Thrift Store Prep Clothing

I shop yard sales and thrift stores.  I like the deep discount and I especially enjoy the 'kill' when I find pieces that still have the price tag on them.  Today I was at my favorite hunting sone, a thrift store that benefits Viet Nam Veterans (some).  Now, don't get all excited, they also make a profit for the owner which I balance in my mind with the thought that they employ a lot of people and pay better than minimum wage to start.  With that said, it is a thrift store.  The pricing is fair, they have weekly sales with deeper discounts on certain colored tags.  

www.walmart.com 

     I was looking through the ladies' shirts when I came across a large section of black brown and olive drab polo and t shirts.  THis particular store does not waste time color coordinating the racks so It struck me not only a bit odd, but also fortuitous.  I have camouflage clothing.  I have regular BDUs.  I have a couple sets of Real Tree pattern hunting clothes, and NOT a SINGLE pink cammo anything!  But, this section of shirts got me thinking.

www.polyvore.com

     I often post my opinion on the benefits of layering clothing.  A black t shirt or an olive drab t shirt makes sense when building layers.  I looked through the entire rack of tops in my size and purchased three tank tops, two t shirts and three polo shirts in black, brown, and olive drab for $16 including tax and two of the shirts had the price tags still hanging on them.  Now, I have more complete outfits for the woods or for the time I want to blend with the woods.  My lucky break got me thinking about all the clothes I have packed for future use.  

     Today was my day off, I had nothing booked so I stopped by and helped a son mow a yard, I sprayed chemicals for the weeds, mowed most of the front yard and when I got home, I pulled weeds and chopped a pineapple out of the garden.   Tomorrow, I am going to the hardware store and buy lumber for a shelf building project and I am going to the storage unit to sort out some supplies for a project I have going.  It's a busy day and a fun life.  My clothes have to keep up.  Thrift store shopping stretches the dollar to cover the cost of clothing.  

     Often I have seen whole sets of BDUs, whole sets of khakis and eve wet suits and other specialty gear.  It pays to go to all the shops in your area and learn the types of clothing as well as the quality of them and their pricing.  I have three stores I can count on to have what I am looking for when I want it and have the money in the budget.  I can also count on them to have a few surprise items I didn't look for but found I needed!  

     Get out and shop your second hand stores and see what savings you can find.  My best tip for clothes shopping applies to new and used.  Examine each piece as if a crime were committed in them!  Look for stitching, wear and colorfastness.   Never pay for something you will not use or will get little use of.  A missing button does not count as a deal breaker, but a broken zipper is.  However, a tear in a pair of BDU pants, is an invitation to make a pair of ghilli pants.  
  

Things that do other Things

     Today, I was cleaning in a well stocked home.   I tried to get a single roll of paper towels off the top shelf when a pile of coffee filters came tumbling down.  The homeowner's mother said not to worry, just throw them out as they were from a large bulk purchase and now they had hit the floor, they were tainted.  Well, I had mopped that floor and they were not tainted and I do believe the five second rule applies!    Even if I never make a pot of coffee, I can find a use for a large lot of coffee filters.

Coffee Filters
  
Coffee filters are lint free, so, they are great for wiping glass like your eyeglasses or for cleaning small parts like jewelry or watch crystals. 

They are a filter and you can use them to filter loose tea from hot tea, to filter gravy, you can filter oil (either frying or motor oil)  and reuse it.  

Put a filter in the bottom of a plant pot to keep the dirt in and let the water drain.  

Put a spoon of baking soda in a filter, gather the filter and secure with a rubber band and place in smelly shoe.  

Put a good sized glob of yogurt in a filter then gather and secure it with a rubber band and hang it in the fridge to let the moisture frip out to make greek style yogurt or hang longer to make a soft cheese.

Use a filter to separate china in a stack or to separate iron skillets as they absorb moisture, they can reduce rust.  

Here are some other things that do Other Things:

Egg Cartons

Separate nuts and bolts or sequins and pins to unclutter your workbench or craftbench or desk.
Paper cartons buffer sound.  Staple them to walls before recording your music or just to keep the noise next door, next door.

www.learn2grow.com 

Start seedlings in a carton, if you use paper cartons, dampen the carton well then plant the entire section when transplanting the saplings.

Paper cartons filled with dryer lint then drizzled with wax make a great firestarter.  You can also use sawdust instead of lint.

Use styrofoam egg cartons as shipping and packing material instead of peanuts.

We cut the sections into flowers and used them to warn of kids that the Spanish Bayonet was a dangerous and spiked plant!

Newspaper

www.things-to-make-and-do.co.uk

Make paper logs.
Make fuel briquettes.
Make degradable plant pots for starting plants.

