Some Couponing Basics

We thought it would be helpful to have a basic lesson on couponing. Coupons can save you a lot of money on things that you already buy on a regular basis if you spend a little time each week organizing and planning.

Where can I find coupons?

The Sunday paper always has 1-3 packets of coupons. You can subscribe to the weekend edition of the paper for around $50 per year. Also, there are coupon websites everywhere. Typically online coupons for some reason have higher values than those in the paper. Most companies offer some type of printable coupon through their company website. So if you are need of something, it never hurts to check that company’s website to see if they offer you extra dollars off. Look for the words "special offers" or "promotions"--that is where you will find the coupons for the most part on their site. Some of the more popular websites that offer printable coupons on a regular basis are Coupons.com, SmartSource.com and redplum.com. CouponCabin.com also has coupons for specific retailers like Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Magazines also offer coupons so be on the lookout when your reading your monthly subscriptions. It's also very helpful when signing up for coupons online to use a completely different email account. That way you don't get a lot of junk email in my regular inbox.

Now that I have my coupons how in the world do I organize them?

Without some type of organization in place coupons can just become a big mess that is not very useful. The best thing to do is to figure out a system that works for you and stick to it. Don’t fall into the trap of cutting some coupons out and placing them aside in a drawer for “later.” That “later” will most likely turn into never and you just have clutter accumulating in your house and then coupons will become a headache and a mess maker instead of a money saving tool.

Personally, I like cut my coupons out on Monday mornings. I cut the coupons and put them into different piles based on the categories that I have in my coupon box (directions soon to follow…). If there are any amazing coupons I see when I cut my coupons out, I put them in a pile to use when I go shopping. I then make my shopping list and see if there are any possible coupons to use. Once you cut coupons out for several months you will start seeing patterns—like you know there will always be some type of Pillsbury crescent roll coupon (trust me there always is one) or a Post cereal coupon.

There are many different methods to use for organizing your coupons after you get them cut out. I have always used what I refer to as the “envelope method.” It is very simple it costs you a grand total of about $2 (the cost for a box of small envelopes and an index card holder box).

***First things first—whatever coupon method you use to store your coupons, make sure you place your name, address, and phone number somewhere on the container that holds all your coupons--just in case you ever leave it at the store. It can be very easy to forget your coupon organizer in your shopping cart or by the cash register so make sure you have it labeled! That way if someone finds it they have a way to track you down.

Envelope Method

I use large plastic index card holder box where I have small envelopes labeled with different categories. Each week I cut the coupons out and place them in their corresponding envelope. This method works best for me because it keeps my coupons organized and easy to find but also in a relatively small case that I can carry around easily when I'm at the store.

Here is a visual of what my coupon box looks like:

Labels on the envelopes that I have:

Air Fresheners

Baby products

Baking Products (flour, sugar, corn syrup, etc)

Beverages

Bread

Breakfast foods (waffles, pancake mixes, Pop-Tarts)

Candy

Cereal

Condiments (Sauces, Salad Dressings, Mayo)

Cleaning Products

Dairy

Dish Soap

First Aid (Band-Aids, Ointments)

Food Storage (Aluminum Foil, Ziploc Bags)

Frozen Foods

Fruit

Garbage Bags

Ice Cream/Frozen Desserts

Laundry

Lunch Foods (Granola Bars, Fruit Snacks, Deli Meat)

Make-up

Meat

Medicines

Miscellaneous (if I don’t know where to put something this is where it goes…coupons for batteries and pantyhose usually end up in here, among other things)

Paper Products (paper towels, TP, tissues)

Pasta/Pizza/Rice

Peanut Butter/Jams

Sanitary Products

Shampoo

Shaving Supplies

Soap/Face Wash/Lotions

Soup

Snacks (chips, nuts, popcorn, etc)

Toothpaste and Toothbrushes

Veggies

Yogurt

Other envelopes:

I also have a separate envelope for Restaurants which I store in my car. I put coupons that I get in the mail or from the paper in here. Most of the times that I would need to use these types of coupons I find that it is more convenient to store them in my car than at my house.

At the front of my coupon box, I have envelopes labeled for each of the stores that I might be going to—Harps, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, etc. If there are coupons that I know I am going to use in those stores, I put those coupons in the store envelope where I will be using them. I also place my shopping list in those envelopes for that corresponding store. And, after I go shopping I place my receipt from that store in that envelope.

