January Week 4: First Aid Kits

Ugh! I'm such a slacker! This week has been crazy busy, so forgive me for being late posting!

This week we are working on our First Aid kits. What we are looking to build is a basic home kit that can be used to take care of minor injuries. The following items are recommended in a home kit:

Disposable gloves
4"x4" sterile gauze
3" roll of gauze bandage
First aid scissors
Adhesive tape
Elastic (Ace) Bandage
A variety of adhesive bandages (Band-aids)
Tweezers
And a storage container for it all

Other items that are useful:
Antiseptic wound wipes or liquid
Topicl pain-relief spray or ointment
Antibiotic ointment (Neosporin, etc.)
Anti-inflamatory meds (ibuprofen, Tylenol, etc.)
Burn gream or gel
Hydrocorisone cream
Instant cold packs
Alcohol
Hydrogen peroxide
Cotton balls
Q-tips

Some of these items will have expiration dates, so it's important to keep an eye on those. Some of these items can be found at the dollar store or in trial sizes.

Emergency First Aid kit for Car, Home, Boat, Camper, etc.:
An emergency first aid kit is used ONLY for emergency, life threatening situations and should be kept fully intact and replenished if used.
Disposable gloves
Disposable breathing barrier for CPR
Sterile dressings: 5"x9", 4"x4"
3" roll guaze dressing
First aid scissors
Adhesive tape
Hand sanitizer
Phone numbers of emergency personnel and poison control

The emergency kit is a basic kit that will allow you to administer aid until emergency crews arrive. I also keep a blanket available in my car in the case of an emergency or accident where someone is in shock. Hopefully you never have to use it, but if you do you will have what you need!

Good luck and I will post earlier next week!

January Week 3: Medicine Chest

This week we are focusing on our medicine chests. As we come out of Cold and Flu season and head into spring, we want to make sure our medicine chests are full of the medications we will need. Stockpiling hoards of medication can be hazardous if we aren't careful. Medications have expiration dates which should be followed. Medications can lose the effectivness or increase in potency over time. It is important that we keep our medicine chests full and stocked with newer medications.

Things to include:

Pain Killers: Ibuprofen, asprin, tylenol
Cold remedies: Nyquil, cough syrup, dayquil
Other: Imodium, pepto bismol, cough drops, Ipecac (optional), Claritin, allergy meds, other frequently items

January Week 2: Detergents

This week we are collecting detergents. I have a hard time collecting this one because it can be really expensive! However, imagine what would happen if you had to live for 3 months on everything you had in your home. Would you be able to wash clothes as needed or would you run out? I would run out.

Currently, Smiths had Tide detergent, liquid or powder, for $11.(sale through Tuesday) If you buy $25 of participating Proctor and Gamble you get $5 back. Essentially you could buy 2 Tide, and 1 Zest or Ivory soap ($3), use coupons from the proctor and gamble insert 2 weeks ago, and get those items for around $15 instead of $25. I don't know if it would be cheaper at Wal-Mart or not. Good luck, and happy shopping!

-Laundry Detergent: about 156 loads per person
-Stain treatments
-Bleach: 1 Gal. per person
-Dishwasher detergent
-Liquid dish soaps

*purchase what you will need, according to your BUDGET! Don't go into debt for storage items!*

Wednesday, Jan 6th-Jan. 12

Smiths Food is having their case goods sale as well as a mega meat sale. For those who have are going to be stocking up on their popcorn, if you have a few extra bucks it may be worth your while to grab a case of vegetables, peanut butter, honey, or soups!

Happy shopping!

Sunday Paper coupons

In yesterday's paper, there are coupons for microwave popcorn. I will be using mine to add to my short term storage. Also, there are coupons for peanut butter and jelly. In a few weeks we will be collecting peanut butter, so hang on to those coupons!

January Week 1: Popcorn

This week, we are going to stockpile some popcorn! You can choose whole kernel popcorn, microwave popcorn, or both. As a family, we chose whole kernel popcorn because it stores better, lasts longer, good price to quantity, and it can be used in an air popper, stove top, or campfire if needed. Microwave popcorn has to be used by the expiration date to avoid the oils in the bag going rancid.

Purchasing:
Set asides a specific dollar amount, and purchase that much popcorn. We bought the great big bag of popcorn at Sam's club last year and haven't hardly made a dent in it. It fits in a 5 gallon bucket, and then some!

Storage:
At Wal-Mart, you can purchase the big 5 gal. buckets for about $6. Regular sealing lids are abut $2. These are good if you are going to just fill up a bucket and leave it for a while. You will need to purchase the little green lid lifter, it's about $2. There is another lid that I like MUCH better. It seals on the bucket, and then a 2nd part in the lid can be unscrewed for easier access to your storage. The lid is about $6 also. So, for a 5 gal. bucket of popcorn, you'd spend about $12 to store it.

If you just want to purchase individual bags, keep them on a shelf where they won't get wet, or in a plastic storage tote.

So far, I have not seen any coupons or sale ads for whole kernel popcorn. Keep collecting your coupons, because next week we are on to cleaning supplies!

CHALLENGE: Get a $5 bill and stash it somewhere. Make sure you remember where you put it! This is the start of your emergency cash stash.