Make dark paper.  You can bleach it back to lighten the ink, but dark paper is paper, too. 

innerchildfun.com 

Soak the paper in water, add some starch or glue and use as clay to make paper sculpture, to fill in cracks in windy walls, to fill holes in drywall before painting, or as a substitute for wall paper.

Use as insulation against cold inside coats or clothes, to line a worn pair of shoes in the field.
Use as a table or work space covering to protect the surface.

Make a basket. Check the site at the right to see other things even a child can make from a bit of newsprint.

As an educational tool.  Have the child with the lazy eye color in all the letter 'a' in an article.  Then, on another day the letter 'e'.  They get better and they learn to focus on the tiny letters.  

As an educational tool, find a word that only appears once on the page and give a reward when the child finds it, you will be surprised how much they read! (treat at my house was, possession of the remote control or choice of dinner entree).

Pipe cleaners 

explosives.wonderhowto.com 

Okay, I will grant you that pipe cleaners clean pipes, but there are other things that are cylindrical.  

Pipe cleaners are a must have for weapons cleaning, take a piece of cotton, twist the end of a pipe cleaner around it's middle, then add more pipe cleaners to add length.  

They are a great substitute for that missing twist tie! 

You can use them to organize that jumble of wires behind your computer. 

You can use them as you would a zip tie to make a bamboo trellis.

They can be used to bunch and gather crazy stuff in the junk drawer.



Look through your trash.  What could you make with the things you toss out every day besides the thing they are supposed to do?  In my trash right now is a blown out sock.  That is a cleaning cloth, a rag doll body, a weapon when filled with rocks.  I am from the south.  I have actually suggested someone should be struck with a sock full of rocks!  Yeah, I said it. 

Lots of things do other things.  What were you going to throw out that had another purpose?

Turning Simple Items into Super Prep Items

     If you can find more than two uses outside the suggested use for an item, you are on your way to turning it into a Super Prep Item.  


123Scoop | Plastic paradise in Mexicowww.123scoop.comSpiral Island
30 Uncommon Uses for Aluminum Foil
New and Improved Uses for Nail Polish
Read more: http://www.rd.com/home/extraordinary-uses-for-nail-polish/#ixzz2aCbVNy9t
Read more: http://www.rd.com/home/extraordinary-uses-for-nail-polish/#ixzz2aCbVNy9t
 Remover That Have Nothing to 
Do with Removing Nail Polish

     Recently, I have posted several pages suggesting multiple uses for items that are often considered trash.  I think the coup de gras was the suggestion that discarded pop bottles could make you a floating home.  I saw that one on the Christopher Lowell Show years ago when he featured the floating island and its creator.  It certainly was a new design and a new way of thinking.  
    

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   

Coordinates: 21

.23043°N 86.737189°W

This article is about an artificial island. For Robert Smithson's 

earthwork, see Spiral Jetty.

Spiral Island is the name of a floating artificial island built in Mexico by British artist Richart "Rishi" Sowa. It was destroyed 

by a hurricane in 2005; a replacement, Joyxee Island, has been open for tours since 2008.

     Talk about your thinking outside of the box!  The island is the ultimate

 encouragement to think just that way.  Let go of consumerism and waste making

 so as to make room for more disposable stuff in an endless cycle.  Look at the simple things in 

your life to see them for what they could be.  A two liter soda bottle could be a gas

mask.  A discarded wooden pallet could be an adirondack chair.  A milk crate could

be the hidden storage space you've been looking for under your box springs.

    Look at the simple things you throw away every day.  Today I used two 16 oz.

plastic bottles.  It was really hot and a tea and a water had to be had.  My grandson

had a can of rootbeer.  There was a styrofoam tray under the pork chops.  The 

neighbors put out their recycle this morning.  There were enough bottles on my street

to make a small boat.  I was thinking, it's time to hold back on tossing my plastic

bottles in the recycle bin.  I am going to need mini greenhouses to start some new 

garden plants, soon.  I can use the tray as a paint palette.  The aluminum cans

is scrap aluminum to use as flashing for a soda bottle skylight in the shed.

     You can turn a simple item like a safety into a super prep item when you discover

that a pin can make an impromptu compass pin, a fishing hook, a zipper tab pull, jewelry,

a bandage pin, Extra security pinning a backpack closed, a wardrobe malfunction solution, 

a diaper pin.  Suddenly a simple item is a super item.  Pack more.  

     Today I am posting a list of websites you might like to touch base with to help

you see not only what you can so with your trash, but with any discarded items

you may come across.

http://lifehackery.com/2008/04/22/30-uncommon-uses-for-aluminum-foil/

http://www.curbly.com/users/chrisjob/posts/1602-25-alternative-uses-for-fabric-softener-dryer-sheets

http://wd40.com/uses-tips/function/other-uses/

http://www.rd.com/home/extraordinary-uses-for-nail-polish/

This super item does more than beautify your hands. 