Binder Method

You can also use a 3 ring binder with baseball card pages. A binder with a zipper case works really well for this. Then you can have 1-2 pages for each of your categories. Another thing you can do with this method is have a zipper pouch with scissors, calculator, and pens and pencils.

SOME OTHER STUFF

AHH....the dreaded coupon expiration date!!!

Most coupons have some type of expiration date. The majority of the time coupons are good for about 2 months and then they expire. So, what do you do with all those coupons in your coupon box or binder that are about to expire or have expired?? At the end of each month, I go through each envelope of my coupon box and get rid of all of my expired coupons. It is a little cumbersome but when you think of all the money you have saved during the month with coupons, it’s worth it. Maybe you can make it into a little game for your kids to help you to find all the coupons with dates before…(speaking of having your kids help out....)

Have your kids help out

You don’t have do all this coupon stuff on your own. If your kids are old enough, have them help you out with the coupon clipping. It can help them learn math skills, learn how to save money, how to be a good shopper, and how to budget their money. I actually learned how to use coupons when I was around 12 years old.. My mom was sick of each of us kids complaining about what there was (or wasn't) available to eat around the house. So, she came up with a great idea--she assigned grocery shopping to us kids for alternating weeks. We had a budget and then she gave us a list of things we had to buy like fruits, vegetables, meats but then the rest of the shopping was up to us. Of course, she was always right there to supervise us so we didn't spend all the rest of the money on junk food or things like that. I used coupons regularly because I wanted to get the most food with the money that was allotted and my brother and sister did the same. It was a great money lesson and I have lots of great memories doing it. My mom loved it too because she never heard us complaining about “having nothing to eat” to her…instead we went and complained to whatever sibling bought the groceries that week!

At the Store...

Make sure you bring your coupons with you to the store. You may see a great deal while you are there there that makes it even sweeter with a coupon that you have. Or you might remember something you forgot to put on your shopping list that you need and you have a coupon for it! Sweet! Also, Harps doubles coupons up to 50 cents—in other words, if you have a 50 cent coupon, at Harps it is worth $1. I have been able to get many ideas for free or next to nothing by taking advantage of the double coupons at Harps. Also take a look at weekly ads and see if there are any sales that you might be able to use a coupon with.

Planning your menu for the week

Another thing you can do is plan your weekly food menu based on some of the coupons you have. This will help you to save money by using the coupons and also save time by having your menu planned out for the week. Buy items for your children or your spouse's lunch using coupons you have for lunch type items (granola bars, lunchmeat, etc.).

Okay, that's all my brain can think of for now. I'm sure there are things I have missed so if you have any other suggestions on how you use coupons to help you save money, feel free to comment!

Eat what you store: Slow Cooker Pork Chalupa

Rotation is KEY to a successful food storage. Some reasons that you should rotate your food storage supply are:

-To prevent spoilage.

-To maximize the nutritional value and quality of your food storage.

-To learn how to use the food that you are storing. A lack of knowledge on this can add even more stress to an already stressful situation in an emergency.

-To ensure your body is adapted to using the food storage you have. For example, if you suddenly introduce tons of whole wheat into your body and you are not used to it, you will probably end up getting sick.

So, to help you rotate your food supply, we're going to provide you with recipes that you can make using your food storage with a regular blog segment called "Eat What You Store." Also, these recipes have been tried and tested--so in other words, we will not post recipes that we think are nasty. And we'll even provide pictures to further entice you to try these recipes out. My theory when it comes to food is that you eat with your eyes first.

So, feast your eyes on this....Pork Chalupa (okay, so I admit that these pictures are probably not the best but trust me, it's a tasty meal and most of the work is done by a crock pot--even better!)















Slow Cooker Pork Chalupa

2 lb boneless pork roast (I used pork tenderloin because it is a leaner cut of meat but any boneless pork roast will do the trick)
1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 c. chicken broth

2 T. chili powder

1 1/2 T. cumin
1 t. oregano

2 cans diced green chilies

2 T. unsweeted tapioca (you can find this in the Jell-O section at your supermarket--the only brand I have been able to find is Minute. It is in a small red box. One box will last you a long time. FYI--the tapioca is used as a thickening agent so it works well in stews to help to thicken them.)

