If the power went out tonight, what would your family eat for breakfast? Now imagine it stayed off for weeks. An earthquake, a war, or an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) could leave your community facing a much longer disruption. When the water you’ve stored runs low, where would you get more? If the phones went silent while your children were at school, would they know who was coming for them and where to go?
As a Christian, I also think about the events foretold in the scripture and what my family might face in the last days before the Savior’s return. I can’t predict what we’ll live through. How can I prepare to help them survive and provide for their basic needs? I can store food my children will eat, make a plan they understand, and get to know the neighbor who might need our help. Whether we face a night without power or a disaster that changes life as we know it, that’s what preparedness means to me.
Those are the kinds of questions I want to help answer here. For me, preparedness is part of caring for my family and being able to help a neighbor. A few extra groceries can carry us through a lean week. A charged phone can let someone know we’re safe. An extra blanket can go to the person next door.
Start with three days. Look around your home and see what you already have to eat, drink, stay warm, and keep in touch. Pick one gap you can fill this week. This is something you can build over time, within your means. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encourages families to gradually store familiar foods, drinking water, and a financial reserve as circumstances allow. churchofjesuschrist.org
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FOOD
If the power went out tonight, what would your family eat for breakfast? If the tap stopped running, where would you get a drink? And if it happened while everyone was at work or school, would your family know where to meet?
Those are the kinds of questions I want to help answer here. For me, preparedness is part of caring for my family and being able to help a neighbor. A few extra groceries can carry us through a lean week. A charged phone can let someone know we’re safe. An extra blanket can go to the person next door.
Start with three days. Look around your home and see what you already have to eat, drink, stay warm, and keep in touch. Pick one gap you can fill this week. This is something you can build over time, within your means. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encourages families to gradually store familiar foods, drinking water, and a financial reserve as circumstances allow. churchofjesuschrist.org
Some product links on this page are paid links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Food
I recommend working toward a year of food if your space and budget allow. That’s my long-term goal. A good place to begin is one week of meals your family already eats. Write down seven dinners, including what it takes to prepare them. The next time you buy ingredients for one of those dinners, buy enough to make it twice. Once you’ve built a week, work toward a month and eventually a two- to three-month pantry. This gradual approach also gives you time to learn what your family actually uses. churchofjesuschrist.org
I think about food storage in three groups. Each solves a different problem.
| What to store | What it does for your family | Where I’d start |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday pantry food | Feeds your family familiar meals when money is tight or you can’t get to the store. | Oats, pasta, canned beans, fruit, vegetables, and proteins you already eat. Use the oldest items first and replace them as you shop. |
| Emergency meals | Gives you something to eat when you have little time, water, or cooking equipment. | Set aside a day of meals you can eat straight from the package. Then add meals ready to eat (MREs) or just-add-water pouches you’ve actually tried. Keep a manual can opener with the food. |
| Long-term staples | Extends your supply after the everyday pantry runs low. | Start with a staple you know how to cook, such as white rice, oats, dry beans, or wheat. Store the ingredients, water, and equipment needed to turn it into a meal. churchofjesuschrist.org |
Before buying a food bucket, look at total calories, preparation instructions, and allergens. A bucket labeled “60 servings” tells you how many portions the manufacturer counted. To see how far it will go, add up what you would serve your family for one full day. Try one pouch before committing to a case. The same goes for ration bars, especially if a child has food allergies, sensory preferences, or only a few foods they reliably eat. (Paid Links Below)
- Food Buckets – Auguson Farms
- MRE’s
- Bars – Survival Tabs, 4 Patriots, SOS, First Strike, MayDay
- Kits – Bug Out Bag, 72 Hour, Bucket, Year
WATER
Store water you can drink immediately. The CDC recommends at least one gallon per person per day for three days, and working toward two weeks if possible. For a family of four, that means 12 gallons for three days or 56 gallons for two weeks. Plan extra for pets, hot weather, and anyone with additional water needs. If your food supply relies heavily on dry beans or just-add-water meals, check how much water those meals require, too. CDC
Choose containers someone in your household can actually move. Five gallons of water weighs about 42 pounds before you count the container. A larger barrel can be helpful at home, but practice drawing water from it before you need it. Keep some smaller containers you could carry to the car or fill at an emergency distribution point. Use food-grade containers, label what you fill yourself, and replace that water every six months. CDC
A filter or treatment tablets can provide another option if stored water runs low. Read the label to see which germs the product removes and how long treatment takes. A straw filter and a gravity system serve different needs when you’re filling one bottle versus preparing a family meal. If fuel or toxic chemicals may have contaminated the water, use bottled water or another safe source. Boiling, filtering, and disinfecting cannot make that water safe. Follow local water advisories. (Paid Links Below)
- Filter – Personal – Straw, Bottle
- Filter – Pump – Hand Pump, Gravity
- Storage – 5 gallon, 50 gallon
- Purify – Tablets, Iodine
- Rain Water – Rain Water Collection Tanks
- Alternatives – Bathtub Bladder
SHELTER
Think through two situations. Could we stay safely at home overnight without heat or air conditioning? Where would we go if we had to leave? For a winter outage, gather warm layers, dry socks, blankets, and sleeping bags where everyone can find them in the dark. For dangerous heat or cold, identify a relative, friend, or community shelter you could reach. Follow local evacuation instructions. Outdoor grills and camping stoves belong outside because they can produce deadly carbon monoxide. CDC
Set a bag near the door and pack for the people who would actually carry it. Include a flashlight, water, ready-to-eat food, a change of clothes, hygiene supplies, first-aid supplies, and copies of essential contacts and documents. Plan for prescriptions, glasses, mobility aids, baby supplies, and pets. For a child who struggles with noise or unfamiliar places, headphones, a familiar snack, or a small comfort item may be among the most useful things in the bag. Have each person pick up their packed bag and walk with it. You’ll know quickly what needs to change.
