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If you’ve decided to stock up on emergency supplies but don’t have a lot of money, you’ll be glad to hear that you can buy several of your necessities on the cheap at any ordinary dollar store.
In my town we have a Dollar General and a Dollar Tree, so last weekend I went walking around both of them to see how many emergency supplies I could find. I jotted down what I saw and ended up with a list of several dozen items that would be useful during a disaster.
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Here are the top 40 survival items you can find in dollar stores.
1. Water – It’s one of the most important survival items of all, and you can purchase bulk bottles at most dollar stores.
2. Lighters – You can easily buy packs of BIC lighters at dollar stores for a buck; are there any easier ways to start a fire?
3. Matches – Matches are a great alternative to lighters, and you can buy packs of them at dollar stores as well.
4. Paper Towels – You can use paper towels for a variety of purposes in a survival situation, and there’s no cheaper place to buy them at than the dollar store.
5. Paper Plates – These are great to have when you don’t have running water for washing dishes.
6. Cooking Utensils – As with paper place, plastic forks, knives, spoons, and so on will be invaluable when water is scarce.
7. Utility Knives – They may not be the sharpest or highest quality knives on the market, but a basic utility knife from the dollar store will be better than nothing.
8. Storage Bags – Basic Ziploc plastic bags can be easily found at any dollar store, and you can use them for a variety of purposes in a survival situation.
9. Flashlights – Flashlights are a must have survival item when the power is out. You don’t want to spend every night in complete darkness.
10. Batteries – What good is having a flashlight if you don’t have the batteries required to power it? (The same could be said for any survival item that requires power.)
11. Toothpaste and Toothbrushes – Personal hygiene is critically important in a survival situation, and that absolutely includes oral hygiene.
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12. Soap – Basic soap bars or packs of bars can be yours for a buck each; they will also be great barter items.
13. Baking Soda – Baking soda is perhaps the most versatile personal hygiene item there is. You can use it to make soap, shampoo, deodorant, laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, and so on.
14. Toilet Paper – This is not something that you want to overlook when it comes to stockpiling.
15. Canned Food – Basic canned meat and vegetables at most grocery stores can usually be found in dollar stores as well. Oftentimes they’re cheaper.
16. Candles – These are good if you only need a little bit of light, such as for reading.
17. Can Openers – As long as you have canned goods, you’ll need something to open them with.
18. Bungee Cords – Bungee cords are another important survival item you will not want to overlook.
19. Cotton Balls – You can use cotton balls and Vaseline to make a portable, waterproof fire starter.
20. Gauze Pads – Gauze pads in assorted sizes are a core item to have in any first aid kit.
21. Hard Candies – Not an essential food item, but candy will help keep your morale up during tough times.
22. Playing Cards – You’ll need something to pass the time, and cards are a simple, power-free way for a group of people to enjoy themselves without television or Internet.
23. Plastic Containers – Plastic containers can be used for storing virtually anything you can think of.
24. Rain Poncho – The ponchos you buy at dollar stores won’t be the nicest ones on the market, but they will still serve their purpose well and have many uses.
25. Rubbing Alcohol – A percentage of 70% to 90% will work best. You can use it in a medical emergency, or as fuel for your alcohol stove.
26. Paper Clips – Paper clips serve a wide variety of different survival uses. You can use them to hang clothes, to make fishing hooks, to make a makeshift compass, and so on.
27. Sewing Kit – These will be tiny sewing kits with small scissors and needles, but it’s better than nothing and will work great for repairing tents and clothing.
28. Socks – Make sure you have extra dry pairs of socks to change into to prevent gangrene on your feet.
29. Hat – Hats are excellent to provide your face with shade and can also be used to keep yourself disguised among a crowd as well.
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30. Super Glue – Most people know that basic Elmer’s glue is available at dollar stores, but far fewer know that super glue is available as well.
31. Plastic Bucket – Plastic buckets can be used for a number of survival items, including storing items or as makeshift toilets if necessary.
32. Duct Tape – Is there are anything that duct tape can’t fix? It has dozens of survival uses as well.
33. Plastic Sheeting – Plastic sheeting can be used for privacy in a campsite, setting up a quarantine area, using as a table mat, and so on.
34. Latex Gloves – Latex gloves will be great for treating medical wounds where sanitation is key.
35. Tweezers – No first aid kit is truly complete without a pair of tweezers, and you can easily buy them for a buck at dollar stores.
36. Paper – You will need paper in a survival or disaster situation for a number of reasons (record keeping, taking notes, sending messages, creating maps, etc.), and you can buy it in the form of bulk packs of notebooks at any dollar store.
37. Writing Utensils – Pens and pencils of all types are available at dollar stores. They might not seem important, but I recommend keeping a journal if you’re living through a major disaster.
38. Antibacterial Ointment – Another hugely important first aid/medical item, and yet another that is available at dollar stores.
39. Sunscreen – Investing in sunscreen is wise to prevent sunburns (especially important if bugging out on foot), and there’s no cheaper place to buy it at than from the dollar store.
40. Aluminum Foil – Aluminum foil will be great for cooking (wrap food in it and then set it by a fire) and many other things, and you can buy it on the cheap at any ordinary dollar store.
Conclusion – As you can see, a dollar store can actually be a great (and inexpensive) place to shop for a sizable percentage of all the items you will need to survive a disaster. There are many other survival items you can buy from the dollar store as well, so don’t think that you’re limited to just these items.
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I wish that you would also include things for you friends to the north( like in Canada) as i have tried to access several items only to be stopped when I put in my address in Canada. It is a hame that invisable lines and governments have to be factored into things. I hope that there are others that feel the same as I do and will start to ask that sites like thi one will open their eyes and open the offers to all not just a few. Just my Humble Opinion.
