Amenities

Ok. You've stocked water and you're learning how to purify it so when your storage runs out you can still rehydrate, bath, wash clothes, clean... etc... You've stocked food. You're learning how to garden, forage, hunt and fish. You're learning how to can your leftovers; dehydrate, dry and keep your food. You're buying extra dry and canned goods when you go grocery shopping and if you catch them on sale. Food and water stock piles will take you a while to build up and because you use them, their attrition will require that you always restock them, so expect that. Once you have it mastered and you feel comfortable with your new stocks and skills, you take the next step. Now what?

Amenities.

Amenities encompass things like toilet paper, soap, toothbrushes, etc... Is there a whole lot of sense in buying a toothbrush for 60 cents a few years ago and $1.24 today... and $2.37 a few years from now if you can buy them all at today's prices? It's not like they're gonna to go bad. If you know you go through a couple tooth brushes a year, why don't you buy 50 or 60 toothbrushes at today's price instead of wasting more money later? Boom! Winning.

What about toilet paper? As the cost of toilet paper keeps going up as fuel prices rise and the lumber industry diminishes under oppressive EPA restrictions, what benefit do you get by paying more money tomorrow for the same quality of product you could get today at a lower cost? Remember, time is money and our money is being inflated, making it worth less. That means everything will cost more. That means you will have to work more hours to pay for what you have later. It simply makes more economic sense to buy what you can now at today's prices instead of tomorrow's inflated ones. Econ lesson for the day accomplished.

Amenities stocking is something people have a tendency to overlook because we habitually keep these items in closets and cabinets. Out of sight, out of mind. But knowing that, does it matter if you have one bottle of shampoo or 15 in the closet? Not really. What's better is, you don't even have to change whatever you system is right now. If you shop when you run out, you still add whatever you're out of to your shopping list and back stock your storage. If you shop once a week, every two weeks, once a month or longer, you shop the exact same after you buy your stock of amenities. You just back stock your storage now.

Here's a simple list of common things most people use:
toothbrushes
toothpaste
soap
shampoo
conditioner
deodorant
toilet paper
paper towels
batteries
bleach (non-scented)

There are certain storage considerations with all of these that also need to be considered, such as toilet paper and mice. Everyone and every home is different, so you'll have to decide if you have the room to keep toilet paper in plastic Rubbermaid bins or up high on shelves to keep from getting wet in case of a water break.

Also, it's possible to make all these items or find some sort of replacement in nature (except for maybe batteries and bleach) so if you're interested in learning to make soap or finding soap plants, making reusable towels and what not, the internet is your friend. As I continue this blog, I'll eventually expand into these areas... but not in step 3. That's just overwhelming.

Oh, and don't worry too much about cleaning supplies, if you stocked vinegar for your food stores, then you can always you some of that... some of the bleach you store or just plain water.