Some post-hurricane thoughts on minimalism

[MoMan]

First off, although I live in a Houston neighborhood that is prone to flooding, I somehow bought property on a slightly elevated street, so we were not directly impacted by Harvey. We’re unbelievably fortunate.

Second, I’m no poster child for minimalism. I own a 4 bedroom house and spent a good decade in accumulation mode. I discovered MMM 2 or 3 years ago and have since been focusing on eliminating old crap and avoiding new crap. Definitely a positive effect.

Over the past 6 days, my brother and I have been hauling out the soaked possessions of my sister’s house. It’s been an eye opener to say the least. They got 3-4 feet of muddy bayou water; and this is the 2nd time their house flooded. They got hit by Tropical Story Allison 16 years ago.

Hauling out all those personal belongings and flinging them onto a growing mountain of debris on the curb is a real gut punch. My sis and hubby are pack rats, especially when it comes to books. Almost everything on the lower ¼ of their living space got tossed. All those items that were once coveted are now not only worthless but a liability. First, no one wants those water-soaked items. Second, they are now a breeding ground for mold: the clock is ticking before they become extremely gross and a health issue. Third, because of the mold likelihood, you have to get them out of the house as soon as possible, while they are still wet. And since most organic items absorb moisture, they are now much heavier than when you acquired them. Especially clothes, cushions, mattresses, rugs, etc. It will likely be weeks before the city can make the rounds and collect all these soaking, stinking piles from an estimated 100,000 homes. In the meantime, the inevitable puddles within the piles are breeding millions of mosquitos.

My wife came over to help pack up and move the salvageable items and saw the light: We need to purge our crap. We need to go through our closets, drawers and spare rooms and get rid of detritus. Be ruthless.

There are many lessons to be sure. Besides the obvious of reducing your material goods, one should know what is truly your most important possessions. If you had to evacuate, would you know what to grab first? Would you know where it is? Are your important possessions protected from the typical threats in your geographical region? For us, it’s flooding. For you it might be fires or earth quakes.

As the Boy Scouts say, “Be Prepared.”

[GuitarStv]

If I had to evacuate I'd get my dog, kid, and wife.  There's nothing else that can't be replaced pretty easily.  We've actually got very little in the house that's worth much money.

[Zoot]

I'm less concerned with "stuff" than I am with electronic and documentary infrastructure.  In my geographical location we'd be more affected by tornadoes than hurricanes; the last time there was a hunker-down tornado warning, I grabbed my computer's external hard drive and our fire safe (which holds things like passports, our marriage certificate, the house deed, and so on) before heading to the "safe" (well, safe-EST) place in our house.

[Zoot]

I'm less concerned with "stuff" than I am with electronic and documentary infrastructure.  In my geographical location we'd be more affected by tornadoes than hurricanes; the last time there was a hunker-down tornado warning, I grabbed my computer's external hard drive and our fire safe (which holds things like passports, our marriage certificate, the house deed, and so on) before heading to the "safe" (well, safe-EST) place in our house.

I thought about this some more.  I think some additions to our fire safe might be a good idea, particularly copies of homeowner and auto insurance policies, because guess who you're going to have to contact pretty much immediately when the imminent threat has passed?  Health insurance reference numbers might also be a good idea, come to think of it.

[ringer707]

Thanks for the tips, glad you and your family are all okay. My husband and I often gripe about the oddities of our tiny two room log cabin, but truth be told I'm thankful for it. There is literally no extra space to store junk when you don't have any closets to hide it in and limited space for furniture with drawers.

That being said, we are currently keeping a watchful eye on Irma. It's too soon to tell for our location, but we have a history of bad luck with "I" named hurricanes in our region. We are not prone to flooding in our area, but my house is surrounded by trees so I'm already thinking about what to have handy in case of emergency.

[Debts_of_Despair]

I feel awful for anyone affected by this, but half of the stuff that people were putting out at the curb looked like it should have been tossed years ago.

[FireHiker]

Almost 10 years ago we evacuated from a massive wildfire and decimated large swaths of our neighborhood. We were lucky to only lose the backyard. Ever since then, this is something that's been on my mind.

