What You Need In Your House Today
This is a friendly reminder about what you need in your house today, not tomorrow. In the last few days, I have had so many awesome comments that I feel I must pass on the information. These are not new items, just practical must-haves. You can buy them at thrift stores or your local big box stores you may frequent. I want you to think about what is in your home right this very minute. I had a lot of readers tell me what happened to them during the recent horrific storms, Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria. It’s heart-wrenching, literally. But, I also heard stories of people cooking meals and sharing with others. Now, that’s what is so fabulous, those that had food and water, shared with others. Talk about humbling times.
I also want to talk about being prepared with stuff in your house today. Now, we all know we need things like water, food, 72-hour kits, first aid kits, etc. Yes, we definitely need so many items that we may take for granted every day. These are some things my awesome writers reminded me about that we all need. I’ll start with the obvious and go from there. Thanks to my readers who gave me so many good suggestions to help all of us!!
In Your House Today
Hydrating
Water
Gatorade, a must-have for dehydrating people. Yes, we can make our own, but let’s be real, have some ready to save a life.
Hot chocolate/cocoa
Kool-Aid, lemonade packets
Food
Canned food, meats, vegetables, soups, spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, pasta, freeze-dried foods, and dehydrated foods. You know the drill, all food that your family will eat. Don’t forget spices.
First Aid Kits
BUG Spray
Thanks to Linda from Houston, Texas (they are still battling mosquitoes) Cedarcide was first invented to protect our Service Men and Women from no-see-ums in the deserts of the Middle East. It works great for mosquitoes, fleas, bugs, etc, etc. You can even put it on your pets! I spray myself when going outside, and in any standing water after it rains. You can use it inside or out. I spray it on the dog beds, the carpet, plants, etc. It’s a great product! CEDARCIDE
Cleaning Supplies
Personal Hygiene
Emergency washing tubs, clotheslines, and clothespins. Here’s the deal, we all need clean underwear at the very least.
Emergency toilets, I got a great idea from a reader, one bucket for pee and another bucket for poo, genius idea! Why didn’t I think of that?
Toilet Paper, if you run out of toilet paper, have you thought about buying or making family cloth pieces? Family cloth by Linda
Paper Towels or two-ply diapers that are reusable like these: Reusable Paper Towels or Thin Diapers
Cloth diapers, diaper pins, and plastic pants
Depends underwear for the elderly
Peg: Feminine hygiene products should be included under the Personal Hygiene items.
Clothing/Footwear
Flannel shirts
Extra underwear, men’s, women’s, teens, children’s and toddler’s
Lots of socks, every size you can get on sale or at your local thrift stores
Many shoes, I hadn’t really thought about someone stealing my shoes, but it can happen when you least expect it.
Wading boots
Hiking Boots
Handkerchiefs-lots of them. If we don’t have tissues or need to wipe our brows, we will need several. Bandanas by Linda
Janet, If you live up north, make sure you have things in your car in case you get stuck. I have some -20-degree boots, a blanket, and a change of clothes in case I would get wet.
Kitchen Items
Paper plates, paper cups, plastic silverware
Can opener, several hand-crank ones
Matches
Cooking devices
Foil
Baggies, garbage bags
Toothpicks
Kitchen tools, every tool you need to cook from scratch without electricity
Buckets/Gamma Lids
Sewing Items
Sewing machines, treadles, or regular
Sewing kits with scissors, thread, needles, etc.
Miscellaneous
Blankets/quilts
Outside Cooking Items
Kelly Kettle
Sun Oven
Volcano Stoves
Dutch Ovens
Two-burner stoves
Propane
Butane Stove
Butane Fuel
Charcoal
Lump charcoal
Wood, clean and cut without varnish or paint
Pine cones
I’m going to add items to this post from all of you, it will give us all a push to be prepared with those things we need and maybe haven’t thought about for our house today. “Prepare Your Family For Survival” by Linda Loosli
If you live up north, make sure you have things in your car in case you get stuck. I have some -20 degree boots, a blanket and a change of clothes in case I would get wet.
Janet, this is a great reminder, I remember having salt and a shovel to dig myself out of a snow drift. Those boots would have been great. I’m adding this, thank you! Linda
Having Gatorade or Pedialyte on hand for immediate use is smart, but it’s also good to have the ingredients to make your own oral rehydration solution. There are a number of formulations, but the one I use has salt, salt substitute (for potassium), sugar and baking soda. By keeping the ingredients separate, they are good for years, but when mixed together into water it has to be used within 24 hours. To make things more quickly, I have half liter bottles of water, a funnel and a set of measuring spoons all stored along with the recipe. (Actually, I store Morton’s Lite Salt since it’s half regular salt and half potassium salt.) I take 1/8 teaspoon of lite salt, 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 tablespoon of sugar and mix into 0.5 liters of water. I keep enough supplies on hand that I can supply the neighborhood for quite a while, assuming they can bring their own water or help me bring water up from the river to run through the Berkey filter.
