Just in Case (22 page)

FINANCIAL PREPAREDNESS

D
ON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE
importance of getting your financial house in order. This is a twofold process: eliminating debt and securing a supply of cash in your home.

Debt is an anchor holding you back from true independence and financial security. There are any number of agencies that can help you through the process of eliminating debt, but they will all give you the same advice: Tally exactly what you owe. Make the minimum payments on all outstanding balances except the one with the highest interest rate. Pay as much as possible on that debt each month. When the highest-interest-rate debt is erased, move to the debt with the next highest interest rate. This program is successful only if you are extremely frugal, buying only necessities, and live on less than you earn.

Think about your cash on hand. Many people seldom have more than twenty dollars in actual cash. They use credit and debit cards for nearly all transactions. I don’t think it’s wise to be so dependent upon computers and electricity for a gallon of milk. I suggest keeping at least two hundred dollars in small bills hidden in a secure location in your home. More, of course, would be better. This is in addition to the money you keep in your evacuation kits (see page 93 for more information).

With our economy in such disarray, it is probably a good idea to keep your savings in different institutions and investment vehicles. This will keep you from being wiped out financially if one bank or investment firm fails or the stock market crashes.

Above all, think hard about the way you spend money. Money spent on fleeting pleasure is seldom well spent. Just putting off purchases for a few days may make the urge to buy disappear. Erasing debt will provide more lasting peace and satisfaction than anything you can purchase at your local mall.

TRIAL RUN

A
CROSS THE COUNTRY
, communities are holding emergency preparedness drills. The reasons are obvious. There is no way to know how well prepared you really are until you practice. Drills of all kinds will point out where you have been successful and where the weak spots in your systems are.

How fast can you evacuate your home, complete with evacuation kits and vital documents? If you practice once a month, try to better your time. Try it in the dark and when family members are busy with tasks around the house. Can you prepare a complete meal from your stored food? Can you do it using no power except what you can produce yourself? Can you make a meal from food you have grown or foraged? Can you wash the dishes? Turn off all the electrical appliances in your home for an hour or two one night a week. How do you occupy yourself and your children? Can you all manage to prepare for bed and sleep comfortably?

The next time you are driving on a lonely stretch of road, pull over and stop the car. Now think. What would you do if the car refused to start again? How would you signal for help? Could you keep warm if it were cold outside? Do you have some extra food and water?

Try a switch from packaged vacations to camping adventures. There are so many benefits. You will naturally acquire supplies that will be useful in an emergency, and you will practice some of the real skills of self-sufficiency. You will also be giving your family a vital contact with the natural world.

Trial runs may initially feel awkward and even a little silly, but trust me, they will really pay big dividends should the grid go down. With practice you will find you can comfortably slip into an off-the-grid mode while the unprepared struggle to meet even their most basic needs.

CHAPTER 4 HOME SYSTEMS POWER, LIGHTING, COOKING, HEATING, REFRIGERATION, SANITATION

In our instant society, we are used to flipping a switch, pushing a button, or turning a knob and, like magic, we are warm, fed, and illuminated. If something doesn’t work properly, help is a phone call away. We don’t give much thought to the stability of the network that supplies the energy and technology that make our lives so convenient.

But when the power goes out, even if only for a day or two, the fragility of our basic household systems would soon become apparent. How will you cook your food? In a cold climate, how will you keep your children warm? Can you flush the toilet? How will you light your home? How will you keep the food in your refrigerator from going bad?

Deciding to commit to preparedness means finding ways to meet all the basic needs of a household independent of the power grid. It is harder than you might think.

POWER

P
OWER IS THE
lifeblood of the modern home. We may rely on electricity for everything from heating our home and water, cooking our food, keeping perishables cold or frozen, lighting, pumping water, and washing and drying our clothes to powering our phones, computers, coffeemakers, televisions, air conditioners, and other electronic devices.

But as recent history has shown us, the power grid is not quite as reliable as we’d like it to be — and efforts to expand its capacity have, so far, not kept up with demand. Developing a plan for getting along without the power grid will give you the peace of mind of knowing that an interruption in your power supply, whether it is caused by an ice storm or a rolling brownout, will not bring the workings of your household to a grinding halt.

