Prepping can cost a lot of money. I haven’t kept track of how much I’ve spent on my preparations for years, so I have no idea how much I’ve spent. But one thing I can say about my own preps is that I’ve always looked for a bargain.
That doesn’t mean I’ve always tried to buy things that are cheap since cheap can also mean low quality. I’ve rather tried to find places where I can buy good things at good prices.
One of the reasons I like Target is that it has a lot of things you can use to start preparing.
When compared to other similar stores, they appear to carry slightly higher quality products while maintaining reasonable prices.
They might not be as cheap as someone else on a certain item, but there’s usually a good reason why.
The product they are selling is of better quality. Without naming names, I’ll just say that some of these stores put pressure on their suppliers to lower their prices, even if it means sacrificing quality.
Let me say something about quality here. The only quality that matters is what you and I, as consumers, want. When we buy things for prepping, we don’t need pretty things. We need tough things that will work.
So, it doesn’t make sense to pay more for a “quality” knife just because it looks nice if the knife isn’t made well and the blade isn’t made of quality steel.
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So, don’t believe what other people say about quality if it doesn’t meet your own standards. Quality that comes across as beautiful is not the same as a quality that comes across as tough.
When things go wrong, the last thing any of us needs is for our gear to fail to work.
Part of the reason I shop at Target is to get the things I need at a better price than I might find elsewhere. Target doesn’t have everything, but it has a lot.
Food is the only thing I don’t buy at Target, at least not food for prepping. They don’t really have the bulk packages I need for my emergency stockpile. So I don’t buy food there unless something I use a lot of is on sale, like spaghetti sauce.
But I’ve found that you can get other things for prepping at a good price at Target.
Camping Gear
You can find a lot of camping gear at Target, and you can find even more on their website.
This is the same gear that you would pay a lot more for at a sports store, but you can get it for much less at Target. I really like how good their prices are on tents and sleeping bags.
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Their camping gear is more like what you would use to pull your car or truck into a campground than what you would use for backpacking. So I wouldn’t try to put together the perfect bug-out bag from Target’s stock, but they will save you money when it comes to bugging out in a car or setting up a survival retreat.
Rugged Clothing
Some preppers don’t really think of rugged clothing as survival gear.
But unless you work outside, like a carpenter, you probably don’t have enough rugged clothes. Even the blue jeans that most people wear today aren’t made for mucking around in the woods.
Whether you are bugging in or bugging out, you need to have good, rugged clothes.
Even when you’re bugging in, you’ll have to do things by hand that you didn’t do before, like cutting wood for the fire. Normal office clothes won’t last long with that kind of abuse.
Cold-Weather Gear
We have to have coats, hats, and gloves in our closets so we can stay warm in the winter.
You can buy these things in a number of stores, but Target’s lower prices are a plus here.
They have a good price for rugged winter clothes, that aren’t so poorly made they might fall apart on you.
Hiking Boots
Good shoes are another important part of your wardrobe. Even though you might not think you need hiking boots to cut firewood in your backyard, I think you should.
Not only do hiking boots bear up much better under hard use than tennis shoes can, but they also give decent ankle support. That’s important, so as to prevent an injury that could incapacitate you.
In normal times, we don’t worry about that much because we mostly walk on sidewalks or inside buildings. But in a crisis, any injury is a big deal.
Cooking
Target is where I buy almost everything I need for the kitchen. They have a good selection at a good price, and their quality standards mean that what I buy this month won’t break next month. When you think about it, that’s important for prepping because we won’t be able to replace things easily if they break.
Batteries
Batteries will be a must-have item, especially for radios and flashlights.
Alkaline batteries have a longer shelf life than they used to. Now, battery manufacturers say that they are good for 10 years. That means we don’t have to worry about them going bad if we buy a lot of them.
Storage Bins
I like to store my prepping items in plastic bins to keep them safe. Plastic bins can’t keep their contents safe from fire, but they can keep food safe from almost all weather and keep bugs away from it. At the same time, these bins make it much easier to keep track of and move my food and other supplies.
Target has probably the best selection of storage bins for a big store. This makes it the best place to buy storage bins. The wide selection means that I’ll get what I need rather than settling for what’s available. At the same time, I’ll pay a good price for it.
Personal Hygiene
We don’t often think about it, but in a survival situation, it’s important to take care of your own hygiene to stop the spread of disease.
This includes things like brushing your teeth and washing your hands, but it also includes things like taking care of your body. Fortunately, the majority of these items keep well.
I stock up on the things I use when Target has a sale on them.