Tips to Prepare for a Storm on a Budget

If you’re on a budget, pulling together the items you need to prepare for a bad storm, like a hurricane, can seem daunting. Generally speaking, hurricanes take time to develop and make landfall, so you can plan and prepare well without overspending on supplies.

Follow these smart, simple tips to help you prepare for storms on a budget:

1. Fill clean, empty plastic coffee containers with water and place them in your freezer as a source of clean drinking water and to help keep your freezer cold during power outages because of storm damage. Keep 3 to 7 gallons of clean drinking water per person in your pantry, in clean plastic containers with tight-fitting lids, to provide the three-day to seven-day supply.
2. Combine coupons, customer appreciation discounts, sales and rebates at pharmacies and grocery stores to purchase hygiene items such as bleach, rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, personal wipes, rubber gloves and disinfectants at the lowest possible price. Purchase one extra hygiene item every payday and store it with your hurricane kit.
3. Collect aluminum cans or other recyclable metals to get the money to purchase a crank-style or solar-powered radio and crank-style or “shake” flashlights, even though they cost more up front, so that you will not have to buy or store batteries.
4. Store one day’s dose of each medication per week until you have a total of a three-day to seven-day supply of each medication you or family members need in a separate plastic zipper bag for each of them. Label each person’s bag clearly with the name of the individual, the name and strength of the medication, the dosage and the time of day it is taken.
5. Fill a 1-gallon gas can each time you stop for gasoline. Pour the gasoline into a 5-gallon or larger gas can and store it until you are ordered to evacuate. This ensures that you will have enough gas for your vehicle without a large expense all at once.

For more information ways to save money everyday, contact us at 1-800-750-2227.