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December Focus |
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What you should work on this month |
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© Copyright 2003 Tornado Alley |
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Face it. Personal preparedness is a monster undertaking any way you slice it. You could make it a full time job and never be done. The trick is balancing your life with good knowledge and appropriate planning. It is not possible to prepare for every little thing that might come along. To help slay this beast we have created a monthly chart to help you decide what to work on RIGHT NOW.
The monthly focus table is oriented around three priority items (High, Medium, Low) for you to consider. These are generalized categories so you may have to adjust them to fit your situation. If you follow this table on a regular basis then every year, at a minimum, you will have reviewed, tested and kept your plan up to date. Following this table are more detailed notes for the current month.
You will note the blue box in the right column of every major page on this web site. This serves as a quick check on what your focus should be this month. The size of type indicates relative priority (large=high, etc.).
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Monthly Focus Table
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Month
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High
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Medium
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Low
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Jan
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-
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-
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-
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Feb
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-
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-
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-
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Mar
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-
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-
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-
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Apr
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-
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-
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-
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May
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-
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-
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-
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Jun
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-
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-
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-
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Jul
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-
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-
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-
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Aug
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-
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-
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-
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Sep
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-
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-
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-
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Oct
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-
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-
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-
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Heat
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Weather
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Food
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Dec
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Communication
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Medical
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Finance
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Communication
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This is a good month to work on your communication plan since you will be visiting with family and friends anyway. Not to mention the flurry of family letters and cards whizzing their way through the mail sorters.
Get a weather radio, extra batteries, current list of family phone numbers, pagers, cell numbers, email addresses, snail mail addresses, work numbers, school numbers, daycare numbers, emergency numbers other than 911, set of FRS radios (minimum of two) with 2-5 mile range, batteries, CB radio, shortwave receiver with ability to operate off of battery, consider getting amateur radio (ham) license (no morse code required) if family is spread out or has long commute, battery powered AM-FM radio, optional battery powered small television, spare batteries for all equipment. Get a recharger and batteries that are good for at least 100 cycles, if possible.
Consolidate key contact info onto small card for each family member. Develop a calling tree for family and friends to expedite communications and minimize the call load on any one person. Define backup places for meeting in the event you are caught with a communications outage.
Note: many schools ban students from carrying cell phones and pagers to classes. You may need to have a discussion with the school and your children ( on proper use).
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Medical
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Safely dispose of all expired medications, vitamins, supplements and supplies. Start building an inventory of critical medications (up to a one year supply), annual health checkup if not done, extra pair of glasses and contacts, build a first aid kit suitable for the number of people in household, stock one year supply of all vitamins and supplements, rotate stock using oldest first, designate storage area for first aid kit and supplies so anyone in household can find it in emergency, consider taking a first aid course or first-responder course. Check with Red Cross or take a batch of cookies to your nearest fire station - they'll be glad to help you!
Review health insurance plans and options to make sure your coverage is correct. If your family is healthy consider reducing some options to save money - but don't be penny wise and pound foolish.
Get all critical dental and medical work (surgery, etc.) done as soon as possible. Don't delay.
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Finance
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Spend moderately for the holiday season, get rid of unused credit cards, begin preparations for tax season, figure out how much money it takes to run household (on average) each month. Start setting aside cash/savings to build up to a 3-6 month cash reserve. Remember, cash gives you room to maneuver and time to react. Pay down debt to reduce interest charges and minimize your monthly expenses. If you donate to charity or church make sure you have met your goals.
Schedule a meeting with CPA, financial planners to set course for next year and verify your current plans.
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© Copyright 2003 Tornado Alley
Copyrights of contributed articles remain with their respective owner
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In a dangerous situation we have chosen the most dangerous of courses... we have chosen not to face our danger!
-Edward Teller |
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Comm.
Medical
Finance
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