At the very least, be very circumspect about what is in it and where it is kept so nobody knows how easy it would be to steal your identity. You may not want young children to know since they tend to be real blabbermouths.

When I catered the reception for my daughter’s wedding, I had a huge list of all of the ingredients and quantities needed for the food and drink, as well as things like chafing dishes and serving trays, way ahead of time. When I saw good prices on the items I needed, I bought them. When the time came to prepare and serve the food, it was all on hand. I also prepared a serving table layout chart and a “bible” describing how I wanted things laid out and garnished, and at what time each item should be ready, which I gave to the friends who were helping to serve, all in a nice three-ring binder. Things went so smoothly, you wouldn’t believe it.

Regarding your points:

1. Buy more staple foods, and less esoteric.
For me, some of my staple foods are pretty esoteric. My wife and I have become rather spoiled after I was a restaurant professional for so many years, and though we eat 95% of our meals at home, we don’t skimp on the ingredients. I try to have many good ingredients on hand in the pantry and freezer at all times. Right now I’ve got about 20 lbs. of frozen shrimp and some ahi tuna and some filet mignons on hand. Oh, and perhaps 5 lbs of alligator. It’s never a problem coming up with a tasty meal for us, as long as we remember to thaw something out. When we get caught unprepared, I just grab a can of soup from the pantry, and open a bag of saltine crackers. We can eat cheap and simple, too.

2. Make most of your financial transactions automatic.
Amen! The only caveat to this, for me, is that there are a couple of “variable” bills, such as for my cell phone, that I like to examine before I pay it. Fortunately, my bank’s auto bill pay program puts the control in my hands, and doesn’t function by allowing the providers to “draft” against my account. The bank actually issues an electronic payment after I schedule and approve it. Any of those bills marked variable have a payment amount of $0.00 until I go in and enter the correct amount, so I can deal with any billing disputes before the company actually has my money. I’m also slowly moving to totally electronic billing statements. Saves on waste paper.

3. Keep a standard travel bag ready to go.

I’m still working on this one. I have a fully packed toiletries bag which I just throw in my suitcase, or into the saddle bags on the motorcycle. I also keep the left saddlebag packed with all of my foul-weather gear. We have a mesh bag we keep all of our life jackets for the boat in. I have a camping bag that we keep the sleeping bags, air mattress, space blankets, pillows and the air pump in. Have a few more things I need to work on, when I get time.

4. Perform regular maintenance on your appliances and equipment. I’m good on some things, not so good on others. I need to come up with a good calendar function for my PC one of these days. I should probably use Outlook, and sync it with my work calendar, then set up appointment reminders for maintenance tasks.

However, about automating bill payments . . . this is dangerous if you don’t manage due dates against checking account balances. I learned the hard way that I have a tendency to slack off if something is automated. (I automate so I don’t have to think about it.) I pay bills online but don’t use the automatic feature. Being somewhat of a slacker I use this method to force myself to stay cognizant of all my transactions. I feel more secure when I exercise that kind of control over my finances. As bills are paid I make a notation on my budget spreadsheet.

Your articles continue to be a great help to me. Thanks!

Sharp right turn here – if you haven’t seen the movie “Hoodwinked”, check out on YouTube the “Be Prepared” song. Makes me giggle every time. One of these times I’m going to make one of my emergency preparedness classes sit through it. :)

A male would have a very easy time having a bag packed for a three day trip, and the contents likely wouldn’t vary much between a three day visit to family vs. a three day business trip .

It would be much harder for a woman to have an all-purpose three day bag packed, the difference between business attire and comfortable casual wear is much greater in women’s clothing.

I have spent many years with a heavy work travel schedule, and I always have a bag HALF packed for a week-long trip. My trips are usually one week in duration, so I scale the bag contents up or down with additional items for longer/shorter trips.

It has a full selection of toiletries, which I refill when I come home from a trip. It has a week’s worth of clothing items that are universal, and for which wrinkling is not an issue (undergarments, socks, bathing suit, workout gear/sweats, golf shirts, jeans, running shoes, travel clock, etc.). I pack the trip-specific items on the eve of the trip (business attire, season-specific items such as sweaters, clothing that might wrinkle).

I always put a change of clothes, a small toiletry bag, and something that will pass for business attire in my carry-on bag, for those inevitable airline screwups.

I use a packing list, and I have been doing this for so many years that it is second nature to me.

I keep my gym bag fully packed. I refill the toiletries once a week, and I always put clean workout gear in the bag when I get home. I’ve found that having the bag packed and ready to go gives me one less excuse to avoid the gym.

For camping/hiking (which he loves, but often ruins with the above behavior), I made a list of everything we need, “laminated” it by putting it in one of those clear plastic document sleeves and taping up the open end, and have a whiteboard pen taped to a string so we can check off as we go along, kept in my backpack. He rolls his eyes, but it works. I also promised him he can keep buying quality camping gear whenever he needs to, if he would store the vast majority of it in the actual backpacks (apparently that degrades some of the equipment), so that it’s all in one place and not spread out all over.

As a professional emergency manager, some other things I recommend for everyone (do it! Do it now if you’ve been procrastinating) include: 1) a basic car kit (any old bag, with items so you don’t freeze to death in a blizzard or thirst to death in a desert, basic car maintenance items like jumper cables, various fluids your car needs, a small folding shovel for if you get stuck in snow/mud, etc. Keep it light but useful)

2) a small work emergency go-kit (that includes glow sticks & a small flashlight for evacuating, comfortable shoes for when you have to walk many miles to get home because your transportation options are all jammed, spare home keys, space-efficient but seasonally appropriate change of clothes, 1 bottle water, and some small non-melting comfort food (for me, those rum Lifesavers or Worthers) – keep it light enough to carry).

3) Having an emergency evacuation kit (including copies of key family documents, medications, season-appropriate clothes, good walking shoes for everyone, climate-appropriate cooling/warmth, tarp/garbage bags for shelter, water bottles and water filter or iodine tablets).

For more complete lists of kit contents, check out the http://www.Ready.gov website.

I think Trent has mentioned that his family travels frequently to take a long car trip to visit family. Knowing that they do that frequently makes it easier to pack for the next trip. Any different type of trip would likely then require a few additions to the basics.

I do the same thing when I go to the gym – it is much easier to remember everything I need to pack if I do it right after I get back, rather than wait until I am ready to go the next time. By then I have forgotten that the shampoo needs refilling or whatever.

For trips, which I don’t do frequently, instead of keeping a packed bag, I keep a packing list in my suitcase, which I review/update as soon as I get back from a trip.

By having the core building blocks you can never really say that there is nothing to eat . . .