Since our likely natural disaster is fire, we know there's a real possibility of coming back to nothing if we leave in an evacuation. Many friends did in that fire years ago here. So, we are working on refining our plan. In each person's closet we have a backpack to throw clothes/immediate needs in, without having to run around the house looking for a suitcase, etc. We have the order in which we evacuate possessions nailed down: In the cabinet by the garage, we have the plastic tub which would be "if you can only grab one thing" with the passports and personal info (car titles, birth certificates, insurance info, etc). Then the rest of the cabinet has photos and special things that are sentimental but not "important". We have desktop computers for gaming, but hard drive trays so we can pop out our drives quickly. Our other potential disaster here is earthquakes, so we do have a reasonable amount of water, batteries, and non-perishable food on-hand, in addition to camp cooking gear if we had no power for days.

And yet, even though we are pretty prepared, I still have nightmares about it. It comes from having been through an evacuation, wondering if your house will still be there, and returning to find that many aren't. We helped friends sift through the rubble of their house and it was awful.

None of that addresses the minimalism though, which is something we are trying to better implement as well. Well, I say "we" but I mostly mean "I" with some reluctant help from my husband occasionally. If everything burned down, the stuff wouldn't be quite as much of a liability as the mold issue after flooding, but I've been aspiring towards minimalism for years. Having had friends who lost their homes here, it really made me think about what we would replace if we lost everything, and the answer is not much. It makes you wonder why you have all that damned stuff in the first place.

And finally, I'm glad you're ok in Houston. I have friends and family there who also escaped remarkably unscathed. It so easily could have been otherwise.

[mathlete]

I'm glad you and your family are safe.

You're right. This is a good time to think about the "stuff" that we truly benefit from having around. I have a lot of remnants of a 20+ year video game habit. I've started selling off some of my games, but it gets though after a while, because you form memories that end up getting attached the the physical product itself. Brain chemistry is a hell of a thing like that.

[Syonyk]

In the cabinet by the garage, we have the plastic tub which would be "if you can only grab one thing" with the passports and personal info (car titles, birth certificates, insurance info, etc).

I'd suggest going to your local Office Supply Store and picking up a document firesafe for things like that.  Even if you're not home, you'd ideally want that stuff to survive a fire.

Be aware of the difference between a document firesafe and a "media rated" firesafe - if it's just papers, a normal document firesafe is fine, but if you're storing CDs/USB keys/etc, you'll want a media rated firesafe to protect that stuff (paper can get a lot hotter than a CD or USB key and still be fine).

I keep our documents of that nature in a firesafe, near our regular safe.

[fattest_foot]

If I had to evacuate I'd get my dog, kid, and wife.  There's nothing else that can't be replaced pretty easily.  We've actually got very little in the house that's worth much money.

A few weeks ago we had a false alarm with our smoke detector at 2am. It got me thinking about what we'd need, and I realized there's pretty much nothing I care to save in our house. Just get the wife, dog, and myself out and we're good.

I'd grab our important papers box if I had time, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if it got lost. Similarly, with a little extra time, I could grab the USB drive with our pictures on it, and maybe some clothes to hold us over for a few days.

But it's rather freeing to know if you "lost everything" that it wouldn't actually matter that much.

[LifeHappens]

If I had to evacuate I'd get my dog, kid, and wife.  There's nothing else that can't be replaced pretty easily.  We've actually got very little in the house that's worth much money.

I may well have to evacuate later this week. Irma seems to want to visit my neighborhood.

I have a husband and 2 cats. I have a file safe with all our critical papers. We own 3 laptops and 2 external hard drives with most of our data. Those things will get transported. We may try to fit a few other possessions, but the rest of it... we'll just hope for the best.

[FireHiker]

In the cabinet by the garage, we have the plastic tub which would be "if you can only grab one thing" with the passports and personal info (car titles, birth certificates, insurance info, etc).

I'd suggest going to your local Office Supply Store and picking up a document firesafe for things like that.  Even if you're not home, you'd ideally want that stuff to survive a fire.

