Help

Overview

Overview (Home) is a quick look at how ready your household is, plus a tile grid of every feature so you can see the whole app at a glance.

The four boxes

• People and pets: how many you have added on the Household page.
• Water for 72 hours: how much drinking water the whole household (pets too) needs for three days.
• Days of rationed staples: how long the long-life food in your stock would last if you had to ration it. Your target is set on the Household page.
• Items expired or due within 30 days: things in your stock list that are out of date, or soon will be. Use them up and replace them.

Everything at a glance

Below the readiness cards is a square tile grid of every page: the budget shop, your household tools, standalone tools, recipes and guides. Tap a tile to open it. The Menu uses the same groups. The shop only links out to retailers.

Next step, expiring this week and check-in

Next step suggests the most useful thing to do now. Expiring this week lists stock that is past its date or runs out within 7 days. Household check-in shows everyone's latest status.

Days of supply

Drinking water and food set your days. Reserves (hot water cylinder, water butts, gas and power station) show as separate bars and are not counted, because reserve water must be treated before drinking.

Please fill in

If this box appears, something the sums need is missing, for example a child's date of birth or a pet's weight. Tap the name on the Household page to add it.

Food plan and next basket

The food plan uses the strictest diet in your household (for example vegan), so everyone can eat everything on the list. Next basket is a short summary of what to buy next within your budget. Tap See basket for the full list.

Buttons

• Print / save my list as PDF: a paper copy of your lists, handy if the power or internet goes off.
• Download CSV backup: saves everything you have entered as a spreadsheet file.
• Install OrCore Prep (if shown): adds the app to your phone's home screen.

Household

This is where you tell OrCore Prep who lives with you. Everything else (targets, basket, equipment, recipes) is worked out from this page.

People and pets

Tap + adult, + child, + dog or + cat to add someone. Tap a name to change or delete it. You can use nicknames.

Settings

• Household name: only the owner (the person who set up the household) can change it.
• Budget period: whether your budgets are per week or per month.
• Food & water: how much you can spend each week or month on building up food and water. The Basket page fills this amount.
• Savings pot: how much you put aside each period for bigger things such as a stove or water filter.
• Savings pot so far: what you have saved already.
• Tier 2 target: how many days of rationed food you want to build up beyond the first 72 hours.
• Storage locations: the places you keep supplies (for example Kitchen, Loft), separated by commas. They appear in the Stock form.
• Supermarket: which shop the shopping links search. Prices come from Asda, so with another shop they are shown as approximate.
• Level: Budget, Moderate or Ultimate. See below.
• People who use period products: leave it blank and the app assumes everyone aged 11 or over.

Budget, Moderate and Ultimate

The level only changes the hygiene and equipment lists. Budget is the essentials, in cheap basic versions. Moderate adds more items, in mid-range versions. Ultimate is the full list, in premium versions. Food and water are the same at every level. You can change level at any time.

People who can log in

Share the household with someone you live with. The owner taps Create a join link and sends it to them. Each link works once and lasts 7 days. Everyone sees and edits the same lists with their own email and password. The owner can remove people. Anyone else can leave. The owner can delete the whole household once they are the only login.

Adding a person or pet

Fill in what you know. You can come back and change it at any time.

• Name: a first name or nickname is fine.
• Date of birth (children): the age is worked out for you, and portion sizes change as they grow.
• Diet: vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, omnivore or other. The food lists follow the strictest diet in the household.
• Optional fish add-on: tick this if the person eats fish (tuna or mackerel) when the rest of the household plan is vegan or vegetarian.
• Allergies: tick any of the 14 main allergens, or type others. Foods and recipes containing them are left out for the whole household.
• Pets: weight, food brand, how many grams a day they actually eat, and bag size. These work out pet food and water. If you leave the grams blank, a guide amount based on weight is used.
• Note: a reminder for yourself, for example "check date of birth".

Delete removes this person or pet from the household.

Targets

Targets shows everything your household should have, worked out from the people and pets you added, and how much of it you already have.

Food plan and allergies

The lists follow the strictest diet in the household. Anything containing an allergen someone has is left out, with a note saying why.

Tier 1 and Tier 2

• Tier 1 is a comfortable 72 hours (three days): water, food, basic medicine and hygiene.
• Tier 2 is a longer store of cheap staples such as rice, lentils, oats and flour, for the number of rationed days you set on the Household page. It picks the most calories per pound.

