Ready for an emergency, when money's tight
The government's Be Ready advice asks every household to be able to manage at home for 3 days. If you're already counting every pound, "stock up" can feel out of reach, or even a bit insulting. This guide is for you. It starts with what costs nothing, uses what you've already got, and only then talks about spending, a little at a time.
From bereadyathome.co.uk/ready-on-a-budget.html · checked 29 October 2026
Start here
Here's the honest version. In a big emergency, like a long power cut, a storm or the water going off, help goes first to the people who need it most. The more households that can look after themselves for a few days, the faster that help reaches everyone else. That's the whole idea behind being ready for 3 days.
But you don't need to buy a kit, and you don't need to do it all at once. Most of what makes a real difference is free: a plan, some numbers on paper, water from your own tap, and knowing who'll check on whom. Plenty of people who've lived on a tight budget are already good at the hardest part, which is making do and looking out for each other.
If the power and the water went off tonight, what would you reach for first? And who would you want to know you're OK?
Please don't borrow to get ready. Don't use credit cards, Buy Now Pay Later, payday loans or your rent money to build an emergency kit. A kit isn't worth new debt. Everything on this page can be done slowly, with what you can spare.
If you only do 5 things
These are in order. The first three cost nothing.
- Write the important numbers on paper FreeIf your phone dies, you lose every number in it. Write down family, a neighbour, your GP, your landlord or housing association's repairs line, and the emergency numbers below. Keep the paper somewhere everyone knows.
- Agree a simple plan with your household FreeWhere you'll meet if you get split up, who picks the children up if schools close, and who you'll check on. Ten minutes round the kitchen table does it.
- Fill some bottles from the tap FreeWater matters more than food. You don't need to buy bottled water: clean bottles filled from your tap work fine. Here's how to store it.
- Sort your medicines Free or low costDon't let repeat prescriptions run right down. Order them in good time, and write down who takes what and the doses.
- Add one thing to each food shop About £1 a weekOne tin or packet you'd happily eat cold. In a few months, you'll have 3 days of food without ever doing a big shop. See the list.
Free things to do this week
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Water, without buying it
The Be Ready advice is about 3 litres per person per day for drinking, plus a bit more for cooking and washing. For 3 days that's 9 litres each. That's a lot of space in a small flat, so treat it as a target to work towards, not a test you've failed.
How to store tap water
- Use bottles you'd otherwise throw away. Plastic drinks bottles and squash bottles with screw tops are fine. Skip milk bottles, as they're hard to get properly clean.
- Wash them well in hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly, then fill straight from the cold kitchen tap.
- Put the date on with a marker, screw the lid on tight and keep them somewhere cool and dark, away from cleaning products and paint.
- Swap them regularly. Tap water in a clean, sealed bottle kept cool and dark stays fresh for at least a week, often much longer. Swap it at least every 6 months, when you check your other supplies, and use the old water for washing up, flushing the loo or watering plants. If it smells or tastes odd, or looks cloudy, don't drink it.
- Short of space? Bottles fit under beds, at the back of wardrobes and in the bottom of cupboards. A couple of extra bottles in the freezer, with a gap at the top, also help keep food cold if the power goes off.
If a warning comes
If your water company or the news warns that the supply might go off, fill every clean container and a bucket for flushing the toilet while the water's still running. It costs nothing, and it's the freshest water you'll have.
Got little ones? Keep buckets and containers of water covered or out of reach, and empty them when you're done. A toddler can drown in just a few centimetres of water.
If the water goes off
In England, if an unplanned cut lasts more than 12 hours your water company should provide another supply, such as bottled water or a tanker in the street. You may also be due compensation, which is usually paid automatically. Keep a clean container with a lid to carry water home. Citizens Advice explains your rights.
Toilet, washing and hygiene without running water
When the taps stop, the hardest part isn't usually drinking water. It's the toilet, washing and keeping things clean. None of this needs special kit, and most of it uses water you'd otherwise pour away.
- 1. Hands first
- 2. Flushing the toilet with a bucket
- 3. If you can't use the toilet at all
- 4. Washing yourself
- 5. Teeth, dishes and surfaces
- 6. Periods and nappies
- 7. If you're told to boil your water
- 8. Floodwater
A cheap hygiene kit, built up slowly
- A bar of soap (cheap, and it lasts far longer than you'd think)
- Hand gel and a pack of wet wipes
- Toilet roll
- Strong bin bags
- A bucket, ideally one with a lid, and a washing-up bowl
- A flannel and towel for each person
- Period products and nappies, if you need them
- A small bag of cheap cat litter or sawdust, for an emergency toilet
Most homes already have half of these. Add the rest one item at a time, like your food.
