Another big part of becoming totally self reliant is being able to care for yourself and your family in an emergency, either a large scale natural disaster like we
recently saw in Japan or even on a smaller scale, say a small scale power outage that might last for even a few days. There are many things that can happen, and we may never fully be prepared for something like an earthquake, a flood or anything even worse than that, but we can do the best we can to be as prepared as possible just in case.
When I was younger, my sister, just 19 months my younger, fell in love with
The Little House on the Prairie books, she read them all the time, and over and over again. She loved them so much that I figured they had to be a good read, well it was about that time when I really learned and understood that everyone has different tastes, likes and dislikes. I tried to read them, but I couldn't really handle them at all! While I couldn't handle the book itself, I did like the idea behind them; living in a simpler time, no modern conveniences.
One day, my sister and I concocted a plan, and presented it to our mother. For three days we would live like the people then! No cooking unless it was over a fire, and while we didn't have a well to draw water from, we would have to go outside with our buckets and use the outside tap from the house to get all our water, for baths preparing meals and everything. WE would also turn off the heater and use our fireplace for heat. If it was hot we would open windows instead of turning on the air conditioner or swamp cooler. The whole nine yards (my sister and I even wanted to dress the part! So we got out old dresses from the dress up pile). I can't remember exactly how much of our plan my mom went for and agreed to do, but I do remember having to fill buckets with water multiple time, building fires in the fireplace. The point of our little experiment was so that we could really appreciate the modern conveniences that we had. I think it worked at the time.
About three days ago, our air conditioner's circuit board died. I'm not sure exactly what happened to it technically speaking (that is my dad's and my husband's department) but it is gone now, and as a result, the heater won't turn on either. So we have been without heat or cool air for the last few days. It forced us to clean out the windows on the first day so we could open them without getting gunk blown in the house that we really didn't want on our floors (a project that wasn't really due for another couple of weeks). The first couple days wasn't bad at all! It was nice warm weather with a wind, outside the wind was pretty bad and actually did some damage, but for us it was perfect because it kept our house the perfect temperature. Today, however, it got really cold! It's been raining since early this morning and is supposed to rain till Friday when we just get a day break on Saturday then back to rain. The house has gotten really cold already, and I know it will just get colder. I'm not too worried, because we have lots of blankets and warm clothing to keep us warm. We still have power so I can make hot meals. And if worse really comes to worse, we live next door to my Mother, so we can always go over their, even overnight if we had to. I bundled up the babies this morning when I got them dressed, they are now all in their warmest clothes, and will be perfectly comfortable all day! I even made sure and put on warm pants and just a t-shirt to make sure I know how they are doing.
This little experience though has made me think about what would happen if the power went out for a few days. What if we didn't have heat in the middle of winter? What if the AC went out in the hottest month of the year? Would we really be OK?
Then I had an idea! (I just love those light bulb moments)
Once each month, it would be a good idea if you went without something for one week to really see what you would need in an emergency situation to survive! I think my family and I will do this. It's a great idea (if I do say so myself) to really get to the point that we have what we need to be able to be totally self reliant in any situation.
That breaks down to only 12 weeks a year that you go without something. Your list will be different than mine, and you'll want to tailor it to what you think you would benefit from most, but this is the first draft of our list:
| Month | Go Without | What We Need/To Improve |
| May | Heat/Air Conditioning | -Clean Fireplace -Wood Stockpile -Warm Sweaters for Kids |
| June | Electronics: Computer, TV, Video Games etc… |
|
| July | Car (except Dad for work ONLY) |
|
| August | Stove/Microwave/Toaster etc. (all Meals cooked over fire) |
|
| September | Washing Machine And Dryer |
|
| October | Lights |
|
| November | Grocery Shopping |
|
| December | Phones? |
|
| January | Waste Free |
|
| February | Fridge/Freezer (all food we use this week will Come from pantry etc…) |
|
| March | Running Water (just a day or two, excluding the toilet) |
|
| April | Diapers |
|
This list is subject to change, and we will fine tune it for what we think we need to learn to go without, but if we can do everything on this list, we will be teaching ourselves how to live without those things, we will know we CAN live without them, and we will also know what we need to do to plan and prepare for a disaster if those things were suddenly gone for a while!
Running water we will only be doing for a couple of days, because it is pointless to use up out entire water storage on an experiment. But two days should be plenty to help us know exactly how much water we would use on a daily basis for our family so we can adjust the amount we would need to store.
Diapers: Going without disposable diapers for a week might sound like over-kill, and we are already using
cloth diapers, but it is on this list because I think it is a skill that everyone should know, just in case they need it. Also, I couldn't think of anything else to go without yet, so when I do, I will switch it out.
If I can go a week without using my washer and dryer, I can learn how to do laundry by hand. I will be able to keep clothes clean in a situation where it is necessary to do so.
Going without electronics is something that might seem odd, but it will give a great idea of things we could start investing in to have us entertained if we had to go without power for a while. Also, we will learn to rely on other methods of getting out information other than the internet and refresh our memories son how to do it and this it is possible.
I'm excited to start doing this list, and I really feel it will help our family know a lot better how to take care of ourselves should something tragic happen. Let me know if you have any ideas of other things to go without for a while in emergency preparedness preparation? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to leave a comment.
Discovering Self Reliance - Part 1Discovering Self Reliance - Part 2: Living on Welfare Discovering Self Reliance - Part 3: Realizing Your Talents Discovering Self Reliance - Part 4: Emergencies & Really Being Ready For Them Discovering Self Reliance - Part 5: Learning New Skills - Maintaining Your Vehicle