The first step is to determine which systems and appliances your family absolutely must have on a day-to-day basis. You may be able to do without your television, for example, but if you have a water pump you will certainly want it to keep working so you’ll have running water in the house. You may be able to get along for at least a week or so without doing laundry, but you probably won’t be able to do without some method of cooking.

When you have a list of the essential systems and appliances for your home, highlight those that require electricity. For each, you’ll need a nonelectric backup or an alternative source of power.

NONELECTRIC APPLIANCES AND SYSTEMS

You may already have nonelectric systems or backups for some household essentials. For example, if you have a woodstove, you have a nonelectric method of both heating your home and cooking your food. Others you may need to invest in. We’ll talk about nonelectric options for various home systems later in this chapter.

ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF POWER

Homemade power would be a surefire protection against breakdowns in regional power grids. However, few households have the wherewithal to meet all of their power needs off the grid. Solar power is an up-and-coming technology, but the equipment is expensive and it doesn’t produce a great deal of power, so you’d have to invest in a range of nonelectric appliances anyway. Wind power is in the same situation, as are other new alternative energy technologies. If you want to live completely off the grid, an investment in these technologies may be worthwhile for you. If you want a backup system that can power a few essential appliances in the event of a power outage, solar power or another alternative energy could be an option, if you can afford it. Another option, still pricey but not as expensive as solar power, is a generator.

A generator is a machine that turns mechanical energy into electrical energy. This is one of those items that you really have to investigate. Generators work only when you have on hand the fuel (usually gasoline or propane) to run them. Even then, you can’t expect to run your entire house on a generator. At best, you can run one long enough to keep your freezer or furnace going, to operate your stove, to do a few loads of laundry, or to catch up on the news, but you won’t be able to do all of these things at once and you won’t be able to do any of them for very long without a large supply of fuel.

PORTABLE GENERATOR

Generators should never be used indoors. In addition to being loud, they emit toxic fumes, including carbon monoxide. They should only be used outdoors.

Small portable generators are often used in locations without power, such as camps or construction sites. They can be used to power appliances that are normally plugged into wall outlets, provided you have an extension cord long enough to reach from the appliance to the generator outdoors. Their electric capacity is on the low end, though, so you probably won’t be able to use one to run a large appliance such as a freezer or washing machine.

A stationary generator is much larger. It is permanently connected to your house wiring. When the power fails, you simply throw a transfer switch (or the generator kicks on automatically), and the generator sends power right into your home wiring.

STATIONARY GENERATOR

A dual-purpose generator is a mobile unit that connects to your home’s electrical system through a special receptacle on your home’s exterior. When you’re not using it, you can disconnect and store it.

Both stationary and dual-purpose generators require that you have an electrician modify your home’s electrical system before you can use them. Though both generate more electricity than portable generators, most do not provide enough to power all of a modern home’s electrical needs. Their most practical use is as a power supply for select pieces of essential equipment such as heating appliances, freezers, and perhaps a few lights. You must match the electrical requirements of these items (how many watts they require, both to start up and to run) with the generating capacity of the generator you acquire. And when you’re using the generator, you should turn off or unplug all other electrical appliances in your home to make sure that they don’t draw from the generator and prevent it from powering those items you’ve designated as essential.

You will need to store fuel for your generator. Propane can be stored indefinitely in a tank; if you have a large propane tank on your property, you can connect a propane generator to it. Gasoline degrades over time; a fuel stabilizer will extend its shelf life, but you must replace your stock on a regular basis to keep it viable. You may need a special permit to store large quantities of propane or gasoline; check with local authorities to find out whether this is the case in your area.

A generator can be a handy piece of equipment, and it can bring the peace of mind of knowing that when the power fails, you’ll still be able to cook, heat your home, or do whatever you decide to use it for. However, keep in mind that generators are mechanical engines with all of the attendant problems: noise, exhaust fumes, and breakdowns. And you may not consider the hefty price tag worth the bother. In that case, assess your needs for power and plan accordingly.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Watching a news broadcast can be a sobering experience. As scenes of war and environmental degradation flash across the screen, coupled with the stories of an economic downturn that is costing thousands of families the very roofs over their heads, it is clear that we are an oil-hungry world competing for dwindling reserves and that the fallout from that hunger is beginning to impact us all. The solution may well lie not in the hands of politicians but rather in the hands of each of us as we make choices about the amount and kind of energy we use.