1. Hands first
If water's short, use it for washing hands before anything else. Clean hands after the toilet and before touching food stop most tummy bugs, and a tummy bug with no running water is miserable.
- The jug and bowl trick: one person pours a little water from a jug or bottle while the other soaps up and rinses over a bowl. A mug or two of water does it. Or fill a washing-up bowl with water and a little soap for the household to share. Then use the dirty water to flush the loo.
- Soap and water is always best. Hand gel is a back-up for when your hands look clean. It doesn't work well on visibly dirty hands, so wipe them first, and don't use it on your face or private parts.
- If anyone has sickness or diarrhoea, hand gel won't kill the bug, so everyone needs to wash with soap and water. Keep a separate bowl of soapy water just for the person who's ill, keep them drinking, and wash their soiled clothes and bedding separately on a 60°C wash once you can.
- Keep young children's hands clean too, and help them do it.
2. Flushing the toilet with a bucket
If the water's off but the power's on and your drains are fine, you can still flush with a bucket. The water doesn't need to be clean.
But in a big, long power cut, the pumps that move sewage can stop. If you're told not to flush, don't, not even with a bucket. Use an emergency toilet instead (see below).
- Fill a bucket with used water: washing-up water, water from a strip wash, rainwater or water from a water butt. Half a bucket to a full bucket usually does it, a bit more for older toilets.
- Pour it quickly and steadily into the toilet bowl. The rush of water does the flushing.
- Only flush when you need to, so your water goes further.
- Put wet wipes, nappies and period products in a bin bag, never down the toilet.
Got little ones? Keep buckets covered or out of reach and empty them when you're done. A toddler can drown in just a few centimetres of water.
3. If you can't use the toilet at all
Sometimes you can't flush: you've run out of water, the drains are blocked, sewage is coming back up in a flood, or you've been told not to flush because of a major power cut. If that happens, don't flush. Contact your water company and make an emergency toilet instead.
- Use a bucket with a lid, or bail out the water in your toilet bowl, line it with two strong bin bags, one inside the other, and put the seat down to hold them.
- After each use, sprinkle in some cat litter, sawdust or shredded newspaper. It soaks up liquid and cuts the smell.
- When the bag's about half full, tie it tightly, then tie the outer bag.
- Keep the bags outside in a bin with a lid, away from children and pets, and put them out with your general rubbish, as you would nappies, unless your council says otherwise.
- Wash your hands with soap and water every time. Use gel only if you've nothing else.
4. Washing yourself
- A strip wash with a bowl of water, soap and a flannel gets you properly clean with a couple of litres. Start with your face and finish with your private parts.
- Give everyone their own flannel and towel, and use a separate cloth for the face and for private parts. It stops infections spreading.
- If the power's off too, room-temperature water is fine.
- Wet wipes help in between, and dry shampoo, or just a hat, gets you through a few days of unwashed hair.
5. Teeth, dishes and surfaces
- Brushing your teeth needs only a small cup of drinking water. If your water company tells you to boil the water, use boiled and cooled water or bottled water for your teeth too.
- Dishes: wipe plates and pans with kitchen roll or newspaper first, then wash everything in one bowl of soapy water, cleanest things first. Dry them well, and pour the water into the toilet afterwards.
- Clean what matters most: surfaces where you prepare food, the toilet and the bathroom basin. A cloth with a little soapy water does it.
- Never mix bleach with other cleaners, especially toilet cleaner. It can give off dangerous fumes. Follow the label, and keep cleaning products away from children.
6. Periods and nappies
- Keep one pack of period products and one pack of nappies tucked away for emergencies. Reusable cloth nappies and pads are great day to day, but they need water to wash, so a small disposable stash helps.
- In Scotland, free period products are available from places like libraries and community centres, and the PickupMyPeriod app shows where. Elsewhere, food banks and some schools and community groups give them out free.
- Wrap used nappies and products, put them in a tied bag and keep them in a bin with a lid.
- If you or someone you care for uses continence products, keep a spare pack, with gloves and wipes, alongside your kit, and sign up for the free Priority Services Register so your water company knows you need extra help.
