The Food Storage Blog

My apologies, no regular post today due to a broken tooth!

Once upon a time, I went 10 years without seeing a dentist. I have such sensitive teeth that they need to numb me for a cleaning. I’ve got fillings in many teeth, had a terrible time with braces as a child, and due to a bike accident, 4 of my top teeth are crowns.

For some reason about 5 years back I decided to head back to the dentist. 11 visits later and I was done. Yes, 11. My own fault, for not going in so long. 1 for x-rays, 2 for cleanings, and the rest for fillings, a couple of root canals, and some new crowns.

Today? Now I go like clockwork every 6 months, and I’ve had only 1 cavity in two years, by simply following the advice our mother’s and our dentists’ have given us for our entire lives.

Brush twice a day, floss, rinse, cleaning every 6 months. That’s it.

If I was stranded at my house for a month due to an ice storm and had an unfilled cavity go infected, that could be close to a worst case scenario. In many cases, dental problems can be more painful than many other injuries and ailments. An untreated mouth infection can kill.

So don’t delay, call your dentist today if you haven’t been in more than a year and make an appointment. And consider picking up Where There Is No Dentist for your preparedness library.

Financial Preparedness Friday’s will be articles that combine a ‘What Can I Do Today?’ with a more detailed look at a financial topic or question. 

So today’s ‘What Can I Do Today’ is:  If you are currently working, and are employed at a company that has a 401(k) and you are not signed up, call the Benefits department today and get the paperwork to join.  If your company offers a dollar match in your 401(k) and you are not taking advantage of it, you are not participating in what could by the highest return percentage available to you. 

If you are in your companies 401(k) and you are not getting the maximum match, increase your contribution percentage until you are getting the maximum match.  And if you are already contibuting to get your maximum match, congratulations!  Now take it one step further and raise your percentage by 1%. 

If you say you can’t afford it, my response is that you can’t afford not to do it.  Take a look at the above image.  It shows that Social Security is currently in the red, many years before almost anyone predicted.  That means that Social Security, today, is now spending more money than it takes in.  If you are relying on Social Security to assist you in your old age, don’t.  Being prepared means being financially prepared to take care of yourself without depending on anyone. 

I absolutely understand it is challenging to put money away in a very difficult economy, but I implore you to make saving at least a little bit the first thing you spend your money on (the 2nd if you tithe), not the last.  For those working hourly jobs without access to a 401(k), I’ll let you know a little method that literally changed my life, with little effort.  I’ll warn you though, you will need some willpower.

In 1999, my life, financially and otherwise, was a train wreck.  I was unemployed, I smoked 3 packs of cigarettes a day when I could afford it, drank too much beer, and otherwise was on a self-destructive path.  I had $43,000 in credit card debt and another $3,000 in student loan debt. 

When I say I know how bad it can get, I do.  In late 1999 I filed bankruptcy.  While I believe in paying my debts, at that point in my life I just had no idea how that was possible.  I was making $8 an hour, and I couldn’t even afford minimum payments on my debt, let alone extra to pay down principal.  However, it was after the bankruptcy when the most difficult choice appeared.

Within 2 years of my bankruptcy, credit card companies were offering me credit again.  I actually opened 2 credit lines, and very quickly found myself staring at $2500 in credit card debt.  One day I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn’t stand what I saw.  What I saw was a complete and utter lack of control over my own life.  And it was that day I took a stand.  I called and cancelled one card, and hid the other one and swore I would use it in emergencies only.  And while I can hardly believe it now, I stuck with it.  I paid off the credit cards by 2004, paid off my student loan about the same time, and started on my sometimes-rocky financial recovery.

