Memorial Day Weekend DEALS for Preppers!

During each major holiday weekend retail stores around the nation have big sales and offer great deals on things we all want to stock up on. Often you can't get these deals during any other time. You only need to know what to look for.

I am going to focus on national chains, not because I don't believe in shopping locally, but because my local hometown store deals will not help most of you. Also I am not against making stuff myself. If you can make all of this stuff yourself, well then, good for you! But not all of us can.

**Prices will vary location to location - but in general this is where to look and what to look for.**

THIS INFORMATION IS CURRENT AS OF 5/23/2013 but these are the typical items to look for at the follow stores EACH YEAR.  

Here are some great deals for the prepper minded out there who are stocking up!

Charcoal  $9.99 - You may be able to pick it up for a couple of bucks cheaper during Labor Day, but this is the best deal you will see until then. Lowes is offering two 20 lb packs (40 lbs total) for $9.99. Charcoal is a good emergency cooking fuel to keep on hand and it will last a long time if kept dry, but it must only be burned outside only. (Charcoal is a big consumer of oxygen. Do not burn charcoal indoors, ever, it will rob all the oxygen out of an enclosed room before any carbon monoxide gets you. )

Pork and Beans  33¢ - We all love Pork and Beans and it doesn't make a bad emergency food in a pinch. My local WinCo stores recently had Van Camps Pork and Beans for 33¢ a can.

Baked Beans - regardless of the brand, many stores have baked beans on sale right now. Beans are always a good food to keep on hand because they can be easily combined with something inexpensive like rice to provide a life sustaining meal. This combination of beans and rice has been a prepper staple for years. I store and use a variety of canned beans as well as dried beans.

Folgers Coffee  $6.98 - This doesn't usually make my list but I noticed Walmart had it on sale for $6.98 a can, which is dirt cheap. Now, I am not a coffee snob so it really doesn't bother me to use cheap pre-ground coffee that has been stored for 6 months. Coffee is coffee when you need it, and at this price it will save you some money. (If you hear anyone say "pre-ground" coffee only stores for 6 months, stop listening to that person. Of COURSE it stores for longer than that, it just won't taste as good that's all.)

Camping Food - Mustard (which never goes bad), ketchup, relish, hotdogs, beans, and marshmallows (which can be dehydrated and stored, kid you not!) are all on sale this weekend. Check you local grocery stores for some of the best deals of the year.

Solar Lights  $1.99 - Again for Labor Day weekend and year-end clearance you might be able to get these cheaper if you watch them like a hawk and if there is any left, but $1.99 - $2.50 (Walmart and Lowes) for a larger solar light, not one of the smaller dollar store ones, is not a bad deal. There are literally hundreds of uses for these things. They would make a nice emergency light source if the grid goes down. Charge them up outside during the day and bring them in at night, pop the battery out to turn them off. Take the top off one, and glue it to the top of a canning jar for a homemade lantern. Avoid candles, and save your batteries for something else. Click here to see how to use them as a cheap solar battery charger.

Bags of Fast Setting Concrete $3.98 - This is great to keep on hand if you have your own house and property. Home Depot has some for $3.98 a bag right now. I find we use several bags a year on various projects, but it's also good to keep on hand for just 'incase'. Just incase you need to make emergency repairs to your property or house when the cement company is no longer answering the phone. Just incase you need to reinforce a gate, fence post, or your house to beef up security. You know just incase. Keep in mind you have to keep this stuff in a DRY location or you'll just end up with a big cement brick.

Canning Jars - Tis the season for canning jars! Jarden Home Brands (the parent company of Ball and Kerr) puts out several great coupons for their jars around this time of year in the Sunday inserts, keep an eye out for them. When you combine these coupons with a sale price you can get really good deals on new jars. Bi-Mart has pint jars on sale for $7.99 right now and while I don't consider that a super great deal - if you were to combine that sale price with a $1.50 off coupon, it is fine deal indeed! Keep an eye out for more canning jar deals around the 4th of July.

Ortho Home Defense Spray $5.98 gal  - I normally don't encourage the use of chemical insecticides - especially if you have a garden, pets, or chickens! There are many effective organic options. But if you have ever seen an episode of Discovery Channel's INFESTED you would know that in some cases it is necessary. If it ever came down to bugs eating my food and me going hungry?  I'm busting out the chemicals, sorry bugs.  Walmart.

