A Last Minute List of Halloween Safety Tips

This year has flown by--I can't believe it is Halloween already!  If you are sending your kids out to trick or treat this year, here's some safety tips to consider.

• Make sure your kids can see and breath well in their costumes.
• Make sure your kids are easy to see by drivers and other trick or treaters.
• Give your kids the "how to cross the street safely" lecture.  Most kids are so busy paying attention to their friends, their costumes, and their candy that they forget the basics of looking both ways before they cross the street and staying out of the way of cars on the roadway.
• Always make sure your kids go trick or treating with a group and a parent (although each year I get trick or treaters that look like college basketball players on my doorstep so if your kids are that big, they may not need the parent but they should still never go out alone).
• Make sure your kids each carry a flashlight to light their way.
• Make sure your kids only trick or treat in areas you deem safe (I've seen some ghetto areas I wouldn't let my kids walk through during broad daylight...).
• Host a Halloween party at home instead of having the kids trick or treat if necessary.
• Don't let your kids eat the candy they collect until they get home (and until you've had a chance to check out the candy first).
• Some areas are just too unsafe to trick or treat in, if this is the case, check to see if a local mall or business district is hosting a Halloween night complete with candy for the kids to trick or treat for at each store.
• Make sure your kids are aware of basic stranger danger safety tips (ie: don't go into a stranger's home no matter how nice the person seems, don't give out personal information, don't walk around behind the back of a house even if the sign on the door says to, don't go off with someone who asks a kid for help--if the person needs help, they should be asking an adult not a child; etc).
• Make sure each of your kids carry a cell phone with them.
• Set a curfew for your older kids to come back home by if you are not going with them.
• Have a zero tolerance policy for violence either on your kid's part or their friends (no real guns with their costume even if it is just a BB gun, no real knives, no egging or TPing houses, etc).

18 Twitter Feeds to Follow for the Superstorm

Twitter is becoming the de fact way to get breaking news.  Here's 18 Twitter feeds to follow to get the latest news on Hurricane Sandy:

1. National Weather Service
2. National Hurricane Service
3. FEMA
4. Red Cross
5. CNN Breaking News
6. NOAA
7. The Weather Channel Breaking News
8. CNN Weather Center
9. CDC Emergency
10. AccuWeather Breaking News
11. NASA
12. USA Today Weather
13. Breaking News Storm
14. FEMA Region 1
15. Chaser TV
16. Weather Underground
17. Flight Advisor
18. CNN Live

50 Prep Tips for the Superstorm

Within the next 24 hours, many parts of the east coast of the US are expected to be hit by a "super storm".  If you are in the storm's path--and even if you are not (air travel)--consider these tips:

