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# Simply Preparing

## Sitemaps
[XML Sitemap](https://simplypreparing.com/sitemap_index.xml): Includes all crawlable and indexable pages.

## Posts
- [How a Gravity Water Filter System Helps You Be Prepared For Hurricane Season](https://simplypreparing.com/how-a-gravity-water-filter-system-helps-you-be-prepared-for-hurricane-season/): What most Southeast homeowners already have is a large, untapped water source sitting in their backyard. A swimming pool. A pond. A hot tub. That water isn't safe to drink as-is, but with a gravity water filter system, it becomes a reliable source you can keep drawing from for weeks.
- [The EcoFlow Delta 2 Power Station: Your Silent, Powerful Emergency Backup](https://simplypreparing.com/the-ecoflow-delta-2-power-station-your-silent-powerful-emergency-backup/): The knock against portable power stations has always been capacity. They're good for phones and laptops, not much else. The EcoFlow Delta 2 changes that math.
- [Easy Emergency Water Storage Ideas for Beginners](https://simplypreparing.com/easy-emergency-water-storage-ideas-for-beginners/): When people first start preparing for emergencies, food usually gets all the attention — but water is honestly the thing that matters most. Whether you’re dealing with hurricanes, power outages, winter storms, or unexpected water contamination, having a simple emergency water storage plan can make a huge difference.
- [We Launched a YouTube Channel for Simply Preparing 🎥](https://simplypreparing.com/we-launched-a-youtube-channel-for-simply-preparing-%f0%9f%8e%a5/): We’re excited to share something new with our Simply Preparing community — we’ve launched a YouTube channel!
- [Spring Preparedness Starts Now: Save 50% on Essentials with Thrivalist 🌸](https://simplypreparing.com/spring-preparedness-starts-now-save-50-on-essentials-with-thrivalist-%f0%9f%8c%b8/): Uncertain times have a way of reminding us why we prepare in the first place.
- [Preparing For Potential Tariffs: Should You Be Stockpiling?](https://simplypreparing.com/preparing-for-potential-tariffs-should-you-be-stockpiling/): Hearing about new tariffs can make people worry about stockpiling. Tariffs are basically taxes on goods brought in from other countries. When tariffs go up, companies often pass that cost to shoppers. This makes items made overseas cost more. It's hard to know exactly which goods or countries will be affected before it's official. But knowing the types of products often hit by tariffs can help you decide what to buy, especially if you planned to buy something anyway.
- [Top 10 Oils For Prepping](https://simplypreparing.com/top-10-oils-for-prepping/): If you don't yet have a stash (or a hoard) of essential oils, now is the time to start stocking up. Things are changing in our ability to access health care and you want to be able to take care of your family in non traditional ways. To that end, here is the top 10 oils for prepping and how to start building your stockpile of essential oils. Unfortunately there are so many things that I am not allowed to share about oils due to regulations. So it is my hope that using what I can say below leads you to peak your curiosity about oils and starts you on your research journey.
- [Last Minute Winter Emergency Road Trip List](https://simplypreparing.com/last-minute-winter-emergency-road-trip-list/): Heading to the snowy mountains for the holidays? Here is a last minute winter emergency road trip list to keep you and your family safe!
- [Preppers Wish List](https://simplypreparing.com/preppers-wish-list/): Instead of the latest useless gadget this year, why not get some emergency preparedness gifts for your loved one? Here are a list of items that are guaranteed to be on your preppers wish list!
- [After Halloween Sales On Prepping Items](https://simplypreparing.com/after-halloween-sales-on-prepping-items/): Hi Everyone-
- [Time to Update Your Emergency Road Trip Kit](https://simplypreparing.com/time-update-emergency-road-trip-kit/): Every year you should take out your emergency road trip kit, check it and refresh it because you just never know when you hit the open road, what sort of road blocks you will run into…Thanks to OnStar for providing today’s reminder.