For immediate use I have some commercial hydration powder (DripDrop) that I just pour into 8 ounces of water and stir before drinking – it has a longer shelf life than Pedialyte so it’s more economical.
Hi, dmwalsh, I love this, my readers need to see this comment, thank you for taking the time to send this great information. We need it!!! Linda
Feminine hygiene products should be included under the Personal Hygiene items.
Hi Peg, thank you, sometimes when I’m writing at 2:30 A.M. I forget valuable items like these. Adding it right now! Thank you, Linda
Hi Peg, thanks so much, I just added this to my post! Sometimes I forget when I’m writing at 2:30 A,M. Thank you, Linda
Where do you get your canned hamburger? I don’t see this on store shelves.
Hi Lois, I buy it from Pleasant Hill Grain: https://pleasanthillgrain.com/preparedness/storable-foods/meat-fish-poultry I love this company! Linda
Thank you for all the help you’ve given me for the past couple of years! I’m doing so much better on food storage and other items that I need but I have a question about lump charcoal. I’ve been working on saving up regular charcoal but I am not sure what you use the lump charcoal for. What are the different situations I would be using the lump charcoal for rather than the regular charcoal? I was trying to explain it to my husband yesterday and wasn’t doing a good job can you help me explain it to him? Thank you! Shelly
Hi Shelly, here is a link how I explain the difference: https://www.foodstoragemoms.com/2016/09/favorite-emergency-fuels-store-survival/#more-56322
we don’t get a lot of snow and/or ice here in N.Texas. But I always carry a bag of cheap kitty litter and a can of de-icer just in case. along with a space blanket , a jacket,gloves and my get home bag filled with essentials like hand warmers, folding stove, instant coffee,bottle water, food bars,small tools, etc. I have a grandbaby living with me so we have several size disposable diapers and a couple dozen cloth diapers.We have several ways to cook.I have 2 sewing machines. Years ago I bought 2 cases of the 100 hour candles.(we have not had to use many,but great to have).Thanks for another great post. I enjoy reading and learning from you and others.God Bless
Hi Judy, great comment, it feels great to be prepared and learn from one another! Love your thoughts! Linda
Even though it’s fall, here in the Texas Hill Country we are still battling mosquitoes. We have been using an excellent product called Cedarcide for years (especially when we lived in the Houston area).
Cedarcide was first invented to protect our Service Men and Women from no-see- ums in the deserts of the Middle East. It works great for mosquitoes, fleas, bugs, etc, etc. You can even put it on your pets! I spray myself when going outside, and in any standing water after it rains. You can use it inside or out. I spray it on the dog beds, on carpet, plants, etc. It’s a great product!
Hi Linda, I’m adding this product to my post, thank you so much!!!! Linda
Hello Linda, great article…always enjoy them. Yesterday, I ran into my health provider at our Sam’s store. Her cart was loaded with batteries of all sizes. I inquired for her family, who I knew lived in Puerto Rico. She stated that she was able to speak with her mother, who conveyed everyone was safe but that clean water was a concern, before call was dropped after 58 seconds. The Doctor was concern about getting clean water to her family, when it dawned on her that water filters would help address clean water. She confided that she bought out all the water filters at a local Big 5 camping goods store to send to her family in Puerto Rico along with batteries she was purchasing. I advised her that I was lifting her family and the people of Puerto Rico in prayer. She stated prayer was needed, that Puerto Ricans possessed great hope and community spirit to help each other but if hardship extends for 3 months to get needed infustructure working, she feared generous hearts would harden.
Hi, Martha Jane, oh my gosh, what a great comment. I am speaking tomorrow at a class I am going to mention this story. I can’t imagine the fear those people living in Puerto Rico must be feeling. Then, not be able to call and check on our friends and loved ones will bring the stress levels high for months. We must all pray for all those involved in this horrific disaster. May God bless the workers trying to bring items they need to them. Linda
I thought I would add a few more books that are good sources of information for anyone that may be interested. However, the above one that you show in your first aid area is EXCELLENT and would be the first source I would seek out for medical help if I couldn’t get help at my hospital or family doctor. They did such a great job with this book and the great thing about it is, it’s very easy to understand and thorough. The book struck me as if it was my best friend standing beside me, talking to me and giving me advice and instruction. A few other books that someone may want to check out are:
Crisis Preparedness Handbook, by Jack A. Spigarelli
, The Prepared Family Guide to Uncommon Diseases, compiled by Enola Gay, Grace Tome and Maid Elizabeth with Maurice Masar, MD, LMCC<FRSPH, and Where There is No Doctor…A village health care handbook, by David Werner with Carol Thuman and Jane Maxwell. I believe you can find all of these books on Amazon and you can also check out the reviews on them before you would decide to purchase these books and make that investment. I like them all, and they all are somewhat different from one another, but all have a lot to offer for information that we could possibly use in the future.
Hi Lisa, I feel the same way about the Medical Handbook. It’s easy to read and I hadn’t thought about but it is like talking to your friend. Thanks for the other books, I can never have too many books. Love it! Linda