The 5 Minute Prepper #21: Monthly Checks

Maintaining an adequate level of preparedness requires you to make periodic checks on gear and supplies. These these checks help ensure that you don’t forget to keep on top of your “prepper maintenance.”

Below is a list of things to consider putting on your monthly checklist. To help you remember, put a reminder on your computer’s calendar and set it to auto-­remind you every month. A handy online alternative is reminderguru.com. It’s a free service that allows you to set one­time and recurring reminders. You can have your reminders sent to you as an email, a text message to your phone, or even as a voice message.

Some of the items below don’t need to be checked every month. Either ignore these items as you go through them or create another list (like a three­-month and a six­-month list). You many find it simpler to have a single list and just skip over those that don’t need to be checked.

One nice way of maintaining your checklist and having it available whenever you think of something to put on it is to keep it in Evernote or a similar app.

Here are some suggestions:

Batteries: Flashlights still working? Have plenty of extra batteries for all your devices? Do the batteries in the smoke detectors and CO monitors need to be changed?

Water: How much water do we currently have stored? Enough for cooking and bathing? Time to rotate? Water filter maintenance?

Fuel: Propane tanks full? Adequate supply of fuel on hand? Are we keeping the fuel tanks on our vehicles, at least, half full?

Food: Do I have enough food on my panty shelves to last at least 2 weeks? Longer? Any food reaching its shelf life? Do I have stored food for my pets?

First­-Aid, Medical: Vital medications in hand? Have I kept up my first aid kit? Replaced anything I have used? Any expired medications?

Safety: Where are we meeting outside in case of a house fire? Practiced our fire escape plan lately? Where are we meeting if we need to evacuate? Everyone remember how to turn off water, gas, electric? Do we have enough fire extinguishers, of the correct type, charged and mounted in easy to get places? Emergency numbers posted by the home phone and in everyone’s cell phone contacts? Does everyone know the out­ of­ state contact?

Kids: Do my kids know how to call 911? Do we have a danger word that they can use to alert me when they are in an uncomfortable situation? Do we have a safe room or safe zone where the kids need to go in case of home invasion?

Miscellaneous: ­ Are all my important documents up to date?  Any new shot records, contracts, password updates, contracts, loans, spare keys, etc? How will we go to the bathroom if the water is shut off? Do we have enough of these supplies? Do I have enough cash on hand in case banks/ATMs have issues tomorrow when I wake up? Is our preparedness plan up to date? Are the vehicle kits up-­to­-date?

As you go through the checklist every month, be sure to add to it when you come across another check that you should be doing.

This tip was brought to you by the Preparedness Podcast and was written by Rob Hanus. Feel free to share it with your friends and family.

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Rob Hanus is the author of the book “The Preparedness Capability Checklist” which is an easy-to-read-and-follow guide that is full of the most efficient methods for intelligent and deliberate prepping. Rob is also host of the Preparedness Podcast.

You can get the Rob’s book here:
http://www.thepreparednesspodcast.com/capability-checklist/

Tune into Rob’s podcast here:
http://www.thepreparednesspodcast.com/preparedness-podcast/

Marjory

Marjory Wildcraft is an Expedition Leader and Bioneer Blogger with The [Grow] Network, which is an online community that recognizes the wisdom of “homegrown food on every table.” Marjory has been featured as an expert on sustainable living by National Geographic, she is a speaker at Mother Earth News fairs, and is a returning guest on Coast to Coast AM. She is an author of several books, but is best known for her “Grow Your Own Groceries” video series, which is used by more than 300,000 homesteaders, survivalists, universities, and missionary organizations around the world.