- [Technology in Vehicles](https://simplypreparing.com/technology-vehicles/): Disclosure: I have long had an interest in technology in vehicles and how that plays a role in emergency preparedness. For that reason I am a paid OnStar Ambassador through SocialMoms. While I am being compensated for this post, I believe passionately in the role of technology in vehicles for safety and the opinions expressed are solely my own.
- [The Pros and Cons of MREs](https://simplypreparing.com/pros-cons-mres/): Most preppers and outdoor enthusiasts are familiar with MREs. MRE stands for meal, ready-to-eat, and they are most common as field rations for the military. MREs are meant to feed one individual for one meal. Fortunately, these meals in a bag or box have come a long way since hardtack, cans of Spam, and freeze-dried meat. Modern MREs offer a wide range of foodstuffs and now include heating elements, desserts, and beverage powders. There are even MREs made for cold weather that pack plenty of extra calories when you need them to stay warm.
- [Unpredictable Winter Weather](https://simplypreparing.com/unpredictable-winter-weather/): Snow is starting to fall and that means unpredictable winter weather is upon us. Taking simple steps now to plan ahead for winter weather emergencies can help thwart a disaster. Here are three posts that can get you started in your winter weather preparations in and around the home.
- [Dressing for Unpredictable Weather](https://simplypreparing.com/dressing-for-unpredictable-weather/): Dressing for unpredictable weather appropriately  is critical when spending time outdoors. The best way to do this is to layer your clothing. That way you can adjust what you are wearing to both your activity level and the weather, and you will be able to simply add or subtract layers. Experts recommend you have three layers of clothing and each perform a different function: a base layer, an insulating layer, and an outer shell layer.
- [Prepping on a Budget: Things to Buy at Thanksgiving](https://simplypreparing.com/preps-to-buy-at-thanksgiving/): Thanksgiving has to be one of the best times of the year for prepping on a budget. Loss leaders are the items stores deeply discount to get you in the door in hopes you will buy the rest of your meal there. I admit, I am a lazy couponer and deal shopper at best these days but this is one week that all the ads are spread out and my strategies kick in. Especially if money is tight for prepping this week your extra $5-$10 will yield you much better results than most others throughout the year.
- [Dangers of Standing Flood Water](https://simplypreparing.com/dangers-standing-flood-water/): Eating or drinking standing flood water can cause diarrhea. Flood water that collects after a large storm can cause many infectious diseases like E-Coli, TB, Encephalitis and West Nile Virus. To prevent this, first, keep your children and pets out of the water! But if they come in contact with it, practice good hygiene by washing hands or taking a shower and disinfecting objects that may have come in contact with it with a bleach solution: 1 teaspoon of bleach to 1 gallon of clean water. It's very important to see a doctor if someone in your family becomes sick after exposure to standing flood water. Water borne illnesses can spread quickly in a family.
- [First Time At The Shooting Range: What To Expect](https://simplypreparing.com/first-time-at-the-shooting-range/): There are a lot of things we swore we would never do before we actually became parents. Give in and buy the kids a candy bar at the store, let them play tic-tac-toe with the sugar packets in a restaurant, exclusively breastfeed for an entire year, let them sleep sneak in our beds, own a gun. Did you have to go back and make sure you read that last one right? I would have. I hesitated when I wrote it. However, my job as a mother is to protect my children against anything, and this maternal instinct is stronger than any previous agenda I may have had before I knew what dangers would face my family in today’s world. I have started to hate turning on the news. I can only see so many heart-wrenching stories of school shootings and kidnappings before I feel an overwhelming anxiety every time I kiss my children goodbye. I walk through my son’s school hallways and notice that one of the teachers has covered all of the windows, another keeps her door locked, there are security procedures put in place. In the deepest part of my heart where my biggest fears live, I feel the worry of what if this isn’t enough. Even at the school family movie night I had a fleeting thought that this would be the perfect opportunity for someone with a vindictive mind, and there would be nothing I could do to stop him or her. These thoughts leave me feeling scared, paranoid, and worst of all…helpless.
