People imagine prepping as bunkers and pallets of rations. That picture is so extreme that it stops most people from doing the small, obvious things that would actually help. 

Budget Prepping: Dad’s Complete Guide

Prepping at home is more like keeping a well-stocked pantry and a set of spare batteries than joining an expedition. It’s ordinary. The only trick is to start.

There are three goals:

• A go-bag for each person that covers three days away from home.
• A two-week home kit so a power outage feels like camping, not a crisis.
• A tiny, automatic budget line that keeps your supplies growing whether or not you’re paying attention.

You don’t need to do this fast. In fact, slow is better. If you can put aside $5–$20 a week, you can build a kit that’s not only cheaper than buying a pre-made one, but one you actually use.

Start by making the problem small. List the things that really happen where you live: storms, short power cuts, boil-water advisories, smoke days, ice, flooding, heat waves. Pick the top two or three. That list tells you what to buy first. Add the constraints inside your home: infants, formula, diapers, medications, mobility devices, pets, anyone who needs extra water or reliable power.

Documents matter more than people expect. If you ever have to leave in a hurry, or file an insurance claim, the slow part is always paperwork. Make digital copies of IDs, insurance, prescriptions, pediatric info, and pet records. Put them in an encrypted cloud folder, a passworded USB, and a printed sheet with key contacts. You’ll use this even in mundane situations, like replacing a lost card.

Aim at two layers: the go-bag for leaving, the home kit for staying. The go-bag is small and boring: three days of basics. The home kit is deeper and calmer: two weeks of water, food, light, and information. You don’t buy it all at once. You grow it like a savings account.

If you need a starting pistol, here’s one. With $50 or less you can get water, calories, light, and a way to open cans. That solves most problems you’ll see.

Water and calories come first because they go missing fastest. Get a few gallons of water or a couple of food-grade jugs you can fill from the tap. Add shelf-stable foods you already eat: rice, beans, oats, pasta, canned proteins, canned vegetables and fruit, peanut butter, crackers. Get a manual can opener. That last item feels trivial until you need it.

Next is light. Buy two basic flashlights and extra batteries. If you have little kids or pets, skip candles. Battery lanterns and headlamps are safer and more useful. A headlamp turns a power outage into an inconvenience.

Information matters more as power and cell service get less reliable. If you can, add a small battery-powered or hand-crank weather radio that receives official alerts. Phones die and networks clog. Radio still works.

Start a small first-aid setup: bandages, gauze, antiseptic wipes, and a pain reliever that’s safe for your family. If you have an infant, add formula, purees, extra diapers, and wipes. Remember pets.

The temptation will be to buy clever gadgets. Resist it. Fancy gear that gathers dust is not worth the space. Buy the boring stuff you’ll actually use.

Next action: buy water, pantry staples you already eat, a manual can opener, two flashlights with spare batteries, and a small first-aid starter, and put them in a labeled bin.

A slow plan you follow beats an ambitious plan you never start. Here’s a simple first month:

• Week 1: Containers and water. Two sturdy containers or a few gallons. Label and store them in a cool, dark spot.
• Week 2: Pantry staples. Rice, beans, oats, canned proteins/veg/fruit, and a manual can opener.
• Week 3: Light and hygiene. Flashlights, extra batteries, soap, wipes, trash bags, toilet paper. Add a headlamp if you can.
• Week 4: First aid and a little cash. A basic kit and some small bills for card-down days.

Water is the part people like to postpone because it takes space. It’s also the part you miss first. Plan for at least one gallon per person per day. In hot weather, for pregnant or nursing parents, or if someone is sick, you’ll want more. Don’t forget pets. If you can’t store weeks of water, store days, and plan how to treat more.

Pick containers that fit your home. In a house, stackable jugs or a clean, food-grade barrel may be efficient. In an apartment, slim containers under beds or along a closet floor work fine. Label each with the fill date, store them out of sun and heat, and rotate. Commercial bottled water is fine. Replace it by the printed date.