1. Stay glued to the news.  Information about what is happening could save your life.
2. If your house is in the storm's path, consider sandbagging and boarding up windows.
3. If you are told that you should evacuate, do so.  A few days away from your home could save your life (and the lives of rescuers who invariably get called to rescue people who didn't heed the evacuation warnings).
4. If you have travel scheduled, check with your airline (or Amtrak).  Many flights will be cancelled (even if you aren't in the area, flight delays often impact airports across the country).
5. Be prepared for power outages.  It is estimated that 10 million people could be impacted by power outages before, during, and after the storm.
6. Find out if your kid's school will be open or closed.  Some schools have already cancelled class for the next few days.
7. Public transportation will also be impacted.  The New York subway system has been shut down and no doubt many other community transit systems will be shutdown or curtailed.  If you rely on public transportation, check the company's website before you go.
8. Wall Street will be shut down but online trading will still be available.
9. Have you stocked up on the basics to shelter in place in your home?  Many stores are reporting a glut of last-minute customers stocking up on water, food, diapers, etc.
10. Be aware that when something is in demand (generators now, possibly construction supplies, etc later) there are often shortages, prices may be jacked up, theft may become a bigger issue, and scams will abound.
11. Cell service may be lost if cell towers go down.  A hardwired land line phone may work when cell phones don't.
12. Cell service may be overloaded.  Note that when cell calls can't go through, text messages often do.
13. Consider how you will entertain the family when there is no electricity.
14. Know where your local shelters are located.  In the event that you must evacuate, know where to go (in this case it will be to higher ground as flooding is predicted in many areas).
15. Be careful with flood water--it is more dangerous than it looks and any time there is a flood, people end up getting killed in the rushing water.  Don’t walk in flooded areas, don’t drive on flooded roads.
16. Do you have clean up supplies on hand?  If you are in the path of the storm, clean up will be a necessity afterwards.
17. Beware of downed power lines.  Never drive over downed power lines, touch them, or touch anything that is touching them (like tree limbs across power lines).
18. Check on your neighbors.  Make sure that those who need to evacuate know how to do so and after the storm, check to make sure that everyone is OK (medical emergencies uptick during and after a disaster, additional problems can be caused by an extended power outage or cold temperatures).
19. Break out your communications plan.  Know who and how to call to let them know that you and your family are surviving the storm.
20. Do you have a full tank of gas in your car?  You may end up driving a distance to evacuate or to seek food/help/etc so make sure your car is ready to go.
21. Do you have enough water on hand?  You should have plenty of bottled water/canisters of drinking water.  Also consider filling up the bathtub.  Often flooding makes water systems (especially wells) malfunction and you won't be able to drink tap water.
22. How will you heat your home?  In many areas, snow and cold weather is predicted so during a power outage you will need to be able to keep warm.
23. You may need to make alternate plans for Halloween.
24. If you have things in your yard (lawn furniture, etc) be sure to tie it down or bring it in to keep it from flying around in the storm.
25. It's always a good idea to have tarps and rope on hand in case pieces of your roof fly off or a tree falls into your home.
26. Stay away from the beaches.  With storm surge and extra high tides, playing near the waves is just too dangerous.
27. Check your local department of emergency management website for information specific to your area.
28. If you have medical concerns, take care of them before the storm starts (make sure you have enough prescription medication on hand, enough oxygen, the ability to keep the power on if that is necessary, and ask your doctor what you should do if you need critical medical treatment such as dialysis).
29. Ask your employer what their plan is during the storm.  Many businesses in the path of the storm are closing up.  
30. Know that you may need to protect youself and your property.  Disasters tend to bring out looters and other people looking to take what they can get.
31. If you have plans made for the next few days, check to see if they are still a go.  Many political rallies, sporting events, etc have been cancelled.
32. If you live at higher elevations, be prepared for snow.  Snow is forecast in many of the higher areas from the Appalachians into Canada.
33. Do you have your BOBs ready?  Even if you don’t plan to evacuate, things could change and you may have to leave on a moment’s notice.
34. Keep paper, markers, and tape on hand.  If you need help and can’t call or otherwise seek assistance, post a message on your front window.  Generally after an area is hard hit, local first responders will drive through neighborhoods checking for damage and looking for people who need help. 
35. Be sure to keep your gutters, downspouts, and drainage covers free of debris so that water can flow away from your home.
36. Make sure your phones are charged (bonus points if you have a car AC/DC adapter which would allow you to charge your cell phone and other small items if you have a power outage).
37. If flooding is predicted in your area, move stuff from the first floor to the second floor if possible to save it from potential flood water.
38. If your basement has a sump pump, make sure it is in working order.
39. Take a few minutes before the storm to look up important numbers (electric company, gas company, water company, etc) so that you can report an outage or emergency if necessary.
40. Unplug appliances—especially your computers and TV—so they won’t get jolted if the power goes out then comes back on.
41. Keep all of your valuables and important papers in one big waterproof Ziploc bag which you can grab in a hurry if you need to leave.
42. If you are caught in the eye of the hurricane, seek shelter in the basement or an interior room during the height of the storm.  If you are near the beach or flooding is possible, head for the attic (make sure you have an ax in the attic in case you need to go through the roof to escape).
43. You do have extra cash on hand don’t you?  Banks may be closed and ATMs may not work during and after the storm.
44. If you haven’t done a home inventory, break out your digital camera or cell phone video recorder and make a quick sweep through your house to document the things that are in your home; you may need to file an insurance claim afterwards.
45. Stay off the roads during the height of the storm.
46. Take care with your pets.  Keep them inside until everything has settled down as they may panic and run off if left outside.
47. Plan for not only the hurricane but for flooding and potentially cold or freezing weather and/or snow (thus the term “super storm”).
48. If you have a weather radio, leave it on for up to the minute storm information.
49. After the storm, take photos and videos to document what happened to your area (may come in handy for insurance claims, etc).
50. Be extra careful to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.  Make sure your generator doesn’t exhaust into your home, don’t use outdoor cooking appliance to cook inside your home, etc.