- [Preparing for the Outdoors: The Ten Essentials](https://simplypreparing.com/preparing-for-the-outdoors/): The Ten Outdoor Essentials is a list of items you need in order to enhance your chances of survival if an emergency situation occurs. Ideally, these items need to be brought on every outdoors excursion. After all, being prepared is better than being sorry. However, as you grow more familiar with the list, you can modify it to fit your needs. The Ten Essentials is helpful to approach as a number of different systems. When preparing for the outdoors the Ten Outdoor Essentials are:
- [How To Disinfect Water With Pool Shock](https://simplypreparing.com/disinfect-water-with-pool-shock/): Bleach is a common item in a preppers stockpile. While bleach has many important uses in an emergency situation, it has drawbacks: it expires quickly and it takes up a lot of space.
- [Mandatory Evacuation: Are You Ready?](https://simplypreparing.com/mandatory-evacuation/): Mandatory evacuations can happen at any time. Those of us that live in high fire danger areas have seen whole communities destroyed summer after summer. For most of them, they had more than 10 minutes to prepare. But what if it's 2 am and a fireman knocks at your door?  Are you prepared to evacuate your family in 10 mins or less? Take 5 mins and see what that experience looks like for these 2 families that are obviously well prepared that this is about to happen
- [How To Make An Emergency Road Trip Kit](https://simplypreparing.com/emergency-road-trip-kit/): An emergency road trip kit can make or break a family trip. Besides the essentials for a mechanical or health emergency, an emergency road trip kit should contain things that make your family comfortable and happy in case of the little bumps along the road, like unexpected delays or fun side stops. Remember: prepping is about preparing for both the little things and the big ones.
- [Starting Seeds Indoors: Germination](https://simplypreparing.com/starting-seeds-indoors-germination/): Starting seeds indoors? Really? Already? If you are like me, and still having huge storms at the end of March, it may be hard to remember that it is time to get those seeds started indoors! But believe it or not, it is.
- [Vacuum Sealing Mason Jars | Food Storage](https://simplypreparing.com/vacuum-sealing-mason-jars/): You may remember a few weeks ago Tammy talked about vacuum sealing mason jars to store fresh nuts that she buys in coops for prepping on a budget.
- [Starting Seeds Indoors](https://simplypreparing.com/starting-seeds-indoors/): Starting seeds indoors is the first step in learning to grow your own food. Learning how to start a garden from seed is a very important skill in prepping. Food prices are going through the roof as well as the cost of those cute little plants the nursery is starting for you now and will have on sale in a few months.  Why pay for that when you can do it on your own. It's not scary. I promise and I will walk you through it step by step.
- [Top 5 Pinners to Follow For Prepping](https://simplypreparing.com/top-5-pinners-to-follow-for-prepping/): Our love for getting prepping advice from Pinterest is well known and we often showcase our favorite ideas on pinterest here. Today we thought it would be nice to show you our top 5 pinners to follow for prepping so that you can follow them too. In no particular order here they are!
- [11 Things To Do Before a Winter Storm](https://simplypreparing.com/things-to-do-before-a-winter-storm/): Winter Storms are in full swing all over the country. If you are not quite prepared, here are 11 things to do before a winter storm to keep your family safe.
- [Paper Plates For Emergencies: Super Bowl Sales](https://simplypreparing.com/paper-plates-for-emergencies/): Super Bowl Sunday is here and that means, before you sit down for the big game, let's put some thought into how this American tradition can further your preps! If you have been a regular reader here for awhile you know that I LOVE holidays because each one brings its own chance to prep on a budget! To be honest, the Super Bowl isn't a huge opportunity to prep but there is at least one thing you don't want to miss out on: paper plates for emergencies, plastic cups and plastic utensils!
- [Preparing Freezer Meals](https://simplypreparing.com/preparing-freezer-meals/): Freezer meals are a must to have on hand for dealing with the little family emergencies that come up from time to time. They are perfect to have on hand as a part of being prepared for the flu, helping to hedge against rising food prices, or just a night that you can't get it all together and need a helping hand.
