Welcome Suzie!

There are a few of us girls on here and we're slowly getting more visable. This is a great place to get started in your learning. The forum is great and be sure to read the articles too. There's lots of pros, sharing great info. I'm constantly learning something here!

My husband was slow to get onboard too - until the East coast power failure in 2003. Because we lived on the fringe of a major city, he made his daily commute by subway. Consequently, he had to walk for several hours to get home, only to be faced with climbing 24 stories to our apartment, with blisters on both feet. When he arrived, he left again to go find water for drinking and to make baby formula for our one month old.

That was a serious lighbulb moment for both of us. Even in what now seems like a tiny apartment, we found room to store extra supplies for just in case. We bought a small metal jam cupboard and filled it with canned goods. Also think about using boxes under the bed or shelves at the back of the closet.

We were already avid campers and first aiders, so we had lots of equipment and were comfortable and competent with it's use. If you're just getting started, you can learn a lot at your local outfitters. Study some local tourism pamphlets too.

*One tip on the husband/significant other front: Take a boarder view and don't undervalue their personal preferences and skills. Although my husband didn't actively seek to "become prepared", when I took an inventory, I realized that my avid camper was also someone who was proficient in first aid and CPR. He could maintain our vehicles very well and actually practices and "planned" in advance to do so. He was pretty good at plumbing, electical and home construction work too. He knew how to paddle a canoe, set up a tent and a coleman stove AND he could catch a fish!

There's lots of news currently that underscores the importance of achieving a minimal level of prepardeness for likely events in your area. Here's but one example that my husband brought to my attention. It's from Hookpunch's neck of the woods. I find it interesting because this is the second (on-going!) such event recently in this area and yet these people were still caught completely off-guard:

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/Villager/Column/article/53533

My husband still isn't as committed to preparing for "just in case" as I'd like, but during those occassional times when he's less on-board, I just do like BobS suggested: "Even if your husband can’t be made to become part of your preparedness preparations, you can still put away food."