1-15 oz can corn, juice included

1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1-8 oz can of tomato sauce

Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker, except for the roast. Stir until combined. Add roast to the slow cooker. Cook covered for 4-5 hours on high and 7-8 hours on low. Just a little side note, it will look very runny but once you take the pork out and shred it and put it back in it will be just perfect. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred it using two forks. Spread on a soft tortilla and sprinkle with cheese and any other toppings--salsa, sour cream, etc. The chalupa is pretty juicy so you will probably want to stick to just eating it with a fork and knife not in your hands like a taco or burrito.

This recipe makes a lot and I've found that this recipe freezes really well. I've also made this recipe using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and it worked out great too. Also, if you use meat that is already cooked, you don't need to cook it in the slow cooker for as long.

Who has cheaper?

So, do you ever go to the store and wonder if you could possibly get a certain item that you buy frequently cheaper somewhere else? Well, look no longer. We are going to regularly do a feature on the blog called "Who has cheaper..." We hope this will help everyone to know where they can buy items for their 3 month and 1 year supply at the best possible prices. On this little 'who has cheaper' segment we will always be comparing the cheapest brand that each store offers. So, here is the feature this time around...

WHO HAS CHEAPER....CANNED FRUIT!

Pineapple
Aldi	$0.89
Wal-Mart	$0.98
Harps	$1.19
Dollar General	$1.25
Target	$1.34

	Mandarin Oranges
Aldi	$0.45
Dollar General	$0.50
Wal-Mart	$0.62
Harps	$0.89
Target	$1.12

	Peaches (29 oz)
Aldi	$1.39
Harps	$1.45
Dollar General	$1.50
Wal-Mart	$1.56
Target	$1.83

	Pears (29 oz)
Dollar General	$1.35
Aldi	$1.39
Wal-Mart	$1.56
Target	$1.83
Harps	n/a

	Fruit Cocktail
Aldi	$0.85
Wal-Mart	$1.00
Harps	$1.15
Dollar General	$1.25
Target	$1.83

Well, it looks like Aldi and Dollar General are your canned fruit shopping headquarters!

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

If you were to just go and buy 12 cans of each of these items at WM, it would cost you a grand total of $80.64. But if you bought them at the cheapest places (mostly Aldi) the grand total would be $69.36. That's an $11.28 difference. Hey in this economy every little bit helps...

Top 10 Reasons Why I don't have my food storage...

**Courtesy of http://preparednessnibblesandbits.blogspot.com/

10. My neighbors have a TWO year supply! No, they don't. They don't have any food. Did you know that 85% of the members of the church don't have any food storage at all? If your idea of food storage is to eat someone else’s food………..this is a really bad plan.

9. I've paid tithing for 20 years...the church can give me a little food. Many members believe that when the times get hard, the church is going to come through like Joseph in Egypt. Absolutely not true. All the church storehouses and welfare farms across the country would only feed 4% of the members of the church. The church has been asking YOU to store food for 75 years. They're NOT storing food for you. Thus, another bad plan.

8. I'm moving in with my children / parents! Really....that’s just a bad plan all by itself. But it points out that most members don't have a year's supply because they're PLANNING on eating someone else's food! Of course, since no one HAS any food, we have yet another bad plan.

7. I have a year's supply...and the bullets to go with it! I've heard time and again, "How dumb is that to go to all the time and expense of getting food...just to have some guy with a gun come and shoot my family to take it away?" Here's a better question. Are you afraid of the guy with the gun? Or are you more afraid of BECOMING the guy with the gun? What would you do if your children were starving to death? Would you lie? Cheat? Steal? Would you shoot your neighbor for his food? I guarantee....if you were watching your child starving to death, you would do anything you had to to keep them alive. If you don't have your year's supply, you are putting yourself in danger of losing not only your temporal salvation, but your spiritual salvation as well.

So far, all the reasons we don't have our food storage involve eating someone else's food. Please, don't put your family's temporal salvation in other people's hands. No one is storing food for you. Not your neighbors, not the government...not even the church.

#6. The boat and the 4 wheelers are taking up all my storage space! (priorities!)

#5. 3 letters....Y2K. Ok, that's 2 letters and a number....but they're always making way too much out of everything! This is never going to happen!” (Every prophecy that has ever been given WILL happen.)