- [School Resource Officers: I Just Want Our Kids To Be As Safe As We Were](https://simplypreparing.com/school-resource-officers/): I remember my first year of teaching. It was 1st grade in a low income area serving a population of students that were currently homeless. It was one of only a handful of public schools in the country dealing with the educational crisis caused by homelessness. I was a bright eyed, bushy tailed teacher ready to change the world. I remember those years in that school so fondly. I loved most minutes of it. Even though it was in a very "rough" part of town, I never, ever felt unsafe at school. I think a big part of the reason why was because of my friend Kathy. Kathy was our schools resource officer. According to the National Association of School Resource Officers:
- [Creating A Support System for Personal Emergencies and Disasters](https://simplypreparing.com/support-system/): Sadly, many of my friends are going through their own personal emergencies and disasters: loss of a job, death in the family and even a good friend starting breast cancer treatments as a single mom. Thankfully, I feel blessed to be a part of each of their support system as I know they would do the same for me if the situations were reversed. Each personal disaster that I see my friends go through brings me back to the heart of what this site is about: preparing for the unexpected. Too often "preppers" are painted with a Doomsday brush. But really, the majority of us that prep are more trying to be ready for those unexpected bumps in the road that involve your own family.
- [Prepping With Potatoes](https://simplypreparing.com/prepping-with-potatoes/): Potatoes are cheap, store well, and are easy to find thus making them a great friend of preppers. Recently 10# bags of potatoes have been on sale for $1.99 in my area leading me to search for many ways that prepping with potatoes can be done. Here is how I have been using these sales to further increase my food stores.
- [Write Your Representatives | Today’s Sunday Skill](https://simplypreparing.com/write-your-representatives/): Being politically active and letting your voice be heard is an important part of preparedness. Following the news and subscribing to political grassroots organizations serves not only as an early warning system for civil, financial or political unrest but as an opportunity to have your voice matter. Believe it or not, our governmental officials ARE listening to what we have to say. If nothing more, your letters, calls and emails count in a tally on the pulse of how their constituents feel on any particular matter. It takes just a few minutes to write your representatives and let your voice be heard. 
- [Buying Junk Silver As Part of Your Prepping](https://simplypreparing.com/buying-junk-silver/): When people talk about buying junk silver they are referring to US dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars minted through 1964. These coins were produced with 90% silver and 10% copper. They have an "intrinsic value" which means the metal to produce them actually has value unlike a paper dollar bill. The penny has always been copper or steel (for one or two war years) and the nickel is made of nickel and copper so they are not being referred to when people discuss the $1 face valuation of junk silver. A dollars worth (4 quarters, 10 dimes, etc.) of coins add up to .75 of a Troy ounce of silver, but because of wear it is accepted to use .715 as the multiplier. Generally you get the most silver for your money when buying junk silver as the premiums typically are the cheapest.
- [Stocking Up On Over the Counter Medicines](https://simplypreparing.com/stocking-up-on-over-the-counter-medicines/): Stocking up on over the counter medicines should be a top priority for any beginning prepper. OTC medications are often inexpensive and easy to accumulate because they are widely available. Over the counter medicines can be lifesaving in an emergency situation and I encourage you to make sure you store each of the following in addition to the Physicians Desk Reference or a nursing guide to drugs which you can frequently find at the Goodwill for less than $1. Remember-I am NOT a doctor. These are things I personally store for my family and am sharing so you can determine what might be right for yours.
- [How To Turn Off Water To Your House: Todays Sunday Skill](https://simplypreparing.com/how-to-turn-off-water-to-your-house-todays-sunday-skill/): There are many reasons that you would need to know how to turn off water to your house: broken pipes, frozen pipes, and outside water contamination are just a few. For today's Sunday Skill you will need to find where the water comes into your house. If you have a house with a basement, it is probably there. Mine happens to be housed in the basement next to the sump pump. If you have a single story house in a warmer climate, chances are your water shut off is in the garage or near your washer and dryer. This is what my water shut off valve looks like. Your valve may look very different than mine, it could have a lever, a screw or a hose bib.
