Use an Evacuation Box

Today's Assignment

Purchase an Evacuation Box and assemble it this week.

Buy a lockable, durable "evacuation box" to grab in the event of an emergency. Even a cardboard box would do. Put important papers into the box in sealed, waterproof plastic bags. Store the box in your home where you can get to it easily. Keep this box with you at all times, don't leave it in your unattended car.

The box should be large enough to carry:

A small amount of traveler's checks or cash and a few rolls of quarters.

Negatives for irreplaceable personal photographs, protected in plastic sleeves.

A list of emergency contacts that includes doctors, financial advisors, clergy, reputable repair contractors, and family members who live outside your area.

Copies of important prescriptions for medicines and eyeglasses, and copies of children's immunization records.

Health, dental, or prescription insurance cards or information.

Copies of your auto, flood, renter's, or homeowners insurance policies (or at least policy numbers) and a list of insurance company telephone numbers.

Copies of other important financial and family records (or at least a list of their locations). These would include deeds, titles, wills, a letter of instructions, birth and marriage certificates, passports, relevant employee benefits documents, the first two pages of the previous year's federal and state income tax returns, etc. Originals, other than wills, should be kept in a safe deposit box or at another location.

Backups of computerized financial records.

A list of bank account, loan, credit card, driver's license, investment account (brokerage and mutual funds), and Social Security numbers.

Safe deposit box key.

Keep Some Cash

Today's Assignment

Prepare a small amount of cash to have on hand in case of disaster

After a disaster, you may need cash for the first few days, or even several weeks. Income may stop if you can't work. To help stay solvent, consider the following:

Keep a small amount of cash or traveler's checks at home in a place where you can get at it quickly in case of a sudden evacuation. A disaster can shut down local ATMs and banks. The money should be in small denominations for easier use.

Set aside money in an emergency fund. That can be tough to do on a tight budget, but it can be well worth the effort. The fund can be very helpful, not only in a disaster, but in other financial crises, such as during unemployment or when unexpected expenses like legal fees arise.

Keep your emergency funds in a safe, easily accessible account, such as a passbook savings account or a money market account.

Keep some funds outside the local area, since the disaster that affects you could also affect your local financial institutions. A mutual fund money market account in another city or state is one option to consider.

Keep your credit cards paid off. You may have to draw on them to tide you over.

Protect Your Property

Today's Assignment

Learn how to protect your property in a disaster

One of the first things to do is find out what disasters could strike where you live. The following steps can help you reduce the physical destruction to your property if you were to be hit with a disaster. These steps can reduce your insurance costs, too.

Install smoke detectors to warn of an apartment or home fire.

Elevate utilities to upper floor or attic.

Clear surrounding brush to protect your home against wildfires.

Anchor your house to the foundation, and anchor the roof to the main frame.

Secure objects that could fall and cause damage in an earthquake, such as a bookcase or hot water heater.

Install hurricane shutters on windows, and prepare plywood covers for glass doors.

Cover windows, turn off utilities, or move possessions to a safer location if you have adequate warning of something like a hurricane or flood.

If your home is in a high risk flood area, on a fault line, or threatened by coastal erosion, consider relocating.

Have your house inspected by a building inspector or architect to find out what structural improvements could prevent or reduce major damage from disasters.

If you haven't yet bought a house, you might take construction type into account. Frame houses tend to withstand some disasters, while brick homes hold up better in others.

If you're not sure where to start, you could contact your local fire department if you live in wildfire country. Fire departments will often make house calls to evaluate your property and make suggestions on how to improve safety. In earthquake-prone areas, the local utility can be called upon to come to your location and show you how and where to shut off gas lines or how to elevate utilities to get them above a possible flood.

Use a Personal Budget

Using a Personal Budget


At some point in time, it's likely that we've all asked the question, "Where does all the money go each month?" Everyone wants to know but, unfortunately, very few are willing to address the one thing that can actually answer the question: creating a personal budget. Some people will fight tooth-and-nail to try every means except budgeting, claiming that they can keep track of their own spending "in their head." Certainly, a personal budget may tedious to implement at the outset, but it's a great tool to show you just where your money's going and help instill a bit of spending discipline – which, let's face it, all of us can use.