10 Things for This Weekend

A quick roundup:

1. If you live on the East Coast, you should be prepared for the "Frankenstorm".
2. The CNI website will undergo and overhaul this weekend but it should be all fixed up by Monday.
3. Did you vote yet?  Many states offer early voting which allows you to avoid long lines at the polls.
4. For those not in the eye of the storm, this may be one of the last nice weekends to throw together a garage sale.  This will give your emergency fund or your Christmas fund a nice boost.
5. Late hunting season will be picking up pretty soon.  This is a great way to fill up your freezer.
6. Many stores are offering layaway for Christmas.  Start your Christmas shopping early and skip the last minute rush.
7. A late fall weekend camping/backpacking trip is also a good idea--the views are great and the people are sparse.
8. Even if you can't get away for the weekend you can get outside an play.  Exercise outside is a good thing for everyone.
9. Check out your local grocery store's loss leaders--now is a great time to stock up on baking supplies.
10. Get out and explore your city.  If you have a local Volksmarch organization you can take a walk with them and learn about some amazing/hidden/interesting trails around your city.

10 Alternatives to Using Firearms in Self Defense

First, let me tell you that a firearm is my preferred method of self defense in a life and death situation.  In such a dangerous situation, all other tactics pale in comparison when it comes to effectiveness.  However...there are a number of reasons where you will not/can not/do not want to use/have a firearm.  What happens if you find yourself in a dangerous situation then?  Here's some ideas:

1. Escape the scene.  As this girl's experience shows, no confrontation is the best outcome of a dangerous situation.
2. Hide.  Another good alternative.  In the case of burglars who are looking for a quick score, they probably won't be looking in the attic or the crawlspace when they break into your house so if you/your kid can get into the crawlspace and move as far away from the entrance as possible you may escape detection. Note that hiding in a closet is not a good idea since that is a common location for burglars to check.
3. Run.  Probably the oldest self defense option in existence, running away from trouble may be your only option in some circumstances.
4. Have an alarm.  A loud, audible alarm will scare off most people who are looking to steal something quickly (it probably won't do much for an assailant who is purposely coming to get you).  Having a home alarm system with a panic button and a car alarm system that you can activate from your key chain is a good idea.
5. A well trained guard dog is another good idea.  Most people won't go through a snarling, vicious-looking dog to get to you.  Besides that, just the sound of a barking dog is often a good enough deterrent for your average burglar.
6. Have a "panic room."  While a hardened, nearly impossible to access room in your house can be an extravagant expense, it will also keep an intruder from getting to you before help arrives.
7. Take steps to stop a dangerous situation before it even develops.  This is pretty much common sense but it bears repeating: keep your doors locked when you are driving, don't drive in sketchy neighborhoods at night, don't go to an out of the way ATM at night, reinforce your doors and windows to make it more difficult to break into your home, make your home look active and lived in at all times, etc.
8. Use what is at hand.  Pull a fire alarm, throw sand in your attackers eyes, pick up a cast iron frying pan.  Sometimes you will have no other option but to use what you can easily grab so consider your immediate options on a regular basis by playing "what if."  What if someone suddenly breaks in right now, what would I do?  And watch the Home Alone series of movies. Yes, I know it is fiction, but the principle is the same--what can you use when you don't have regular defensive options?
9. Taser/Pepper Spray.  These items are better than nothing in a self defense situation but certainly not optimal.  With a taser you get one shot (and that one shot may not make contact with the assailant, their jacket may be too thick, etc) and pepper spray can be blown back to you which would not help at all in the situation.
10. Using a knife, baseball bat, or hand-to-hand combat in a self defense situation is one of the least optimal method of defense.  Unless you are exceptionally skilled in these defensive arts and (hopefully) the assailant doesn't have a firearm, the possibility of a good outcome using any of these methods isn't great--you don't want to have to get this close to an assailant.

