When I am working with a new client one of the major points I discuss with them is the need for a complete inventory of their food, supplies and equipment. There is a phrase I use over and over, so much so that I have friends who have dubbed me, “The Oracle of Inventory”. That phrase is ‘You don’t know what you need until you know what you have.’
Having an up to date inventory provides you valuable information of several different types as well as other information. Doing an inventory:
1. Means that you now know how much you have. This provides you the means to put together a buying plan.
2. What condition your overall stocks are. You may find out that you have more of something that you thought you did but two of those items are not working because they need new batteries, insert new batteries and problem solved. It also allows you to better organize what you do have.
3. Gives you a feeling of better control. If you now know what you have and what condition it’s in that can help with piece of mind. The times we live in are stressful enough, wouldn’t it be nice to have a bit less stress?
A few suggestions regarding inventory. Don’t try and do it all at once It can be a very involved task, try doing one area of the house a day or break it down by inventory category such as food, fuel or medical supplies. Get the wife/girlfriend/kids involved and make it a family project. Make sure to write it down, doesn’t matter what format you use just ensure it is written, don’t try and trust your memory because it will fail you.
Once you have it written down and those numbers organized it is much easier to keep it updated. I do an inventory every third Saturday of each new month. Takes me about half an hour. I print out a copy of the spreadsheet and go shelf by shelf noting any additions or deletions. Then enter those changes on the spread sheet and save. I leave the hard copy of the inventory on the clipboard until the next month so that I have a written copy handy.
How an inventory helps with your buying plan works like this. Since you are now able to look over the hard numbers of what you have you can better determine what you don’t have. Then what spending you are doing in regards to your preps can be focused, I call it “targeted spending”. If medical supplies are a weak area then say 80% of this months prep buying goes toward that. Not all of it because you want to keep increasing the other areas as well. Now you have more supplies in one area that helps to bring that one category closer to what the levels of the others are.
Keep at it and it becomes simply something you do regularly. Inventory is a great tool to keep in your preparedness tool kit. Stay safe.