7. If you're told to boil your water
Your water company may say the tap water isn't safe to drink without boiling. Boil it, let it cool, and use it for drinking, brushing teeth, making ice, preparing food, cleaning baby bottles and giving pets water. You can still wash, bathe and flush with tap water, just don't swallow any. Throw away ice made from unboiled tap water. Take care with hot water around children.
If the power's off and you can't boil water, use shop-bought bottled water, or water you stored well before the problem started. If you're not sure when it started, call your water company and ask. Water companies usually keep bottled water deliveries for people on their Priority Services Register, so if you need extra help, sign up now, before anything goes wrong. Never boil water on a camping stove or barbecue indoors.
8. Floodwater
- Treat floodwater as dirty. It often has sewage in it. Keep children and pets out of it, and wash your hands with soap after any contact.
- Cover cuts and grazes with waterproof plasters.
- Wear rubber gloves, boots and an apron when you clean up, wash your hands with soap after each session, and clean hard surfaces with hot water and detergent.
- Wash toys, clothes and bedding that got wet on a hot wash (60°C).
- Throw away any food that floodwater touched, and wooden spoons, wooden chopping boards and chipped or cracked plates. Undamaged tins can be kept: wash and dry them before opening. Throw away dented, swollen or rusty tins. If floodwater got into your fridge or freezer, throw out the food in it and don't switch it back on until it's been checked.
- Never use a generator, camping stove or barbecue indoors, in a garage or near a window. The fumes contain carbon monoxide, which can kill.
More from the UK Health Security Agency: flooding and health.
If you couldn't flush for 3 days, what would you use? Have you got a bucket and some bin bags at home right now?
Food, one extra item a shop
The Be Ready advice is food that keeps and needs no cooking or fridge, ideally food you'd normally eat. You don't need special "survival" food. The cheapest plan is simply to buy one extra item each time you shop and put it to the back of the cupboard.
Cheap foods you can eat cold, straight from the tin or packet
- Tinned beans, chickpeas or lentils (baked beans are fine cold)
- Tinned fish, like sardines, mackerel or tuna, and tinned meat
- Tinned fruit, and tinned potatoes or sweetcorn
- Crackers, crispbreads, oatcakes
- Peanut butter, if no one's allergic
- Breakfast cereal and long-life (UHT) milk
- Cereal bars, raisins and dried fruit, nuts
- Rice pudding or custard in tins or pots
Own-brand tins at the big supermarkets and discounters are often around 50p each. Check the price per kilo on the shelf label to compare. Prices change, so these are a rough guide only.
Remember a tin opener, or pick ring-pull tins. A tin you can't open won't help.
| Weeks | Add one of these to your shop | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | A tin of beans, a tin of fish or meat, a packet of crackers | Filling, keeps for ages, no cooking |
| 4 to 6 | Tinned fruit, cereal, a carton of long-life milk | Breakfasts sorted |
| 7 to 9 | Peanut butter, another tin of beans or chickpeas, dried fruit or nuts | Energy and protein |
| 10 to 12 | Hand gel or wet wipes, bin bags, a pack of batteries, spare tins of anything your family will actually eat | Hygiene and light, and food the fussiest eater will touch |
Twelve weeks gives you roughly a basic 3-day store for one person. For a bigger household, keep going, or share it out so each adult adds one item to their shop.
Make it last and stop it going to waste
- Eat it and replace it. Use the oldest tin when you need it, then put a new one at the back. Nothing gets wasted, and your store stays fresh.
- Buy what you'd eat anyway. A tin of something nobody likes is wasted money.
- Think about "safe foods". If someone in your home, perhaps an autistic child, only eats certain foods, which of those keep without a fridge? Crackers, cereal, pouches and some snacks might. Start with those.
- Watch for special diets and allergies, and read the labels.
- Don't panic-buy. If the news is full of empty shelves, carry on with one item at a time. Panic buying pushes prices up and leaves shelves empty for the people who need them.
What's already in your cupboards right now that you could eat without cooking? You might be closer to 3 days than you think.
Light, warmth and news
Use what you already have first
Duvets, sleeping bags, hats, coats, thick socks and hoodies are your warmth kit. Keep them where you can find them in the dark. If you have a flask, fill it with a hot drink when a storm warning comes, while the power's still on.
