As most of you know I began prepping back in April and I financed my prepping endeavors with money I have made working overtime at my job as well as with a few items I have sold during these past few months. It is amazing how you can figure out a way to do something, especially as prepping was never part of my plan.
I have always kept a good supply of food in the pantry as well as our chest freezer, especially going into winter. This year if feels exceptionally important to continue to do that making sure we have everything we will need. Along with food I will also beef up our non food supplies storing extra packages of toilet paper, jugs of laundry detergent, cleaning supplies and toiletries. Even with a prepper pantry I will still make sure to do what I normally do to prepare for winter.
In our garage I'll make sure we have enough cat food and chicken feed to get us through until spring. It is absolutely no fun to go to the feed store in the winter when you have a wet truck bed and it is storming. Then to lug a 50# bag across an icy driveway in hopes you don't land on your butt, no way.
The other reason I like to stock up for winter is because our monthly utility bills are higher because the heat is on, my annual auto insurance bill comes due, my car will need to be registered, the holidays happen and it is birthday central around here. All very good reasons to do what I can early to ease the pain, if you will.
Along with stocking up I will also make sure our house is buttoned up for winter. Any repairs and maintenance that needs to be done will be completed. Our vehicles will get cleaned and readied for the bad weather as well as their routine maintenance. I will add snow chains and a blanket to the trunk for just in case as well as a few other emergency items.
We check to make sure everyone has a good winter coat, gloves and hats, winter boots and warm clothing. I also check the tools in the garage to make sure they are solid and ready for whatever comes our way. The time to figure out you need a new snow shovel is not when you have to dig out your car to go anywhere.
It seems crazy that when the temperatures are hovering near the century mark I am checking to make sure we have enough ice melt and pairing up gloves to make sure they all have mates. But that is how I roll. Getting everything put together now, before we need it, has always felt like the best practice.
We do too. We work all spring and summer for fall and winter and, all fall and winter for summer. lol!! Maggiek
ReplyDeleteYep! Same here. It's a vicious cycle. Ha, ha!
DeleteHeh. Prepping for winter. As a New England transplant to the PNW, I have (not so fond) memories of winter prep. Here, we get very little extreme weather. That said, there ARE things that we do. Fall wind storm are the norm, and they take out power. As we have a well, that means no water. In our old house, we didn't have a generator. Let me tell you, Friend, that you will force a toilet flush with store bought bottled water ONE TIME before you wise up. We prepped in the old place by making sure we had two cords of wood for the woodstove, and plenty of bottled water. It got to the point that any time I emptied, say, an apple juice or 2 liter bottle, I'd fill it with tap water, and tuck it in the garage. I left all of it for my tenants, and believe me, come the first power outage, they were grateful! I also made sure I had plenty of foods I could cook on the stove top. (We had gas). Also, during storm season, I would make sure I kept the laundry under control--if a storm was predicted, I spent the day making sure the hampers were emptied!
ReplyDeleteHere, we prepped by getting a standby generator, so power isn't an issue. We still, however, have our furnace serviced every fall. Like you, we stock up on pet food (and now chicken feed) in case the roads are closed. I also make sure we have over the counter medications on hand, like Tylenol, decongestants, hygeine products etc. DH picks up his prescriptions the instant they are ready in winter, whether he is out or not. I'm sure there are other things I do, but preparing for the unplanned has become a way of life for me, so I'd have to think long and hard about what I do which is different from other people's!
Have a great week.
Wow Meg! You are really on top of this and offer some great tips. Thank you.
DeleteYeah...but ask me how I know. If there was a learning curve when we moved here, I was on the very bottom.
DeleteLOL I bet you have some stories. :)
DeleteYesterday I began the preparations for my winter garden. I started sorting the seeds and pulled the potting soil from the shed. It is hard to think of winter when I am up to my elbows canning tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteJeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
I hear that. Seems like we are always working on the future. Have fun canning!
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