Warm, safe and ready before the first storm, for $27.
- The book: Get Ready Without Going Broke. 41 chapters, about 300 pages in big type, from the fall checklist to the morning after the storm. More than half of it is never in my videos.THE BOOK
- The Winter Shopping List by Store: Dollar Tree, Walmart and Tractor Supply, with round prices and boxes to tick.INCLUDED
- The Don't-Buy List: the expensive things I walk right past, and why.INCLUDED
- 12 cards for the fridge and front door: The First Hour, One Warm Room, Fridge Rules, Carbon Monoxide and more.INCLUDED
- My One-Page Blackout Plan: fill in the blanks and keep it on the fridge.INCLUDED
- The 30-Day Get-Ready Plan: a printable calendar, one small job a day.INCLUDED
- 25 Blackout Recipes for One: no-cook and one-pot meals from the pantry.INCLUDED
- My Numbers and Medicines: a fill-in card for the fridge, for you and for whoever comes to help.INCLUDED
- Free updates for life: every new edition, at no charge.INCLUDED
Instant download. No account, no password. $27 once, nothing renews.
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Heat the whole house, or keep yourself warm. One of them is cheap.
Every fall the stores fill up with power stations, generators and emergency buckets. If you live alone on a fixed income, it's easy to feel like you can't afford to be ready. You can. Here's what each way costs.
THE STORE'S WAY
RUSS'S WAY
Typical prices in round numbers. Yours will be different, and some of it you already own. The dollars are the small part. The big part is that the night the power quits, you already know what to do.
A blackout only asks seven things of you.
Everything in the stores is trying to do one of these jobs. Once you know them, you can pick the cheap way to do each one.
Before you buy anything big, ask what job it does for one person, in one room, for three days. Then find the cheapest thing that does that job. That's the whole book in two sentences.
The seven jobs
- Stay warm
- See your way around
- Keep your phone alive
- Eat and drink
- Keep the food you have
- Stay safe from fire and fumes
- Let somebody know you're all right
Forty-one short chapters, from the fall checklist to the morning after the storm.
Every chapter has a short story, the steps, what it costs, the catch, and one small thing to do tonight. Big type, plain words, nothing that assumes you're young or handy.
★ Book only. More than half of these I don't cover in my videos.
Start here
The one question that saves the most money, and the first hour in the right order.
- The Russ Rule: don't buy the big box
- The first hour after the lights go out
- ★ Three days in the dark, hour by hour
Get the house ready in the fall
Do it in October and the storm finds you ready.
- ★ The fall checklist, September to November
- ★ Cut the heating bill this winter
- ★ Insulate one room for $20
- ★ Mobile homes and apartments: what's different
- ★ Country houses: wells, propane tanks and septic
Staying warm
Warm for a few dollars, and safe while you do it.
- One warm room
- A warm bed with no electricity
- Dress like a farmer
- ★ Heaters: what's safe indoors and what isn't
- ★ The electricity math: what a heater, power station or generator really runs
- ★ If you really do need a generator
- When the furnace dies but the lights stay on
- ★ Winter tricks that don't work
- What my grandmother knew
Light, power and phone
A full phone, light without flame, and news when the lines go quiet.
- Light without candles
- Keeping your phone alive, and what your car can do
- ★ When the phones go quiet
Food and water
A cold fridge, hot food with no stove, and water you can trust.
- The fridge, the freezer and the quarter
- ★ The $5-a-week pantry for one
- ★ Cooking with no power, safely
- ★ Drinking water and the toilet
The house in the storm
The water, the roof and the branches.
- Frozen pipes
- ★ Snow on the roof, ice dams and the blocked vent
- ★ Ice storms, fallen branches and downed lines
Your body
What the cold does to a body our age, and what to do about it.
- Carbon monoxide and fire
- ★ Your body in the cold
- ★ Medicines and medical devices in a blackout
- Ice, snow and your heart
- ★ The long night
Living alone
The plan has to work with one pair of hands.
- Somebody should know
- ★ When to leave, and a go-bag for one
- ★ Pets in a winter storm
- ★ Your car in winter, and being stuck in it
Money and help
What to skip, and help many people never ask about.
- What not to buy
- ★ The help nobody tells you about: heating help, free weatherization, winter shut-off protection
- ★ Storm scams that target older folks
After the storm
The part every other book leaves out.
- ★ When the lights come back on
- ★ Damage, insurance and repairs after a storm
The 30-Day Get-Ready Plan, 25 recipes, and a page for your family
★ One small job a day for a month. ★ 25 blackout recipes for one, no-cook and one-pot. ★ A page to hand your kids or your neighbor, so they know your plan.
Cards for the fridge and front door
The card does the thinking on the night you can't. The First Hour, One Warm Room, Fridge Rules, Carbon Monoxide, Who Checks on Me and seven more, in large print. Print the one you need and tape it where you'll see it.