Be aware of the difference between a document firesafe and a "media rated" firesafe - if it's just papers, a normal document firesafe is fine, but if you're storing CDs/USB keys/etc, you'll want a media rated firesafe to protect that stuff (paper can get a lot hotter than a CD or USB key and still be fine).

I keep our documents of that nature in a firesafe, near our regular safe.

That's a good point, especially the part about the rating. When we saw the fires here that time, we saw a lot of safes that didn't make it. We only work 2 miles from home so I have always assumed we'd be able to run home and grab stuff, but it's not like we take all of that stuff (except passports) with us when we travel. I'm going to look into it; I appreciate the suggestion.

[MoMan]

But it's rather freeing to know if you "lost everything" that it wouldn't actually matter that much.

Yes. This is my eventual goal. And truthfully, I think I am there. A few years ago I set aside a few hours every evening to scan some bins of old photos. Then I made CDs and distributed them to friends who were in the respective pix. Now, I have a nationally diverse back up system (this was in the days before Flikr, Picasa, etc.). Other than pictures/pets/people, I think nearly everything can be replaced without too much heartache.

I would be reluctant to try and talk anyone into preparing for every disaster: you'd end up with even more crap to protect your crap!

[Syonyk]

That's a good point, especially the part about the rating. When we saw the fires here that time, we saw a lot of safes that didn't make it. We only work 2 miles from home so I have always assumed we'd be able to run home and grab stuff, but it's not like we take all of that stuff (except passports) with us when we travel. I'm going to look into it; I appreciate the suggestion.

There are quite a few different safe ratings, so it's worth doing some reading about what you want to try and protect.

Another big problem with many safes is that they're, well, heavy.  And heavy things don't hold up well in a fire, because they tend to fall.  And that breaks things or bends things well enough to allow smoke and flame ingress.  Or, let water in after coming down (because things that were on fire often end up very, very wet afterwards).

Most of the document safes are designed for that - they're designed to take some physical abuse, though I wouldn't store them on the second story, and they seal up to be water tight in a fire.

And, if you're looking at wildfires, it's worth considering that there may be zero firefighting - so you've got a different thermal environment from a typical suburban structure, where the fire crews will be on site quickly cooling things down.  If you're looking for something that can keep documents intact as the whole structure burns, and then can survive a few days sitting in the (hot) ashes, you're looking at more expensive unit than the cheapest fire safes out there.

Though I'd put more time and effort into defensible zones and firebreaks and such.  I need to get my tractor running again because my current method of cutting fire breaks (string trimmer) did not hold up well against the grass fire coming through.  Mostly because it's enough of a pain to cut large breaks with that I didn't defend well against a fire coming downhill at our property... (I'd guarded against stuff coming from the road and coming uphill, but this particular one came hauling ass downhill).  So I'm going to disc breaks next year and deal with the dust.

I would be reluctant to try and talk anyone into preparing for every disaster: you'd end up with even more crap to protect your crap!

Fundamentally, there are two things you need to prepare for - almost everything else is a special case of those.  Bug-in, and bug-out.

Bug-in is where you're staying in your house/on your property, and you'd better be prepared to do so without services (water, electric, gas, depending on your environment).  So consider lighting, cooking, and basic thermal management (cooling probably doesn't matter, but if it's -10F out, you may want a way to heat).  One perk here, if you're into camping, is that camping supplies make for perfectly good emergency supplies in most cases - our backup cooking plan is our camp stove, and I have adapters to fill the little 1lb bottles from bigger propane tanks.  I don't have a way to run our well pump without grid power right now, but we store a bit of water for that (and I'll eventually have the transfer switch and generator installed, and/or off grid capable solar wired in or routed from my office).  Consider food as well - if you've got a big freezer, it's fine for a while without power, but you'd better be able to either power it or keep stuff frozen (backup plan in the winter is to simply put the contents outside in the shade when it's below freezing).

For bug-out, you want to be able to grab what you need and get out with limited time.  A document safe is helpful here (and a good reason for having a separate document safe from a general safe - I can grab and go with the document safe in a hurry).  And some bags or backpacks or such.  Also, depending on your vehicles, you can keep some stuff in them - I normally keep a decent selection of supplies in my truck, though they're out right now because I was hauling a bunch of shed remains in my bed.  But "emergency road gear" for getting stuck on travel is useful as bug-out gear as well.  MREs are worth tossing in as well, some water... you can get a good distance on that.

