Discount stores exist to cater to a particular customer niche and survivalists because they are usually looking for emergency supplies in bulk fall into that category.

Here are five items you can find at a discount store!

Emergency Food

You aren’t going to find the best quality food at the dollar store, but you aren’t going to care about quality when SHTF and there is nothing to eat. By shopping at the dollar tree, you can really get a leg up on your food stockpiling efforts without having to spend a fortune. Read this article about what foods to stockpile.

• Why: Emergency food
• How Many: Have at least a 30-day stockpile of emergency food in your home

Hand Sanitizers

The dollar store sells small 2oz travel size bottles of hand sanitizers. I like that they are small because, if I need to Get Out of Dodge, I can carry one of the small bottles in my Bug Out Bag instead of taking the entire large bottle with me. Yes, you will be grateful for having hand sanitizer around when the plumbing stops working and you don’t want to waste precious water for washing your hands.

• Why: Cleaning hands
• How Many: About 10 ounces per person

Pain Medicines

Pain medicines are probably going to be one of the most useful items to have after a disaster situation. First off, they will help with any pain that you happen to get. Pain meds are also probably going to be a really good SHTF barter item. Have enough of these and you’ll be able to trade them for whatever you are missing.

• Why: Pain relief, as a bartering item
• How Many: For your own need, about 2-5 bottles per person; for bartering you can’t have too many!

Bandages

If you try to buy bandages at a pharmacy, they will probably overcharge you a sickening amount. But, at the dollar store, you can find all types of bandages to stock up on including standard band aids, roller bandages, medical tape, and elastic support bandages.

• Why: Emergency first aid
• How Many: Aim to have a wide variety of bandages

Candles

You can never have too many candles. And, when you need to buy cheap candles, the dollar store is the place to go. Skip all of those fancy scented candles and buy the largest ones you can find. You will also want to stock up on those small tealight candles too since they are especially good for making an emergency heater out of a ceramic pot. Note that lanterns make much better emergency lighting than candles, but it is still good to have candles on hand as a backup or supplement lighting.

• Why: Emergency lighting
• How Many: Aim for 120 hours of burn time (4 hours per day for a month). You’ll probably need to have 4-5 candles burning to produce significant light, so calculate around 1000 hours of burn time minimum.

Discount stores, or Dollar Stores, are great opportunities to get your hands on survival materials at a greatly reduced cost without sacrificing quality (if you are careful.)

You may have to sacrifice packaging (i.e. – single paper towel rolls versus rolls packaged in multiple form,) but for the price, that inconvenience is worth it!

To see other items you can get at discount stores, check out Primal Survivor.

Featured Image via Flickr