72-hour kits

Are you prepared to suddenly have to leave your house in an emergency? Start getting your 72-hour kits together. Have them by the front door, the garage or by each persons bed. Work on getting things your family would like to have slowly. Rushing out and buying it at once can drain your wallet! Decide first what you will put them in. Our family has backpacks that I bought for .19 each on a clearance sale right after the back school sales. Make sure you put plenty of water and food in each pack. As for clothing, this can be difficult to decide what to do. For an idea, our family each has underwear, socks and a pair of sweats. The sweats can easily be converted to shortsleaves and shorts, but can be warm during cold weather. Also, make sure that everyone leaves shoes and a pair of socks by their bed each night. This will help searching for in the middle of the night. When deciding on food, pack things that don't have to be cooked or are easy to fix. Don't pack chocolate! It melts easily and goes bad quickly. I suggest canned meats, soups, cereals, hard candy, etc. Also pack flashlights, pocket knives, blankets, poncho, whistle and anything else your family might need. Another great thing to do is make copies of all your insurance papers, vehicle information, medical information, birth certificates, etc and put them in a ziplock baggie in your pack. You never know if you will need this! Also, pack money in small denominations. Don't pack a $100 bill! You never know you will be able to use it! Pack 1's, 5's, 10's and 20's.