There's no particular reason to go "prepper overboard," and a lot of that stuff isn't particularly useful anyway, but being able to take care of your family for a week or so grid-down and standalone is a good idea for pretty much everyone.

[Bateaux]

I know the exact feeling.  We flooded here in Louisiana last year to the second floor.  We had that trash mountain in front of our house for weeks.  We're still rebuilding and will be for a while longer.  Trying to not buy stuff to put back in, because we're going to flood again some day. Really thinking smaller house in the mountains made from mostly concrete.  No maintence and not much stuff.

[SisterX]

When you find things that you don't need, if it's anything that seems even remotely useful to disaster relief (blankets, towels, clothes, small toiletries, etc.) please, PLEASE donate them!

OP, I'm glad you and your family are safe. I hope that any truly irreplaceable things your sister had (sentimental family stuff) is safe. Those are the only things I find irreplaceable. If we lost our house in a fire I'd never again be able to look at my (deceased) dad's letters to his mom while he was in college, or the family pictures which haven't yet been scanned and saved digitally. That would be hard.

[BAM]

We had to face something similar this summer. Our neighborhood was evacuated due to a forest fire. We happened to be out of town on a vacation so there was absolutely nothing we could do. Made us realize really quickly how little there is that matters. We had our people - all our kids were with us - and our dog was with a neighbor that evacuated him. Otherwise, we realized that we would miss some pictures and some keepsakes/things that the kids made growing up. Our kids mentioned: a violin (played by 15 year old, originally owned by great grandma), some favorite stuffed animals (they realized that the animals could be replaced but it was the memories attached), quilts made by grandma. That was it. It was rather freeing to realize that we would be fine even if the whole house and everything in it burned to the ground.

[TravelJunkyQC]

We're lucky in that we aren't really prone to many natural disasters.... We aren't that much high than the St. Lawrence river, but flooding isn't very common here. I suppose another ice-storm like when I was a kid is a possibility - several days or weeks without power and -30 celsius could happen. If that were the case, we'd be better off staying put than leaving. And probably burning any books we have for warmth. But if I had to leave, I'd take an external hard-drive with a lifetime of photos, our files with important documents, and my man, and I could be out the door in 5 minutes.

[Syonyk]

I suppose another ice-storm like when I was a kid is a possibility - several days or weeks without power and -30 celsius could happen. If that were the case, we'd be better off staying put than leaving. And probably burning any books we have for warmth.

A ventless propane heater and propane tank makes an acceptable emergency heat source, though run a CO detector when it's running.  Also, a wood burning stove that doesn't need power is a nice addition - get one that uses external combustion air so you don't suck the heated air right out the chimney.

Our "winter power outage" plan right now involves going up the hill to my inlaws place, as they heat with wood.  And, even without the well, we could just melt snow/ice for water once our stocks run out.

[sequoia]

If I had to evacuate I'd get my dog, kid, and wife.  There's nothing else that can't be replaced pretty easily.  We've actually got very little in the house that's worth much money.

Right here is the correct answer imo. For me it is my wife and son - we have no pets. Everything else is replaceable and/or not important compare to these two.

[sequoia]

In the cabinet by the garage, we have the plastic tub which would be "if you can only grab one thing" with the passports and personal info (car titles, birth certificates, insurance info, etc).

I'd suggest going to your local Office Supply Store and picking up a document firesafe for things like that.  Even if you're not home, you'd ideally want that stuff to survive a fire.

Why not have a safety box in the bank? I think ours are $50/yr. We do not keep any important paper in the house (passport, car titles etc). I would think the chances of the bank caught on fire would be smaller than regular house.

[saguaro]

We faced some usual flooding in our community this past July due to exceptionally heavy rains.  Our home was OK since we are up high but we were an island for about two days as the low areas, wetlands and streams surrounding us all flooded.   A lot of peoples' basements / first floors flooded and it was unbelievable how much stuff was hauled to the curbs.  I felt for them.

