Know exactly what your household needs for 72 hours, 2 weeks, 30 days and 90 days.
A staged plan that turns official guidance into real numbers, shopping lists and checklists for your home, and tells you honestly where you can stop.
- Instant PDF download
- 64 pages
- Print it for your household
- 13 chapters, from the first 72 hours to 90 days
- Water, food and fuel worked out for 2, 4 and 6 people
- A shopping list for every stage, in three tiers
- Fill-in sheets and checklists to print and keep
Secure card payment by Stripe, in US dollars. You can download it as soon as you pay. By buying you agree to our terms of sale, including that digital downloads can't be returned.
- Instant PDF download
- 64 pages
- Print it for your household
The official advice stops at two weeks. Then what?
Ready.gov tells households to have supplies for "several days." The CDC and the American Red Cross go further: about two weeks of water and food at home. That's the longest figure any of them gives.
For a lot of families, the plan ends even sooner: a flashlight in a drawer, whatever's in the pantry, and a hope that the lights come back by Monday. Usually they do. Most US power outages are measured in hours, not weeks.
But long outages do happen. After Hurricane Maria in 2017, FEMA reported that 90 days in, 65 percent of Puerto Rico's power customers had their power back. If you've ever wondered what day four, day fifteen or day forty would look like in your home, this plan answers it with numbers you can check, one stage at a time.
Four stages. Stop at the one that suits your home.
Each stage builds on the one before. Most households only need the first two, and the book says so in its first chapter.
- 172 hoursEvery householdThe official minimumYou'll have:
- 3 days of water stored: 1 gallon per person per day
- 3 days of food you already eat, mostly no-cook
- A flashlight for every person, a radio and a charged power bank
- CO alarms with battery backup checked
- 22 weeksMost householdsWhat the CDC and Red Cross suggest for homeYou'll have:
- Two weeks of water and food, built a step at a time
- A camp stove or grill set up outdoors, at least 20 feet from windows
- Each person's medicines planned for two weeks with their prescriber
- Sanitation supplies, cash in small bills, and a neighbor to check on
- 330 daysHomes with a reasonBeyond official advice, and the book says soYou'll have:
- Your two-week water store, plus a way to make more water safe
- A dated pantry you eat from and rotate
- A heating and cooling plan that doesn't rely on stored fuel
- 490 daysA small number of homesOur planning frame, not a forecastYou'll have:
- A deeper pantry, grown slowly and kept rotating
- Sanitation and medicines planned for the long haul
- A household agreement on when you'd leave, and where you'd go
Dashed: past the official advice. The book says so wherever it goes further than the agencies do.
Real numbers for your household size
Chapter 2 does the math on the agencies' own rates: 1 gallon of water per person per day (CDC, Ready.gov) and 2,000 calories, about 3 meals, per person per day (FDA). A preview:
| Stage | 2 people | 4 people | 6 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| 72 hours | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| 2 weeks | 28 | 56 | 84 |
| 30 days | 60 | 120 | 180 |
| 90 days | 180 | 360 | 540 |
| Stage | 2 people | 4 people | 6 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| 72 hours | 18 | 36 | 54 |
| 2 weeks | 84 | 168 | 252 |
| 30 days | 180 | 360 | 540 |
| 90 days | 540 | 1,080 | 1,620 |
And the honest part: 360 gallons for a family of four is about 72 five-gallon containers and 3,000 pounds. Few homes can store that, and the plan doesn't ask you to. From Stage 3 it switches to storing two weeks and treating the rest.
Secure card payment by Stripe, in US dollars. You can download it as soon as you pay. By buying you agree to our terms of sale, including that digital downloads can't be returned.
What's inside, chapter by chapter
13 chapters across 64 pages. Every chapter opens with a "Do this first" box and ends with its numbered sources.
Start here
- What Ready.gov, the CDC and the Red Cross actually say, in their own words
- Why 90 days is a planning frame, not a forecast
- How the three-tier shopping lists work: gather, fill the gaps, fuller
The numbers: water, food and fuel for 2, 4 and 6 people
- Gallons, weight, calories and meals for every stage
- 28 gallons and 84 meals covers two people for two weeks
- A method and blank lines for your own stove's and generator's fuel
Stage 1: the first 72 hours
- The first hour of an outage, step by step
- Fridge and freezer: about 4 hours and about 48 hours
- Shopping list and checklist
Stage 2: two weeks
- What changes after the first few days
- Food for two weeks, mostly no-cook
- Cooking outdoors safely, 20 feet from windows
Stage 3: 30 days
- From storing water to treating it
- A deeper pantry that rotates
- Temperature without stored fuel
Stage 4: 90 days
- What a long outage looked like, from FEMA's own record
- The four parts of a 90-day plan
- When to leave, decided in advance
Water at scale
- Food-grade containers, kept at 50°F to 70°F
- Why big stores belong on the ground floor: about 8.3 pounds a gallon
- Water already in your home, and making water safe
Sanitation and hygiene
- Clean hands when water is short: sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
- When the toilets can't be flushed
- Supplies by stage
Medicines and medical needs
- Writing it all down, and what to ask your prescriber
- The FDA's insulin rule: up to 28 days between 59°F and 86°F
- Powered medical equipment
Heating and cooling safely without power
- The carbon monoxide rules, word for word
- Staying warm, staying cool
- Finding your warming and cooling centers
Generators and fuel
- Outdoors only, at least 20 feet from windows, doors and vents
- Why never to connect to house wiring without an approved transfer device
- Storing fuel, and the limit on any long plan
Cash, documents and staying informed
- Cash for when the card readers stop
- Documents copied and kept in two places
- Alerts and radio when the power is out
Fill-in sheets and checklists
- Household sheet, contacts, where to go, and your own numbers
- Stage tracker, water log, pantry rotation log, medication sheet
- Fuel and generator logs, an outage diary and a twice-a-year check
Look inside
Real pages from the book. Swipe for more, tapClick any page to see it full size.