#4. If anything DOES happen, the government will be here within hours! (insert laughter) Did you know the government has been telling us that we need to have food storage? They're actually CALLING it food storage! We now have the government telling us to store food, water, medicines...whatever we will need to be able to stay in our homes for several months.

#3. I can't afford scrap booking AND food storage. The average food storage can cost as little as a dollar a day. We live in the richest society in the history of the world, and while there are cases where money may be a problem, most of the time it is a matter of priorities. We have chosen bigger homes, nicer cars, more tv's, computers, vacations ...everything is more important than our food storage. If I asked, "Who has a cell phone?" most of you would say yes. You pay at least $30 a month to have a cell phone....that's about a dollar a day...the cost of one year's supply of food for your child. Is your cell phone really more important than your child's temporal salvation? You have to make food storage a priority.

2. I'm waiting for the cannery to sell Papa John's dehydrated pizza! Food storage has always had a stigma attached to it. If it's not wheat, beans and powdered milk, it's not food storage. Food storage can be sweet and sour chicken, tamale pie, chile and cornbread, beef stew, shepherd's pie, minestrone...even chocolate chip cookies! Your imagination (and your pocketbook) are the only limitations you have.

And the #1 reason why I don't have my year's supply of food? A year?? I thought it was 72 hours!!

We all know that we are supposed to get our food storage. We have been counseled time and time again to do so. It can be so overwhelming! How much do I buy? Where do I store it? How do I use my food storage? It may seem like an impossible task...but it's really not.

Hopefully this blog will give everyone some ideas on how we can build up our food storage and also use the food storage we have stored because all the reasons above are not good reasons why you don't have your food storage! It doesn't matter what system you use to get your food storage, the important thing is that you start to do something!

Wheat

About Wheat: The Grain

Types of wheat
-Spring or winter: Winter red wheat tends to have a slightly higher protein and is a bit harder than content than spring. Winter red is better for baking bread. There is not a significant difference in hard or soft white wheat.
-Hard or soft: Hard wheat varieties have higher gluten (protein) and are better for making breads. Soft varieties have lower protein and nutrients and are better for pastries, pastas, and breakfast cereals.
-Red or white: Red wheat tends to have a stronger wheat flavor than white wheat. Most red wheat varieties are hard, and most white wheat varieties are soft, but you can find soft red and hard white if you really prefer one over the other.

Storage
-If unopened, the optimum shelf life of wheat is 12 years or more (the church website says 30+ years). It is edible for a lot longer than that, but won’t necessarily keep the same flavor or nutrient levels.
-If opened, wheat will stay good for about 3 years.
Once it is ground into flour, wheat loses most of its nutrients within a few days unless you store it in the freezer.
-You can add oxygen absorbers, bay leaves, or dry ice to help keep critters out of your wheat.

The Grind
A lot of people are intimidated by grinding wheat, or wonder how you grind wheat. It’s actually really simple and wheat grinders are available in a wide range of prices. The main thing you need to decide is if you are planning to use your wheat stores on a regular basis and rotate through them. In this case you would buy a quality electric grinder. If you only want to use your wheat in an emergency situation you can buy a hand grinder.

Wheat suggestion for one person for one year: 129 lbs
Price at cannery (subject to change):
Hard White: $7.85 for 25 lbs
Hard Red: $6.75 for 25 lbs

Creating a Plan

Creating a Plan

‘Tis the season for resolutions. Let’s use this month to make a food storage plan. Being specific and creating a timeline will help us reach our goals.

Step 1: Use the following websites to decide exactly what you want to store in your year supply.
-Track my food storage This is the website that I used. It has free software that not only tells you the basic foods that your family will use, but it also lets your keep track of your inventory. Use this link http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/babysteps/step-4-long-term-food-storage-planning/ to see a tutorial on how to use this site.
-http://providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7573-1-4070-1,00.html this is an extremely basic calculator showing what your family will need in a year.

-http://www.shelfreliance.com/planners/thrive This is a website designed to sell their food storage products, but it gives a pretty good list of what your family will need. I used this site for my basic 72 hour kit list, and just bought the stuff at Wal-Mart.
-http://simplylivingsmart.com/ This website doesn’t have an exact list, but shows you how to track your family’s usage
I’m sure there are lots more, so please post the website that your family liked.

Step 2: Decide which increment that you want to use. For example: I decided that I would get my food storage three months at a time. We can live longer on a full three months of food rather than an entire year’s worth of wheat and nothing else.

