February Week 2: Personal Items

Once again, sorry for the lateness! This week we are collecting personal items. This includes toilet paper, soap, body wash, razors, lotions, Shampoo, hair products, toothpaste and brushes, girly products, etc. These are just as important as collecting food! What would you do without toilet paper for a month? 2 months? How about soap or toothpaste? It's not a pretty thought! So start collecting!

Storage ideas:
Store these items in plastic storage boxes. Sort little items into smaller boxes, then put all of them in a larger box. Toilet paper and other paper products need to be kept dry and off the ground.

February Week 1: Canned meat

Yay February! I hope we all made it through January and now have a nice little stockpile going! This month we start out with canned meats. I will admit, this is NOT my favorite category. I am not a fan of Spam, viennna sausages, or corned beef. However, chicken chunks and tuna are good things to have on hand. If you like Spam, stock up! Remember, buy things you will use and roate into your current supply. Also, if you use something from your storage, replace it! Stash $5 or so in your safe place to keep for an emergency. You will be glad you did when you really need it!

To buy:
Canned chicken chunks
Canned fish; like tuna, salmon, etc.
Canned beef
Spam
Vienna Sausages
Corned beef
Other canned meats you will use

*If you choose not to buy a lot of this week's item, use the extra money to add to our previous weeks' lists.

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!