On a tight budget
If money is tight
The version of this site that most preparedness websites will not write, because there is nothing to sell you.
The free plan is not a lesser plan. It covers most of what will ever actually happen to you.
Start with what costs nothing
Refilled bottles of tap water. A charged phone. A written list of medicines. Photographs of your documents. Knowing where the stopcock is. The names of two neighbours. That is a genuine plan and it costs zero.
One item, one shop
A single extra tin, or an extra four-pint of long life milk, on a normal shop. Never a special trip and never a big one. In three months you are done.
Buy nothing that only does one thing
A torch that is also a radio and a phone charger. A blanket that is also a blanket. Ignore anything marketed with a countdown.
Ask for the free help you are entitled to
Priority services registers, water company vulnerability schemes, winter fuel support, hardship funds and utility medical programmes are all free and widely unclaimed. They exist in every country we cover.
Do not let anyone sell you fear
If a website is showing you a burning map and a discount code in the same breath, it is a shop, not a service. There is no emergency that a bucket of freeze dried food solves and a full cupboard does not.