Key Points:

  • Store a year’s supply of all household items that you normally buy at the grocery store
  • Build up your supply by buying these items in large quantities when they are on sale, then only replace your stores when they go on sale again
  • Make sure you store the things particular to your family’s needs, our list might not include everything that YOU normally use
  • Don’t be afraid to use creative storage ideas for these items. A huge supply of toilet paper could go in a garage, attic, etc.

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Step 10 Sponsors:

   

Items to Consider Storing:

(Items with an * have recently been added to the list!)

Personal Hygiene

  • Toothpaste/Toothbrushes
  • Shampoo/Conditioner
  • Deodorant
  • Facewash/Bodywash/Soap
  • Shaving/Aftershave

Paper Products

  • Toilet Paper (see comments for great tips on how much to store)
  • Paper Towels
  • Feminine Products
  • Diapers/Wet Wipes
  • Kleenex
  • Paper Plates/Plastic Utensils/Napkins (can save on water in an emergency)

Cleaning Products

* First Aid Items

* Pet Care Products

  • Dog/Cat Food
  • Extra Water for Pets
  • Kitty Litter

* Miscellaneous Items

  • Light Bulbs
  • Board Games/Cards (something to do in case the power is out)
  • Candles/Kerosene Lamps
  • Needles/Thread (for basic mending)

Do you have any more ideas to share? If so leave a comment below and we will add them to the list!

Online Resources:

TheFoodStorageShopper.NET: Training Page on Buying Non-Food Items
The Grocery Game – Nationwide lists to help you save money at the grocery store
Grocery Smarts – Excellent source of coupon/sale price matching specific to Utah

  • Carole Gentry
    This comes from personal experience last month. If storing STERNO; check it periodically. Just give it a little shake. We lost power and thought I would just heat a little water for tea. The sterno had completely evaporated. Little did I know. That was a first for me. It was probably pretty old, but just in case.

    Thanks for all the help Carole in Sacramento CA
  • Wow, great tip. Thanks!
  • Many new parents find that the price of diapers is a big expense and makes keeping a budget even harder than they might have expected. Did you know that you can find free diapers coupons in a variety of different places? You can find them online and through the coupon fliers that come in your newspapers.
  • I found after Hurricanes Rita, and Ike having glow sticks hanging from the ceiling fans and light fixtures gave enough light throughout the night to see and manuever after dark. It also created a sense of security to my children having "the lights on" as they would go to the bathroom or kitchen after bedtime. I was secure know there were no open flames burning.

    We also played horseshoes, badmittion and volleyball during the day, all the games we would play when we go camping. My two sons, would go through the neighborhood helping neighbors clean their yards and they would sleep very good each night tired from all the work. At night would listen to our emergency radio that broadcast local television stations. I listened for 6 days, straight and never needed to change batteries.
  • liz76522
    Now, I need help finding suscreen to put in storage?
  • liz76522
    Found this on Handmaiden's Kitchen
    It's quick and easy to make your own natural, waterless hand sanitizer.

    Gather Your Ingredients

    1 cup aloe vera gel
    1 tsp rubbing alcohol
    2 tsp vegetable glycerin
    8-10 drops tea tree essential oil or lavender essential oil

    Simply blend all of the ingredients together and store.

    Decide Where You are Going to Store Your Sanitizer

    Be creative! You can recycle old liquid soap or hand sanitizer dispensers. You can also purchase a beautiful glass jar with a pump top to store and display your sanitizer. Think out of the box. If you find some nice glass jars and then add your own label, you can give home made sanitizers as gifts to family and friends!

    Choose Essential Oils Carefully

    The original recipe calls for tea tree or lavender oil, but you can be creative and use other types of essential oils as well. I like to pull out a list of oils that have antibacterial AND antiviral properties and make a blend that suits the season. Look at the properties of citrus oils, especially. Use oils that suit your likes as far as scents are concerned but will still add the cleansing properties appropriate for a hand sanitizer.

