The Self-Reliance Planner
Answer five quick questions and get a personal readiness plan — the numbers to hit, the areas to cover, and the next step for each one.
Where are you planning for?
Pick the closest match — the whole plan shifts to fit.
Most preparedness advice hands you one long list. It treats a city flat and a remote cabin the same. This planner works differently. It starts from your actual situation and works out what matters first for you, not for a generic household.
Answer five short steps. Say where you live and what you are preparing for. Note what you already own, and how far you want to go. The plan you get back is yours. It is not a shopping list; it is a route through the gaps you really have.
The maths is open in plain view. Every figure comes from assumptions you can read and question. We never invent prices. The Amazon links we suggest are affiliate links, so we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. You compare products yourself, on the retailer pages you choose.
This is planning guidance, not an engineering design. A real off-grid power system or a wired home backup needs a qualified professional. The planner points you toward the right next question, not a final answer you should trust blindly.
What this is
- Five short steps: your situation, your goal, what you own, your pace, then the plan.
- It scores five areas — power, water, food, warmth and comms — so gaps show at a glance.
- Every figure rests on stated assumptions you can read and question.
- The plan links each gap to a checklist or calculator, so you always have a next move.
The maths behind every figure
The plan uses these plain assumptions, nothing hidden. Change your answers and the numbers move accordingly.
- Drinking water
- 4 litres per person per day
- covers drinking plus light cooking and washing
- Ready-to-eat meals
- 3 per person per day
- no-cook food held for your target days
- Backup power
- about 1,000 Wh a day for a connected home
- a cabin with pumps and tools runs higher; a van runs lower
- Covered
- an area counts as covered at 60% or more
- the score is built only from the boxes you tick
The choices you get
The planner reads these options to build a plan. Here they are up front, so nothing is hidden behind a click.
- Home or apartment. A connected house or flat, usually with mains power and water.
- Caravan or camping. A mobile or temporary setup with small, space-limited systems.
- Cabin or remote property. A fixed building that may already live partly off-grid.
- Garden or homestead. A property where you grow and preserve some of your own food.
- Power & light. Keeping light, comms and small devices running when mains fail.
- Water. Storing enough to drink, and a way to make more safe.
- Food & supplies. Ready-to-eat meals for the hard days, and a way to preserve more.
- Warmth & shelter. Staying warm in a cold, unpowered building, safely.
- Signal & comms. Hearing official news and being able to call for help.
How the planner works
Step one asks where you are. A home, a caravan, a cabin or a small homestead each face different risks. Step two asks your goal. A short blackout needs far less than a week of independence. Step three asks what you already have, so the plan fills the real gaps and not the ones you already closed.
Step four sets your pace. Some people want the essentials covered today. Others plan to build up slowly over a season. The final step shows your plan. It lists what you need in plain numbers, scores each area from what you ticked, and names the next step for every gap.
Five honest inputs go in. One honest, personal plan comes out.
What the plan measures
Your plan covers five areas: power, water, food, warmth and staying in touch. For each one the planner works out a coverage score from the boxes you ticked. A bare area scores low, so you see the gap at once. A well-covered area scores high, and you can trust that reading.
It also turns your situation into real numbers. You get the litres of water to store and the meals to hold for your days. You get a rough power figure in watt-hours. These are honest starting points built on stated assumptions, not precise forecasts, and the page shows the maths behind each one.
Worst area first: The plan sorts your steps by the area furthest behind, so you fix what would fail soonest.
Why the numbers stay modest
A big exact figure can feel more trustworthy, but it is too often false confidence. We keep the estimates deliberately plain. The water and food numbers follow widely published daily guidance. The power number is a simple everyday household load, and we say so in the open rather than dressing it up.
That is honest planning. When you need a sharper figure, the plan sends you to a calculator. Our tools do the detailed arithmetic for power or water. The planner's job is to show the overall shape of your readiness, then point you toward the depth you need next.
The planner frames the plan; the calculators refine the numbers.
Turning the plan into action
A plan is only useful if you can start it today. Each step links to a tool that helps you act. A gap in water leads to the water checklist. A gap in power leads to the runtime calculator. Nothing here is a dead end; every line is a clear next move you can take this week.
Work the stages in order. Cover the foundations, then let the plan grow outward as your budget allows. Print it or save it, and revisit before each hard season. Readiness is a habit, not a single purchase, and this planner is a good place for the habit to start.
What good readiness looks like
There is no score to chase here. A high reading only means your ticked boxes happen to cover the areas your goal leans on. It does not prove a system works, and it is no reason to stop planning. Treat a strong score as a prompt to test the plan, not to file it away.
Real readiness is uneven, and that is normal. A home might cover power well but run thin on stored water. A cabin might hold warmth but lack a way to call for help. The planner makes that unevenness visible on purpose, because a single weak area is usually where a plan quietly fails.
Aim to close your own gaps, not to reach a perfect-looking number.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to buy everything the plan lists?
No. The plan shows gaps against your goal, not a fixed shopping list. Many gaps close with things you already own or can borrow from a neighbour. Start with the foundations stage, cover what worries you most, and add more over time as your budget and space allow.
How is my coverage score worked out?
It comes from the boxes you tick in the inventory step. Each item carries weight toward one of the five areas. The planner adds up what you have against what that area needs, then shows it as a percentage. A low score simply means that area is thin compared with your goal.
Are the water and power numbers exact?
They are planning estimates, not guarantees. They rest on widely published daily figures and a simple everyday household load. Your real needs can run higher or lower than that. Use the linked calculators whenever you want a precise figure for a specific device or household.
Can I use this for a cabin or a van?
Yes. Choose the matching scenario in step one, and the whole plan shifts to fit it. A van needs a lighter, compact approach, while a cabin leans on heating and stored water. The same five areas apply, but the starting numbers and the next steps change to suit your setup.
Is the plan the same in every country?
The five areas are the same everywhere, because power, water, food, warmth and comms are universal needs. What changes is the detail: local rules on collecting rainwater, the products you can actually buy, and the climate you are planning for. The links point to general guidance you then adapt to where you live.
Does the planner store my answers?
Only on your own device. Your answers are saved in this browser so you can return later and pick up where you left off. Nothing is sent to a server, and no email address is ever needed to use the tool. A reset button clears everything whenever you like.
About this planner
- Prepared by
- Spare Theory editorial · research-based
- Last checked
- 2026-10-14
How the plan is builtWe frame the planner around the same five services a household actually depends on — power, water, food, warmth and comms — and score each only from what the visitor already has. The requirement figures come from widely published daily guidance, held deliberately modest so they read as starting points, not forecasts. We link every gap to an existing Spare Theory checklist or calculator rather than endorsing specific products or prices, and we hand system design, wiring and installation to qualified professionals.
Reference basisReady.gov — making a plan and building a kitCenters for Disease Control — safe water and emergency suppliesConsumer Product Safety Commission — heating and battery safety