Low and no cost preps

1. Make a paper copy of your import contacts. Phone, address and emails for your spouse, SO, partner, files.

Survey your immediate area (Home, work, in between) for routes, safe areas, resources.

Keep a car charger for your cell phone, a rain jacket, a comfy pair of shoes, and work gloves in your car.

Copy or scan any important documents, and gather them in one place costs little to nothing.

Document a disaster plan and test it.

I typically catch up on all documentation this time of year anyway when it gets too close to go outdoors as much.

Dress for the worst possible weather in your area.

Take your car keys with you when you leave your desk, home or vehicle.

to add on what barbakane commented about the work gloves in your vehicle...have them with your fire extinguisher and window punch and pry bar...that way you may offer assistance while protecting yourself...

Go for a run

This isn't prep. It's common sense. Or at least it should be anyway.

Have a hidden house key outside,I got locked out in the snow in my PJ's,NOT a good thing!

Walk around every room of your house with your digital camera, taking pictures from every angle of each room, showing all contents. Including opening closets and photographing contents. Including opening desk/bureau/etc drawers and photographing contents. You don't need world class beautiful photos. These are simply for your use in filing possible future insurance claims. To make you "remember what you used to have there". If you have high dollar items, take specific pictures of each one, showing serial numbers and other identifying characteristics, maybe pictures of the item beside it's original purchase receipt (if available, and you can make the receipt legible in the photo), etc. Burn those pictures to multiple CD's and store each CD in a different off-premisis site (maybe mail one to a relative, put one in a safe deposit box, etc.)

Check with your insurance company to ensure they will accept this. Allstate and Nationwide would not (maybe they do now?) and would only accept orignal invoices or receipts as proof of ownership.

Personally, I would not do business with any insurance company that required you to keep original receipts, or "prove ownership" in some way to file a claim. Mine certainly doesn't. If Allstate and Nationwide pull those kind of stunts they have moved themselves to the bottom of the barrel of insurers.

This holds true of most doccuments where I hail. Marrage cert, birth cert, etc.

If you do not have originals be prepared to pay the department of vital statistics for replacements.

I have a fire/water resistant safe for said doccuments. That however, is not a "low or no cost prep" Those things tend to be rather pricey.

Insurance companies differ.

Jewelry is paid up to a certain amount on your homeowners, usually a pretty low amount. Get riders for expensive items.

Have serial numbers for high dollar items. It's amazing what can be gleaned from a serial number/model number on a TV. The 90 inch tv the insured said he bought last week had the serial number of a 19 inch portable last made in 1982. Of course, scanning the original receipts is good.

Videos and pictures can be faked. Or you could have rented the stuff from someplace, did the pics and returned the stuff. Vids and pics from successive years will more or less prove you owned the stuff. Have a newspaper with the date in the photo/video for reference.

Load all your important data on a flash drive, and keep it someplace not in your house. A safe deposit box, at work in the back of a drawer, at a family member's house - just not a home.

Stuff I learned as a legal NCO working claims against the government.

That is one of the reasons I left both companies.
Funny thing is with my little thermal printer I could fake receipt easier than a picture.

Some might disagree but storing those pics/video on photobucket is certainly an option.

As for not accepting pictures,Farmers required me to send pics of a classic vehicle for my stated value policy,FWIW.

That hurts because it makes so much sense. I need to get in much better CV condition.

Fill up your gas tank more often (keep your tank above half-full).

Let someone know where you're going and when you expect to get there.

Inventory your change jar, exchange it for $1 bills, and conceal that in your car.

More low or no-cost prep items for the car: water bottles, matches

Most of the preps I have in my car are old camping and hiking gear. Camping has come in very handy for prepping.

One of the least expensive preps you can make. (assuming you own running shoes) It's funny how so few consider physical fitness as part of a prepared lifestyle.

The saying "survival of the FITTEST" came about for a reason.

I have been locked out of the house multiple times after a lock change that reversed how the knob worked. So we finally got a spare key and did what anyone would do test it first before hiding it.

Come next time i got locked out to my surprise the spare key did not work.....No Idea why no idea how but now I cant rely on a spare key incase of being locked out. A small locked out prep kit is what I came up with and if you can afford it throw a pay as you go phone cheap as you can find in there.

Make a list of whats in each of your boxes or tubs - camping gear, cold weather clothes, etc.

You can buy a dozen triangular bandages off eBay for around $12.00 per lot, including shipping. Spread them around: cars, EDC bags, BoB's, etc. Aside from wound management they can be used as slings, bandanas, to secure splints, tinder, dust masks, water filters (not purification, but debris), etc. Each bandage also includes two large safety pins, with their own multiple uses.

I like Gatorade and save the bottles, which are made of thicker plastic than most other beverage containers. I keep a dozen of them in my spare freezer and use them instead of ice in coolers while camping. Bonus is the water inside doesn't get contaminated by food as it melts and can be used for drinking and cooking (though it will have a slight Gatorade taste).

Medicine: an easy addition to any kit. Tylenol, tums, aspirin...sunscreen.

read the weather report. Esp. before going outside.

Teach your kids. Introduce them to things in individually appropriate ways. Teach them and let them do it. Help them practice. Let them fail safely under your guidance. Encourage them to learn.

Notice I say encourage not force? Keep it fun for them. Kids learn best when they're having fun, and if they aren't having fun, nobody will be. LOL! I let my kiddo lead me in a lot ways. When he's interested and ready for something he let's me know, though not always in words. The more prepared he is, the more prepared I am.

teach your wife not to answer the phone when one of her relatives calls late in the evening after ditching her husband and is headed to your house with her three kids.

Oh no! That could get ugly fast!

[/Rant]

So true.. This morning in Central Iowa the temperature is 60F. By this afternoon, it's going to fall to 37F or less with Thunderstorms and even possibly snow.

My son looked at me like I was crazy when I walked out with my rain coat, and I just smiled as he walked to his car without a coat and wearing shorts.

What's even worse, is that he sat in front of the TV this morning as they were talking about the huge cold front coming through and the 30 degree temperature drop... I've come to the conclusion he only seems to learn through discomfort.

[\Rant]

I use Evernote on my Cell Phone to keep track of all my backpack and truck inventories. If you have never used this app, it's great. Access to all your notes on any platform (iPhone, Droid, PC, Mac...) and FREE.

Rod

I do the same. Having all my notes available on any platform I happen to be working on is awfully nice.

Don't know if someone suggested this but disaster movies are a great way to keep your prepper mindset intact. It protects you against prepper's fatique and could even start to teach your kids (or spouse) about preparedness.

Here's one :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUBWVzpDv6k

Ya know, Chisel, I think you're right. We've been watching SGU (Stargate Universe) this week on Netflix and it's gotten the entire family to think a little bit more about prep pig. Though there's little chance that any of us are going to have to rush through a stargate to board an alien ship with little chance of ever getting home again, there's all kinds of little lessons in this show. We've had the same experience with other shows and movies too. Just don't let your preparedness mindset get in the way of enjoying the show!

Batteries.

to add to TeacherRO.... attempt to standardize batteries, especially if you live in a location (like the West Coast of Florida)that you know is a target for severe weather... if you don't have a genset, a controller charger that works off a 12v cigarette plug is an asset... I chose the Sanyo Eneloop AA platform... items pictured all run off the AAs



the 12v power tap and the controller charger that works with 12v cigarette plug works well, the GoalZero is really not necessary

get a basic (book type) backpack and med to large duffel.

Put Poison control, ICE, insurance and Bus/metro # into your phone

Favorite daily prep: protein bars and water bottle in the backpack.