    Use Sparingly

    Your home made hand sanitizer will not dissolve into your hands as quickly or effectively as the commercial hand sanitizers you buy in the store. It is better to err on the side of too little than to end up wiping excess sanitizer off of your hands later. Waste not - want not!
  • Karen Cook
    Dry dog and cat food don't store as well as their raw ingredients - the fats and oils in the food get rancid after several months. All meat dog food [canned] plus rice and vegetables [e.g., carrots] would store better [obviously the carrots would have to be freshly grown or freeze-dried/dehydrated.

    Light bulbs are an odd thing to save for emergencies - if there is no power, wouldn't light bulbs be kind of moot?
  • I don't know if anyone else thought about those but you can books, coloring boys, crayons, coloring pencils, mad libs, puzzles to the misc list for things to do if you are without power. Legos, dolls and cars can keep small (and not so small) children entertained for hours without using electrical power. Have some of your habby items around to help you keep calm. If you stay calm, chances are your children will be able to stay calm too
  • dorothysandaker
    Don't forget to store some needles and thread. Clothes could get pretty ratty if we can't mend or sew on a button. And those babies don't stop growing just because there is an emergency of some kind so some extra fabric would be a good idea too.
  • Great tips!
  • kdonat
    Miscellaneous items to store: storable fuel for cooking :
    charcoal for the grill, canned fuel (chafing dish fuel), homemade buddy burners, alcohol burners (use 91% alcohol for clean burn), make and learn how to use a solar oven (start with a mylar covered windshield reflector), Coleman fuel for a camp stove, other compressed fuel (used with inexpensive small camp stove)
  • Great additions. This is definitely something we need to learn more about!
  • rorifirebaugn
    Under your topic:
    * Pet Care Products:
    •Dog/Cat Food
    •Extra Water for Pets
    •Kitty Litter

    Add:

    Pet Care Items:
    *Pet Health records, (including vaccination info)
    *Pets favorite toy(s)
    *Pet carrier near main exit door

    HTH,
  • rlpmjp
    Kerosene Lamps can release Carbon Monoxide as far as I know. On a related note, the new Butane stoves out of Korea, can be used to cook inside without causing Carbon Monoxide poisoning, though care should be taken with open flame around anything flamable.
  • Cheri
    I have Gladrags stored. They are washable maxi pads. Also it's hard to store a year's worth of toilet paper so I've stored spay bottles for each family member. You fill it with a couple drops of liquid soap and water and just squirt yourself off.
    Don't forget about laundry care! I have a washboard and metal tub stored. And lots of Fels-Naptha solid laundry soap (I got it at Ace Hardware). Also I have a retractable laundry line and clothspins.
    It's also easier (and cheaper) to store cloth hankies than tons and tons of Kleenex.
  • Jessica
    The more "green" you are- the easier it is to have a year supply of toiletries. For example, you can cut up old t-shirts/towels and have "homemade toilet paper", as well as using cloth diapers and the diva cup (reuseable feminine article). I bought a diva for $15 and am now done with storage for feminine hygiene. We just have one extra load a week for laundry and wash on sanitize mode. No storage space or extra money necessary.
  • Nice list..It will help a lot especially to kids.. They will know how to prioritize cleaning especially in toilet and kitchen..
  • Love the site - thanks for creating it! I'm working on expanding past a 2-week pantry now.

