can change our lives in a second. If you have not started, start today. Have some canned foods and drinking water on hand, some emergency supplies, some extra medical supplies so you can take care of your own when the time comes. It is not the responsibility of our churches, local and federal governments to take care of us, they will not be there for days, weeks, but it is our responsibility. Why not be ready now? Why?

As Benjamin Franklin said above, "By failing to prepare, you are prepared to fail." Why not prepare ahead of time for those unexpected moments in our lives.

Spiritual Preparation 

This past weekend we had the great privilege and blessing of being able to hear from our General Authorities and Leaders of our church, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". If you did not get a change to listen to the 186th Annual General Conference click here and hear all the talks. Even if you are not a member of our church take the time to listen to them. They will give you hope, faith, peace and comfort and encouragement from the turmoil in our world today.

Let me share just a few words from our prophet . . .

President Thomas S. Monson (President and Prophet of the Church)



(Paraphrased) "Choices determine our destiny.  Will we reach our goal? We need to know were we want to go, our path in this life leads to where we go in next life. Our faith will sustain us, without faith we will go nowhere. Choose wisely. Repentance allows us to correct our course. Choose the harder right, rather than the easier wrong. May we ever chose the right."

 
We often think our choices only effect us, but they effect generations. Think and choose wisely before making a choice. 

New April Monthly Assignments

Food Storage . . . 
                 Legumes and Rice

Two of the most basic food storage items are legumes and rice. Legumes are supper foods. Legumes include all types of beans (kidney, navy, great northern, red, pinto, black, garbanzo, lima,  black eyed peas, lentils, and split peas). Legumes along with rice are a perfect protein. Rice also comes in a variety (white, long grain, medium grain, short grain, brown, forbidden, wild, basmati, and jasmine). They are economical and easy to store. They can extend other food items you store by adding them to soups, stews, casseroles and other recipes.

How to store: In original packaging, Mason jars, plastic containers that seal well, freeze dried/dehydrated #10 cans and 5-6 gallon buckets. As with all food storage keep in a cool, dry, dark place. You can store them under your beds, in closets, cupboards and your pantry. I would suggest removing them from the plastic packaging you get at your local grocery stores or big box stores. They will attract moths. Legumes will store about 3-5 years in their original packaging (they get hard and difficult to cook) or 20-30 years in #10 cans or 5-6 gallon freeze dried/dehydrated buckets.

How to treat: If you purchase your legumes and rice in their original packaging from your local grocery store or big box store, first put them in the freezer for 24 hours, then let cool down to room temperature before transferring to other containers. This kills all moths and their larva.

Note: Brown rice only stores for about 6 months in original packaging, a couple of years if kept in the freezer or 10 years in #10 cans and 5-6 gallon freeze dried/dehydrated buckets. It has a lot of moisture content not allowing it to store for 20-30 years like other rice. 

How much to store per person per month: Legumes . . . store a variety, 6 pounds per person per month. Rice (included with grains), store a variety, 25 pounds per person per month. You should have 25 pounds of grains, which includes rice, per person per month.

Emergency Preparedness . . .
                          Emergency Cooking

An important part of our emergency supplies is to have a way to cook without using your standard stove/oven. We need to be prepared with different types of emergency cooking equipment and the fuel to run them. Examples are a charcoal BBQ, gas BBQ, Butane Stove, Propane Stove, fire pit, homemade BBQ, solar oven, Dutch oven, etc. Make sure you keep enough fuel stored for the type of emergency cooking equipment you store. It may take days, weeks, even months before help can arrive and our normal way of life is restored.

When we lost our electricity in the story above regarding the 1980's El Nino storms, we were grateful for our emergency cooking equipment. We did not have a lot then, in fact, we only had our emergency candles you could cook with in the house that we had made at church and our charcoal BBQ we could only use outside. We learned a valuable lesson to be better prepared. Our stove was electric, the microwave did not work and it was raining outside for two weeks not allowing us to our charcoal BBQ. We quickly learned me needed better and different types of emergency cooking equipment for different types of emergency situations. Now we have several different ways to cook inside and outside.

When our kitchen was being remodeled for 3 months by our son I quickly learned how to cook on a Butane Stove, which I could use safely inside the house, our microwave and the charcoal BBQ outside. I was amazed how many dishes and meals I could make with the Butane Stove and microwave. 

Love the creativity of how this person is cooking outside. It appears he cleared an area, need to do to keep from starting a wild fire, placed rocks (or bricks) around it, put down some kindling and wood, then looks like he placed a baking sheet over it and started cooking. You could also use the grill rack from your oven. When we are in an emergency situation and need to find a way to heat water and cook we need to use our imagination and the things around us.

For some great information on the different types of emergency cooking equipment click on the link under "Posting", "Cooking and Heating and Lighting", or click here to go directly to the link.  

Set a goal to purchase at least 2-3 different types of emergency cooking equipment (inside and outside equipment) along with its accompanying fuel.  If you already have cooking equipment you can use in an emergency situation check to make sure it is working probably and you have enough fuel for that type of equipment. Keep all emergency cooking equipment together along with the fuel needed.Check on it periodically to make sure all is well.

Emergency Preparedness Ideas 

Some great videos on setting up ways to cook.

DIY Handmade Fire Pit . . .



Swedish Fire Torch . . .



Comments and Questions: Please share your comments and questions below. Remember, we all learn from each others experiences and knowledge. If you have a question you can email me at theark.carsonward@gmail.com. Thank you for sharing.