Secure card payment by Stripe, in US dollars. You can download it as soon as you pay. By buying you agree to our terms of sale, including that digital downloads can't be returned.
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You want to know what "prepared" means in gallons and meals for your household, not in vague advice
- You've done the basics and want to know what the next stage actually takes
- You live at the end of a long power line, rely on a well pump, or care for someone whose health depends on power
- You like a plan on paper you can tick off, one weekend at a time
Honestly, you can skip it if
- You're looking for a doomsday or bunker book. This isn't one
- You've already built two weeks of water, food and medicines and have no reason to go further: you've done what the official advice asks
- You want product picks and prices. There are none in this book, by design
Built on official sources, not opinions
- Every figure in the book names its source, and each chapter ends with a numbered list of them, so you can check them yourself.
- Where a number is our own arithmetic on an official rate, the book says so. Where we've had to assume something, it's labeled as an example with a blank for your own figure.
- Every fact was checked against its official source in October 2026.
From the team behind PreparedStates's free live trackers for power outages, NWS alerts, hurricanes and wildfires, built on the same public data and the same rule: every figure names its source. PreparedStates is independent and not affiliated with the US government.
The bundle: $39.99 for both
The plan tells you what to have; the handbook tells you what to do when it happens. Bought separately they come to $44.98 (The Prepared Home $29.99 + The 90-Day Home Plan $14.99). Together, $39.99, as one download.
Secure card payment by Stripe, in US dollars. You can download it as soon as you pay. By buying you agree to our terms of sale, including that digital downloads can't be returned.
Questions
Is a 90-day outage coming?+
Not that anyone has said. No federal agency tells households to prepare for 90 days, and none has warned of a 90-day blackout. Most US outages last hours. The book uses 90 days only as the outer edge of a staged plan, and says plainly that most households only need the first two stages.
Do I have to do all four stages?+
No. Finish Stage 1, work toward Stage 2, and you've done what the CDC and the Red Cross suggest for home. Stages 3 and 4 are there for homes that want them.
Does it tell me what to buy?+
It gives a shopping list for every stage in three tiers: gather what you have, fill the gaps, and fuller. It names no brands and gives no prices.
What format is it?+
A PDF, on Letter-size pages. It opens in the PDF viewer that's already on your phone, tablet or computer: iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows or Chromebook. No app, no account, nothing to install.
How does the download work?+
As soon as Stripe confirms your payment, the page you land on gives you your downloads and a personal link to them that works for at least a year. If you lose it, email us from the address you paid with and we'll send it again.
Can I print it?+
Yes, and we'd encourage it: paper still works when the power and the phone are out. Your license lets you print as many copies as your household needs, and give a printed copy to family who'd be helping you in an emergency.
Can I get a refund?+
Because the files are digital downloads you can keep as soon as you've paid, all sales are final and we don't give refunds for a change of mind. If a file won't download or open, or something in it is wrong, email us within 30 days of buying: we'll fix it, send a working copy, or refund you in full. If you were charged twice by mistake, we'll refund the extra charge.
Is it a subscription?+
No. You pay once, and the file is yours to keep. There's nothing to cancel.
Is it medical or safety advice for my situation?+
No. It's general information built on official US guidance. It doesn't replace your doctor, your pharmacist, or instructions from emergency services and your state or local emergency management office. In an emergency, call 911.
Start with Stage 1 this weekend.
The 90-Day Home Plan. Instant PDF download, paid once, yours to keep.
Secure card payment by Stripe, in US dollars. You can download it as soon as you pay. By buying you agree to our terms of sale, including that digital downloads can't be returned.
The 90-Day Home Plan is general information to help your household prepare. It is not legal, financial or medical advice. Written by Tom Calder for PreparedStates, sold by TMR Digital. PreparedStates is independent and not affiliated with the US government. Terms of sale.