    Don't forget to have something to do, and something for the kids to do. A couple decks of cards, bean bags - non-electric games for entertainment. A few years ago we had one deck of cards; now we have several board games and a few more decks of cards. When the power goes out, we turn on the scanner and light candles, and hang out. I live in a hurricane area, so I tend to think emergencies involve the electric being off, too.
  • cecilia
    There is one thing that you should always have in storage. TP is important but pads and tampons are, too. I would hate to be in a disaster moment and my period starts. That would just make it worse. With 3 females in my house it is a MUST.
  • liz76522
    "Gladrags", and for the younger female members of our household, I ordered the teen kit for each of them! I'm excited, I wish I had these options when I was growing up! My oldest darling daughter has committed to using "it" "the cup" for 2-3 months, then I think I'll store new ones in the shelter for TEOTWAWKI, LOL!
  • Lois
    I would also recomend stocking up on light bulbs, if you are just planning for provident living. If you ever hit a hard time, but power/electricity wasn't an issue, you would run out of bulbs. If you are concerned with running into natural disasters, we might all consider karosine lamps, lanterns, flashlights, etc. Just a thought. And yes, a good way to stock up on perscription medicine that you may be worried about running out of, is just to leave 5-10 pills at the end of each refill. Before long, you could have a three month supply.
  • Theresa
    I completely agree about the toilet paper storage and have 3 months on hand right now (looking for places to put more). However, during a "crisis" I don't really want to put up with a husband grumpy about his toilet paper as well, so I decided to buy our regular soft brand but focused on purchasing double rolls to save space. I also suggest stocking a 6 month's supply of hand sanitizer and face masks as well because since this H1N1 flu scare started, all of the stores and pharmacies (I live 9 miles from the Texas/Mexico border) have been out of these products. If I needed these items for any reason I currently could not obtain them and our area relies heavily on trucking to bring in all of our supplies from the rest of the U.S.
  • John
    The question of how much do you need is easily answered. Say for toilet paper. When you go to the store to buy because you are out, buy 3 times what you would normally and store 2 of them. When you need it again, repeat. After 6 months you've stored a year's supply (twice what you used in 6 months!) Works for anything. You can shorten or lengthen the time it takes as your budget dictates by changing the multiple you buy. Twice as much as usual will take a year, 4 times as much will take 4 months, etc.
  • Linda
    For TP - In the paper every month is a ".50 off 2 Cottenelle" coupon (you can also order these from a coupon clipper service). At Kroger they double to $1 - the 4 packs are $1 - so using the coupon you would get two 4 packs for $1!! Since they are the small rolls and there are 4 girls here, we figured 1 roll per day - 365 rolls - 92 four packs - $46 for a year supply of toilet paper! You can also go to Cottenelle.com and print off coupons to get free toilet paper (.50 off 1 package, which doubles to $1, thus making it free), each coupon can be printed twice per month per computer. Hope that can help someone!!
  • Melynda
    I was spoiled by www.PinchingYourPennies.com while living in UT - what an awesome site! When we moved to VA, I had to find different sources for couponing helps. www.afullcup.com is a great coupon website for those in the south. Their user generated shopping lists are great! www.hotcouponworld.com is another great website for folks as well.

    Between all of these sites, I haven't actually paid for non-food items in about 3 years. I am also able to give away huge volumes of stuff to others at church and in the community. I rotate what we need into our own storage and then give away what we don't use.
  • Jean
    There is a coupon matching site called couponmom.com that matches coupons for most states. I use it here in Florida. This one is free. There is another one called TheGroceryGame.com that has a small monthly fee. Hope it helps.
    oh, also refundcents.com is really good.
  • Andrea
    pinchingyourpennies.com has been a useful website for me in AZ. It matches coupons with sales for local grocery store chains and has links to national drug stores and larger stores(walmart, target) as well.
  • Crustyrusty
    Momma says that if she can see the floor in the linen closet then we don't have enough TP :)
  • Dick
    Don'g forget pets are part of the family.

    When considering non food items, don't forget about the family pets. I have found that most dry dog food in the 25# and 50# bags have a shelf life of about 1 year when kept sealed. (I don't believe that the dry canning operation would appreciate canning of dried dog food.) The other option is to use 1/2 gallon canning jars along with a vaccum sealer and oxygen absorbers for longer storage.

    I do not have any pets, but my children do. My daughter has prepared for her cats, but my son has not prepared for his dog. I have measured and weighed the dog's average daily consumption and have calculated her needs. I have added storage of dried dog food to my list.
  • Regarding Toilet Paper - I did a test for my family of 5 (1 dad, 1 mom, 1 teen boy, 2 teen girls) and found that we used rougly 1 roll per day.

    THE TEST: I found this out by taking all of the TP out of each bathroom (even removed partial rolls and under sinks and in closet) and then put back only 4 rolls. I did this on a Saturday evening. Then, the next Saturday, I checked and did a tally and realized that we used roughly 1 roll per day.