Finally, read this.

This Could Have Ended Badly

You may have already heard about this story where the 12 year old girl was able to shoot an intruder who broke into her home.  I was kind of cringing as I read the article because there were so many ways this could have gone wrong.  While I am happy that the outcome was as it is--the kid was able to defend herself and and bad guy got caught--here are some qualms I had as I read the post:

• It is common for potential burglars to ring the bell or knock on the door to determine if someone is home before they break into a house.  When no one answered, the burglar assumed no one was home and broke in.  A better option would have been for the girl to yell through the door that her dad was asleep and he would have to come back later.
• A gun was available to a 12 year old.  Yikes.  There are a handful of 12 year olds that I would trust alone with a gun (and my boys aren't included in this group because at 12 years old their judgement could be mature and stable one day, childish and "what the Hell were you thinking?" the next).  So while allowing unsupervised access to a firearm saved the girl in this situation, more often than not, kids getting their hands on a firearm without adult supervision is a stupid--and often deadly--thing to do.
• The girl called her mom first.  In a scary or dangerous situation, everyone should know to call 911 first.  You want help on the way ASAP.
• The girl shot the intruder through the closet door.  Yes, I know she had a reasonable assumption that it was the bad guy that she was shooting at but it could have ended up that the bad guy left and her mom came home and went to the closet where she told her daughter to hide and this would have turned out very badly.  tldr; shooting through a door or anything else that doesn't give you a clear view of your target is a bad idea.

The bottom line: yes it is a good idea to teach your kids how to shoot a firearm.  As soon as your kids are able to, they should learn about firearms, know how to take care of them, and know how to handle them safely.  However...you want to take as many precautions as possible so that a child would never find themselves in the above situation including teaching them what to do when a stranger comes to the door, having a security system with a panic alarm, and having a "safe room" that would be difficult and time consuming for the burglar to get into.  Fortunately this story had a happy ending...

Let's Prepare for...Getting Sick

Hopefully you won't get sick this cold and flu season, but you should be prepared for that eventuality nonetheless.  Here's some things you can do to prepare for that possibility:

• Get a flu shot.
• Add some extra money to your emergency fund (especially if you don't get paid sick leave).
• Put together a "sick kit".  Include a thermometer, cough drops, Thera Flu, Tylenol, Sudafed, a box of Kleenex, Zinc lozenges, a bottle of Vitamin C, acidophilous tablets, Carmex, Vicks Vapo-rub, and some echinacea, 
• Put together a small stock of food that you would want to eat and drink if you get sick: canned soup, Pedialite, Gatoraid, teabags, etc.
• Have a small stock of these germ-buster products: nitrile gloves, face masks, Clorox wipes.
• If you have children add children's pain reliever/fever reducer to your sick kit.  Also keep on hand coloring books and crayons as well as other activities that children can do while they are recuperating.
• Know that the best way to treat your average cold or flu is to rest quietly and sleep as much as possible.  Don't forget to stay hydrated which is also very curative.
• If you get sick and have a chronic illness which requires daily medication, be sure to ask your doctor what to do in the event that you either vomit up your medication or forget to take it.  Ditto if you are taking birth control pills.
• Don't automatically reach for an antibiotic if you become ill.  Many of these seasonal illnesses are caused by viruses not bacteria so an antibiotic won't help (unless you have strep throat which is a bacterial infection).  Overusing antibiotics encourages antibiotic-resistant infections and illnesses. 
• For a severe case of the flu which causes a very high fever, dehydration, severe dizziness, shortness of breath, or other life-threatening symptoms, don't hesitate to call 911 or go to the emergency room.