The tables

Need is how many you should have, Have is what is in your stock list, and Price is roughly what it costs. A row shown in amber still has a gap. To fill in Have, add items on the Stock page and pick the matching line.

Level, hygiene and equipment

The level (Budget, Moderate or Ultimate) changes the hygiene and equipment lists only. Use Add to wish list to save up for something.

Links marked (Ad)

Some shop links are affiliate links and are marked (Ad). If you buy through one, OrCore Prep gets a small commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what is recommended.

Stock

Stock is your list of what you actually have at home, with expiry dates.

The list

The soonest expiry is shown first. Amber means it goes out of date within 30 days. Red means it has expired. Tap an item to change it or delete it.

Adding an item

• Name: start typing and items on your lists are suggested, with how many more you need. Tap one (or use the arrow keys and Enter) and the category, unit and target line are filled in for you. You can also type anything else.
• Category and Location: what it is and where you keep it. Locations come from your Household settings.
• Quantity and Unit: for example 4 tins, or 2 L.
• Expiry / best before: the date on the pack. Leave it blank if there isn't one.
• Counts toward target line: which line on Targets this item counts towards, so Have goes up there.
• Note: anything you want to remember.

Recalculate works out your targets again with your latest stock. Storage tips are at the bottom of the page.

Basket

Basket is a shopping list for this week (or month) that fits your food and water budget.

• It fills the biggest gaps first (the 72-hour items before the longer store) and stops when the budget is used up.
• It follows your diets and allergies.
• All priced gaps left shows roughly how long it will take to get everything at your budget.
• Also needed, not priced: items we don't have a price for. Use the search link to check.
• Something that costs more than one period's budget goes to the savings pot instead.

Savings pot

Shows what you have saved and what you will have after a few more weeks or months. Bigger buys such as equipment go on the Wish list.

Prices are a guide only. Check the shop before you buy. Links marked (Ad) are affiliate links.

Budget shop

The budget shop links out to retailers for food, water, lighting, warmth and basic kit. It does not take payment, keep an order, or sell anything itself.

• Don't buy what you already own. Check the cupboard first. If you are logged in, each card uses what you logged on Stock.
• Category and Search narrow the list. Budget first puts checked prices cheapest first. Cards without a checked price say Check retailer price.
• Food is cupboard food. A freezer is not a store for a power cut.
• Warmth and stoves: blankets and clothes you already own come first. Never use a camping stove, barbecue or generator indoors or to heat a room.
• Links marked (Ad) are affiliate links: if you buy through one, OrCore Prep gets a small commission at no extra cost to you. Links without (Ad) are ordinary links and OrCore Prep does not earn a commission from them.
• The Range is named as a place to look for basic kit. There is no Range link until a real one has been checked.

Equipment

Equipment is the things to own rather than eat, such as torches, a radio, a camping stove and a water filter. Amounts are for your whole household, not per day.

Level

Budget is the essentials in cheap basic versions, Moderate adds more items in mid-range versions, and Ultimate is the full list in premium versions. Tap a level and Change to switch.

Each item

• Got it or Need N more: whether you have enough yet.
• I have this: adds it to your stock list, so it counts as got.
• Add to wish list: saves it on your Wish list to buy from the savings pot.
• Prices are approximate typical UK prices, not shop quotes. For Amazon links it says price: check on Amazon.

Bigger lists shows what the higher levels would add. Links marked (Ad) are affiliate links: OrCore Prep may get a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Wish list

The Wish list is for bigger buys you are saving up for from the savings pot, in your order of priority.

• ↑ and ↓ move an item up or down the list.
• Got it ticks it off. Undo puts it back.
• Delete removes it.

Adding an item

• Item: what it is.
• Price note: for example "~£25 estimate". The first £ amount is used to work out when you can afford it.
• Where: a link to the shop page (optional).
• Note: anything else.

You can also add items straight from the Equipment and Targets pages with Add to wish list.

Fuel

Fuel keeps track of stored petrol and gas canisters, and when to use and replace them.

Petrol containers

• Choose metal or plastic. Plastic cans are limited to 10 litres and metal to 20 litres each.
• You'll see a warning above 30 litres in total: storing more at home means notifying your local Petroleum Enforcement Authority.
• Filled date and rotate every so many months tell you when to use it up (about every 6 months, or as the stabiliser label says).
• Keep petrol in an outbuilding, never in the house.