    Note that this is different if you have more people at home during the day OR if you have more girls than boys OR if you have more sickness . . . There can be lots of variables but this gave us at least a ballpark figure. Storing 365 rolls of toilet paper is totally doable in my garage.
  • Marie
    My solution for the toilet paper formula is:

    Stock all the of the bathrooms with plenty of rolls. Record the date I placed the rolls and the amount per bathroom. End of the month I tabulate how many rolls are missing from the bathroom supplies when I go to restock. Subtract the number of rolls used from the number of rolls stocked and add it all up. Presto!

    If you want to get more precise, multiply the number of rolls used by the number of sheets per roll that way you can take advantage of double or mega roll discounts whenever possible.

    This is also handy to ferret out overuse. Also people should consider hand-held bidet as they are much more efficient. I agree with Amber on the Scotts 1000, we use the Marcal Fluffy Recycled 1000 One-Ply Tissue and it lasts much longer and is more economical than most other brands.
  • candace
    I agree with the Scott's brand tip. That stuff lasts forever!
  • Angel
    Toilet paper is one of my top priorites! :o)

    I havent really figured out how much we use here but it is alot!
    Now imagine you have company or if there is an emergency elsewhere and you have another family living with you for a couple of weeks!

    I store packages of toilet paper UNDER the kids beds.
    It fits well and helps keep the kids from shoving all of their clothes, toys, etc under there.

    I think ti is very important to think about storing these things and everything really by thinking.....
    what will I need for the time my electricity is out, the trucks cant get to the store, my significant other wont be working.
    If I-5 is flooded and closed and there is no easy or open route to go around how are the trucks going ot get the things you need to the store????
    In Washington this happened and the people in Portland were effected because the trucks coming from Seattle couldnt get through.
    SO it isnt just local emergencies that can effect us.
    Some are long reaching.

    And we NEED toilet paper LOL
  • Amber
    In regards to dishwasher detergent, and dishwashing liquid, I have decided to concentrate more on storing dishwashing liquid. The reason I decided this was because if ever the need arose for me to REALLY rely on my food storage, there is most likely going to be a lack of money for bills as well. And I figure it's probably cheaper to wash the dishes by hand than it is to run the dishwasher.
  • Amber
    It may seem unrealistic to some to store a year supply of toilet paper, but it really isn't. I would suggest Scotts 1000 (the regular kind- not extra soft). Sure, it's not the softest in the world, but it's soft enough for me and it gets the job done and it is more absorbant than you may think. One roll lasts us about a week in our household of 7 believe it or not. So all I have to do is buy 4 or 5 12-roll packs and I'm set. And it doesn't take up much space which is an issue for me so this is the perfect solution for my family.
  • Gayle Burbidge
    In reguards to toilet paper for one month after each roll was empty I then wrote the date on the roll and saved them for one month. Each bathroom was recorded. I found out what my family used this way. We used five rolls per month per bathroom. I write the date I used other Items and keep a running tally in a book. It has been really helpful.
  • Kylene
    I've read a lot about emergency preparedness, and your site has really been great and added a lot of info where some things were missing.

    In regards to toilet paper, I've read you need to store about 1 roll per person per week. I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds about right for our needs.
  • Joyce
    I actually started with Non-Food Items a number of years ago. I didn't know where to start with food, so I started with toiletries and other necessities. It seemed to give me confidence to move on to food items.:) I still have a lot more toilet paper than our family could use in many months. It keeps forever, so I continue to buy our favorite brand whenever it's on sale.
    Thanks so much for your great site! I check on you gals daily.:)
    Joyce
  • As I have thought about this step, I have moved more to making things on my own - I have made my own cleaners for years, but now I also use baking soda and vinegar for shampoo and conditioner and have started making my own lotions and such. It is easier for me to store the basic ingredients for such things and make them as I am ready (how hard it is it to store baking soda and vinegar? - I use it in most of my cleaners, as a bath soak for dry skin, as shampoo/conditioner and in baking).
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