The Winter Shopping List by Store
Dollar Tree, Walmart and Tractor Supply, one store per page, with round prices and a box to tick. Tick what's already in the house, and take the rest to the store. The Don't-Buy List comes with it.
Four pages, the way they read.
Close the fridge, and leave it closed
A fridge keeps food safe about 4 hours with the door shut. A full freezer, about 48. Write down the time the power went out.
Pick your warm room now
The smallest room you can live in, with the fewest windows. Close the other doors and roll a towel against the bottom of this one.
The quarter in the freezer
A cup of ice with a coin on top tells you whether your freezer thawed while you were asleep or away.
The one alarm you need
Carbon monoxide has no smell. A battery-backed alarm near where you sleep costs about $25 and can wake you up.
I'm Russ. I'm retired, I live alone, and I count every dollar.
I'm not a survival expert. I've never lived in a bunker. I'm a man on a fixed income in an ordinary house. I've sat through ice storms in the dark, and I've had a furnace quit on a Friday night in January. I've thrown out a freezer full of food I didn't need to throw out.
A few Novembers ago I stood in a big box store in front of a thousand-dollar power station, doing the math on my pension. I asked the young fellow in the vest what it would run in my house for three days. He was honest. It would charge my phone and run a lamp. It wouldn't keep me warm.
So I went home and wrote down what one person really needs in a blackout. That list turned into this book. It's what I learned the hard way, and what my grandmother and a few old farmers knew all along.
Read it once this November, and do one small thing each evening. By the time the storm comes, you'll be ready, and you'll have hardly spent a thing.
Russ
What folks say after watching.
These are real comments from YouTube, about the free videos. The book is new, so there are no reader reviews yet. When real readers write in, they'll go here.
I was looking into buying a power station, thanks to your video, I'm now not! Thanks Russ
So glad I found you just straightforward information on how to enhance your confidence and readiness. Old school kinda guy, now I know I could do this on my own…thank you!
So glad you made this video. The space heater info is golden. […]
Very practical advice, without the added stress if you havent had a running start. Thank you!
Comments are copied word for word, spelling included. One is shortened where marked […].
One payment, and it's yours for good.
In your inbox within a minute of paying. Read it on any phone, tablet or computer, or print the page you need and tape it inside the cupboard door.
- The book, 41 chapters, about 300 pagesTHE BOOK
- The Winter Shopping List by Store and the Don't-Buy ListINCLUDED
- 12 fridge-door cardsINCLUDED
- One-Page Blackout PlanINCLUDED
- 30-Day Get-Ready Plan calendarINCLUDED
- 25 Blackout Recipes for OneINCLUDED
- My Numbers and Medicines cardINCLUDED
- Free updates for lifeINCLUDED
Secure checkout through Gumroad. I never see your card number, and your email goes nowhere else.
The honest part
This is plain know-how for getting through winter. It isn't medical, electrical or legal advice.
If you depend on oxygen, a breathing machine or other equipment that needs power, this book won't replace a real backup, and it says so. Talk to your doctor and your equipment supplier this week.
Never run a generator, grill or camp stove indoors. In an emergency, call 911.
What folks ask first.
Is a paper book coming in the mail?
No, and I'll say it plainly so nobody's surprised. It's a PDF you download right after you pay. It opens on your phone, tablet or computer, and every page is made to print.
I'm no good with computers. Will I get stuck?
No. You get an email with one button. Tap it and the book is on the next screen, no account and no password. If the email doesn't show up, write to russhartwellbooks@gmail.com and I'll send it again.
Is the print big enough?
Yes. The whole book is set in big, clear type made for older eyes, and the cards are large print too. You can also zoom in on a phone or tablet.
I'm 75 and my knees are shot. Can I do this?
Yes. Most of it is tape, a flashlight and one trip to the store. Nothing has you on a ladder or hauling wood, and where a job needs younger knees, the book says so.
I live in an apartment. Is this for me?
Yes. Most of the book is about one person in one room. Where something only applies to a house, I say so.
I count every dollar. Is it worth it?
Because the expensive way runs into the thousands, and a lot of it still leaves you cold. Chapter 1 alone can keep you from buying a machine you don't need. Pay once, and that's it.
Can I buy it for my mom or dad?
Plenty of sons and daughters do. Buy it once, print the cards for their fridge, and do the store run together one Saturday.
What if it's not for me?
Thirty days, no questions. One email to russhartwellbooks@gmail.com and every cent comes back. You keep the book.
Get ready before the first cold night.
$27 once: the book, the recipes, the store lists and the cards, in your inbox within a minute. Not for you? One email inside 30 days and every cent comes back.
$47$27launch price until December 1
The big stores sell you what's on sale. This is what works.