A Year's Worth...

Wifezilla

Low-Carb Queen - RIP: 1963-2021
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
8,928
Reaction score
16
Points
270
Location
Colorado
After getting some basics together I have now shifted my focus a little. I still pick up a bag here and a can there for the emergency stash, but now I am trying to knock out a year's worth of something each pay check.

Last payday it was shampoo. Next payday it will be "girl supplies". The year's worth of TP will take some planning. It takes up a lot of room! LOL

Anyone doing this?
 

sylvie

Recycled Spunk
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
1,881
Reaction score
3
Points
123
Great idea!
I did try this with shampoo once and developed a sensitivity to the shampoo. Had to switch brands and ended up with many unused bottles of the stuff. So, in the end it cost me money. That scared me from stockpiling certain things.

TP- way back during the Y2K buildup I stockpiled two years of TP. We began using it immediately because no Y2K occurred. When we ran out and had to buy it again I was shocked at the price increase of TP!
I had bought our pre Y2K @ 3 four roll packs for a dollar and the new prices were $3-$4 for one four roll pack.
Since then Dollar stores have cropped up with their really cheap quality TP, but I would stock up on the good stuff that is readily biodegradable so I don't have septic problems down the pike after TSHTF.

I am researching everything thoroughly first before buying in bulk.
 

Dace

Revolution in Progress
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
6,893
Reaction score
5
Points
203
Location
Southern California
I love that idea Wifey!

So tell us, how are you calculating your needs? Just a rough guess?


We are a family of 6 if we each uses a bottle of shampoo in 6 wks we would need 54 to get us thru a year.....that is pricey unless you are using coupons!

Do you have a master list that you are working on...or off of I should say?
 

noobiechickenlady

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
May 12, 2009
Messages
3,046
Reaction score
1
Points
154
Location
North Central Miss'ippy
Okay, here is a crazy suggestion for the tp, but I know a woman who did just this: If you buy the large packages, and stack them in roughly the shape of a mattress, then cover it with sheet, blanket, pillows, just as if it were a real bed, no one will be the wiser. Unless of course they sit on your "guestbed" ;)

Slightly less far out, you can put your current beds up on risers, and slide the packages under there.

ETA: I wanna know what Dace asked, too.
 

Wifezilla

Low-Carb Queen - RIP: 1963-2021
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
8,928
Reaction score
16
Points
270
Location
Colorado
So tell us, how are you calculating your needs? Just a rough guess?
Rough estimate. There are only 3 of us, so for the shampoo I figured 2 bottles per month so I needed 24 bottles. This estimate is pretty darn close based on past shopping trips. I buy Suave, so that is 89/bottle...$21.36 for a year's supply.

For the girl items, I use Instead. You are supposed to change the cup each time, but I don't. I clean them carefully and use one per cycle. There are 14 per box, so I only need 1 box. Since a box is around $5, I will just get two and be a year ahead. After that, I am praying for menopause! LOL

Another thing I am trying to get a years worth right now is turkey. They are cheap in our area right before thanksgiving. There are restrictions (limit one, with $25 purchase, etc..), so I am having to stretch my purchases over a couple of checks. My goal is 12 turkeys. That would be one turkey dinner per month for a year. Even if we are eating canned spam and beans for the rest of the month in a crisis, a turkey can easily give us meals for a week once I make soup, etc... I have 5 so far.

I also have a year's worth of laundry soap in the form of 12 bars of zote soap and a big bag of salt :D
 

Dace

Revolution in Progress
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
6,893
Reaction score
5
Points
203
Location
Southern California
You must have a big freezer! 12 turkeys and I would have room for nothing else....actually I don't even think I could fit 12 turkeys! Maybe 8.

I still have not mastered the laundry soap. I can find the fels, but can't find the soda.
 

freemotion

Food Guru
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
10,817
Reaction score
90
Points
317
Location
Southwick, MA
Dace said:
I still have not mastered the laundry soap. I can find the fels, but can't find the soda.
In CA, there should be plenty in the pool supply section. It is one of the pH balancers...up or down, can't remember. WZ will tell you!
 

Wifezilla

Low-Carb Queen - RIP: 1963-2021
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
8,928
Reaction score
16
Points
270
Location
Colorado
I have a big freezer in the garage. 12 turkeys will be a tight fit, but I also have the regular freezer in the house and I can get a couple of small ones in there.

As for the laundry soap, mine is working fine without the washing soda. I don't think everyone can do this, but our water is pretty hard. Using the salt worked just as good as the washing soda formula. No mater what formula I used, with my water, adding salt was the key.

One thing I did was used a generic Oxyclean along with the grated zote soap before I found the washing soda. I can get that at the dollar store. I used about 1 container a month so even if I did that instead of the salt it would be $12 for a year's supply.

The washing soda makes it more alkaline. Our water is already really alkaline, so that is why I can get by without it.
 

PamsPride

Should be Sewing
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
2,737
Reaction score
1
Points
173
This is my goal as well...I want to be stocked up on all toiletries (except TP) by the end of January. That means a years supply of shampoo and conditioner, soap, toothpaste, laundry detergent, extra toothbrushes, deoderant, q-tips, peroxide, hair rubberbands for DD, dental floss, mouthwash, shaving cream, razors, extra hairbrush (they seem to come up missing all the time!)...
I will not be able to stock up on pull-ups, diapers, TP because I just do not have that much money. I did ask my mom for some more cloth diapers for the baby for Christmas...she is young enough that she will not care what she gets. I have a nice stack of family cloths and plenty of material and thread to make a ton more. So, if things get really bad more than just me will be using them!
Pull-ups are one of our biggest expenses and I am not sure what to do to replace those.
I have a few cloth diapers, plus I have the material to make more if I ever get the ambition to get them done.
My girlie products...I have a diva cup so that department is taken care of....plus nursing has helped a lot! LOL!

I have already started getting some of the items...but for a year's supply I am way behind!
 

patandchickens

Crazy Cat Lady
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
3,323
Reaction score
6
Points
163
Location
Ontario, Canada
Why waste space stockpiling a year's worth of toilet paper, though? People survived just fine for nearly all of human history using other materials. Leaves and paper (e.g. phone book pages) are perfectly serviceable... obviously not flushable and not as nice on your bottom as Super Double Ply Quilted Whatever, but really not bad at all once you get used to them.

If you want to stockpile a year's worth of bulky paper goods, make it paper towels, which at least have a lot more potential uses; or use the space for something else, like spare shoes/clothing/fabric or repair supplies.

JMHO,

Pat
 
Top