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You know, (because I think I said so), my New Year Resolution this year is to get caught up and be prepared. One of my goals for this year is to save up at least 3 months of income. I figure we can live on $1600 a month in an emergency so that's what? $4,800. I already have $1000 saved.

Also, I used to be far more prepared for disaster and emergency situations than I am now. By the grace of God, we weren't impacted as hard as some in the community by the recent ice storm. We would've been in trouble, just because of lack of heat. So I'm restoring a kerosene heater.

Then I got this today in my email from my Medical Reserve Corps. Perfect!

_{Reminder : January Tulsa MRC Training}

Date: January 15, 2007

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: Tulsa Health Department

Address: 5051 S. 129th East Ave

City: Tulsa

State: OK

Presentation Subject: Family First! Making an Emergency Plan

Presenter: Loren Stein, RNC

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to:

Identify the critical components of a family emergency kit.
Discuss the components of a shelter in place or evacuation family plan.
Examine the importance of having a family kit and plan in place for Medical Reserve Corps volunteers.

Contact hours are available for RNs at no charge. Oklahoma Nurses Association is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Texas Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. This activity meets Type I criteria for mandatory continuing education requirements toward relicensure as established by the Texas Board of Nurses

Be careful with kerosene heat indoors... that’s the reason dad got us a generator, he was afraid of me buying an open flame heater to use inside. You don’t have to wire the house to use a generator, you can plug in a space heater to the generator directly with an extension cord. Also means you can get by with a smaller more affordable unit than a whole-house unit would cost.

Then I got this today in my email from my Medical Reserve Corps. Perfect!

Let us know what you learn. A lot of folks here have their own special idea of what "survival kits" should have. My own favorite is a number of specialized "mini kits".

Please be careful with any indoor combustion. More people die from carbon monoxide than freezing to death in the home. Burst pipes are your most immediate danger, as long as everyone has enough clothes and food to avoid hypothermia.

One alternative (or really, "redundant source") are survival candles. I love redundancy because it lets me pick and choose what seems best in a particular situation.

Another item to consider is a propane-fired catalytic heater. These are flameless, and intended for use inside tents. They're also certified as no-carbon-monoxide for use in enclosed areas, although I'd try for a tiny bit of ventilation. They use one-pound disposable propane tanks, or the larger ones have a hose to connect to a barbecue-type tank.

In any case, you might want to consider some CO detector badges at about $5 each, since they don't need electric power.