Keep in mind that creating a personal budget should be a family affair. Parents don't have to go it alone. Let everyone in the house contribute to the final product. After all, each person will be governed by it in some way. Your children can benefit from the financial habits that they see you implement on a daily basis. Remember, also, that budgets are not quick fixes. Just as with any other habit, it will take time to become second nature. Indeed, before it's all said and done, you may find that you have to change your original budget several times until it fits your lifestyle. An ideal budget should allow some wiggle room, but also provide enough structure for you to meet your financial goals.

Click HERE for a budget worksheet.

Rotate

Today's Assignment

Take Inventory of your food storage and use items that are about to expire.Remember!! Food storage must be used to be useful.

Vicki Tate, author of the popular book "Cooking with Food Storage", gives this advice:

In all the years I’ve worked with preparedness one of the biggest problems I’ve seen is people storing food and not knowing what to do with it. It’s vital that you and your family become familiar with the things you are storing. You need to know how to prepare these foods. This is not something you want to have to learn under stress. Your family needs to be used to eating these foods. A stressful period is not a good time to totally change your diet. Get a good food storage cookbook and learn to use these foods! It’s better to find out the mistakes you’ll make now while there’s still time to make corrections.It’s easy to take basic food storage and add the essentials that make it tasty, and it needs to be done.

As I did the research for my cookbook, Cooking with Home Storage, I wanted to include recipes that gave help to families no matter what they had stored. As I put the material together it was fascinating to discover what the pioneers ate compared to the types of things we store. If you have stored only the basics, there’s very little you can do with it. By adding even just a few things, it greatly increases your options, and the prospect of your family surviving on it. As I studied how the pioneers lived and ate, my whole feeling for food storage changed. I realized our storage is what most of the world has always lived on. If it’s put together the right way we are returning to good basic food with a few goodies thrown in.

There are some things you just shouldn't share

Today's Assignment

With all those holiday gatherings, make conscious efforts to keep yourself healthy.

1. Avoid excesseive amounts of Sugar and processed food that affects our immune system According to studies, complex system from chemical processed sugar and processed foods destroys human immune system. Examples of these are sodas, candies, cookies, ice cream and chips. We must avoid these or take in minimally as possible

2. Eat fresh foods (fruit and vegetables) that supply needed vitamins and minerals
Experts say that majority of vitamin C in oranges and citrus, decreases when processed.
Vitamins and minerals such at Vitamin C, E, A, Zinc and magnesium help and support us to achieve strong immune system. As possible, we must consume reasonable quantity of fresh whole foods like cherries, berries, apple and green leafy vegetables, broccoli, carrot and sweet potatoes.

3. Ger enough Sleep and Rest. 8 to 10 hours sleep a day strengthens the immune system.
While you are sleeping and resting at night, you are being recharged the following day.
So, it better to maintain enough sleep at night, although naps during daylight help in making the immune system strong.

4. Stress and Fatigue, weakens our immune system. The best way to fight colds and flu is adequate rest. Fatigue and stress depletes the immune system. If you feel weak in between work, try to relax for a while and better yet if your can take a nap to immediately recover and avoid being eaten up by stress.

5. Wash hand thoroughly and maintain good personal hygiene. The most frequent way for transmitting micro-organism is through our hands. So, we must wash our hands with soap and water to maintain cleanliness and avoid the direct transfer of germs that bring us various illnesses. This is not only with our hands but also with our body and personal hygiene and sanitary environment.

In Honor of our Savior

Today's Assignment

Reflect on the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and what His life has meant to you. Choose to honor Him by seeking out ways to be more like Him, and preparing yourself spiritually for when He returns.

1) Your testimony needs consistent nourishment. You can provide this by taking time each day to study the scriptures. You can also spend time reading the Ensign. These materials help you to keep the gospel in your mind throughout the day.

2) Another important thing to do is to pray. Too often prayer is something forgotten or rushed through. As you take time to pray and ponder the problems in your life, you will find greater peace. As you seek assurance from the Lord you testimony will increase.

3) It is also important to attend church every week. As you take the Sacrament each week, you renew your baptismal covenants. It is a wonderful moment to reflect on how you are doing and areas that you can change. It is also a good time to remember how much the Savior loves you.

4) It is important to attend the temple regularly. As you take the time to go often you will find greater peace and happiness. The temple provides a chance for you to renew your covenants and to assess the areas of life you can work on.

5) Another way to nourish your testimony is to acknowledge the Lord's hand in your life. If you take time to right down each your blessings as you experience and recognize them, you can look at the list when you feel low. This will help you to remember how much the Lord loves you when you are struggling through your trials.