Car Kits: This week for our car kits we have an important but costly item: jumper cables. Jumper cables are invaluable to both a motorist and a good Samaritan. You never know when you will accidentally leave the light on in the car (me, all the time) and will need to have your battery jumped. On the other hand, how wonderful is it to hear someone ask in a parking lot: "Does anyone have any jumper cables?" and you can answer: "I do!" I actually don't because I have no idea how to use the things, but my husband often has opportunity to use them while helping someone out. Although I'm sure we've used them more on our own car than on anyone elses. Sigh.
I did a quick google search to check on prices for jumper cables, and the list ranged from $8 to $60. I'm pretty sure the $8 set works great for the occasional jump--a sporting goods store would be a great place to pick one up. Make sure you have one of these in each of your cars!
3-Month Supply: Keep buying extra meals, or if you have your menu/shopping list in place keep stocking up on your items as they go on sale. Last week I was able to get all my applesauce for my breakfast menu because of a great 'buy one get one' sale. I also picked up some chocolate and strawberry syrup to add to powdered milk. I mean, have you ever had powdered milk? Bleh.
If you're running out of ideas, what about ramen? Ramen gets a bad rap, but really it's SO cheap 10-15 cents each and a couple of them could feed a family of four for lunch or dinner. Let's face if if you were hungry enough, you could eat anything. Worried about rotating it? Try making up some ramen with a little less water than it calls for, or drain the liquid after it's cooked, so it's pasta not soup, add half the seasoning packet (you don't need more) and add a couple handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese and stir around to melt. It's delicious. Really. We've dubbed it "Cheesy ramen." Because we're original like that.
Long-term Supply: Keep going gathering that rice. I think it would be safe to say that for items like rice that you store in both your 3-month supply and longer-term storage, the 3-M supply can count as part of your longer-term storage if you keep it continually stocked. So if you already have your 3-Month Supply, you really only need 9 months of rice. Or if you are just starting, your first three months of longer-term storage can be your 3-month supply. I'm all about multi-tasking. Or maybe I'm just talking blasphemy. Who knows. Please don't sue me if it turns out you need 15 months of rice.
Thanks so much to the two of you for doing this. I put you on my blog and am sending your site to my mom (an RS pres) and all of my siblings and friends. Thanks for the ideas and I especially appreciated the way to plan the 3M supply, step-by-step. I just couldn't think it through on my own, though it seemed like it should be obvious. I have "mommy-brain". Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing!
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