We don't get hurricanes here but we do get the occasional tornado.   One paid a visit to our neighborhood two years ago and when we headed for our shelter, I grabbed the laptop, phone plus the accordion folder we keep with important documents that we consolidated after having that stuff in various places of the house.    There wasn't much time to get anything else but I was at least glad to have what I could take.   

Between the tornado and flooding (which was highly unusual, maybe of those 100 year flood situations who knows) it's made us think of what to do in being better prepared to weather things like extended power outages or having to leave the house for an extended period of time due to evacuation or damage.    And getting rid of the unneeded stuff.

[merlin7676]

at the end of the day, the stuff in the house is just stuff.
I'd grab the DH, the cat, and my computer.
Everything else is not necessary or can be replaced.

[Fudge102]

My sis and hubby are pack rats, especially when it comes to books.

If you are going to be a pack rat, books are probably the best thing to be a pack rat of.  Sure they might be heavy and take up space, but in today's era of gizmos and gadgets, good ol' fashioned books are a nice change of pace!

[BTDretire]

I have two college kids in the Tampa area, I told them to get prepared now, because
they will probably need to leave. Tampa area is very subject to flooding. My son suggested
he's on the 3rd floor, he should be OK. I ask how many days would he want to go without
electricity on his third floor. You won't be able to cook any food, the food in your fridge will
shortly go bad. And the worst for him, no internet or computer access!
 My daughters question, I wonder if we should take both cars out of town?

[Syonyk]

I ask how many days would he want to go without
electricity on his third floor. You won't be able to cook any food, the food in your fridge will
shortly go bad. And the worst for him, no internet or computer access!

The bigger problem is actually sanitation.  If the water goes out, you can't flush.

Apartments rapidly become uninhabitable from people doing their business in the hallway.

[MrsPete]

There are many lessons to be sure. Besides the obvious of reducing your material goods, one should know what is truly your most important possessions. If you had to evacuate, would you know what to grab first? Would you know where it is? Are your important possessions protected from the typical threats in your geographical region? For us, it’s flooding. For you it might be fires or earth quakes.

We live in an area prone to hurricanes, so this is a question we've faced.  The good news is that, With the advent of household digital technology, it's easier than it used to be.  My past-answer would've been, After the family, the photographs and a few bits of paperwork.  Everything else -- clothing, furniture, household goods -- is insured and replaceable.  Fill both cars to the brim with whatever seems important at the moment, drive them out of town, don't wait 'til the last minute.  Today we have all those family photographs scanned and saved on multiple flash drives, some stored in places outside the house ... people who are a bit more trusting than I am might save things "to the cloud". 

We are well prepared here at home: 
- We could eat for several weeks (maybe not exactly what we want, but we wouldn't be hungry) without leaving the house, even if the freezer and refrigerator foods were "lost". 
- If we were forced to leave quickly, we have money in a major bank and could access it from another city. 

Something we've been meaning to do is to put together what the Mormons call 72-hour kits:  The idea is that you have a duffle bag (or similar) for each family member "sitting ready" in case you need to leave the house.  The bag would contain a set of clothing and food -- and if you needed diapers, etc., they'd be in the bags too -- the bare minimum to last you 72 hours, if you were forced out of your house. 

I think the thing about "prepping" is that you need to cover your bases /don't go too far overboard in any direction.  If you save all the canned food in the world, then your house is destroyed, you've lost it all.  If you save all the money you can, then stores are not stocked, your money is no good.  A mid-point in all things "prep-related" is wise. 

My sister-in-law has this evacuation thing down to a science.  After "bugging out" multiple times with small children and leaving something important behind every time, she invented a brilliant system for family: She bought as many plastic bins as will fit in her two cars.  If she suspects she's going to evacuate, she brings out the bins and inside the lid of each bin, she has a laminated list of what she is to pack in that bin:  In this bin, electronic goods ... in that one, guns and jewelry ... in a third, food that can be prepared for her kids without electricity. 

