Welcome aboard, Suzie.

1) As mentioned, there are more women in this group.

2) Not knowing where you're from, I can't make any specific suggestions, but a person doesn't have to believe that TEOTWAWKI is around the corner to come to the conclusion that it's wise to prepare for potential bump in the road.

Some of the people in different regions prepare for different potential disasters as a way of life such as hurricane season, tornado season, winter, and so on.

3) I don't know the layout of your home, but there are quite a few places in the average home where a person can store supplies and they'd never be seen. I live in a relatively small apartment and I've utilized space in closets, under beds, under couches and so on. The hardest part about doing this is remembering where I've stored everything.

Along with finding space I will have to admit that I have thrown away items to make space for food storage and emergency supplies. I realized there were a lot of things that I've collected over the years that I would never need that took up space where I could store something that I may need in the future.