Budget Friendly & Organised First Aid Kit

If you're as accident prone as I am, a well stocked first aid kit will be essential in your household but if you don't have one or your attempt at one is half-arsed why not take a tiny bit of time out of your week to get this must-have sorted out? Let's sort you out a budget friendly, organised and realistic first aid kit.

Budget friendly First Aid Kit

1. Don't spend just yet
Before you go out and spend a small fortune take a look at what you already have around your home already. Go through your bathroom, kitchen and anywhere else which has for some reason, become a designated home to plasters and stretch bandages and corral everything together. Throw out anything which is out of date or dirty.

2. Categorise everything
I like to break down my first aid kit into categories. So all plasters/bandaids in one pile, bandages in another and so and so on. Once broken down I pop each group into a separate, clearly labelled zip-lock bag (I actually get the Poundland version, they're amazing), so they stay well organised and clean.

3. Storage and location
There is not much point having all the bits and bobs if you can't locate them in an emergency, so let's get them all in one place shall we?

I store my first kit in a clear plastic tub in a cool area of my bathroom (I also keep a few essentials in a small pouch in the kitchen and another in the car), it can be easily accessed, everyone can see it and because they can see plasters etc. inside they know just what it is - plus it is clearly labelled. If you're worried about people locating your first aid kit in an emergency something obvious like this stylish first aid tin could be a handy alternative. EDIT - oooh I've fallen into an Amazon black hole, isn't this one oh and this one lovely?

Work out the best spot to store your kit, every home is different and used by different people so work out the best place to keep your first aid kit - make sure it is kept away from children as it may contain medicines and scissors. However make sure everyone who is old enough to use the kit knows exactly where it is. Maybe even pop a visible notice on a pin board or the fridge door?

4. Stocking the kit
My top tip is to buy something like this or this. These kits come with everything you should need plus they work out a lot cheaper than going out and buying all of the items individually. When we first moved in together I bought this St Johns Ambulance first aid kit and I've gone on to slowly restock what we needed as and when it ran out. When restocking I buy my stocks from shops such as Wilkinson, B&M, Home Bargains and pound shops because they work out cheaper than buying from a pharmacy or supermarket.

Essentials
- Anti-bac gel/wipes (I'm not usually into over using this stuff but it is essential when it comes to dealing with cuts, burns etc.)
- Plasters of various sizes, along with uncut strips
- Bandages in a couple of different sizes
- Sterile dressing
- Safety pins
- Microporous tape
- Tweezers
- Small torch
- Triangular bandage
- Stretch bandage
- Burns dressings
- Antiseptic cream
- Scissors

5. Keeping organised
Is this sad? Quite likely. I keep a spreadsheet for everything in my life of each item in our first aid kit. That way I always know when we're running low on something and I can add it to my shopping list. I'm hideously accident prone so running out of plasters could be a bit of a disaster.

It is essential to have up to date first aid training, you can find courses with British Red Cross and St John Ambulance.

TTFN,

P.S. I see a 'medical kit' as something a bit different and I didn't want to smush it into this post as an add on, so if you'd like me to do a post on that do let me know and I'll get to it soon.

P.P.S. This is the Wednesday task in my housekeeping blog post.














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