Step 3: Establish a date for when you want to reach your goals.

Step 4: Decided where you are going to put it.
This is a big issue for a lot of people in the ward. Some of us have little homes, and we think that we can hardly fit anything in it now, let alone an entire year of food.
Here is the solution that I found for my family. Buy it, then you will find a place to put it. I found that once I have the food in my house, I magically found a place for it because I couldn’t leave it in the living room forever.
Reply to the storage post and let’s have a discussion on where we have put our food storage.
Utilize your attic and garage. Put all of the non food things in there so you can to free up some air conditioned space in your home for your food.
Buy shelving, and think up. Wire shelving at Walmart costs $15. Start putting shelving around the top of your in your laundry room, or you’re the bedrooms. You can find better looking shelving at Lowes or Home Depot for a little more. You can put other things in the bedrooms and make space in your closets for your food storage.
Consolidate master bathroom closets, and make one your pantry. It seems kind of strange, but who sees your master bathroom closets? And who cares? I don’t think you will when we need to use the food.

Step 5: Make your financial reserve goals. How am I going to pay off all unnecessary debt? How much money am I going to save per month? Bro. Christoffersen gave a great lesson on getting out of debt and establishing a budget last month. Use those tips to create your family’s plan.

Step 6: I hope we can use this website as a discussion board so we can start swapping ideas. For those of you who have a year supply, which method did you use to get your food storage? Did you buy an extra item of everything? Did you use the list of items provided on all of the websites, or did you create your own list from what your family uses? How did you come up with that list?

72 Hour Kits

Let’s start filling up those backpacks!

It made sense to me to be prepared for 72 hours first, then 3 months, and on. If your family is done with this step, pass on some tips that you found in finishing your emergency kit.

I know as you pray about it and ask the Lord’s council, you will be prompted to know what is right for your family. The Lord has asked us to be prepared, and I know that he will provide a way for us to get it done if we are diligent and are doing all that we can do.

I have placed a file in the Recipes section (now called recipes and more) with a list of 72 hour kit items that I am going to put in my kit. I split the items into three sections.

1. Items that I have at home.
2. Items that you can find at Wal-Mart (I put the prices as well)
3. Items that I couldn’t find at Wal-Mart, but found them online at www.shelfreliance.com (look below for more information)

Depending on your budget and how many of the items that you have at home, you could finish your kit in 1 or 2 months. Here is what I’m doing. Please note: you need to go at your own pace, if this is more that your budget allows, lengthen the steps. We have been counseled to not go to extremes to get this done.

Week 1: Order items not found at Wal-Mart. (or by all means, tell me were I can find them locally) You could also get copies of important documents and pictures put on a disc this week.

Week 2: Start filling a bucket or tub with the items that you have at home. We will worry about organizing it later.

Week 3: Buy items that are at Wal-Mart and put them in the tub.

Week 4: The ordered stuff is in so start stuffing your bags. You will have to be creative and pack well in order to fit everything.

Consider having a couple bags for the parents with one that has a shoulder strap so you can wear one backpack and one shoulder bag. This will be especially helpful if you have children that are too young to carry anything.

YOU’RE DONE!


Online Order.
www.shelfreliance.com

Tube Tents - $5.99 each
Description: The Tube Tent is an essential component of any 72-hour kit. Sturdy and easy to assemble, the Tube Tent provides enough space to house two adults in an emergency. The Tube Tent is eight feet long and includes a generous twenty-five foot nylon cord.
Five Piece Mess Kit -$5.00 / each
Description: This heavy gauge aluminum set includes a skillet, a plate, a saucepan with lid, and a plastic cup. This set nests together for easy storage and features a detachable handle that locks the set together.
Wing Stove w/ Fuel Tablet- $4.86 / each
Description: The wing stove is one of the lightest and most compact fuel tablet holders on the market. This lightweight stove can fit into the palm of a hand, yet it can hold up to a gallon size pot. The fold out wings improve heat output by directing the flame upward.

If you don’t have the food portion of our 72 hour kit yet:

On the survey, it looked like the majority of you had the food portion of your 72 hour kits done. (Thanks to that wonderful church activity; good job!) For those of you that weren’t here, or couldn’t get it done then, I found a really good site that had easy and portable 72 hour kits. They made it in an old milk jug and said it would only cost $10 a kit. Here is the link to the site.
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2008/06/13/how-to-make-a-72-hour-kit/

An added note: I checked my 72 hour kits today and my hard candy is starting to disintegrate everywhere. A friend said that she was having the same problem. We both had our 72 hour kits in controlled environment in our homes. So it looks like we can’t have candy in our 72 hour kits in Arkansas, its too humid.