If you can spend a little, start here
| Item | Rough cost | Cheaper ways to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Torch and spare batteries | A few pounds | Supermarkets and pound shops. A wind-up torch never needs batteries. Your phone torch drains the battery fast, so save it for when you need it. |
| FM radio, battery or wind-up | About £15 to £20 for a wind-up radio with a torch built in | Charity shops and second-hand sites. The charity Wavelength gives radios, TVs and tablets to people who are lonely or isolated and on a low income. Someone else, like a support worker, housing officer, charity worker or neighbour, has to apply for you. Family members can't. |
| Power bank for your phone | About £10 and up | Keep it charged and top it up every few months. Most important if someone relies on a phone or a small medical device. |
Costs are rough guides and change. Don't pay for anything marketed as a "survival" or "prepper" item when an ordinary version will do.
Keeping warm and cooking safely
- Never use a barbecue, camping stove or patio heater indoors, even with a window open. They give off carbon monoxide, which you can't see or smell and which kills.
- Never use a gas oven or hob to heat a room.
- Use a torch, not candles, if you can. If you do use candles, put them in a proper holder on something that won't burn, away from curtains, children and pets, and blow them out before you sleep or leave the room. Never carry a lit candle from room to room.
- Never use tealights under a flowerpot or tin as a "heater". They don't warm a room, and they start fires.
- Keep portable heaters away from curtains, bedding and furniture, and never use them to dry clothes. Switch them off when you go to bed or leave the room, and never move a gas or paraffin heater while it's lit.
- Get a carbon monoxide alarm. They cost from around £15 and could save your life. If you rent and have a gas boiler or gas fire, your landlord should fit one, so ask. Headaches, dizziness, feeling sick or sleepy that ease when you go outside can be signs of carbon monoxide: get into fresh air and call 0800 111 999 (Northern Ireland 0800 002 001).
- Ask your local fire and rescue service for a free home fire safety visit. Many will check your home and fit smoke alarms for free.
- If you smell gas, put out candles and cigarettes and don't use matches or lighters. Don't switch anything on or off. Open the doors and windows, turn the gas off at the meter if you can, and call 0800 111 999 (Northern Ireland 0800 002 001).
Medicines, babies and pets
Medicines
- Order repeat prescriptions in good time. The Be Ready advice says you can usually request them up to 5 working days before you need them.
- Write down each person's medicines and doses, and keep the list with your important numbers.
- Prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In England, you may get them free if you get certain benefits, or through the NHS Low Income Scheme. If you pay for several items, a prescription prepayment certificate can cut the cost.
- If anyone uses equipment that needs power, join the Priority Services Register and keep a charged power bank or spare batteries for it.
- A basic first aid kit can be built slowly: plasters, a bandage, antiseptic wipes and painkillers you already use.
Babies
If you're breastfeeding, keep going: it's the safest way to feed a baby in an emergency. For formula, ready-to-feed is safest, because powdered formula needs boiled water. It costs more, so add a carton at a time. Never water formula down to make it go further, throw away anything left in the bottle after a feed, and once a carton's open, follow the storage instructions on the pack. If you can't wash and sterilise bottles, feed from a new, clean disposable cup. If you get certain benefits and you're pregnant or have a young child, Healthy Start (child under 4) or, in Scotland, Best Start Foods (child under 3) puts money on a card for milk, infant formula and food. Healthy Start can be spent on tinned fruit, vegetables and pulses too, and you can get free vitamins. Keep some nappies and wipes aside.
Pets
Add an extra tin or pouch of pet food when you shop, just as you do for yourself, and remember water for them too.
Cash, meters and debt
A little cash at home
If card machines and cash machines go down, cash still works. The Be Ready advice suggests a mix of notes and coins. On a tight budget, even £10 in a jar helps, and it isn't spending, it's just keeping some money in a different place. A jar for spare coins builds up without you noticing.
If you have a prepayment meter
- If a storm or warning is coming and you can, top up a little before it arrives, in case shops or apps can't take payment.
- Know how to use your meter's emergency credit. Suppliers must offer it, and "friendly credit" so you aren't cut off overnight, at weekends or on bank holidays when you can't top up. It's a loan, not free money: it usually comes off your next top-up, so if that would leave you short, ask your supplier for an affordable rate.
- If you're struggling, ring your supplier. They must offer extra help to people in vulnerable situations, which can include additional support credit and affordable repayments.
