I’m sort of done with the big picture planning, and now I’m going back to see what sort of gaps exist in my 1 year plan. I did this by creating a master Excel sheet with every plan item listed, with the quantity/storage location/justification for the amount. Once I did that, it was apparent which things were either missing or short. For instance, I had toiletries and hygiene items but had missed on the amounts and type.  Toothpaste and floss was short, and the wrong type (need powder for long term storage). Toilet paper was another. Once you get it all on paper, you can mentally run through everything you use regularly and see the issues. Calculating your usage is a must, and can be done within the sheet which is handy. One thing that tripped me up is my kid’s needs, when I first started they were preschool/elementary age but now are teenagers. That add two adults to the list, with different needs.

I am getting close to finishing up the 1 year prep plan, most things are in place and it’s a good feeling.  There is the question of how long to plan for, there’s nothing magic about a year but LDS uses it and it is a reasonable time frame.  Anything longer than that would either have to be dealt with by going full homesteader or going nuts on the amount of stored items. I just can’t see a reasonable scenario where I’d need 3 or 5 years with no outside supply or ability to grow food.

As a note, it’s time again to purge and check stock on my 2005 and 2013 items. I had socked away some things long ago that weren’t really meant to last, but they seemed to hold up OK externally. I’ll be sampling things and reporting back, stay tuned for that….