My Month One Preps, Part One: Data Backup

In a past entry I posted the list of items I selected to do/buy during my first month of prepping. I've accomplished most of these, but I still have a few odds and ends to clear up.

1. Get Hubby Dear to back-up the computer

• We have one desktop computer that has files from the last 12+ years. It would be heartbreaking to lose all of the photos we've taken of our children.
• I have basic computer skills, but I've never backed-up a computer before. Since Hubby Dear doesn't feel the need to get prepared, I need to either ask him very nicely (perhaps with a bit more of that wifely persuasion!) or subscribe to an online backup service like Mozy. I could probably accomplish that on my own.
  

2. Create Emergency Binder and Preparedness Binder

• Another form of data backup is my emergency and preparedness binders. We live in the country and have some strange sort of Internet service that frequently goes out in bad weather. If the power goes out or our Internet goes down, all those bookmarks I've collected are useless. I've started printing off useful survival information and placing it in my preparedness binder. Additionally, there is some information that is vital to have if you have to evacuate - SS #, family phone numbers, insurance information, etc. Having this readily at hand in an emergency could literally be a life-saver.

----EMERGENCY BINDER:

• I used the information from Food Storage Made Easy to create my initial emergency binder. Signing up for their Baby Steps Checklist was one of the first things I did when I started thinking about preparedness.


• Then I read this post from The Survival Mom on Grab and Go Binders. Her post is excellent! She has a very detailed list of items you need in an emergency binder.


• Over the course of a couple of weekends, I gathered all the paperwork I needed and made photocopies. I inserted them into plastic page protectors and them stuck them into my binder. The binder is organized into financial, personal, and medical sections.

----PREPAREDNESS BINDER

• I didn't have an example to follow for this. I divided a binder into three sections: Food Storage/Preparedness Stocking Plans, Food Storage Information and Emergency/Disaster Information.
  

1. FOOD STORAGE/PREPAREDNESS STOCKING PLANS SECTION:

• My Prepping Plan


• A list of our frequently eaten meals and then all of the ingredients I need for those. (This is used for our 3 month meal supply - the subject of a future post.)


• A print-off of the results of this food storage calculator


• Print-offs of the Food Storage Made Easy Baby Steps Checklists


• Some other food storage information from other websites.

2. FOOD STORAGE INFORMATION SECTION:

• I have printed off a bunch of information about water purification, the shelf lifes of various foods, etc.

3. EMERGENCY/DISASTER INFORMATION:

• This section includes print-offs on what to do in case of a nuclear disaster, chemical spill, etc.

I'll give more information and links to the various resources I've collected in future posts.