7 Ways to Be Prepared for Life’s Little Emergencies

I think that some people shy away from being prepared for basic things because they believe that ‘preparedness’ means we’re preparing for something that will never happen – like the zombie apocalypse.  If you fall into that group of people I have good news for you.  Preparedness or self-sufficiency is much more about being prepared for little emergencies so that they don’t become big emergencies than it is being prepared the end of the world.

So I want to give you some SIMPLE tips for being prepared everyday emergencies.  I’m going to get real in this post so read on at your own peril!  And if you’re a guy, don’t think I’m leaving you out.  I have info for you too.

First off – I’m a woman – just in case the name “Karen” didn’t give it away.  As a woman, I carry a purse.  Okay, if you’d ask my mom, I don’t carry a purse, I carry a small suitcase masquerading as a purse.  By my own admission, my purse is HEAVY, but it’s heavy because I would rather over prepare for small emergencies than under prepare for them.  In my purse, I carry several smaller bags each which hold categories of everyday tools, hence the “7 Ways to Be Prepared. . .”  My heavy purse is an attestation to the fact that I carry more than 7 things.  (More like 77, but I didn’t say that out loud.)

For you guys, I would highly suggest a backpack or a messenger bag.  It would serve the same purpose, but look a bit more masculine.  For your smaller bags, you could use something like this men’s toiletry bag in different colors for your different bags.

Group 1 – Uncategorized Items

Most of my items are kept in bags in my purse, but these aren’t, so they are lumped together.

• Flashlight
• Whistle
• Flash Drive
• Extra set of keys – I am SO KNOWN for locking my keys in my car.  One year I did it four times and AAA charged me for coming out to get the keys out of my car the last time!
• Cat Ear self-defense keychain
• Pepper Spray  – I bought this the week after we were attacked at chess club by a man with a knife.
• Umbrella
• Small notebook and pen – This is one of the best things I keep in my purse.  I always know where my notes are, where I make up my menus, where I jot down ideas for projects or blog posts, and where I put measurements for parts of our new house so I knew things like how long of curtain rods do I need.
• Lavender essential oil

I’m guessing that most of that is self-explanatory to you.  The only thing you may wonder about is lavender essential oil.  I use lavender for soothing skin (burns and abrasions), relieving tension (I do have five kids ya know), and headaches.

Group 2 – Personal Care Items

So if you look at the back of the picture, you’ll see a pink bag.  I keep all of my personal care items in that bag.  The items you’ll find are:

• Hand Lotion
• Sun Screen
• Baby Powder
• Thieves Hand Sanitizer
• Lip Balm
• Pad and Tampon – I warned ya I was getting real
• Paper Tissues
• Floss
• Measuring tape
• Hairband
• Hair Clip
• Comb – usually more for my kids than for me.
• Extra pair of glasses
• Nail clippers
• Band-aid
• Small scissors and yarn needle
• Eyeglass repair kit

And yes, the bag does zip shut without difficulty.  I use this bag most often.  Remember we want to be prepared for the small emergencies.  When we get to church and I see that my son or my daughter has NOT combed their hair – this has happened more than once, I send them to the restroom with my comb.  My daughter’s hairband breaks?  I have an extra.  Bathroom out of soap?  Hand sanitizer to the rescue!  A loose screw on my glasses?  I’ve got the goods to fix it.  Is this starting to make sense to you?  This is the crux of preparedness and self-sufficiency.

Group 3 – Preparedness Bag

This is my smallest bag.  It contains

• Cigarette lighter wrapped with duct tape – No I don’t smoke.
• Extra heavy duty shoelaces – They may not look pretty, but they won’t break!
• Magnifying glass
• Mini sewing kit – from which one of my kids store my thread!!  Note to self-replace the thread.
• Mirror 
• Strong Flashlight

If you’re paying attention, which I’m SURE you are, this is my second flashlight.  Did I mention I have 5 kids who get into my purse?  Yea.  It’s not that they will STEAL my flashlight, but sometimes the younger ones “borrow” it and forget to turn it off.  This is one item I need redundancy on.

Group 4 – Mini First Aid Kit – Part 1

This is just a “pill minder” that I use to keep medicines and other small items in for each reach.

• Non-latex gloves
• Band-Aids
• Advil
• Bayer aspirin
• Advil PM
• Tylenol

Small items such as pills, gloves, and band-aids can easily get lost in the bottom of a bag, so I keep them easily organized!

Group 5 – Mini First Aid Kit – Part 2

This group I do keep in a bag.  Yes, these bags look kinda cheesy, but I got them for $1 for 2 bags at the dollar store, so cheese city was fine with me!

• Bandana
• Neo to Go
• Large bandages
• Large ace wrap with safety pin
• Wound seal powder
• Super Glue
• Benedryl cooling spray
• Arnica Montana
• Small roll of tape rolled in on itself
• Steri Strips

These items are larger and require a bigger container, hence they go in the bag.  We’ve used several of these items already like Neo to go, Arnica, and larger band-aids before.  Having these around can bring such a peace of mind!  Did you know that Super Glue has been used to seal wounds?

Group Six – Electronics Bag

Now, you may be saying, “What in the world does an electronics bag have to do with preparedness?!?  And that’s a fair question.  Have you ever been on a trip and your phone battery died?  Yep, that would be me!  We were on our way back from Ohio, and I’m the family navigator with the help of my trusty cell phone!  So we stop for dinner in Indiana on our way back to Illinois, and when we come back to the car after dinner, my cell phone is dead.  I mean dead, not turning on, no help at all, and the paper map is where again?  Who moved the map?  Yep, the usual culprit – “NOT ME!” All five kids blamed “him.”  If I only had a cell phone charger.  Life would have proceeded differently that day.  And again, earphones, cell phone, and five kids…….those earphones can serve the same purpose as the lavender – stress reduction.

• Two cell phone charger cords because one inevitably doesn’t work.  They like to take turns on which one is going to behave that day – kinda like kids
• Phone Stand
• Ear Phones – These are the best earphones I’ve purchased in my life and I’ve bought a LOT of them.
• Jackery Cell Phone Charger

Group Seven – Food

I don’t keep a lot of food items in my purse (the car is a totally different story, but an article for another day).  The food items in my purse are meant as a remedy for an emergency or as a way to keep myself awake, or as a meal replacement.  It’s not meant for me to eat on for an entire day though and certainly wouldn’t sustain my children and I if we were out.  The peppermints or NingXia Red can settle an upset stomach.  The cinnamons, peppermints, or gum can help keep me awake if I’m driving.  If I’m out and about and don’t have time for lunch, I keep a protein bar in my purse for such emergencies to keep me from the drive-through.

• Peppermints
• Cinnamons
• Other hard candies
• Gum
• Protein bars

None of these things would save me from the end of the world, but each of these items can save me from an everyday minor emergency.  That’s what preparedness is all about!

So after reading this article, I have two questions for you:

(1) What items do you think I’m missing from my purse?

(2) What item(s) are you going to commit to getting in the next week?

There are links in this post.  Some of the links are affiliate links.  Some of the links are not.  My promise to you is that I will only recommend the most economical version of the best quality of items to serve you. These are the items that I buy for my own family.  You can feel free to use my affiliate links, of which I will get a small amount in compensation, or you can choose to search out your products on your own.