When the water is questionable, use methods that have been tested. Boiling is the cleanest when you can do it. For chemical disinfection, follow step-by-step instructions from the CDC or EPA exactly. Don’t guess doses. If the water is cloudy, clear it first as the official instructions describe, then treat.

If your home uses a well, store water before storms and keep treatment supplies with your kit. A power outage can take down both the pump and your usual treatment.

Next action: calculate the gallons you need for people and pets, then buy, fill, and label enough containers to cover at least several days.

There’s a trick with food: your emergency pantry should look like your normal pantry, just deeper. Buy shelf-stable foods your family already eats. That way rotation is just cooking dinner. Every time you pull from the shelf, you put a replacement behind it.

Smart staples are simple:

• Grains and carbs: rice, oats, pasta, shelf-stable tortillas or crackers.
• Proteins: canned beans, tuna, chicken, salmon, peanut butter, shelf-stable milk or plant milks.
• Vegetables and fruit: canned tomatoes, corn, green beans, peaches, pineapple, applesauce.
• Extras: oil, salt, pepper, a few spices, broth cubes, instant coffee or tea, shelf-stable snacks for kids.
• Tools: manual can opener, basic utensils, disposable plates and cups if washing is hard.
• Family specifics: infant formula and food, allergy-friendly items, pet food and litter.

During outages, food safety is about time and temperature. A closed refrigerator keeps food safe for about four hours. A full freezer holds the cold for about 48 hours (24 if half full). Appliance thermometers tell you what’s happening when the power returns. If you’re in doubt, throw it out. Foodborne illness during an outage is not a story you want.

Next action: add three shelf-stable dinners your family actually likes to your next grocery run, plus a manual can opener if you don’t have one.

Rotation is where money is either saved or wasted. The rule is simple: buy what you eat, eat what you buy. Put newer items behind older ones. Mark purchase or “use by” dates with a big marker so you can’t miss them. Choose store brands when quality is the same. Skip bulk sizes if you won’t finish them in time. A monthly “pantry night” where you cook from stores is both a test and a rotation plan. Replace what you used on your next trip.

Power outages are easier if you split them into three problems: light, food safety, and information.

For light, battery flashlights and lanterns are safer than candles around children and pets. Put one light by each bed and one in the kitchen. Headlamps are worth it for cooking and diaper changes.

For food safety, keep the fridge and freezer shut. Group foods in the freezer so they hold the cold longer. A cheap thermometer in the freezer gives you facts instead of guesses when power returns.

For information, plan for your phone to be less useful than usual. Networks get crowded and batteries run down faster. A battery-powered or hand-crank weather radio that receives official alerts tells you when storms are coming, when to shelter, and when boil-water advisories lift. Save phone battery by lowering screen brightness, closing hungry apps, using text instead of calls, and keeping calls short.

About generators: you don’t need one to start prepping. If you later add a portable generator, operate it outdoors only—never in a garage, and not near windows or doors. Keep it at least 20 feet from the house and aim the exhaust away from openings. Install carbon monoxide detectors with battery backup on every level. This is one of those rules you don’t bend.

Next action: put a flashlight and spare batteries in every bedroom, a thermometer in the freezer, and test your smoke and CO alarms today.

The biggest money saver is not coupons. It’s organization. Use one clear bin per category—water, food, lights, first aid—and label them. Put a simple checklist on top. Update it monthly when you rotate supplies. A roll of tape and a marker can save you more than any fancy gear.

There are places where DIY is perfect. Make your own checklists. Print contact sheets. Label containers. Set calendar reminders for rotations. But be picky about DIY with electricity, fuels, or improvised heaters. Carbon monoxide is silent and deadly. That’s not where you experiment.

Buying used can save a lot if you know which items are safe to buy secondhand. Storage bins, coolers, shelves, and basic flashlights are often fine. Test them. Be cautious with used safety gear or anything with an unknown history: generators, cords, expired first-aid supplies, or water filters missing original parts. Prefer reputable sellers. Inspect in good light. If it feels sketchy, pass.