You get the idea.  She has boxes READY TO PACK and LAMINATED LISTS so she's likely to -- even in a crisis -- leave the house with her genuinely important items.  The real question is, why haven't I copied her?

[MrsPete]

I feel awful for anyone affected by this, but half of the stuff that people were putting out at the curb looked like it should have been tossed years ago.

Admittedly though, this stuff has been through a hurricane and flood.  It may've looked a whole lot better a week ago.

[MrsPete]

I have two college kids in the Tampa area, I told them to get prepared now, because
they will probably need to leave. Tampa area is very subject to flooding. My son suggested
he's on the 3rd floor, he should be OK. I ask how many days would he want to go without
electricity on his third floor. You won't be able to cook any food, the food in your fridge will
shortly go bad. And the worst for him, no internet or computer access!
 My daughters question, I wonder if we should take both cars out of town?

Spoken like a kid.  He thinks he's 10 foot tall and bulletproof. 

Best thing I've ever heard said about a hurricane:  It's not THAT the wind is blowing, it's WHAT the wind is blowing.  You can be young and strong and willing to put up with discomfort and possessed of a case of beenie-weenies ... but if the hurricane is blowing car hoods down the road, you are going to lose. 

[Poeirenta]

Since wildfire preparedness is my area of expertise, I'll chime in. We too have our checklist of things to grab in case we need to evac. It's a pretty short list- small (hoist-able) firesafe, pet stuff, extra clothes, diabetic supplies, and some camping dishes and food. We keep a few things in each vehicle, mostly our camping gear, fire clothes, and boots. If we had the luxury of more time, we might grab the box of old photos from the attic.

A note of caution for anyone in a wildfire hazard area-and this includes those of you who live "in town" but near wildland fuels- while defensible space is important, research shows that most homes are destroyed in wildfire events by embers coming through the air, not fire coming through the vegetation or heat from things burning nearby. Embers can even burn a home from the inside out when embers get into the vents and onto something flammable in the attic or crawlspace. Keeping a completely non-flammable perimeter 1-5' all around a home and screening the vents (or investing in ember resistant versions) can make a big difference. Especially if that house is sided with wood instead of something fire resistant like stucco or fiber cement. Firewise.org and disastersafety.org are my go-to resources. Disastersafety.org covers all natural disasters.

I should take longer writing this so I can bill a 1/4 hour! ;-)

[Mr. Green]

I finally digitized all our family photos a few months ago. That was the most vulnerable nonreplacable  thing we had. All our important files are backed up online so we don't even need to grab the computer, just a lock box with important documents and maybe a handgun.

[kite]

My thoughts on Houston, Harvey & Minimalism run a bit different.....
One Houston area Costco was under water due to the storm.  So was nearly everything that was purchased there and brought home to a local residence in the preceding week.  Stocked freezers, loaded pantries and cupboards all gone to waste.  It's human nature (animal instinct, actually) to stock up and to hoard, and it's also a big fat waste of money even when a storm doesn't happen. 
I lived thru Sandy, but we actually gave up the bulk buying mentality years prior.  Keeping a pricebook proved for us the futility of spending today for things that would not be consumed in the very near future.   The unbeatable sales come around like clockwork.  A willingness to eat seasonally and be flexible about protein is far less costly than running a second fridge and freezer.  That excess appliance is vulnerable to a total loss and a far riskier investment than almost anything else.  No mustachian would advise a newbie who doesn't yet keep a second freezer to take $1000 out of their Index Funds and buy a freezer then fill it with stuff to eat later. Yet scores of us have done exactly that, convinced that it is a money saver and not really a luxury.  Mostly, it's a luxury.  The millions who fail to see that are key to making Costco, BJ's, and Sam's Club so profitable.   
Someone is bound to interject that their freezer has a side of grassfed beef or things they hunted and fished for or whatever.  Others actually do live so far from a major distribution center that bulk buying really is essential.  Houston, however, is not that place.  Nor is anywhere with nearby shipping ports.  The bulk of the country lives where bulk buying is nuts and they behave like squirrels who don't have another, better option. 
MMM had a column a while back about storing things on Craigslist.  I take that a step further and store food I'm going to have to pay for in ShopRite's fridge or Aldi's shelves.  That's how we weather the storms. 