Spectracide Hornet and Wasp Spray $1.58 - Again with the chemicals remember anyone can make an very effective bee/wasp spray out of soap (dawn) and water, that will not harm the environment at all but will effectively kill a hive (the soap clogs their breathing holes). All you have to do is wait until they are back at the hive and less active around dusk and you won't even need that 22 foot reach.  (Remember modern "environmentally safe" propellents used in spray cans will not last longer than a year so don't go crazy on the hornet spray thinking you'll be able to use it a few years down the road.)

Tiki Torches $5.00 - Can burn more fuels that what is provided

at the store for $10 a gallon. They will also burn, used veggie oil, kerosene, mineral spirits, rendered bacon grease, diesel, and rubbing alcohol or any denatured alcohol (Everclear anyone?). Handy to have to light up your property if needed. Just please don't set your house, the woods, or your neighborhood on fire during a national emergency or during Any. Other. Time. This deal is at my local Lowes.

Camping Supplies - Some good deals can be found on camping supplies for Memorial Day Weekend, just make sure not to impulse buy because again retailers are not as motivated as they will be later to move inventory.

Coleman Propane $5.00 - Double set of Coleman Propane tanks are on sale this weekend at Walmart. Making each one $2.50 each. Normally this would not be that special, however I have been hard pressed to find a better deal on little propane tanks lately, seems like last year you could find little propane tanks all the time for cheaper...

Garden Supplies - Some good deals can be found on garden supplies too, especially on seeds and potting soil, be sure to price check however as I have not seen a sale price that will beat Costco's regular everyday price on potting soil.

HTH - Shock and Swim 1 lb $1.99 - Ace Hardware has Shock and Swim on sale this weekend. HTH is High Test Hypochlorite. It is mainly comprised of Calcium hypochlorite which is used for the disinfection of drinking water and swimming pool water. It is super concentrated powdered bleach and you can use to to mix with water to make your own bleach. I prefer to buy Super Shock and Swim as it contains a higher percentage of Calcium Hypochlorite than regular Shock and Swim. Safety? Here is a link to the actual Material Safety List for Shock and Swim. The safety concerns they list are universal to ALL FORMS of powdered concentrated bleach - because, in that form, it's not safe to consume or breath.  Mixed with water, it's actually a different product.  As you can see on the list there are no algaecides in this brand of powder which would make it exceedingly toxic to use to disinfect drinking water, the rest of the ingredients mainly provide stability and prevent caking.


UPDATE: 5/24/2013 - One day after posting this - I saw my first happy customer on Facebook! You go Catherine! THIS is why I write, not to sell charcoal, but to help others.

Shopping Tips to Help Maximize Savings:

• Keep in mind the time of year. Memorial Day weekend is a hit and miss. Retailers want you to come and shop but the incentive to mark down the summer stuff you want is not always there. Some of these items - such as charcoal, camping gear and garden gear can be had at slightly lower sale prices during Labor Day weekend because retailers want to get rid of their inventory rather than take a loss on it by sending it back or to a 'end of season' clearance house. 

• Focus on the Door Buster deals.  They will tend to be the better price points than the ones on the inside of the flyer - but don't ignore the inside of the flyer either, it's worth looking through. 

• Use coupons when you can. Combine them with sale prices to drive your price per item even lower! But don't buy an item just because you have a coupon, it has to be worth it. 

• Use price thresholds whenever you are shopping. This means keep a list of the lowest sale prices you commonly see for certain items that you want or usually stock up on. When you see a price that falls below this what you normally see (aka: the price threshold) this should trigger you to buy. If the price meets your threshold AND you have a coupon, even better!

• Buy enough of the item to last you until the next sales cycle. This could be the next major holiday weekend or next year, ignore funny looks from other shoppers and nosey questions. Even if you are not a 'prepper' this will insure that you never have to pay "retail" for that item permanently lowering your grocery costs. 

Just incase you are wondering about my expertise in this area: my 'real job' has been in Marketing and Advertising for the past 15 years. So I know how this stuff works. Hope this helps you save some money - happy shopping and don't forget to remember those who served.