Can you feel the winter air already? It’s always best to be prepared especially in the coming harsh months of snow and ice. Here are some tips on how to prepare your home for winter:

Make sure you have an ample supply of food and drinking water. Much better if the food you’ll store won’t need cooking. Canned and dry goods are good examples of this. If you preserved fruits and vegetables during summer, then these are also good winter food. Buy gallons of water and make sure you don’t open the containers until needed.

You might also need water for washing or for basic kitchen and bathroom use. Prepare buckets and water storage containers as well. You can always use the snow from outside but if you can minimize water usage then much better.

Prepare your home. Make sure that all your pipes, windows, and doors are well-insulated.

If you have pets, prepare a warm place for them. Include lots of food and water for them and litter if needed.

Prepare alternate heat sources so if power goes out, you can keep yourselves warm. This can be a fireplace (if you have one) or a woodstove so stock up on dry kindlings and fuel.

Don’t forget to include entertainment stuff as well, in case you get snowed in. These can be books, magazines, hand-held games, and board games.

You might also need the following for your emergency winter kit:

• manual can opener
• flashlights and a battery powered lantern
• battery powered radio clock
• batteries in different sizes
• snow shovel
• candles, florescent light sticks
• matches
• house thermometer
• blankets
• first aid kit
• fully charged mobile phones and extra batteries
• emergency numbers