Gas canisters

Enter how many are full, how many are part used, and your target. Use stoves and generators outdoors only, because of carbon monoxide.

Water reserves and power

Add your hot water cylinder, water butts and other non-drinking water, the size of your gas canisters and your power station's Wh. Home shows how many days each would last, as separate bars. Reserve water is not counted as drinking water.

Recipes

Over 100 store-cupboard recipes using tins, dried and long-life food: vegan, vegetarian, fish and meat (corned beef, Spam, tinned chicken, ham and more). Breads, breakfasts, soups and stews, no-cook meals, snacks, puddings and drinks.

• Search and filters: type a word (such as tuna or curry), pick a Diet: No meat (fish, vegetarian and vegan), Vegetarian (no meat or fish), Vegan, or only fish or meat dishes, and a Meal, and tick what you can cook on: no cooking, a gas or camping stove, a BBQ, fire or kamado, a Dutch oven, or the hob and oven when the power is on.
• Extra filters: gluten-free, dairy-free, kids' favourites, low water, and Main items in my stock (shows recipes whose key items match your Stock page).
• The diet starts from your household's diet. Your last choices are remembered on this device. Tap Reset filters to start again. Tap a recipe to open it.
• Quantities are for about 4 adults and 1 child. The page tells you how much to scale them for your household.
• Gluten-free and dairy-free tags are based on usual ingredients. Always check labels, especially on tinned meats, stock cubes and sauces.
• Recipes containing an allergen someone in your household has are hidden, with a list of what was hidden and why.
• Always cook outdoors on stoves, BBQs or fires because of carbon monoxide.

Preserve

Simple ways to store and preserve food from the garden, allotment or bulk buys.

• Tap a food in the Jump to list to go straight to it.
• Each food has short, medium and long-term options.
• No power: best for emergencies marks methods that keep working without electricity. Needs power means a fridge, freezer or dehydrator.

Print & backup

Keep a copy of your lists somewhere other than the app.

• Printable list: opens a page made for printing. Print it, or choose "Save as PDF" in the print window.
• Download CSV: saves everything you have entered as a spreadsheet file.
• Import CSV: loads a backup file back in. Only the kinds of rows in the file are replaced (for example, a file with only stock rows replaces only your stock).
• We also back up the server every night and keep the copies for 14 days.

Account

Your login details.

• Change password: type your current password and a new one of at least 10 characters. You will be logged out everywhere and need to log in again.
• Forgotten your password? Log out, then tap Forgot password? on the Log in page. We email you a link to choose a new one.
• Delete my account: shows what deleting your login does, and lets you do it with your password.

Guides

Free, plain-English guides to getting ready for power cuts, water outages, floods and other emergencies. Anyone can read them without an account.

• Facts are checked against official UK sources such as GOV.UK, the NHS and the Food Standards Agency. The sources are listed at the end of each guide.
• Product suggestions are grouped by level (Budget, Moderate, Ultimate). Links marked (Ad) are affiliate links: OrCore Prep may get a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Logging in

• Enter the email address and password you signed up with.
• Forgot password? Tap it, enter your login email and we will email you a link to choose a new password. The link works once and lasts 1 hour. Setting a new password logs you out on every device. If no email arrives (check spam), email hello@orcore.org from your login email address.
• New here? Tap Sign up in the Menu to create a free household.
• Were you sent a join link? Open the link itself to join someone else's household.

Creating your household

• Use an email address you can get to, and a password of at least 10 characters.
• After you sign up, add the people and pets in your home on the Household page. Everything else is worked out from that.
• If someone you live with already uses OrCore Prep, ask them for a join link instead, so you share one household.

Joining a household

A join link lets you share someone's household, so you both see and update the same lists. Each link works once and lasts 7 days. You can join with a new login, or with the login you already have if your own household is still empty.

Deleting your account

You can delete your login and your data yourself, at any time:

• Log in, open Menu, then Account, then Delete my account.
• If you own a household and are the only login, this deletes the household and everything in it (people, pets, stock, wish list and fuel) and your login.
• If you joined someone else's household, it deletes your login only. The household stays for the others.
• If you own a household that others also use, remove their logins first (Household page, People who can log in), or ask them to leave.

Deleted data is removed from the live system straight away and from backups within 14 days. If you can't log in, email hello@orcore.org from your login email address and we will delete it for you.