Water Storage Solutions for Hurricane Preparedness

*** Post-Harvey/Pre-Irma 2017 Update: This post has been getting a lot of traffic as people get ready for the upcoming storm. You are thinking ahead, and that is smart. The Aquapodkit is still my best recommendation for hurricane prep that doesn’t take up your entire storage area. The WaterBob is rising in price as the …

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Share Your Emergency Budget Ideas

Heather says: I talked about this yesterday on the Facebook Fanpage, but I thought it would be a good idea to continue the discussion over here. Home-Ec101.com is an apolitical site; this means that neither party will get an endorsement, political bashing is not allowed, and for the most part I really hope that political …

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How to Use Powdered Milk to Save Money

Heather says: The ideas in this post may not be of immediate use for you. Many of you will say, it would take more time than the savings provide. That may be true for where you are today, but you never know what information you may need in the future. Just mentally file it away …

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5 Reasons to Have Renters Insurance

I’m still on the road, hanging out in Minnesota. The lovely Louise Baker offered to guest post and I gratefully accepted. Enjoy! It’s important to know when you’re moving into a new rental home or apartment, your landlord carries insurance only on his building. It’s up to you to insure anything inside by purchasing renters …

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How Long Will Dry Cereal Last

Dear Home Ec 101, I’m just starting to get into building an emergency pantry and there’s a great sale on my kids’ favorite cereals. I was thinking of using the sale and coupons to lay in a good supply for the pantry, but I don’t know how long the cereal will last on the shelf. …

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Home Preservation and Pressure Canning

Dear Home-Ec 101: I’m taking your advice about building an emergency food supply seriously. I’d like to do some of it by canning and preserving foods from my own garden. Besides pickles, jams and jellies, (which are yummy, but don’t exactly fill a belly) what kinds of foods should I be growing so that I …

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Cooking Without Power, Using a Charcoal Grill

This post is part of the Home Ec 101 series on emergency preparedness. Heather says: Keep a charcoal grill for emergencies. Sounds simple enough, but what if you’ve never used one? A charcoal grill is for outdoor use only. Got that? Outdoor only. Every time there is a hurricane or ice storm, someone hurts themselves or …

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Bare Minimum Pantry Supplies for Black-Outs

The topic of emergency preparedness can be quite overwhelming, over the next few weeks I’ll be covering different aspects of how individuals and families can be more prepared for some emergencies. Emergency preparedness is a practical, low cost insurance policy. Just like car, home, or renters insurance, we may never need it, but that doesn’t …

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