COMMUNICATION
Make a plan for the moment when one parent is at work, the kids are at school, and nobody can get a call through. Choose one person outside your area whom everyone can contact. Agree on one meeting place near home and another outside the neighborhood. Write the names, numbers, and addresses on a card for each wallet or backpack. Find out where the school reunites children with parents during an evacuation. ready.gov
Practice sending one short message: “I’m safe. I’m at the school with Emma. I’ll check in again at 4.” A text may get through when voice networks are congested. Keep a charged power bank with its cable, and consider a battery-powered NOAA weather radio for alerts when cell service is unavailable. ready.gov
POWER
Before you spend money on backup power, write down what needs to run and for how long. Keeping two phones charged through the night is a different purchase from running a refrigerator for two days. If someone relies on powered medical equipment or refrigerated medication, make a plan with their equipment supplier or pharmacist and identify a place with dependable power. ready.gov
Start with a flashlight beside the bed, a lantern for the room where everyone gathers, the batteries those devices use, and a charged phone power bank. A headlamp is especially handy when you need both hands to find a breaker, change a diaper, or help someone down the stairs. Test everything by having dinner one evening with the lights off. CDC
For a larger battery station, compare watts with watt-hours. Watts tell you how much power a device needs while running. Watt-hours help you estimate how long the battery can supply it. A 40-watt device running for five hours uses 200 watt-hours before conversion losses. Check both the station’s capacity and its maximum output. For a fuel-powered generator, operate it outdoors more than 20 feet from windows, doors, and vents. Keep a working battery-backed carbon monoxide alarm inside. CDC (Paid Links Below)
- Batteries – AAA, AA, C, D, 6-volt, 9-volt
- Portable Charging Bank – 10000 mAh, 20000 mAh, 40000 mAh, 50000 mAh
- Generators – Backup, Gas Powered
- Solar Panels 100 watt, 200 watt, 300 watt, 400 watt, 1000 watt, 2000 watt,
- Alternative Power – Wind Turbine, Water Turbine
MONEY / BARTERING
Imagine the grocery store is open, but the card reader is down. A modest amount of cash in small bills can cover groceries or fuel. Keep it somewhere secure that the adults in your household know about. Over time, build a separate emergency fund for the expenses that continue through a disruption, including transportation, lodging, and bills. Even a small amount set aside regularly is a place to begin. ready.gov
People often ask what they should keep for bartering. I’d put ordinary cash and household essentials ahead of gold or silver. I’d also think about what neighbors can do for one another. Who has space in their freezer? Who could give someone a ride? Who on your street would need a knock on the door because they might miss a phone alert? That’s where preparedness connects most closely with what Worthy of Zion means to me.
- Gold Backs
- Gold Rounds, Silver Rounds
- Gold Bars, Silver Bars
FIRST AID and MEDICATION
If someone in your family cut their hand during a power outage, could you find the first-aid kit in the dark? Now imagine the pharmacy is closed for a week. Which prescription or medical supply would your family run short of first? Keep a household first-aid kit where everyone can find it and a smaller travel kit you can take in the car or carry if you need to leave. Bandages, gauze, medical tape, and disposable gloves are a good place to start.
Make it yours. Walk through an ordinary day and write down what each person depends on. Does someone reach for glasses before they get out of bed? Take a prescription with breakfast? Plug in a medical device at night? Use that list to pack spare glasses, the right charging cord or batteries, and a medical information pouch with medication names and doses, allergies, and pharmacy and doctor phone numbers. For prescriptions, ask your pharmacist how to plan for a refill interruption and how to store any medicine that needs refrigeration during an outage.
SANITATION and HYGIENE
If the water were off for two days, how would your family wash their hands, change a diaper, or use the bathroom? It’s easy to count the water you’ll drink and forget how many times a day you turn on a faucet. Set aside soap, water for handwashing, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and heavy-duty bags. A handwashing spot can be as simple as a water container with a spout, a bar of soap, and a basin to catch the used water.
Think through what happens if the toilets stop working, too. Keep a portable toilet or lined emergency toilet bucket with your supplies, and follow local public health instructions for waste disposal. Pack the diapers, wipes, menstrual products, and skin-care items your household already uses. If someone can tolerate only one kind of soap or wipe, put that brand in the kit. Those familiar items can make a difficult few days more manageable.
72-HOUR KITS and BUGOUT BAGS
If an evacuation order came tonight and you had ten minutes to leave, what would you want waiting by the door? A 72-hour kit gives each person something familiar to reach for during the first three days away from home. You can build a kit with a backpack you already own or buy a starter kit and personalize it. Start with water you can carry, ready-to-eat food, a headlamp, a warm layer, basic hygiene supplies, and a small first-aid kit. Decide where you could get more safe water along the way.
Then pack for the person who will carry the bag. Does the charging cable fit their phone? Will your child eat the food without heating it? If the family gets separated and a phone dies, is there a paper copy of important numbers and your meeting place? For one child, a familiar snack and headphones may make a crowded shelter easier to handle. For an adult, the easiest thing to forget may be the medication or glasses they use every day. Tape a short “grab before leaving” list to the bag for those items. Finally, have everyone carry their packed bag around the block. You’ll learn pretty quickly which straps need adjusting and who needs a lighter load.
Food Storage Calculator
How much food would your household need for three days, a month, or a year?