As you guys have heard me talk about before, we are big into emergency preparedness. If you remember this post about our financial plan, you know that we have a monetary emergency fund. I think it is also important to have emergency food, water and supply "funds". When all these things are in place, even if you lost your job you would be able to live comfortably and without added stress while searching for something else.
Obviously, these things can be expensive to accumulate, so we work a line item into our budget and build our storage a little bit at a time.
Awhile ago, we had a little unexpected extra money (how often does that happen??) and we decided to be smart with it and invest in some of our emergency funds. One of the things we bought were two of these kits from Emergency Essentials. Of course as soon as we got them I dumped it out to inspect. I was super happy with the kits, but as I went through them I realized that it could be duplicated pretty easily with things you most likely have on hand.
Long story short, I decided to make 72 hour car kits for both our cars (since those were on our list anyway) and today I am going to show you what I did!
First, find an old duffel bag that you don't use anymore to put your kit into. Then, start accumulating your items. I made a list of things that I put in my kits for you to work off:
72 Hour Car Kits:
-One change of clothes per person (I did long pants, a tee shirt, and a sweatshirt for each)
-One pair of socks and shoes per person
-Flashlights
-Extra batteries for flashlights
-A lighter or matches
-Toilet paper
-Toothbrushes
-Toothpaste
-Soap
-Other toiletries (ex: I wear contacts, so I had to have an extra pair, as well as a case w/solution) this is a great way to use your free samples that come in the mail (remember this post?)
-Hand sanitizer
-Pocketknife
-Energy Bars (you want as many calories as possible in these)
-Hard Candies
-Whistle
-Poncho
-Duck tape
-Glow sticks
-Hand warmers
-First aid kit
-Antibiotic ointment
-Medicine (I just grabbed basic tylenol etc. for the most part, but if you have special needs you will want to include that medicine. I grabbed an inhaler for my husband.)
*Also in our cars we have a 5 gallon water jug, and a couple of big quilts.
Now just stuff your kit into your bag!
So many of these things can be found at the dollar store (flashlights, poncho, mini first aid kits, lighters and so much more!) Even if you don't have some of the things on the list, don't give up, you can still make a kit for so cheap.
If you are worried about the food/water for 3 days for multiple people fitting in your bag, here are some cheap, long lasting, and space conservative options that I use, emergency Water Packets and these energy bars.
Good luck guys!
Debt Free Mommy
It's Party Time over at Debt Free Mommy Blog and you are invited! Please come link up anything related to making your space better at http://debtfreemommyblog.blogspot.com/ and mark your calendars for every Making Space Mondays linky party. The fun begins at 9:00 pm tonight. Hope to see you there!
Iroshi Windwalker
I have one of those kits from Emergency Essentials, too. ^_^ It mostly sits in our pantry/storage/laundry room with all our other supplies, but we grab it to put in the car any time we're driving out of town.
I just learned this past week on a camping trip two things that *need* to be added to the first aid kit - tweezers and nail clippers. We had a teeeeny tiny splinter in one of our kids' feet that went deep and we couldn't get it out with the tools we had on hand. Thankfully, it was just as we were packing up the camp to go home, anyway, and it didn't hurt when she wasn't stepping on it, so we just got it out when we got home. (Nail clippers work *much* better at cutting skin back from around a splinter painlessly than any scissors we've ever tried.)
Michelles Tasty Creations
Jessica,
This is amazing! I love how you put them together for the cars from stuff you already had. We have all that stuff, plus more I'm sure, laying around just needing a home. I'm so going to make these for our vehicles. Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday last week. I can't wait to see what you link up next. Have a great week.
Michelle
Pam from Over the Big Moon
So smart to have them in the car! We have a perfect little hiding cubby below the middle seats too!
Amelia
Thank you for breaking it down to a realistic project. I have one upstairs but it definitely needs updating.
Meredith
I always think we should do this, but never have! Thanks for the push--this is a great idea :)
Sarah
You are a genius. I have been meaning to get these forever. I never thought of putting it together by myself. Can't wait to get them done and feel lots more secure!