Again: please don't take on debt to get ready. If money's an emergency right now, that comes first. The next section is about the help that's there for exactly that.
Help you may be able to get
These schemes won't buy you an emergency kit. They're for when things are hard now. But making sure you get everything you're entitled to can free up a little money, and knowing where to turn is part of being ready.
| What | Where | How to find out |
|---|---|---|
| A benefits check. Lots of people miss out on money they're owed. | Whole UK | Free calculators at Turn2us, or ask Citizens Advice |
| Crisis and Resilience Fund: crisis payments and help with housing costs (it replaced the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments in April 2026) | England | Your local council's website |
| Scottish Welfare Fund | Scotland | Your local council |
| Discretionary Assistance Fund | Wales | Welsh Government website |
| Discretionary Support | Northern Ireland | nidirect |
| Warm Home Discount: £150 off your electricity bill for winter 2026/27, usually automatic if you get certain benefits (in Scotland, some people still need to apply) | England, Wales, Scotland | GOV.UK, or ask your energy supplier. There's no equivalent in Northern Ireland, so ask nidirect about the Affordable Warmth scheme. |
| Charity grants, which you don't pay back | Whole UK | The free Turn2us grants search |
| Food banks and community food | Whole UK | Trussell and the Independent Food Aid Network, or ask your council, GP or Citizens Advice for a referral |
| Priority Services Register for energy and water | Great Britain (Northern Ireland: see care registers on nidirect) | thepsr.co.uk |
Schemes change. We checked these on 29 October 2026. Always check the details with the organisation running them.
Back to contentsWhen it happens
Go in, stay in, tune in
If you're told to shelter at home, get indoors, stay there, and listen to local radio or check official updates. If your home becomes unsafe, or the emergency services tell you to leave, follow their instructions.
In a power cut
- Use a torch, not candles.
- Check if it's just you or the whole street, then call 105 to report it or get updates (03457 643643 in Northern Ireland).
- Keep the fridge and freezer shut. Eat food from the fridge first, then the freezer, and save the tins for last.
- A closed fridge stays cold for about 4 hours. A full freezer stays frozen for about 2 days, or 1 day if it's half full. If the power's been off for more than 4 hours, throw away chilled meat, fish, leftovers and ready meals. It's hard when money's tight, but food poisoning costs more.
- Turn off appliances, but leave one light switched on so you know when the power's back.
- Wrap up warm, keep to one room, and check on neighbours.
If the water goes off
- Use your stored water for drinking first.
- Flush the toilet with a bucket of used water, unless you've been told not to flush, and wash hands before anything else. How to manage without running water.
- Listen for where your water company is handing out bottled water.
- If you're on the Priority Services Register, they may bring it to you.
In any emergency, if you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999.
Back to contentsWhere this advice comes from
This guide is built on the UK Government's Be Ready advice, and on what families, charities and researchers have said since the campaign launched in October 2026: that stocking up isn't realistic for everyone, and that people on low incomes need practical, low-cost steps. We've tried to write exactly that.
- UK Government, Be ready for emergencies and the Be Ready checklist. Scotland: Ready Scotland. Northern Ireland: nidirect.
- Priority Services Register: who can join and what it offers.
- Citizens Advice, interruptions to your water supply (England).
- Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, power cut safety.
- Ofgem, protections for prepayment customers: emergency, friendly and additional support credit.
- GOV.UK, the Crisis and Resilience Fund; Turn2us, facing an unexpected cost; MoneySavingExpert, Warm Home Discount 2026/27.
- Food Standards Agency, food safety in a power cut; NHS, making up baby formula; nidirect, care registers; GOV.UK, flood warnings.
- UK Chief Medical Officers, water and sanitation advice during a national power outage; NHS, norovirus; Drinking Water Inspectorate, boil water notices; FSA, food safety after a flood.
- Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland), public health advice when water supply is low; United Utilities, water supply incident advice; Bristol Water, preparing for an incident; UK Health Security Agency, flooding and health: toilets, washing and hygiene.
- British Red Cross, free first aid apps.
- Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, water supply in a crisis (storing tap water and emergency toilets), and South West Water, preparing for an incident: storing tap water.
- News coverage of the affordability concerns: LBC, 21 October 2026 (Trussell, the Independent Food Aid Network) and BBC News, 27 October 2026 (families, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Changing Realities project).
Checked 29 October 2026. We'll recheck these every 6 months.
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