- [Emergency Radio Review: Ambient Weather WR-111A](https://simplypreparing.com/emergency-radio-review/): An emergency radio is an essential part of every households disaster and emergency preparedness supplies. I decided to do a video review of my new favorite emergency radio after purchasing the Ambient Weather WR-111A from Amazon. I hope it helps some of you looking for a new model or gets you thinking about buying your first! For roughly $40 this one can't be beat in my opinion.  This little guy is perfect for a bug out bag, a car and any household. I love that it can be charged by both a hand crank or solar power, serves as an emergency phone charger and has a 3-LED flashlight.
- [Are You Preparing For December 21?](https://simplypreparing.com/are-you-preparing-for-december-21/): The much discussed Mayan end of the world prediction date of 12/21/12 is just a few days. Are you preparing for December 21 any differently than you normally prep? Have you felt an urgency to step up your prepping regime in anticipation for Friday? Or are you just starting to think that perhaps prepper's aren't so crazy and you better get stocked up in the next 4 days?
- [7 Manual Kitchen Tools I’m Glad I Have For Emergencies](https://simplypreparing.com/manual-kitchen-tools/): Manual kitchen tools are important to have in your home in case of an emergency that includes no electricity. We inherited my childhood home from my Depression-era grandparents and I have been blessed enough to still have many of the high-quality manual kitchen tools that they used. But all is not lost if you weren't this lucky! These kitchen gadgets can be found anywhere. Garage sales and thrift stores may be just the place to get the quality ones of the past, but IKEA, Target, Walmart and dollar stores sell most of these manual kitchen tools as well! Just always be thinking when you are in the kitchen "How could I make this if I didn't have electricity?" I guarantee almost every new fancy appliance we have has an older generation solution! Here are some of my favorites!
- [How To Open a Can: Sunday Skill](https://simplypreparing.com/how-to-open-a-can/): Today's Sunday skill is teaching your kids how to open a can with a mechanical can opener. This is another one of those tools where most of us are so used to popping out the electrical can opener that if we have a mechanical one, it is likely buried in the back of your drawer and your kids have no idea what it is. It won't do much good for you to have a stocked panty if your family cannot get the cans open! Every household should have a minimum of two manual can openers (in case one breaks). I personally have 3 of the ones below and numerous bottle opener types that would just do a V-shaped puncture open. You can pick can openers up super cheap if you keep your eye out for them. IKEA is actually one of my favorite places for picking tools like this up for $1 or $2. They are also commonly found at Goodwill Stores and garage sales for 50 cents.
- [Zombie Soup: Dry Soup Mix For Emergency Prepardness](https://simplypreparing.com/dry-soup-mix-for-emergencies/): I have always loved the story of Stone Soup. A community coming together to chip in and make something out of nothing is how I envision what I hope my community becomes in an emergency scenario. Homemade dry soup mix made from dehydrated vegetables is an excellent part of your emergency food storage plans. Before I get blasted by the people out there who keep prepping 100% OPSEC (operational security), I have built sharing into my prepping in a short term emergency. I feel the best security is to make sure that no one around me is truly in need. AKA a zombie. Prepping things like this simple Zombie Soup will hopefully go a long way in keeping the zombies at bay for at least a little while.
- [Do You Need a Tactical Flashlight For Your Bug Out Bag?](https://simplypreparing.com/giveaway-do-you-need-a-tactical-flashlight-for-your-bug-out-bag/): I'll admit it. I didn't get the hype on buying special tactical flashlights for emergency use. My house is stocked full of the big plastic ones with the D cell batteries. After reviewing this Nebo 5160 SE Redline, I am a total convert! Everyone needs to have a tactical flashlight in their Bug Out Bag and as a part of their survival gear. Instead of boring you with all the details in writing, I decided to just bite the bullet and show you how the Nebo 5160 works.  Presenting my first video review here on Simply Preparing:
- [How To Store Coffee Plus a Giveaway *closed*!](https://simplypreparing.com/how-to-store-coffee-giveaway/): I love helping to support small family businesses and I love coffee so when a friend told me about Brown & Jenkins, a small, family owned coffee roaster in Vermont I was more than intrigued. The more I learned about how their process is organic and they have an eye towards sustainability I became a fan. And then I found out that they are fans of the prepper movement, I thought we were a marriage made in heaven! Given their expertise I asked them to help us learn the best way to store coffee for our preps!
