Do I think there is a zombie apocalypse coming our way? Not so much. BUT, I do believe that there could be a natural disaster, my husband and I could get in a car accident and have bills up to our ears, not to mention who knows how rocky things could get with political atmosphere-just because I haven't experienced chaos in my personal life doesn't mean it can't happen. I do, however, have experience with financially being in a bind and needing to rely on our stockpile. For example, I haven't had to purchase toilet paper for several months. My couponing comes in handy here-I like Staples because they have great rebates and store rewards. Anytime they have a 100% back in store rewards sale, we try to grab it, and then when we get the rewards back we try to either use them on items that are free with rebate (getting our cash back while getting 2 free items) or we use it on toilet paper. You usually wouldn't think about an office supply store being the place you buy toilet paper, but there it is!
Anyway you get it-stock up on other essentials (maybe buy an extra pack of TP every month for a stockpile if that's all you can do). I posted this photo on Facebook the other day-I'm so grateful that we've stocked up on cold and flu season stuff when they were on sale that when my husband and I get sick-we don't have to go to the store (because who feels like that when they're sick?!...and spreading the germs?) and we didn't have to pay full price. Plan ahead=be happy! If you're not huge into the couponing and sales like I am, then maybe just plan to buy 1 medicine and 1 toiletry item each month for an emergency stash, to go along with that TP!
This week's unexpected stockup item was Kleenex tissues! There's a chance they may not be available at your local Rite Aid anymore if you have couponers in your area, but it wouldn't hurt to look. These Kleenex boxes are 174 count, regularly $2.49. On clearance for $0.62-not bad! But....then I printed off 2 $1 off coupons AND because I purchased 7 of these guys, I got a $1.50 catalina coupon back to use on a future purchase. Essentially, I paid $0.84 for ALL 7 boxes! That's $0.12 each! Let me tell you-when we're sick, a box of tissues can go from full to empty in the blink of an eye! (As for the altoids in the picture-they're on sale $2.29 each at Rite Aid and you get a $2 coupon back for your next purchase, so they're basically $0.29 each. I got them for the containers-be on the lookout Monday for a craft project, BUT---they could be great to holding lint and petroleum jelly for an emergency fire starter. See HERE for that tip.)
Speaking of fire-1 last thought for today's post. What will you do when your power is out to cook your food? It has been over a decade and a half-since before I moved here, but all the locals still talk about the "Great Ice Storm" and all the damage done and power lost...I'll be honest that I haven't actively planned for that scenario, but I can say that I'm glad it was pointed out to me. I'm grateful we have a large bag of charcoal leftover from last summer's BBQ season and we have propane for our camping stove. If we had to, we could go in the back yard and cook some food-I plan to never be without a supply of fire/cooking aids from now on! Not to mention warm blankets-and luckily we have several of them from awesome family gifts!
For now-stay warm and make some plans to prepare for the future "what-ifs"!
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