Household Essentials

So far we’ve covered food (in depth, I might add), medical and first aid, and daily essential (hygiene) items that you should be stocking up on to help you prepare for emergencies. At this point you may find yourself thinking, what else is there? Don’t we have enough already? This is a lot to invest in! Hold onto your hats because we aren’t done yet. I know it feels like a lot to manage but we’re breaking it down chunk by chunk to make it a little easier for you. Today’s list is actually a pretty important one too. We’re prepping household essentials and these are items you probably don’t want to run out of.

Trading & Bartering

There is one thing I’ve yet to mention in all of our preparations and that is the possibility that you will end up bartering or trading some of these items. I’m discussing this now because it’s going to be the reason I tell you that you cannot have enough of these on hand. The first thing you want to do with this list is to prepare for 3 months as I always say. 

For these specific items I would suggest that you just keep going even after you have 3 months. There are a couple reasons for this. The first is that they don’t expire (except for the vinegar). They will keep for years if you need them to and that means you don’t ever have to rotate them or worry about them going bad before you can get to them. The second is that they will become very valuable in a bartering/trading situation. There is a possibility that in a true SHTF situation money may become worthless. We’ll delve more into this later but for now just know- you can’t have too much of these household essentials on hand. 

The Household Essentials List

• Hand Soap
• Laundry Soap
• Dish Soap
• Dishwasher fluid/powder/pods
• Cleaners or supplies to make DIY cleaners
• Sponges/Scrubbies
• Toothpicks
• Mops, brooms, and buckets
• Reusable & Disposable rubber gloves 
• Paper Towel
• Toilet Paper (I know this is on another list but it’s important)
• Rags or towels
• Garbage Bags (multiple sizes)
• Contractor Bags
• Plastic Bags (snack, sandwich, quart, etc)
• Tin Foil
• Plastic Wrap
• Wax Paper
• Parchment Paper
• Pest Control (try to think about all seasons, even if it’s winter you may want wasp spray)
• Hand Sanitizer
• Lightbulbs (make sure you get sizes needed for all light fixtures)
• Candles
• Lighters and matches
• Fire Starters or Flint (you can make fire starters with dryer lint for very minimal cost)
• Spare air filters (if you have an air purifier)
• Spare water filters
• Extension Cords
• Extra furnace filters
• Paper Plates
• Plastic Cups
• Plastic Silverware
• Napkins (can invest in cloth or stock up on paper)
• Coffee Filters
• Kleenex
• Duck Tape
• Vinegar, vinegar,vinegar (there are so many purposes for this that it’s worth having a lot on hand)

Vinegar

Just a note on this because it does “expire.” I truly believe that the vinegar is still good after the expiration date. The other thing to remember is that you don’t always have to use it for cooking or preserving. There are tons of ways to use it for cleaning or disinfecting and at that point expired vinegar will work just fine. I’d still give the advice that you should stock up on as much as you possibly can even though it may expire before using.

In Summary: Household Essentials List

This is, arguably, one of the easier preparation lists too. My method for this is to buy two. Anytime I need to pick up laundry soap I’m buying two. Anytime I need to pick up a furnace filter I’m getting two of them. This helps you to be able to build your supply quickly without costing a ton of money too. The other option is to use the dollar store. They have a lot of coupons for items that are on this list that can help you save money and stock up in a hurry. It’s important to do what you can, when you can. Don’t plunge yourself into debt just because you’re preparing for emergencies. 

What have you been able to prepare so far? Have you taken any steps to make sure your home is ready? I’d love to hear about them in the comments. Even if they are small steps they are still worthy of celebration folks!