Emergency Supplies
As I mentioned last week, my husband suddenly joined the ranks of the unemployed and he's looking for new work. We are in a better position than many to weather this, because we do have his retirement pension and we rent a field out to some farmers for a small sum (less than the going rate, for various reasons). And, as I said, we had a well stocked freezer and pantry.
However, my goal was to rely exclusively on the well stocked freezer and pantry for as long as possible before buying anything at all. I've done pretty well, but there have been a couple of things that weren't that well stocked and should have been. They should have been well stocked not just for this emergency, but for any emergency- a bad storm, flood, electrical outage, minor earthquake. These are things I either had to replace this week, or will have to replace in the next couple of weeks:
Toilet paper
pull-ups for our disabled adult daughter
peroxide
Tsp, which we use to make our own laundry soap, dishwasher soap, and wall cleaner.
Krill oil pills, which I take on my doctor's recommendation.
That's not, as I said, too awful, especially given our emergency back up fund, which we haven't had to touch yet.
But I knew better, I've 'preached' better, and if this had been a natural disaster sort of emergency, we'd have been in trouble.
FEMA recommends you have at least a two week supply of food on hand for any disaster.
When it comes to supplies like peroxide, apple cider vinegar, and baking soda (which we use for multiple purposes, including toothpaste, shampoo, and cleaners, as well as treating fungus, cleaning molds, and scrubbing sinks)- I like to keep at least two large containers on hand, and replace them as soon as one runs out, so there is always an unopened package.
Same with toilet paper and the pull ups for our disabled child. I even do this with supplements. I just hadn't taken care of the Krill oil pills in a timely manner. Don't go overboard and be a hoarder, but you really ought to shop the sales, and doublestock (at least) a number of important items.
Are you prepared for emergencies? If your source of income stopped this morning, how long would it be before you had to go to the store?
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6 Responses to “Emergency Supplies”
February 10th, 2012 at 6:44 am
I have a recipe for homemade laundry soap from your blog but it does not mention the TSP, how much do you add to your recipe?
February 10th, 2012 at 8:05 am
Thank you for the reminder, I just added apple cider vinegar to my shopping list and you to my prayers
I had to smile, praying for the “Deputy Headmistress”.
February 10th, 2012 at 8:29 am
I could probably make it a couple of weeks with what I have on hand (except for maybe milk), but not too much longer than that. We had a power outage though last weekend with the snow storm and that caused me to realize how much I depend on electricity to prepare food and keep food preserved. So, a lack of income wouldn’t be a major problem for us in the immediate term, but a lack of electricity sure would!
February 10th, 2012 at 8:57 am
What’s TSP? and what’s the benefits of it in cleaning products?
Sorry for the job loss, praying for a quick resolution.
February 10th, 2012 at 6:10 pm
i do not use tsp in my homemade laundry detergent…i find it to be too harsh..i use washing soda, soap, borax, and sometimes oygenated bleach. i have a pretty good stash of stuff-at least a years supply of most everything but i go to it daily and replenish and rotate if needed. i find this to be particularly true for the toilet paper…so we try to keep two unopened monster packages on the shelf at all times. should something happen and we cannot replenish this supply, i also have a bucket full of rolled up clean washcloths to use for buttwipes-and they can be washed and reused. lol, i probably should be using those now and start saving some money by not buying the tp..but for now i think i gotta be in desparate situation first. have you given any thought to using something other than pull ups for your disabled daughter? this to me is more important than running out of toilet paper and maybe you can find or create a solution for that problem to share with the rest of us.
February 15th, 2012 at 11:36 am
We only occasionally use tsp in laundry soap- just add it to the washer as a booster.
We do use it in dishwasher detergent.
TSP is trisodium phosphate, and it used to be in your dishwasher soap until the last year or two, when it was removed by law. So now I add it back in.
Carynverell, my disabled daughter is 24. I have given a lot of thought to something other than pull-ups, but frankly, I am far from ready to clean up poopy cloth diapers on an adult who isn’t all that cooperative. For her, these also are the best solution for monthly feminine hygeine.;-D
Mainly what I do is try to take her to the toilet every hour or two so one pull-up might last all day long.
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