stocking up - cheap stuff

[Pop_45]

A small seine net, also trout or turtle lines.

[kappydell]

crochet & knitting directions (teach-yourself books have very basic patterns) for simple warm clothing (you can whittle needles or hooks and make your own yarn); treadle sewing machines; push type clothespins (dont break like springy ones do); used hand tools; nails & screws by the pound; knowledge (tech schools have cheap adult classes for basic skills; so does the State University Extension Office (classes on canning, for example); canning & pickling salt for preserving foods. sharpening stones & files. a treadle sewing machine for a sewer sometimes can be quite cheap - my favorite one was $20!

[MJC]

cloth diapers and feminine napkins if you don't need them yourself they're good for barter or bandaging. also alot of canning jars and lids, jars can be found at yard sales for as little as 10 cents a piece, and watch caps from the dollar store, and at least one pepper grinder they can be used to grind other spices or even rock salt, and dont forget SALT!!! another thing most people don't think about is baby powder, with all the hard work we're not used to donig, there is gonna be a lot of chaffing going on.

[JUSTIFIED]

cloth diapers and feminine napkins if you don't need them yourself they're good for barter or bandaging. also alot of canning jars and lids, jars can be found at yard sales for as little as 10 cents a piece, and watch caps from the dollar store, and at least one pepper grinder they can be used to grind other spices or even rock salt, and dont forget SALT!!! another thing most people don't think about is baby powder, with all the hard work we're not used to donig, there is gonna be a lot of chaffing going on.

Keep the ideas coming folks. I keep adding to the list of things I didn't think of!

[MustangGal]

clothes line
clothes pins
charcoal

[JUSTIFIED]

We've gotten to where we throw very little away unless we know there is no alternative use for it. When the shtf we may just become junk dealers! We'll definitely have some barter items! LOL

[kappydell]

a mill file to sharpen shovels, hoes, machetes, etc. Work is much easier with sharp tools. Why only sharpen your knife?

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Zippers, cause I seem to be hard on them and they break on stuff i want to keep using.

I also have picked up several of these cheap key chain flashlights and am stashing/attaching them all over. They are a buck from the dollar store and last a decent time. They are just enough to do an everyday task but not so bright they are seen from a distance.

[BioG8r]

Matts zipper post made me think about Velcro - could be used in soooo many ways pretty cheap by the roll.

[JUSTIFIED]

Zippers, cause I seem to be hard on them and they break on stuff i want to keep using.

I also have picked up several of these cheap key chain flashlights and am stashing/attaching them all over. They are a buck from the dollar store and last a decent time. They are just enough to do an everyday task but not so bright they are seen from a distance.

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[ATTACH]1167[/ATTACH]

Good idea! I'll remember the flash lights the next time I'm in D. Tree. I'm hard on zippers too, Matt. That's the first thing to wear out on my work bags.


Once a pair of boots/shoes wears out I save the shoe strings for another pair of shoes from the thrift shop or odd jobs here and there.

[MustangGal]

Instead of baby powder, what about plain food grade corn starch. It is cheap and can be used for cooking and anything you would use baby powder for, as a plus, it is unscented.

[Daelith]

Instead of baby powder, what about plain food grade corn starch. It is cheap and can be used for cooking and anything you would use baby powder for, as a plus, it is unscented.

I've used corn starch as blood stop too. Only done it on animals so far, but I don't know why it wouldn't work in a pinch for a person. Nothing too deep.

[Daelith]

I believe condiment packages have been mentioned, but I’m too lazy to go look through the entire thread. I never really thought much about saving condiment packets from fast food places that I don’t use, but I decided I really hate to see them go waste too.
Plus, I can think of numerous times at work when I’ve opened my lunch I’ve brought and realized I need some ketchup or something. It would have been nice to have a packet on hand.

What got me thinking along this line was last Friday when we picked up some Chinese takeout. The usual lady who waits on us wasn’t there. (She knows I don’t want the soy sauce or Chinese mustard packets and doesn’t put them in our bag.) The young man who gave us our food had tossed some in. I also had some ketchup packets sitting on top of the bread box from something else we grabbed on the run. Since I had an empty plastic container sitting on top of the refrigerator, I thought…that would be a handy container to toss these extra condiment packets in and store on the shelf out of the way. So that’s what I’m doing now. I will date this jar 2012 and next year I will start a fresh jar to collect for 2013. Of course, I’ll use the stuff from the 2012 jar first though since these do have an expiration date. (Just not on the packet.)

Anyone else do anything like this?

[miked2345]

My wife has enough soy sauce packets in the drawer to fill a bottle or two!! I'm the fast-food ketchup packet collector... :cool:

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I believe condiment packages have been mentioned, but I’m too lazy to go look through the entire thread. I never really thought much about saving condiment packets from fast food places that I don’t use, but I decided I really hate to see them go waste too.
Anyone else do anything like this?

Most of my buckets have the condiments like crushed red pepper from pizza joints in them as they are already in mylar packets and they will help with that dull rice.