So how did I manage it?  From my first day of work, even when I didn’t know why, I always paid myself first.  When I first got the job for the company I am still working for and was only making $8/hour, I put $10 a week into an envelope.  It was the first thing I did with every paycheck.  It wasn’t a lot of money, and I couldn’t really imagine that I would ever save any real money that way.  But what it did was more psychological than financial.  It gave me peace of mind.  When a water pump blew on my car, I usually somehow had just enough in my evelope to cover it.  When I had to have insurance or risk driving without, the envelope usually helped me with the last $50 or $60.  When I wanted to take a pretty girl out on a date, I thought that was an emergency too and usually raided $40.  Before I knew who Dave Ramsey was, I had created my own emergency fund. 

When I got a raise at work, I increased the amount I put in the envelope from $10 to $20 per week.  If I did an odd job or sold something on eBay (something I did more and more as time went on), I put a portion into the envelope.  There were some weeks when I would have $800 or more in the envelope, and others where it was near empty, but I never skipped a week or made excuses why I couldn’t put some amount of money in it.  Eventually I even used a good chunk of ‘envelope money’ to pay off my credit cards and start a debt-free lifestyle. 

Today I challenge you, no matter what your current financial status, to stretch and take one small extra step.  As I have said, I will be doing anything I ask you to do.  After I post this article, I will be increasing my 401(k) contribution from 5 to 6%.  (my match is 5%)  I hope y’all will do the same.    So whether it is putting $5 in an envelope or saving some of your birthday money instead of spending it, I guarantee there will come a time in your life when you will be glad you did.

 Welcome to the Document Edition of What Can I Do Today!

Today, let’s work on getting our vital documents together and organized. As these events are supposed to be things we can do in 15 minutes or less, what you can do is gather your documents together over the course of the next week as you clean the house, organize a closet, or other chores where you might run across things you need to save.  Then, when you have time, you can develop a filing system for each item.

I’ll admit, organizing paperwork is an incredible challenge for both the Advice-Wife and I.  We have a poor filing system, and things often get misplaced.  What we’re looking for is usually somewhere, but often not where we can actually find it.  Thus today, like every episode of WCIDT, I’ll be following my own advice.

First, what documents should we be holding onto? Let’s start with these (I’m assuming your Driver’s License lives in your wallet!):

Birth Certificate

Social Security Card

Passport

These are your primary identification documents, and are often used to apply for other pieces of identification, such as a Drivers License. While not everyone has or needs a Passport, it is often a better form of identfication than your Driver’s License. If you plan on travelling out of the country, work on getting your Passport well in advance of your trip, as it can take some time. There are methods to expedite the process, but it makes it more expensive.

I actually don’t have a copy of my Birth Certificate; I sent off for a certified copy few years back in order to get my Passport, but then I proceeded to lose it.  Thus, I will go here, pick my state, and follow the instructions in order to get a copy. Remember, to get a copy of your birth certificate, you need to apply in the state where you were born, not the state you are currently living in.

The next category of documents we should put our hands on are our estate documents.  There are few things more tragic than an extended probate process due to a lack of simple planning.  If you do not have a Will/Living Will, I’d recommend starting the process (though it is outside the scope of this episode!).  One of my wife’s clients offered to do up a Will/Living Will for us as our wedding present.  We’re still working through the process, but we’ll put it back on a front burner today!

So look for these:

Will/Living Will

Marriage License

Divorce Papers

Death Certificates of family members where you were a beneficiary

Power of Attorney

Life Insurance Beneficiary Forms

Car Title

DD 214 (If you were in the Military)

Financial Account Beneficiary Forms (such as for a 401(k) or an IRA)

Status of Finance Document – This is something that I put together quarterly that shows the state of our family’s finances, including where each account is held, along with passwords for my wife so she doesn’t have to worry about having access to our accounts should something happen to me.

Previous Year Tax Returns

W-2’s and 1099’s

There are some other financial documents that should be on hand, usually because they will make life easier in the event you need them for some reason.  However, for this project, putting your hands on the first two categories is a great start!  If you are truly bold though, work on a filing system for these as well:

Mortgage Documents

Pay Stubs – 6 months (these are useful to have on hand when applying for a mortgage or car loan.)