50 Fire Prevention Tips

Since we are in the middle of National Fire Prevention Week, I figured these tips may come in handy:

1. Have working smoke detectors in every bedroom and in the hallway on each floor.  This, more than anything else, can save a life in a fire.  Be sure to test them monthly.
2. Have a fire escape plan that the entire family practices regularly.
3. Know that one of the best ways to escape a fire is to cover your mouth with a cloth and crawl to your escape (smoke hangs like a curtain, you can't see through it and you can't breathe in it--the air is fresher and clearer near the floor).
4. Have charged fire extinguishers in the kitchen and in the garage, the two places where fires are most likely to happen (check them annually to make sure they remain charged).
5. Know that the best way to put out a fire is to "suffocate" it.  This means putting a lid over a pan that is on fire, smothering flames with a towel (for very small fires), or rolling on the ground to smother flames on your clothing (ie "stop, drop, and roll").
6. Be super careful when using an open flame in your house (candles, gas stoves, etc).  A curtain or piece of paper blown into the flame can cause a serious fire.
7. Be super careful when using deep fryers/turkey fryers.  This is the sad result of a recent accident with one of these; note that two of the adults taken to the hospital eventually died.
8. Create a fire break around your house.  Wildfires will be less likely to reach your home if there is no fuel to carry the fire to your house.
9. If there is a fire in your house that you can't reasonably extinguish within seconds, get everyone out of the house, go outside, and call 911.  
10. Have a no smoking in the house rule (which is good for your health anyway) and have a container of sand in your outdoor smoking area where cigarettes can be extinguished.
11. Keep matches, lighters, and other incendiary devices away from children (they are naturally curious and are likely to experiment with these things even if they know they are dangerous).
12. If you store cans of gasoline, store them in a well-ventilated outbuilding instead of the garage.
13. If you have oil-soaked rags, be sure to lay them flat on the garage/shop's concrete floor and let them dry; don't store wet, oily rags in a clump on your work bench or they could spontaneously combust.
14. Be careful with portable heaters, fireplaces, and wood stoves; a curtain or paper blowing into them can cause a fire.
15. Beware of stupid teenager tricks.  There are a number of ways--highlighted most effectively on YouTube--that you can set yourself or other things on fire.  Most of these are done by teenagers and range from "super soakers" shooting a flammable liquid to the "breathing fire" stunt.
16. Know that gasoline doesn't need to be touched with a match in order to ignite.  Simply having gas fumes near a flame source can cause an explosion and fire.
17. Be sure that any appliance with an electrical cord is checked occasionally to make sure that the cord isn't frayed and could start a fire (or simply unplug the appliance if you aren't using them).
18. Have your chimney cleaned annually; this can prevent a fire in your chimney from build-up.
19. Be sure that anyone using sensitive medical appliances (like oxygen tanks) do not smoke near these--it can cause an explosion.
20. Have your kitchen well organized in order to prevent fire (no clutter, don't place items that you use often and need to reach for above the stove, keep pot handles turned in to the stove instead of sticking out where people walk, keep children away from the stove and don't let them play in the cooking area, etc).
21. Be careful when cooking (use pot holders, don't start cooking then leave the room, use care when transferring hot foods from the stove or oven, etc).
22. Consider whether you should connect your fire alarm system to your security system (this is often a good idea for elderly folks, homes with a lot of children, or for those with serious medical issues--it brings help faster, especially for people who may not be able to easily call for help if there is a fire).
23. Keep your home clutter free.  If you have to escape your home in a hurry and you fall over something, that can keep you from leaving your home and/or make you more likely to suffer from smoke inhalation).
24. Have a fire escape plan if you have security bars on your doors and windows (this can delay escaping from a fire and/or delay assistance from reaching you if you are stuck in your home).
