Easy Prepping in 7 Days

The Prepper Life #1

Penelope Hoyt

Copyright 2014 by Penelope Hoyt, The Nerdy Survivalist

If you enjoyed this book, make sure to check out these other books by Penelope Hoyt:

City Preppers: How to Build Your Pantry and Develop the Skills You Need to Survive, Even When You Live in an Apartment (Prepper Guides Book 1)

City Preppers: How to Create a Bug Out Bag That Works (Prepper Guides Book 2) 

City Preppers: What to Do During a Power Outage When Your Kids Are Bored (Prepper Guides Book 3) 

Penelope Hoyt is an urban survivalist, homeschool mom, and author of:

The Nerdy Survivalist: How to Protect and Care For Your Family in the Direst of Circumstances 

Readers may contact her through her website:

The Nerdy Survivalist

Easy Prepping in 7 Days

You’ve probably heard about preppers.

You might even think they’re crazy.

Being prepared doesn’t have to be weird, though, and this book is going to show you how to get started in just one week.

You don’t need 5 years to prepare your family to survive a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake. You don’t even need six months.

All you need is a willing attitude, a ready heart, and 7 days to start prepping.

This guide offers steps to take each day to prepare your family for power outages, bad weather, or an unexpected storm. Whether you want to learn how to create a bug-out bag or you just need tips for prepping on a budget, you’ll find it in Easy Prepping in 7 Days.

Contents:

Why prepping?

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

Why prepping?

Handling emergencies is tough.

Preparing ahead of time isn’t going to make them not hard, but it will make the situation a little more bearable.

As a mom, preparing for emergencies like tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes can be tricky, but it’s not impossible. And when you prepare for these things before they happen, you’re making sure that your kids, your spouse, and your pets will all be okay should something bad happen.

Contrary to popular opinion, preparing for emergencies doesn’t have to be something extreme. This book isn’t going to advise you to go build a bunker. I’m not going to suggest that you move to rural America and start farming. I’m not going to tell you to go off the grid.

What I am going to do is to help you start coming up with preparations for your family. I’m going to show you how you can start making plans to keep your family safe. What’s more is that I’m going to show you how to do this in just seven days.

A lot of people brag that they spend years prepping. Honestly, this is great! I’m happy for them. Years of preparation essentially guarantee that those families will be ready for anything. On the other hand, not everyone has years to plan. Maybe you’re expecting bad weather next week. Maybe you suspect that your electricity might flicker in an upcoming storm. You might even be worried that your home could be at the center of a blizzard and you just want to be ready.

Easy Prepping in 7 Days is the first book in my new prepper series, The Prepper Life. This book is going to guide you through seven days of planning, activities, and preparations to make sure that you and your family are as ready as possible in a short period of time.

Again, this book isn’t about going off the grid. If that’s what you’re looking for, I’m sorry to disappoint. Rather, I’m going to help you start thinking about how you can get your toddlers ready to deal without their favorite apps for a few days. I’m going to help you come up with things to do with your teenagers when they can’t call their friends because the cell towers are down. And yes, I’m going to talk with you about planning meals when you’re stuck in the dark.

This book is designed to be something that you read and work through over seven days. Of course, you can absolutely combine days for faster prepping, but you don’t have to. When you’re finished, you’re going to have lists of things you need in your emergency kit, you’re going to have a bug-out bag, and you’re going to have a plan for getting ready.

Good luck!

Let’s get started.

Day One

Your first day prepping is going to be a big one.

Why?

You’re probably excited about prepping, so there’s no point in waiting. While you shouldn’t try to accomplish everything listed in this book on your first day, you absolutely should get a good chunk of prepping done on day one. It’ll give you a boost and get you ready to conquer the rest of the week.

So what’s your goal today?

Lists.

Maybe you love them. Maybe you hate them. Either way, they’re something that you’re going to have to use when it comes to prepping. Today, you’re going to work on making a couple of lists that will guide you throughout the rest of the week.