After disasters, scams multiply. Prices spike on essentials. Fake charities appear. Door-to-door “contractors” ask for cash. Pay with methods that create records. Verify charities before donating. Report scams and price gouging to consumer protection agencies. You’re not being cynical; you’re protecting the resources your family needs.

The habit is the asset. A small weekly line—$5 to $20—steadily adds water depth, pantry depth, spare batteries, and small gaps you notice during rotation. You’ll be tempted to stop once you feel comfortable. Don’t. You’re fighting entropy. Celebrate small wins. Each bin filled is more comfort and less stress during the next outage.

Next action: set a recurring calendar reminder to rotate supplies monthly and move $10 into your prep fund this week.

There is a kind of compounding at work here. Not financial compounding, though there’s some of that too when you avoid waste. It’s confidence compounding. The first time the power goes out for six hours and you barely notice, you’ll realize that the boundary between normal life and “emergency” is thinner than you thought. A few gallons of water, some shelf-stable dinners everyone will eat, light that doesn’t scare the kids, and a way to know what’s happening—that’s most of it.

People worry they’ll forget something. They will. Everyone does. But the people who handle emergencies well are not the ones who guessed every scenario. They are the ones who reduced the number of things that can go wrong at once. If you always have light, food, water, and a way to get information, every other problem gets smaller.

Once you have the basics, you’ll start to notice gaps specific to your family. A spare phone charger in the go-bag. A tiny bottle of a specific medication in the first-aid kit. A pair of cheap reading glasses. Extra pet medication. A laminated card with contact numbers. These are the refinements that come from living with your kit rather than imagining it.

There’s a test you can run that will teach you more than any checklist. On a quiet weekend, pretend the power is out for an evening. Don’t open the fridge. Don’t use the oven. Don’t turn on lights. What do you reach for? What do you wish you had within arm’s reach? What annoyed you that you can fix with a five-dollar purchase? Make those changes. Repeat in a month. Your kit will get good fast.

There is also a social version of this. If you’re the person with an extra flashlight and some spare batteries, your neighbors will remember. If you can text clear updates because you had a radio when the cell network was jammed, people will listen. Preparedness scales better than people think because it makes you useful to others. You don’t have to plan for the whole block. Just be the person who has a way to boil water and share a little.

If you want to know when you’re “done,” here is the marker. You can:

• Leave in ten minutes with a go-bag for each person and the documents folder.
• Stay home for two weeks with enough water, food, light, and information.
• Replace what you used without thought because rotation is built into your normal shopping.

When you reach that point, the rest is small improvements. Add a second headlamp. Put a second can opener in the bin because the first one will disappear. Pick up a second battery pack when it’s on sale. None of this is exciting. It shouldn’t be. The excitement is what you don’t feel during the next outage.

One last point about mood. People either do nothing because the task feels huge, or they panic-buy and end up with expensive gear they never use. There’s a middle path. The $5–$20 line in the budget is not about the amount. It’s about the rhythm. Every week you turn a little bit of money into a little bit of resilience. It’s the same math that makes kids’ college funds work. Time does half the job if you start.

Quick safety notes: this is general preparedness education, not medical, legal, or professional advice. In an emergency, follow local instructions. Use generators outdoors only, far from doors and windows. For water treatment, follow EPA/CDC steps exactly—don’t improvise dosages.

Resources and official guidance:

• Build a Kit (Ready.gov): https://www.ready.gov/kit
• Financial preparedness (Ready.gov): https://www.ready.gov/financial-preparedness
• Food and water needs (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/foodwater/food-water-needs.html
• Emergency water disinfection (EPA): https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water
• Food safety during outages (USDA FSIS): https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/keeping-food-safe-during-emergency
• Portable generator safety (CPSC): https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Centers/Portable-Generator-Safety
• NOAA Weather Radio info: https://www.weather.gov/nwr/
• Price gouging and scams (FTC): https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2021/09/weather-emergencies-know-how-spot-price-gouging-and-scams

Next action, if you want one more: put a headlamp, a small radio, and two granola bars in a gallon zip bag. That’s a go-bag seed. You can grow everything else from that.