25. Keep household chemicals properly labeled and stored to prevent combustion.
26. Have a family meeting place outside of the home where everyone would gather should they need to escape from the home if it is on fire.
27. Consider a residential fire sprinkler system.  Again, this is often most critical for the elderly, ill, and homes with many children as it can extinguish small fires and/or give you more time to escape from a burning home.
28. Make sure everyone in the family knows how to call 911 and report a fire.
29. Make sure there is a way to escape through the window from second and third story bedrooms.
30. Keep vital items right near your bed, you won't have time to search for them if you awaken to a fire (these should include a pair of shoes, flashlight, cell phone, keys, wallet, etc).
31. Know that if you wake up to a fire and the door knob/door is hot, you will need to go out a window--don't risk running through a house engulfed in flames.
32. Most people who die in house fires die from smoke inhalation, not burns, so be very aware that you need to protect your breathing/airway as you escape from a fire.
33. Practice evacuating from your home blindfolded, this will simulate what escaping a fire may be like.  Do this carefully of course.
34. Halogen lights and any other unit that gets very hot (ie: countertop oven, etc) should be placed in a well ventilated place and not near anything flammable.
35. Be careful during the holidays.  Having guests, many more children who may be unsupervised, dry Christmas trees, celebration candles, etc. can all increase the possibility of fire.
36. Clean your clothes dryer's lint screen regularly and the exhaust duct occasionally to help prevent fires.
37. Take extra precautions if you live in a high rise building (escape from a fire can be difficult), apartment (often fires can travel from unit to unit through shared attic space), or manufactured home (older manufactured homes and not all that fire safe).
38. Be extra careful around the 4th of July.  Fireworks can cause house fires as well as cause damage outside of your house.
39. Plan for fire safety when you drive.  Carry a fire extinguisher, keep your car in good working order, and be careful when transporting cans of gasoline in your vehicle.
40. Be extra aware of fire danger when away from home.  Take time to figure out how you would escape from a motel/hotel/concert venue/dorm/mall/supermarket/air plane/etc.
41. Check the electric system in your home: you should have GFI outlets near sinks and water sources, all outlets should be grounded, replace any burned or burned out outlets or switches, check your breaker box to make sure all switches work, and have any needed electric service completed by a licensed electrician.
42. If you have any question about the fire "safe-ness" of your home, call you local fire department; they will usually provide free fire safety inspections for people who live in their area.
43. If you have a generator, make sure it is professionally installed if it will be connected to your home's electrical system.
44. Learn CPR and basic first aid; in the event of a fire you may be the one providing these life saving skills until help can arrive.
45. If you have children, incorporate a few drills into their weekly schedule.  While being able to hide in an emergency situation such as a break in is important, they need to automatically know that in a fire they can't hide, they need to escape.  Children who don't learn to escape from a fire often hide which makes it harder for them to be rescued and/or survive a fire.
46. Teach everyone in the family how to turn off your home's main breaker, water main, and gas main.  During a natural disaster, fires are often started by broken electrical and gas lines.
47. Keep garden hoses hooked up to your outdoor water spigots.  This will allow you to put out bonfires or small burns and can also be used to wet down your house in the event of wildfire.
48. Make preventing and preparing for a fire a fun family activity.  Regular practice will demystify the process, allow everyone to develop an automatic "muscle memory" response to a fire, and they will be less likely to freak out because they will be focused on completing the task at hand which they have practiced so many times before.
49. Keep important belonging (cash, important documents, etc) in a fire proof safe or fire proof gun safe.  
50. Finally, be careful with fire when you are out of doors.  Put out campfires, don't toss cigarettes into the brush, and be aware of fire danger when you head to the mountains.