1)       Make a list of the foods that your family eats on a regular basis. What items are easy to store? What can you eat even when there’s no electricity for cooking? What are things that you can keep in bug-out bags? Here’s a tip: remember to think about dehydrated and freeze-dried foods. If your kids love apples, they might like dehydrated apples. If they love bananas, they could enjoy dried banana chips. If they hate these things, though, they aren’t going to start enjoying them just because there’s no power. Pick things your kids and spouse like to eat. Possible ideas for your emergency food list include beef jerky, granola bars, or crackers.

2)      Write down items that you use each day. Include things like toilet paper, baby wipes, and nasal sprays. What items will you be able to live without for a few weeks? What things can you not live without? You don’t need to store a lot of these items, but you should have enough on hand to last you a few days. Even something as simple as an extra box of baby diapers can come in handy during a blizzard.

3)      Take a look in your medicine cabinet. What pills or medications do you need on a regular basis? If you tend to get pretty bad heartburn, make sure that you add an antacid to your list of things to have on hand. If you find yourself stuck at home during an emergency, you’re not going to be able to run to Target to pick up a bottle of Tums, no matter how sick you feel.

4)      Look around your house. Figure out where you can store your prepper gear. If it’s going to take you some time to clear out a spot, now is the time to do this. You could keep your prepper stuff in an empty kitchen cupboard, under your bed, or even in the linen closet. Some preppers, myself included, like to keep prepper gear in a plastic tub with a lid. This way, if the house floods, your gear will stay dry. Keeping things like food and water in a plastic container also ensures that your prepper food is there when you need it.

5)      List your essentials for your emergency kit. If you’re limited on space, write down the things that you absolutely must have on hand. These are things that you should keep in an emergency kit at all times. Even if you have a prepper pantry or a lot of gear stored in your linen closet, you should also have a small box with your essentials. You can shove it under your bed or the bathroom sink. You can keep it in the kitchen cupboard. It doesn’t matter. Just have something on hand. For me, this is an asthma inhaler, granola bars, batteries, a battery-operated nebulizer, and water. For you, it could be an extra bag of pet food, a flashlight, or even an extra pack of cigarettes. It doesn’t matter. Just consider what you can’t live without for a few days and make sure to stick it in that box.

That’s all for day one! Congratulations: you’re well on your way to becoming a full-fledged prepper. Remember to take your time making your lists. You’ll probably add things throughout the day, which is fine. It’s important to get your stuff together now, before you head to the store.

Day Two

Now that you’ve started making your survival gear lists, we’re going to add a few more activities to your prepping.

First off, you’re going to create a bug-out bag list.

What’s a bug-out bag? It’s basically a mobile emergency kit. A bug-out bag is sometimes called a 72-hour kit. It should be in a mobile bag or backpack that you can take with you if you need to evacuate. Your kit should include enough water, food, and supplies to last you and each family member for three days. Note: You may need multiple bags if you have several family members.

Some possible things to include in your bug-out bag are:

Bandages

Water bottles

Granola bars

Tylenol or other painkillers

Cash

Identification

Pocket knife

Matches

Emergency blanket

Emergency flares

Of course, the items that you include will vary based on your personal needs. Sit down with a notebook and a piece of paper and jot down the things that your bag should include. Remember to pack for any pets you may have!

The other thing that you’ll do today is to start researching problems in your area. Do you tend to get hurricanes? Winter storms? Hail? Floods? What is the major natural disaster in your location that tends to cause problems? Read about it. The more informed that you are, the better you’ll be able to prepare your family.

If you live in an area with earthquakes, for example, read a few websites about earthquake survival. Learn what you need to do if an earthquake strikes. Learn what you need to do if someone gets hurt. Just spend 30-60 minutes Googling and reading about your area and the different problems that tend to arise. This will give you a better understanding of the type of preparations that you need to do.

Why is area-specific planning important? Because you don’t need to prepare for tornadoes if your area never has them. You don’t need to prepare for hurricanes if you aren’t going to see one. You do, however, need to know what to do if a specific disaster strikes. The best way to prepare is to learn how often these types of disasters occur and what the response is like in your area.

Day Three

You’re almost halfway through your week of prepping. Congrats!