I like your site and out of a lot of others it is simple and to the point, easy to read and understand… Do you have a list of Prepper groups for different states? I’m in Boise, Idaho and having no luck on finding any that will respond. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Dollar tree will let you do bulk orders online that you can pick up in store. Great for buying quantities for a group.
Antibiotic creme is cheaper at Walmart. In addition, lighters are sometimes both cheaper and better at Walmart. It pays to shop around ! Dollar Tree has close outs from other retail enterprises and frequently has products priced at a fraction of their retail prices ! For the best opportunities, Ask when their resupply trucks run, then shop the very next day.
Nice website,very information e simple instruc5ions,anyone can understand.
Correct. The dollar store(s) or any discount stores are the places to look at all items. On metal lighters the Walmart has been as high as $17.00 plus add sales tax to that amount. Look at bazar sales, yard sales, estate sales, going out of business sales, aka as goobs sales etc. Never, never ever pay full retail, period. The system you so call live under today is a giant money machine for the suits, ties, and titles. Keep your own interests in mind going forward and be aware, informed and keep learning.
The more I am reading about dollar store products, the more Leary I get about anything that goes on or in my body from them. They are getting a lot of their products from China and it has been found that there are a lot of contaminants in them that can cause sickness.
Dollar Tree stores are very different than Dollar General and Family Dollar. Dollar Tree stores sell everything for a dollar. No items for more, and a few items for less (some greeting cards are 50 cents and seed packets are 25 cents).
IMHO, Dollar General and Family Dollar are not true dollar stores. Their prices are in even dollars (like $2 or $5) with an occasional $2,50. These stores are very different in their merchandise compared to Dollar Tree. So lumping them together does not seem useful.
99 cent stores are also true dollar stores (they added a few fractions of a cent to each item so that they are effectively a dollar each). I understand that they sell a few items for more, but the bulk are at 99.99 cents each.
Super Glue is often a mention, but if anyone’s had any experiences with Cyanocrylate Glues, they’ve opened a tube or bottle, used it, and a month or more later, go to use it again and find it dried up or the applicator all plugged up. Frustrating, when it happens, but here’s a tip to make that tube last longer and not a one time use. CA or Cyanocrylate polermerizes in the presence of moisture. Which means, even the relative humidity, the water in the air, causes the polymerization. Once a tube or bottle is opened, the process is started, and difficult to stop. Through my hobby, in a completely unrelated area to prepping, CA glues are a frequently needed adhesive. I grew tired of buying bottle/tube after every use, and having to discard 2/3rd full containers away as unusable. It’s not only irritating but wasteful and an expense the more this happens. Get yourself a jar with a sealed lid. The better the seal, the better you’ll keep moisture out. I just used canning jars, because the seal is very visable. Place Dessicant packets, either new or recycled from medication bottles into the jar. The bigger the jar, the more packets you should use. Place your opened tubes/bottles of CA glue into the jar as well and tighlty apply the lid. The dessicant will absorb the moisture from the air in the jar, and your tube/bottle of glue will last longer. I’ve tubes that are 2 and 3 years old, that I can still use. An old Luthier trick for the Modern Prepper.
Gr8 tip. As a crafter and wearable art creator. It is truly frustrating and wasteful when you spend good money on these industrial glues only to have 90% of it discarded. Thx
I’m thinking baby food jars, or olive jars might be a good size.
Ok, Along time ago, someone, can’t remember who, told me a secret that beats even the suggestions made here (although they are great too).
If you keep your super glue in the FREEZER, it will last for YEARS!!!!!
If you came to my house right now, I have dozens of the little tubes you can buy at harbor freight (in my freezer) . I re-use the little tubes for months and many small projects. I had a rather large bottle I purchased when I was flying radio controlled airplanes. I had it for about fifteen years and other than putting a pin to unclog the tip, flowed like water…. I was skeptical at first. now after years, it works better than you could hope for….You can keep thowing them away or you can try something that costs you nothing!!!
Someone blessed me with this little tidbit of knowledge and it has saved me a bunch of money and hassle, do what you will with the info. I am just trying to pass it along.
I am always amazed that this info never gets mentioned, I know I am not the only one who knows this….
I’m trying to find the link to sign up for your newsletter. The link on the website comes up with an error. Also, the link to contact you comes up with an error. I was able to do this by commenting to one of your posts.
It looks like a pretty good site with solid information. I look forward to being n your communication circle.
Sorry, we upgraded the site to make it more secure and ran into some problems. It should be working now.
Alan, I made a comment about a week ago, it was not a controversial comment, it got censored and removed. I came very close to unsubscribing to this email list, I have several I read. If my helpful hint for super glue gets censored, I will be unsubscribing. There is much duplication and I am tired of being censored.
Your website just removed my very helpful hint that would have saved your readers money and reduce waste, I guess you only approve dribble, just unsubscribe me, I now see you are some sort of communist that censors good peoples ideas, of course, no one will see this because you will just delete it. I have WASTED A LOT OF TIME READING THESE EMAILS. I did not know you filter out as much content as you do. Have a nice day, I will delete my Urban Survival site folder and start sending your emails to SPAM folder where they belong,
I NO LONGER TRUST YOU
Dennis, the comments are automatically held for moderation until I can check them, that way people aren’t allowed to spam the comment section with garbage.
I check for comments once or twice a day. Yesterday was my day off. I’m not censoring you, I’m just not able to check for new comments all the time.
Your comment about super glue has been approved. Thanks for the tip.
I don’t censor anyone unless the comment is vulgar or spammy or dangerous misinformation. I don’t know why your comment wasn’t approved. It might have been an accident on my part, or maybe the spam filter misinterpreted it as spam.
Great upgrade, censors all posts, all but the ones with spelling errors, great job!!!!