10 Old Fashioned Skills You Should Still Practice

Here's ten old fashioned skills you still need to know even though it is the 21st century:

1. Yes I know that everyone and their brother uses their newfangled smartphones for communications these days but in a SHTF scenario (or even during a random EMP attack) your cell phone is going to become a very expensive paperweight.  Learn how to use a HAM radio.
2. Wayfinding with map and compass.  I'm not one to eschew new GPS technology (except when my old GPS unit tells me to make a left and it's obvious that there is no place to make a left and that doing so would launch me off a cliff or something).  So imagine that your GPS is DOA for whatever reason and all of your markers have been washed away.  That's why you need this skill.
3. 40 years ago if I told a kid to go out and hunt up some dinner they would grab their 22 or their fishing pole and come back with something resembling food.  These days if I said that they would probably give me a blank stare like I had lost my mind or something.  Know how to procure your own food (and not from a grocery store).
4. Making a shelter.  When I was a kid we did this for entertainment (it was called making a fort in those days).  This meant going out in the woods (or in some out of the way pocket in an urban area) and making a small shelter that would--theoretically--keep you dry and protected for the night.  Fortunately I had a grandfather who grew up in the woods so he had no qualms about letting us sleep out in our forts all summer long.  Again, this is a lost skill that people should really practice because you never know when a Katrina-esq event will wipe away your home and leave you without shelter.  And if you don't know what I mean, seek out a homeless encampment, these folks know how to keep themselves warm and dry while living outside.
5. How to entertain yourself sans anything electronic.  I know many people who would be hard-pressed to do anything except stare numbly at their unworking cell phone/laptop/TV should all electronics be wiped out.  Play cards, play board games, knit...basically learn how to do things that don't require electricity to keep you and the family entertained.
6. How to cook from scratch.  What happens if every food service vendor within 50 miles suddenly shut down?  Many people would be hard-pressed to fend for themselves in this area.  So start practicing today in order to have at least marginal skills at keeping your family fed in the event of a SHTF event.
7. Gardening is a hobby today for some people but I believe that too few people actually know how to grow even a small percentage of food that would be needed to keep their family fed in the event that they couldn't access a grocery store.  Our nation has had a history of gardening to provide much needed food--everything from kitchen gardens on every farmstead to Victory Gardens during the war--but this too is becoming a lost art.  Practice this skill and you may be surprised that not only does it lower your grocery bill but it also provides a bit of exercise and self sufficiency as well.
8. Building your own weapons.  Of course I would take an assortment of firearms and copious amounts of ammo any day but what happens during a long-term disaster when these items run out?  Homemade weapons are certainly a thing of the past but it can be fun/useful/insightful to make and use your own slingshots and bow and arrow set.
9. People skills are important (and often sadly lacking in this day and age).  Since most people do a majority of their communicating via electronic methods these days, some old fashioned communication skills have fallen by the wayside.  Learning how to barter, how to persuade someone to your point of view, how to be personable, how to mind your manners, how to take a leadership role, et al. are often unknown, overlooked, or just plain foreign concepts to people today.  They are still worth practicing and knowing.
10. Good old fashioned muscle power.  Nearly everything has been brought to a point these days that muscle power is virtually unnecessary.  Nevertheless, building up your muscle power can have some significant benefits in a SHTF scenario.  Years ago you became muscular not through a gym membership but because everyday you were splitting wood, walking miles to school, hauling hay, carrying stuff up five flights of stairs sans elevator, etc. Go out of your way to use and develop your muscles/stamina/etc. not only for use in a disaster but to keep yourself out of the doctor's office as well.  

