I realize that the government wants me to use my stimulus payment to help stimulate the economy. But considering Trin and I just drained our savings account to buy this here Mr. Mac, I believe I’ve done my part in that respect.

So what to do with the $1,200 that Trinity and I (as a married couple) are scheduled to get? Well, I have a few ideas. ;-)

If all were ideal, our savings account was flush and we had no credit card bills and were already on our way to saving for a house? I’d say….iPhones! And maybe the beginning of a vacation fund for next year, maybe to Egypt. Heehee.

But that is not the case. Most of our stimulus check will probably go to our depleted savings account. However, Trin and I also started discussing the possibility of using the money to create an earthquake preparedness kit. I suppose I should call it a disaster preparedness kit, since huge brush fires have been more common than devastating earthquakes lately, but whatever.

Trin and I don’t even have a first aid kit (and let me tell you, sometimes, I really need it!). The trusty LAFD provides a handy preparedness handbook (PDF).¬† There’s also an easy-to-follow list at Ready.gov. So how much would it cost to get prepared?

• American Red Cross On-the-Go First Aid Kit @ Target, $16.99
• A gallon of water for each person for at least three days. So, six gallons for my home would run me about $6, if this Rite Aid circular is to be believed. Then again, what we really should do is buy extra bottles and fill them up using my tap water and PUR filter.
• Food will be the expensive part. I’ll estimate that at $20 a day, per person, so that’ll be $120 for my home.
• We have neither a battery-powered radio nor flashlight, so I’d opt to get both with this handy solar/hand-crank combo from Amazon., which is $24.95.
• Finding a whistle online is surprisingly difficult. Check these “thunderers” out at KuzSports; the most expensive one is $8.50.
• Dust masks? Really? Here are some serious heavy-duty masks from Discount Safety Gear, ranging in cost from $36.37 for an Ozone/Organic Vapor Disposable Respirator to $10.79 for a half mask, reusable respirator.
• Moist towelettes – $2.99 for a tub of Wet Ones at Drugstore.com
• Plastic garbage bags – $2.99 for a box of 4-gallon trash bags from the Do It Center (incidentally, the closest hardware store to me)
• Wrench and/or pliers – adjustable wrench from the Do It Center is $9.29
• Can opener (got it!)
• Local maps — got those too!

If I were to get the stuff listed, I’d spend about $213. Not bad! And of course, I would probably go to Target or Wal-Mart for all this stuff, so I would probably not spend the entire $213.