- [Sunday Skill: Cotton Ball Fire Starters](https://simplypreparing.com/sunday-skill-cotton-ball-fire-starters/): Cotton ball fire starters burn for quite a bit of time allowing you to quickly get kindling lit and a good fire going. In order to make your fire starters you need 3 things: cotton balls, petroleum jelly (vaseline) and a container to keep them in. I like to use old prescription medicine bottles as containers. If I was making this for a bug out bag I would use a smaller prescription bottle that would fit about 5 balls smashed in.
- [Prepping Projects For Thanksgiving Weekend](https://simplypreparing.com/thanksgiving-weekend-prepping-projects/): Pinterest has been bursting with great ideas for prepping over this holiday weekend. Here are some of my favorite ideas for Thanksgiving weekend prepping projects.
- [How to Dehydrate Apples](https://simplypreparing.com/how-to-dehydrate-apples/): Dehydrating food is a skill that all preppers should master and dehydrated apples are probably the easiest food to learn with.  But I would be seriously remiss in letting anyone think that I store dehydrated apples as long term food storage in this house. Truth is, the second my kids see this bag on the counter they will be gone. The work involved used to make the fact that they would disappear faster than I could peel them discouraging and then I bought an apple peeler/corer/slicer. It cut my prep time down into a ridiculous 20 mins for a 5 lb bag to be opened and the nesco trays running. Now, that is a time I can deal with for making a healthy snack! If you don't have teenage boys roaming your home, this makes an excellent long term food storage option. Especially when you get apples on sale in the fall.
- [Can Your Children Light A Match? Todays Sunday Skill](https://simplypreparing.com/sunday-skills-can-you-children-light-a-match/): Last week I wanted to light a sugar cookie candle in the living room. I reached for the disposable candle lighter and it was out of butane. No biggie, I sent the 16 year old downstairs for one of the many boxes of matches stored and asked him to do it for me while I was doing something else. Then I heard something that sent me reeling into a mom failure mode: "Mom, how do you use these things?" My child did not know how to light a match!
- [Family Emergency Plan #2: Make a Family Information Form](https://simplypreparing.com/family-emergency-plan-2-make-a-family-information-form/): Most women I know are list makers. Maybe not actual lists in your purse or laying around the house, but lists in our head, so, I think our head needs more room.
- [Beginning Prepping: Breaking Down Prepping Into Bite Sized Chunks](https://simplypreparing.com/breaking-down-prepping-into-bite-sized-chunks/): Getting started prepping is overwhelming! Thinking of all the possible that can go wrong in our lives is not a pleasant thing. Beginning prepping can cause real fear and panic and a sense of "why bother?" As a former teacher, I often think of learning things in a style called "chunking". I approach prepping the same way and would encourage you to as well. Here is how chunking helps me stay both sane and motivated with the overwhelming amount of prepping I feel needs to be done.
- [Family Emergency Plan #1: Talking To Your Family About the Plan](https://simplypreparing.com/family-emergency-plan-1-talking-to-your-family-about-the-plan/): This is the first of many articles to come from our contributing writer, Prepper Lush. Please connect with her in the comments and let her know what you think of her article!

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- [Welcome & About](https://simplypreparing.com/about/): You may be ready to start emergency planning because you caught a recent episode of Doomsday Preppers and you are completely freaked out. You may be here because you are looking for practical tips on ways to prep for an emergency. Whatever the reason you made your way here, I am glad you did.