10 Items to Have on Your Key Chain

Obviously you don't want your key chain to weigh five pounds (like this, which is a bit much but a good example), however here is an assortment of items that you may find useful to have attached to it:

1. A small, round whistle useful for signalling in a disaster (similar to this).
2. A small, flat flashlight, useful for when the power goes out (like this).
3. A tiny, folding knife (if you don't usually carry a pocketknife) (similar to this).
4. A library card (really, the best tool you can have is knowledge and there is plenty to be gleaned from the library).
5. A carabiner which is useful for many things including keeping your keys clipped to you (similar to this).
6. A thumb drive with your important documents on it--password protected, of course (like this).
7. A kubotan (or other small, self defense aid), provided you know how to use it (like this).
8. A small Sharpie, useful for all sorts of things from signalling for help to writing down a license plate number (like this).
9. A micro firestarter (if you don't usually carry a lighter) (like this).
10. A mini compass (usually in an urban or suburban environment you would never need this but consider a Katrina-like event that wipes away all of your landmarks) (similar to this).

These are just some examples.  There are literally dozens of items you might want to carry on your EDC key chain so the idea is to tweak your key chain to suit your needs without it weighing a ton.  Make sure the items you choose are as small and light as possible, don't duplicate things you carry elsewhere, and can be useful in everyday situations as well as during an emergency.

Bulking Up Your Food Stockpile

You know you need a stockpile of food to tide you over in the event of TEOTWAWKI but building up a reserve of a year's worth of food to use in the event of a disaster (more likely it will be used in the event of an extended illness, job loss, impromptu large gathering of people at your home, etc) can be a pretty expensive undertaking.  Here are some ways to build up your food stockpile on the cheap:

1. Shop for loss leaders each week at the grocery store.  Loss leaders are the super low cost sale items that grocery stores use each week to lure shoppers into their store so that they will buy other stuff as well.  Skip the other stuff and buy as much of the loss leaders as you can (most have a limit but if you bring the spouse and four kids with you you will be able to buy five times the number of items).
2. Buy in bulk.  It is much cheaper to buy 50 pounds of rice than it is to buy a small five pound bag of rice.  Ditto for most other things such as oats, pinto beans, etc.  You want to be cautious, however, when you buy huge restaurant-sized cans of food because if there is only one or two of you, opening one of these huge cans means you will need to eat the entire can of stuff lest it go bad.
3. Go fishing or hunting.  While there is the expense for the license, firearm/fishing pole, ammo, etc, putting up a dozen fish each weekend or an entire elk will fill your freezer in a heartbeat.
4. Buy an entire animal.  Buying an entire pig/cow/etc and having it properly butchered and wrapped is another way to fill up your freezer quickly and this will generally be cheaper than buying small cuts of meat at the grocery store.
5. Grow a garden.  You can grow (literally) a ton of vegetables for pennies on the dollar with a bit of practice and planning.  You will then be able to take your harvest and freeze/can/dry/pickle the items for use at a later date and bulk up your pantry at the same time.
6. Glean/u pick/forage for produce.  Even if you don't have space for your own garden, you can usually get produce cheaper and fresher than buying it at a grocery store by going to a u-pick farm, gleaning a field after harvest (with permission of course), or foraging for wild edibles.
7. Shop at the $1 store or similar discount store.  Some $1 stores have a paltry amount of canned and dried good while others (the 99 cent store chain in Las Vegas for example) have a huge amount of really, really cheap food.  Be sure that you know your prices before you shop (some items cost less than $1 at Walmart or other stores so it would be better to get the items there) and also know your sizes--many $1 stores sell food items that are packaged specifically for them and this often means that the grocery item that looks so cheap is actually much smaller than what you would buy in a regular grocery store so do your research first.
8. Go dumpster diving.  Some people have taken dumpster diving to an art form and can practically eat for free every day of the year this way.  While initially this sounds like an icky way to fill up your pantry, it is still a viable option to get food on the cheap (examples here).
9. Ask.  Simply let people know that you would be more than happy to take the extra apples they have accumulated, the boxed goods from the back of their pantry that they were going to throw away because they never eat the stuff, etc.  When people think of getting rid of food, you want them to think of you.
10. Go in on purchases with others.  Maybe you can't afford a 50 pound bag of rice or an entire cow so consider the next best option, splitting the cost of large food purchases with one or more people.  By buying cooperatively and divvying up your purchases, you will still reap the cheaper costs of the food items and still be on your way to filling up your pantry.