Martin Lukac asked:


Weather is the one thing you can’t control. But you can control how you are prepared for emergencies and bad weather situations. And you can do it frugally.

From flooding and hurricanes to mudslides and blizzards, we all need to be prepared for disasters. You don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands to become prepared.

First, you should stay educated. Know what the possibility for disaster in your area is. Some areas have fewer disasters than others. But there are always surprises. In the winter, you may live in an area of the country where you should keep your eye on the weather report for snow conditions. Some people must worry about hurricane or tornado seasons.

Learn the basics of food storage and useful crafts. You will be able to get through a disaster if you know how to make things work. In fact, you will find that a lot of frugal tips are essentials during disasters. You may need to know how to make things from scratch or make do without electricity. Learn the things that will help you survive.

For example, if you know that your electricity could be disrupted in the event of a disaster, you could learn to build a solar oven for cooking without fuel. Or you may have a wood stove in your home that you could cook on. You might even consider shopping around for a generator on sale to run your fridge and deep freeze on to keep your food fresh.

If you do have a wood stove or fireplace, make sure that you have wood and pots and pans that can be used to cook in. Cast iron cookware is best, which you can often find at yard sales or second-hand stores for a reasonable price.

Make sure that you always have at least a month’s worth of your prescriptions on hand. You should also have a well stocked medicine chest, with pain medicine, bandages and other first aid items. Take inventory of it often and replace the expired items as needed.

Many disasters or emergency situations leave you without water. It is a good idea to have a few weeks worth of water stored. You should rotate your water regularly so that it remains fresh. I buy bottled water on sale, but you can also fill containers from your tap.

Food is a primary issue. You should have a stocked pantry at all times. One year, my husband and I were snowed in unexpectantly. We had very little food in the house as we had planned to spend the holidays with our family. We actually opened and ate a few Christmas gift sets we had bought for others.

Since then, we are fully prepared for being stranded at home. Stock up on dry and canned foods when they are on sale. Buy things that you will know how to prepare. Canned meats and spreads that can be eaten cold are an excellent addition to an emergency pantry. Don’t forget to include plenty of vegetables, fruit and grains, not just meat and powdered milk. Soups are often a good addition as well.

You may need to keep some extra cash on hand for emergencies. Many banks or financial instituations may be closed during a disaster, so you will want to have access to a small amount of money.

There are many ways to prepare for emergencies. You don’t have to go out and buy everything at once. Make a list of the necessities and start stocking up on things a little at a time. Before you know it, you won’t even have to make that last trip to the store before the snow hits. You will be ready.



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Adriana Copaceanu asked:


The holidays always bring to mind family, fun, festive decorations and food. We want our homes to look nice, but we don’t want to spend a small fortune on things we only use once a year. With a little creativity, and bargain shopping, you can have a nice setting for your family celebration.

Fall place mats – An old stand-by; use the leaves from your own yard. Gather some that have a nice shape and color, clean them and press them flat under heavy books. Instead of the waxed paper that we used in grade school, get a roll of clear contact paper. Lay one of your placemats on the paper for a pattern, cutting it out twice as wide, so it can be folded over to

seal in the leaves. Crease the contact paper in the middle, open it, and pull only half the paper backing away, arrange the leaves anyway you like (the kids would love to help). If you want more color, place a piece of construction paper under the leaves. After you have the leaves in place, pull back a little of the paper at a time, smoothing the top piece of contact paper as you go, removing air bubbles and sealing around the leaves. For an extra touch, get some ribbon and glue some around the edges, like a frame.

Wooden decorations – Most craft stores have simple wood cutouts of all sorts of holiday items. Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, there are simple paint techniques, using sponges, rubber stamps or stencils, which will produce a nice look with very little work. The store staff can probably even suggest some easy projects. Make it a family project; the

kids will enjoy it as well. You may be surprised at how well they will do.

Dishes – if you don’t care about using the good china, there are always pretty paper plates and napkins that can add a touch of color to the meal. Many of them are fairly sturdy and can hold up to the amounts of food we tend to eat over the holidays. The best part? No dishes to wash, except some utensils and the pots and pans, so you have more time to enjoy relaxing after dinner.

Other decorations – Check your local party supply store, many times there are discount ones around. They may have nice wall decorations you can buy, and they sometimes have things you can rent as well. They may have garlands of fake leaves, or center pieces.

Wreaths – Making a fall wreath is fairly easy. Get some floral foam from the local craft store (they usually have precut pieces ready to be used for wreaths). Look through their silk flowers and leaves. Gather some in fall colors (quite often you can get a bargain on these, if you shop around a bit). You don’t have to be an expert in floral arranging to get a nice look. Follow a simple pattern, placing the largest flower every so many inches around (depending on the sizes), then move to the next smaller item, once you are down to the “filler” pieces, like leaves or greenery, just fill in the empty places. Put a bow at the bottom, and you’re done.



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