The point of the government's Be Ready guidance is that it is achievable by ordinary households. It even says to build the kit gradually during regular shopping trips. This page is that plan: five weekly shops, around £10 each, and a list of what you already have.
What you probably already own
Walk round the house with the checklist before buying anything. Most homes already have a torch, a first aid kit of sorts, blankets, warm clothes, a power bank, some tins, a tin opener, a radio in the car, toilet roll, bin bags and a rucksack. Gather them in one box. You may be a third of the way there for nothing.
What is free
- Finding and labelling the stopcock, gas valve and fuse box.
- Writing the household plan and the phone numbers on paper.
- Signing up for flood warnings and the Priority Services Register.
- Switching on Emergency Alerts and downloading offline maps.
- Photographing documents to the cloud and copying insurance details.
- Filling clean containers with tap water for washing and flushing when a warning comes.
- Testing the smoke alarm and booking a free fire safety check.
- Talking to the neighbours.
- Our printables.
Five weekly shops
Prices are typical supermarket and discount-store costs for a household of two to three. Scale up for larger families; the calculator gives exact quantities.
| Week | Buy | Roughly | Why this order |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bottled water, 9 litres per person. A cheap LED torch and batteries if you have none. | £8 to £12 | Water and light are the first-night essentials |
| 2 | Tins and pouches: six no-cook meals per person from things you already eat. A manual tin opener. | £10 to £15 | Food you will rotate anyway |
| 3 | Wind-up or battery FM radio. Spare batteries for everything. | £12 to £20 | Information in a long outage |
| 4 | Hand sanitiser, wet wipes, a fleece blanket per person if short, glow sticks or a night light. | £8 to £12 | Hygiene and warmth |
| 5 | Top up the first aid kit, a waterproof document folder, snacks, long-life milk. Set aside the cash. | £8 to £12 plus cash | Finishing touches and the money |
Total: around £45 to £70 for the shopping, plus whatever cash you decide to hold. Spread across five weeks it disappears into the normal food bill.
The £20 version
If £20 is what there is, spend it in this order: water (£4 to £6 for a small household), a torch and batteries (£5 to £8), then tins. Skip the radio for now; your car has one, and a neighbour has one. Add a fleece blanket from the supermarket when you can. Then do all the free things above, which are most of the real preparation anyway.
Where the bargains are
- Own-brand water and tins. Identical to branded, often half the price, and cheapest of all at Aldi and Lidl. Add them to a home delivery and skip the carrying.
- Discount and pound shops. Torches, batteries, wipes, sanitiser, glow sticks, bin bags, candles you will not use.
- Supermarket seasonal aisles in autumn and in the run-up to camping season: wind-up torches, lanterns, flasks, foil blankets.
- Charity shops. Rucksacks for the grab bag, flasks, blankets, board games for the children.
- Your own loft. Camping gear is emergency gear with a different name.
What not to buy
Freeze-dried survival food, "72-hour prepper bundles", tactical anything, water filtration for a house with a tap, a generator for a flat, a year of rice. The official list is deliberately ordinary. If a product has the word survival on it, it is probably not on the list and probably costs five times what the ordinary version does.
If money is very tight
Food banks will often help with tinned goods for a household stock as well as immediate need. Your council's household support fund, energy supplier hardship schemes and the Priority Services Register exist for exactly the households that cannot absorb a shock. The register in particular costs nothing and delivers water and help to the door. Ask; the people who run these schemes want you to.
The recommended kit page lists sensible, cheap options for the few items worth buying. None of the links on this site currently earn us a commission; if that changes we will say so.
Common questions
What is the absolute minimum if I only have £20?
Water first: 9 litres per person in supermarket own-brand bottles is about £1.50 a person. Then a basic LED torch and batteries for £5 to £8. Then as many tins of what you already eat as the rest buys. A radio can wait: your car has one. That £20 covers the three things that matter most in the first night of a power cut.
Is anything free?
Most of the plan: knowing the shut-offs, writing the household plan, signing up for flood warnings and the Priority Services Register, saving phone numbers, filling clean containers from the tap, photographing documents, copying your insurance details, and the printables on this site. The free half is the half that saves lives.
Where are the bargains?
Supermarket own brands for water and tins. Fleece blankets at supermarkets and discount stores for a few pounds. Pound shops for torches, batteries, wet wipes, sanitiser and glow sticks. Charity shops for rucksacks, flasks and blankets. Supermarket seasonal aisles for cheap wind-up torches and radios in autumn.
What should I not spend money on?
Freeze-dried survival meals, water purification systems for the kitchen, tactical torches, prepper bundles, generators for a flat, and anything marketed with the word survival. The government list is deliberately ordinary and ordinary is cheap.