Today we’re going to do three things:

Exercise

Look around the house

Search online

First off: exercise. I know it’s not fun. I know it’s not something anyone really wants to do. In order to prepare for emergencies, though, it’s important to start getting in shape. If you need to evacuate your home due to flooding, you might be doing some climbing. If you have to leave your house due to an earthquake, you may have to walk for awhile. Make a conscious effort to start exercising as long as you are physically able to do so. You don’t have to do anything strenuous, but starting to walk each day or even incorporating a little bit of yoga into your life can be very helpful.

Next, look around your house for prepper supplies. What things do you already have on hand? The more that you can reuse from around your house, the less you’re going to have to buy. For example, do your kids have toy flashlights? If they still work, you don’t necessarily need to buy new flashlights. Do you have camping gear? You may be able to reuse some if it in your bug-out bags. Do you still have dried MREs in your garage? Awesome. You probably won’t have to buy more. Do a quick walk-thru of your home and determine which things you might be able to use in your prepping. Chances are that you have a few things – like old blankets, for example – that you can use in your prepping.

Finally, look online for other cheap and inexpensive prepping items. Instead of buying a brand new backpack for your bug-out bag, for example, see if you can get a free one on Craigslist or Freecycle. Instead of dropping the cash on a new battery-operated radio, check out eBay or your local Facebook sale pages to see if you can get one at a discounted rate. You don’t need to spend a ton of time doing this today, but give yourself half an hour or so to look for local good deals. While prepping is important, you shouldn’t go into debt in order to do so.

Day Four

Today, you’re going to continue prepping with your lists in hand.

The first thing that you’re going to do is to take your lists and head to the pharmacy. Pick up an extra bottle of cold medicine or some antacids. Grab a bottle of children’s Tylenol or Benedryl. Basically, if there’s something that your family might need during a power outage that you can’t live without or that you’d be very uncomfortable living without, grab it today.

If you need prescription medication, make sure that your prescriptions are up-to-date. If they aren’t, give your doctor a call to request a prescription refill or to schedule an appointment to get a prescription. While insurance companies don’t typically cover an extra month of care, you can fill prescriptions a few days early, rather than right on time, to give yourself a few extra days’ worth of medication should something go wrong. Another option would be to pay out of pocket for an extra months’ worth of prescription, though this isn’t always a financially feasible option.

Today you also need to find out where your local shelters are. You can check this online. Just take a look at what your local Red Cross emergency shelter locations are. If you don’t know where something is, try to find it today. You’ll already be out at the pharmacy, so swing by the emergency location. This is usually the nearby high school or other communal building.

While most prepping guides will warn you to stay as far away from shelters as possible, sometimes this can’t be helped. If a tree falls through your house during a hurricane, you might not have a choice when it comes to staying at a shelter. Just make sure that if you do end up staying at a shelter during an emergency that you take precautions. Don’t let your belongings out of your sight, keep family members close, and wash your hands frequently to avoid illness.

Day Five

Day five is probably one of the most exciting days this week. Today is your shopping day! Today is the day when you’re going to take your lists and head to the store to start your prepping. Before you go, though, there are a few things to remember.

First off, you don’t have to buy everything today. If something seems pricey or you know it’ll be on sale next week, you can wait a few days. The world won’t end and you’ll be fine. I promise. Similarly, if you’re financially strapped right now, you can postpone your shopping until you have time. It’s really okay.

If you’re ready, though, you can head to the store and pick up your prepper supplies. Remember to get things like bottled water or gallons of water, dried meat like beef jerky, crackers or snacks for your kids, and maybe even a bottle of wine for yourself. (Yes, it’s okay to drink wine during a power outage, as long as you’re responsible about it.)

When you get home, go ahead and organize your prepper stuff. The exact way that you organize is going to vary depending on where and how you’re storing your gear. As I mentioned before, I like to keep my things in a large plastic box with a lid because it keeps everything in one spot. It also prevents family members from snacking on the items during a non-emergency situation. If you plan to keep your prepper gear in a closet or even in a kitchen cabinet, make sure that you put it in a small basket or bag to keep your things separate from your regular groceries. This way, you’ll know that your prepper things will be there when you need them. Remember that you don’t have to keep these things in the kitchen. While I wouldn’t recommend a garage (due to heat during the summer and extreme cold during the winter), you can easily store emergency supplies in a closet.