Bank Statements – (If you can get these online, don’t worry about keeping more than a rolling 12-month cycle)

Chartitable Giving Statements (For example, if you give to Goodwill, they will give you a receipt for tax purposes)

So now that you have them all together, what should you do with them?  For the first two categories we went through, I absolutely recommend either putting them in a Safe Deposit Box at a local bank, or putting them into a fireproof box or safe. For the others, file by date and purge appropriately.  For example, you don’t need to be holding on to your mortgage documents from 3 houses ago.  If you are obsessive compulsive (like my dad), you can set up a long term storage box that lives in your attic with these types of documents.  In any case, get them out of the way of your current documents, and make sure you label your long-term boxes by year(s) and document types.

That’s enough for now, I am going to go follow my own advice!

When it comes to preparing, supplies are the first thing people think of.  Many folks imagine wild-eyed survivalists in camo with a stash of MRE’s and canned goods surrounded by a pile of ammunition.  In general, it is also one of the first things a new prepper focuses on.  While I absolutely believe a prepper should spend as much or more time on learning new skills and developing their fortitude as they do buying and storing supplies, supplies definitely have their place.

So what is that place?

While there are a million things you can acquire, all supplies have one thing in common:  they buy you time for life to return to normal.  They allow you to take care of yourself and your family for a period of time when you might not be able to get to the store due to a hurricane or ice storm.  Jumper cables allow you to get your car running until you can replace your alternator or battery.  Flashlights and candles allow you to wait out the power outage in relative comfort.

To examine the concept in another way, I think about one of my mentors, a 20-year Army Special Forces veteran (Green Beret).  While he might have supplies stored, he needs fewer, because he has skills that allow him to gather the things he needs to survive on his own.  For example, while I may store 50 gallons of water, he stores only 5, because he knows 10 ways to readily access clean drinking water.  Having more gallons on hand gives me a time cushion for the situation to return to normal or to allow me to find more.

So what should I store?

As supplies are essentially there to buy time, I recommend preparing your supplies in time increments.  For example, your first goal should be to have 3 days worth of supplies for you and your family.  Then you can shoot for 7 days, then 30 days, until you have what you feel comfortable with.  Don’t fall into the trap some do, which is focusing on getting a year’s worth of one supply, but none of another! 

For example, let’s take a look at one of my earlier failures.  One of my first supply purchases was 6 months worth of rice.  While that might sound ok, I now realize how foolish I was in that purchase.  First, I never once thought about how I would cook my rice if I ever needed it.  Second, I never thought about where I would acquire the water I needed to cook my rice.  Third, I never thought about the fact that 6 months of eating nothing but rice would likely lead to rice poisoning.  Just kidding!  But it would lead to appetite fatigue, and I would likely never want to eat rice for the rest of my life.  Fourth, while nothing but rice might supply my caloric needs, it wouldn’t supply the complete array of vitamins and minerals the human body needs to function at its best.

Seeing my failure, it is obvious it is better to store what one needs incrementally (meaning, store 3 days worth of each of the 6 categories, then 7 days, then 30 days, etc).  In order of importance, this is how I recommend you gather your supplies:

1. Water – Water is essential, for drinking, sanitation, cooking, and survival.  A bare minimum would be to store 1 gallon per person, per day.  So if you have 4 in your family, and you wanted to prepare for a 3-day event, you would need 12 gallons of water.  As water is bulky, and can go bad, we’ll explore strategies for the higher quantities needed for longer events (2 weeks or more) in future posts
2. Food – Food is also essential.  Although the human body can survive far longer without food than water, it’s not fun being hungry, and people are not as effective.  There are a number of ways to determine the appropriate quantity.  For example, I use a base of 2500 calories per person, per day.  While not exact, that could also equate to 2-3 pounds of food per person per day.  If you are really organized, you could also plan meals just like you normally would, such as 3 meals and 2 snacks per person per day.  We’ll spend quite a bit of time discussing storing food in future posts, as a good food storage program can save you quite a bit of money as well as being great in a time of need.  I also include a good multi-vitamin under food.
3. Light – I’m sure some hard-core preppers or survivalists would take exception to me breaking light out   separately and putting it ahead of some other things.  However, I believe light is essential in maintaining a positive attitude, especially if you have children.  I also place it high because for a minimal expenditure you can supply your light needs for at least 30 days.
4. Shelter/Warmth – Losing a home is one of the worst imaginable experiences.  Making plans for an emergency involving both staying at home and leaving your home (or being away from home) is vitally important.  I also include the ability to start a fire here, as well as making sure you have sufficient ways to keep warm, such as emergency or regular blankets, sleeping bags, and tarps or tents.
5. First Aid – Every home should have a solid first aid kit and as long of your standard prescriptions as you can manage.  Optional but great to have items also include SAM Splint and Celox or other clotting agent..
6. Toiletries/Sanitation – These items can be easy to forget.  Don’t!  Hand sanitizer, toilet paper, toothbrushes and toothpaste, feminine hygeine items, soap and shampoo are all toiletries and sanitation items you should have on hand.  Like having sufficient light, being clean provides a morale boost in a bad situation, especially among teenagers.  (Mom, what do you mean I can’t wash my hair?)
7. Entertainment/Other – Have a deck of cards, a checker board or Monopoly game, and some books available.  Keep some toys handy for small children.  Some emergencies specialize in boredom (the calm before the storm, waiting for someone to plow the roads and the like), so be prepared to combat it!

Remember, supplies are time.  And the more supplies you have, the more time you will be able to go before an emergency turns into a crisis.

One definition of fortitude is:  ‘The quality of mind enabling one to face danger or hardship resolutely.’  As I read more about various people’s definitions and examples, I am becoming convinced that my initial separation of fortitude into ‘physical and mental’ aspects is incorrect and redundant. 

A strong and fit body, while obviously a benefit, does not automatically guarantee ‘physical fortitude’, just as intelligence and knowledge does not necessarily confer ‘mental fortitude’.  In high school I was a good long-distance runner, very fit, with the potential to be great.  However, my lack of fortitude, mainly the inability to push through the pain that is the ‘wall’ that runners talk about, meant that I never posted more than average times.

Eighteen years later, I completed the Music City Half Marathon.  15 of those intervening years I smoked like a chimney and otherwise dragged my body down.  There is little chance I will ever be as fit as I was when I was younger, and I’ll certainly never be as fast, but the me of 18 years ago could not (or would not) have jogged 13.1 miles.  The difference between then and now?  Fortitude.  I made a choice, every day for the 5 months I trained, to not do the easy thing.  Rain or shine, 1 mile became 2, and 2 become 4.  And somewhere, unbelievably, 11 became 13.  I told myself over and over I would not quit.  Even to this day I smile when I realize I didn’t.

Sure, my story isn’t anything when compared to examples of fortitude above and beyond my comprehension, but at least it helps me to understand.  For example, consider Aron Ralston, a mountaineer who amputated one of his arms below the elbow in order to survive, and then proceeded to rappel down the side of a mountain and hike 7 miles until he found help.  However, when you look at his resume, such as having climbed 49 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot-plus mountains, as well as being an avid outdoorsman, it leads me to understand that fortitude can be developed by the life we lead.

Most of America works so they can lead the easiest life possible, filled with whatever luxuries they can afford.  Where we can, we rely on others to provide us with every want and need.   Many expect the government, or our parents, or our spouse, to take care of us, to provide us food, or health care, or housing.  I believe that attitude is killing us as individuals, as communities, and as a society.

However, just by being here and taking the first baby steps of preparing, we are taking back that responsibility for our own survival.  Self-sufficiency is the medicine to cure us from the toxins of our fast-food convenience store society.  I’ve made a choice, and I hope you will too.  Every day, let us choose to do something hard, something challenging, something that will work our muscles or our minds.  Let us choose to be a different.