Car Kits
If you are done with your 72 hour kits. You can use this time to get a car kit put together. Here is a list of things that might be helpful:
1. First Aid Kit
2. Money
3. Flashlight with fresh batteries
4. Food (granola bars, nuts, raisins, fruit roll-ups, etc.)
5. Water
6. Large heavy trash bags for rain ponchos, ground cloths
7. Blanket
8. Fix-it supplies- duct tape, string, wire, tools
9. Car care items- tools, jumper cables, tow rope, flares
10. Entertainment- games, books, paper and pens

3 Month Supply

Get out those Sharpies and start marking!

Unless your cupboards are as bare as old Mother Hubbard’s, you probably have some food storage. If what you have isn’t large cans of wheat or dried milk, you may not think of it as food storage, but it is. Remember, the three month supply is foods that you normally eat.

Here is how we get started:
Step 1: There are many methods of acquiring your 3 month supply. On that I liked was on this website(HERE). After finishing this spreadsheet (either by hand or using excel) you will know exactly what your family uses in a 3 month period. They also have a tutorial on how to fill it out.
Step 2 Take an inventory of what you have in your cupboards and mark it off on the spreadsheet.
Step 3 Use coupons and sales to acquire your 3 month supply. (Check out Rachel’s Coupon How To page for more details.)
Step 4 Start putting dates on your food, rotation is important. It doesn’t take long and it can be a fun chore for the kids.
Step 5 When you find good sales, post it! We will all save money when we work together as sisters.

Tip: You can wait until your 3 month supply is completely finished before you use it. That way you don’t get confused with how much you have or need.

Helpful Links:
Provident Living


Please post any tips about how your family has acquired your 3 month supply.

Water

Which storage item is cheap, good for you, and so important that you can’t do without it for more than a few days? Water, of course!

Water requirement: 14 gallons per person (this will last 2 weeks) Everywhere I looked suggested a 2 week supply. After that look for filtration/purification.

Here is how you get started: It is important to have at least part of your water storage in portable containers. If evacuation becomes necessary, you can easily grab these containers and put them in your car.
Step 1: Start saving your juice and pop bottles and fill them up.
Step 2: If you would like to get 55 gallon drums.
-House of Webster has used metal ones for $8.
o Call ahead and they will reserve the amount that you need.
o (479) 636-4640
-Little Debbie’s (in Springdale) also has plastic ones for about the same price. The thing with Little Debbie’s is that they won’t reserve them for you, and it is first come first serve. So you have to drive out there, and if they have them, they have them, if they don’t, they don’t.
o(479) 361-9100
Step 3: Order pump. You will need a pump in order to siphon the water out of the 55 gallon barrels. (They can be found on Ebay, or Amazon, and range from $8-12)
Step 4: If you already have your water. Make sure that you have a supply of bleach or water purification tablets. (Found at Wal-Mart) This will be helpful when your water supply runs out.

Shelf Life: It is important to empty and refill your water every 6 months to a year. You could plan on using it for your garden every summer.

Water storage guidelines:
-Store water in “FOOD GRADE” or PETE plastic containers (stay away from milk jugs- soda bottles are suitable).
-Store water away from too much light or heat.
-Clean, sanitize, and rinse all containers prior to use.
-Do not use containers previously used to store non-food products.
-Do not store water containers directly on concrete. Place on cardboard, block of wood, or other materials.
-Non-chlorinated water (most municipal water is chlorinated) should be treated with bleach. Add 1/8 of a teaspoon (8 drops) of liquid household chlorine bleach (5 to 6% sodium hypochlorite) for every gallon (4 liters) of water.
-Boiling is the safest way to clean water, however you can use household liquid bleach to kill microorganisms. Make sure you use regular bleach, not the scented ones. See below for a chart on how much bleach you should add to water.
Amount of Water Amount of bleach to Amount of bleach to
add to clear water add to cloudy water
1 quart 2 drops 4 drops
1 gallon 8 drops 16 drops
5 gallon 1/2 teaspoon 1 teaspoon