You’ll also want to mark the dates that you purchased each item directly on the box. Use a black permanent marker to write the month and year that you purchased the item. Many things will last you a few months, but some things, like crackers, are going to start to go stale at some point. If you write the date on each item, you’ll be able to effectively rotate your food.

If you’ve never rotated food before, this just means that after a few months, you replace the food in your bug-out box or emergency kit with fresh products. It’ll ensure that your family has the safest, freshest possible food during an emergency.

Today is also a great day to start talking about prepping with your kids. Chances are that they came with you to the grocery store. While you shouldn’t try to scare your youngsters, you should let them know that sometimes things like storms happen. When you prepare for these things ahead of time, you aren’t panicking. You’re simply making sure that your family will be as safe as possible during an emergency. Make sure that you give your kids a chance to talk, too. Maybe they have questions or are a little nervous about some impending bad weather.

Day Six

Since you already took care of your indoor emergency supplies yesterday, today we’re going to work on your mobile supplies.

Today is bug-out bag day.

Go ahead and put your bug-out bag supplies in your bag. Of course, this doesn’t have to be a backpack. You could use a duffel bag if you prefer. I actually have my car emergency supplies in a rolling suitcase because it’s so easy to drag around and fits easily in my car. Plus, since I prep for myself and my kids, using a suitcase means I can keep everything in one spot. Of course, this isn’t going to work well if I found myself in a situation where I had to walk a long distance, but with two kids in tow, I probably wouldn’t be hauling a 50+ pound backpack, either. Just use your discretion and choose a method of storing things in your car that works for you.

Remember to include water and food in your bug-out bag, as well as copies of important documents. If you’re leaving your home on short notice or you find yourself stranded somewhere with only your bug-out bag, you’re going to want to have things like a copy of your driver’s license, a copy of your birth certificate, and possibly even a copy of your passport.

Store important documents, as well as things like bandages and first aid supplies, in plastic freezer bags. You’ll then put these bags inside your bug-out bag. The reason you store documents and small supplies in freezer bags is that it helps you stay organized, but it also protects the items in case your bag gets wet. If you’re opting for a backpack, for example, and you have to carry your bug-out bag through a hurricane to get to shelter, your stuff is going to get completely soaked. Having important items in plastic bags is going to save you a lot of stress.

Make sure that when you’re packing a bug-out bag, you also include a good pair of shoes. Chances are that you have an extra pair of old sneakers lying around that haven’t seen use in awhile. Consider throwing them into your bug-out back or even just in the trunk of your car. If you find yourself leaving your home in a hurry, you may not have time to grab good walking shoes, and you’ll be glad to have some on hand.

Finally, hit the ATM or bank today and withdraw some cash. You don’t need to have a lot of cash in your bug-out bag, but try to have enough for three days. Remember that when the power goes out, so do the computers and credit card machines. Even if you have to seek shelter at a nearby hotel for some reason, having cash is going to ensure that you’re able to protect and care for your family.

If you cannot afford to put a lot of money in your bug-out bag, that’s fine! Just start slowing. Make an effort. Consider putting in $5 or even $10 at first. As you continue prepping, you can continue to add funds until you’re comfortable with the amount of cash that you have on hand. Of course, you should try to use small bills as much as possible since there’s no guarantee that other people will be able to make change.

Day Seven

Now that you’ve started prepping, it’s up to you whether or not to keep going. I’d love to encourage you, however, to make today the day that you decide to continue learning.

Today’s activity is to pick something about prepping and to read about it.

This could mean that you read another book on prepping, a prepper blog, a survivalist website, or even a message board geared toward survival junkies.

You could learn how to stitch a wound.

You could read a website that talks about first aid.

You could sign up for a Red Cross class.

You could learn how to perform CPR.

Today is the day to decide to keep going.

There will be times when you feel overwhelmed with life. There will be times when you feel like you’ll never be ready for anything that comes your way. With proper planning, a good attitude, and the right encouragement, though, you can do anything.

Today is your day.