[MoMan]

If you are going to be a pack rat, books are probably the best thing to be a pack rat of.  Sure they might be heavy and take up space, but in today's era of gizmos and gadgets, good ol' fashioned books are a nice change of pace!

I should clarify: I'm not just talking about classic novels; I am lumping in BIL's 35-year collection of National Geographic magazines, outdated university text books, etc. To add insult to inflamed muscles, he has the ENTIRE collection of NatGeo mags on DVD. But we dutifully packed up the hundreds of pounds of (easily replaceable) magazines and trekked them to their new temporary residence ... and will need to lug them to the next, more permanent residence eventually.

[By the River]

... My daughters question, I wonder if we should take both cars out of town?

Take both!
For Katrina, my boss's wife was out of town on a business trip and he doesn't have kids.  His choice was to evacuate in either his 10 year old suburban or his wife's six month old Jaguar.  Well, the suburban can haul more stuff so it hit the road while the Jag stayed and swam with the fishes. 

[Noodle]

It's complicated, though, because someone on another thread was talking about how they had already cleared out all the extra stuff from their house, and then didn't have anything to donate. By the end of the hurricane week donations were coming in from outside the area, but in the first few days everything the shelters needed was being given by locals from their surplus. So yes, some people's extras ended up wet on the curb, but a lot of other people had giftable items available because of keeping things around. (Maybe not stacks of National Geographics, though :))

I was actually wishing I had a little chest freezer so that I could buy ice gradually over the summer and not have to fight the crowds for it (and haul fifty pounds of ice upstairs in one day) in an emergency situation. But yes, probably a lot of people are overbuying frozen foods not thinking about how easy it is to lose it if the refrigeration goes out.

[chemistk]

You get the idea.  She has boxes READY TO PACK and LAMINATED LISTS so she's likely to -- even in a crisis -- leave the house with her genuinely important items.  The real question is, why haven't I copied her?

This is a brilliant idea.

The minimalism/take what you need advice doesn't even apply in natural disasters. Our house flooded from a pipe failure on vacation last year and we lost pretty much everything in our living room, dining room, basement, and some other stuff. The important stuff was okay but man did we think about what was and what was not necessary.

In our fire safe I also have a waterproof metal USB drive with copies of everything important plus backups of irreplaceable family photos. Gives further peace of mind, especially since those little safes can only hold so much.

[NoVa]

I go to a lot of estate sales. You can't give National Geographic away. I highly recommend them (estate sales), it will change your opinion on value to see what all your stuff actually sells for.

Brilliant idea on the plastic tub with the laminated list.

[HenryDavid]

Natural disasters = great antidote to consumerism.
After living through 2 floods, one minor, one major, I now do this: picture that tempting merchandise in the store (if you ever go into one) soaked in sewer backup on your basement floor. How does it look now?
As a friend said while helpfully tossing some cherished possession of mine, now shit-soaked, into the dumpster: "everything is garbage eventually."
This will cure mindless accumulation for good.
Next . . .  be wary of "insurance." They will fight like wolverines NOT to keep the promises you paid them to make. High deductibles! Self-insurance! And of course . . . not accumulating crap that need insuring.

Personal resourcefulness, strong friendships and family connections, financial soundness, mental and physical strength. These will get you through the mess. Cultivate these things.

[MoMan]

Here's one more thought I've had in recent months about minimalism: The less you own, the less of a target you are to thieves and the less there is for someone to steal from you.

Back in the 1980s, I went in search of a friend's new apartment. It was in an area of town you might describe as "sketchy." We approached a guy in his neighborhood, described our friend and asked if he knew where our friend lived: "You see that big color TV in the window? That's his place."

Our friend became very diligent about keeping the door locked and not displaying his material possessions.

[marielle]

I think it's crazy how much people pay for home security systems just to protect their stuff. It's not even protecting them, but stuff. I only own two things in my place that cost me more than $500, and that's my bike and my mattress. And even those two things could be replaced for <$200 each if necessary. Everything else is worth almost nothing, even my laptop and TV wouldn't be worth stealing.