Thumb Drive

I have just been reading about some creative uses for thumb drives that I thought would be worth sharing.

1. For insurance purposes inventory your house and belongings with a digital camera including owner's manuals and receipts then download it onto a thumb drive.

2. Scan important documents like passports, credit cards front and back, driver's license, bank account info , etc.. Put all that on a thumb drive and put it in your 72-hour kit.

3. As the cost of thumb drives go down use them to back up your computer.

Survival Kit for your Pocket

As I was going through boxes in the basement the other day, I found some preparedness papers that we colected in Minnesota. I thought this was an interesting one about a survival kit for your pocket.

Your container should be waterproof and small enough to fit in your pocket.

1. Emergency food, like boulion cubes or ration bar.
2. Matches waterproofed in wax or nail polish. Or just buy waterproof matches.
3. Fire starter made from tightly rolled paper soaked in paraffin.
4. Compass.
5. Whistle.
6. Small knife or one sided razor blade.
7. Nylon fishline, heavy.
8. Fishing lures that work in your area.
9. Wire, 5-10 ft. long, light and flexible for snares.
10. Adhesive tape, 1-inch wide in strips 12 inches long.
11. Pencil and paper for messages.
12. Aluminum Foil, heavy duty, two sheets 12 inches square to make drinking and cooking
utensils.
13. Tablets to purify water.

I have no idea how or why we received this. Maybe Dad got it when he was scoutmaster, and they were doing a lot of camping.

Bucket O' Food

I have told most of the people who check this blog about this already, but we have been buying these buckets of emergency food from Costco. We originally found them for $50 on the shelf at Costco, but have not been able find them since. We checked on the company's website, but they were selling for over $100 -- so we gave up for awhile. Then we decided to check on Costco's website and found them for $79.00 ---- which is more then we originally paid, but seemed like a good deal after seeing the company's website plus it includes shipping in the price. We now have a total of 7 buckets.

The buckets have 275 servings each and have a 20 year shelf-life. In case you are interested, here is my take on the pros and cons of the bucket o' food. Let's start with the CONS: limited variety of food (only 8 different meals), unknown quality, and most meals require cooking (which may be difficult in an emergency situation - side note: I have read that freeze-dried food is the best for emergency situations because they generally require little or no cooking). PROS: very compact, long shelf life, pretty affordable, easy storage (hard plastic buckets that can be stacked in a garage without worrying about rodents), and you can wear the buckets on your head after you eat all of the food.

3-Month Supply

As Kristina was reading some of the ideas that she had for her lesson tomorrow, I really liked this one. I like it because it's something simple that even I can do, a poor college student. I am quoting from the brochure "All is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage" by the church. "Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage."
When I go to the store now I can buy one or two extra cans of corn, which I like, and start builiding a small supply of food storage. I don't have to be overwhelmed by the thought of getting food storage. I just need to gather it little by little.

Preparedness Lesson

I would like to share some random quotes from my upcoming RS lesson about financial and spiritual preparedness:

Regarding work, J Rueben Clark said, " All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, but all play and no work makes Jack a useless boy"

"Work brings happiness, self-esteem, and prosperity. It is the means of all accomplishment; it is the opposite of idleness."

"Financial peace of mind is not determined by how much we make, but is dependent upon how much we spend."

Cool website: personalfinance.byu.edu offers an LDS perspective on wealth and has 3 courses to teach finance

"It is much better that a plastic credit card should perish than a family dwindle and perish in debt." Elder Joseph B Wirthlin

Here's an example of how credit card debt brings financial trouble: If you have $3000 on your credit card and you make the minimum payment of 2 1/2 % each month and you pay 19% interest, it will take you 23 years to pay off your card!

Here's the most important part of the lesson from Henry B Eyring, "But there is another even more important preparation we must make for tests that are certain to come to each of us. That preparation must be started far in advance because it takes time. What we will need then can’t be bought. It can’t be borrowed. It doesn’t store well. And it has to have been used regularly and recently.

What we will need in our day of testing is a spiritual preparation. It is to have developed faith in Jesus Christ so powerful that we can pass the test of life upon which everything for us in eternity depends."

Ok, now I need to go and really work on my lesson!