Learn how to use it for repairs, sewing and more.

http://thesecretyumiverse.wonderhowto.com/how-to/14-practical

-uses-for-nail-polish-remover-have-nothing-do-with-removing-nail-polish-0146460/

14 Practical Uses for Nail Polish

How to acquire 'stuff''

     Do you wonder how you are going to acquire the things you think you need, now before a financial crunch?  How are you to get the supplies stored up for the future uncertain times?  I asked myself these same questions.  I have more than a few answers for you.

www.target.com

www.walmart.com 

     When I camped for fun with the family, I had the tent that claimed to sleep four but actually slept two and a child.  I acquired it at a yard sale for ten dollars.  I got a second one by remembering where I got the first and recognizing the sign when it was put up at the end of the same summer.  The guy selling off his new in the box equipment was getting out of the business. It never occurred to him to sell online and he was fed up with the flea market life.  I would have liked a larger tent and as the family grew, I was asked once what would you like for your birthday and I answered, a bigger tent.  I now have that bigger better tent and still use the smaller ones.    Later when other family members bailed on the great outdoors, I acquired their tents.  I mainly use my larger tent for myself and the grandchildren and keep the others to gift, loan to family or friend for a weekend or later, perhaps to build a city.  This first three methods of acquiring is buy at discount, put it on the wish list or wait till the quitters quit.

     The buy at a discount method is the one I most employ.  By keeping a slush fund on the side at home for weekend treasure hunting and planning sale trips, I am able to acquire most of what I want before I need it.  I use web sites like gsalr.com to browse what is for sale and where.  I also use www.estatesales.net.  Estate sales tend to post more pictures than the yard sale sites and that saves me from driving to a sale that has none of the things I have on my list.  

     As you can tell, I need no more tents.  I am always in the market for good garden tools.  Things that do other things, like the seven in one axe or multi-tools, battery operated gadgets and solar gadgets are always on the list.  I also include things on that list that my sons have mentioned.  Either, I acquire those things to give as gifts, or they tell me what they want to pay and we just trade cash for those things.  As long as you are out yard saling, find out if anyone in your family needs something and if they are willing to chip in for gas while they busy themselves elsewhere.  One of my sons works weekends so he is happy to give over the cost plus gas money when I can get him something he has had on his list for a while.  

   
     Another method for acquiring things is the wish list.  If you have an occasion coming up, you can register at Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware as well as Toys R Us, Walmart, Target  and Amazon.com.  Define your needs, don't get frivolous or side tracked.  If you need several batteries for your cordless tools, list them, but don't go making a list of every battery in every size offered.  Need versus greed shows your loved ones it is a need and it is a gift that will be used or appreciated.   If you find someone has used your list and gotten you exactly what you want or need, thank them.  Do not wait a year to get around to it.  Thank them immediately.  Also, if you look into it, choose the stores that offer you rewards for others' shopping.  You can earn points toward purchasing other items or gift cards if someone buys from your list.  Don't be shy.  Ask for points or discounts and any reward programs currently in stores.  They can only say no and that doesn't hurt.


     Use coupons.  As often as you can, use store coupons as well as manufacturer's coupons, doubling your discount.  Join store members reward clubs.  Set up a junk email account and sign up for rewards at the stores you shop most.  They will send you weekly sales notices, store coupons, sale notifications and members only deals.  Even the grocery store GFS sends me sales 'flyers' with printable store coupons for an additional $5 off the $50 I was going to spend anyway.

      I can not give you an image to focus on for the next method of acquiring. It is a mental trick.  You could call it the power of positive thinking or the power of mental focus or even 'Zen' shopping.  
      Call it what you will, clear your mind and make a mental list of the things you are looking to acquire for your prep pantry.  Shortly, they will be on sale.  Make a visual list of the things you really need for the tool bench or the chicken coop and these things will be in front of you.  
      I do believe, I come across great deals at yard sales because I believe I will find great deals at yard sales.  I believe I will find, see, touch, acquire what I need or the method to get those things.  For example, two weeks ago, I wanted a heat gun. I really wanted a heat gun.  I have some embossing to do.  I will not pay $40 for the heat embossing tool I want because I am cheap!  I still want it.  
     I got into the car on a Saturday morning.  Before I turn the car on, I think, today I will find a heat gun, more ax heads for D. and some titanium arrows.  I see these things as if I were looking at an ad in a sale paper.  I turn on the car and before noon, I have seen these things and purchased them all for under $10.  I have also stopped for gas, a snack or drink, paid a bill in person and chatted with a friend or family member on the phone.  I don't obsess on it or beg the Lord for it.  I just think, I want it, I am going to get it, and I will have it shortly.  

tickatoo.com 
It looked like this
before we painted it

     To get what you need, be creative.  I can sew but I don't think I can sew a tent.  I did however, when my grandson wanted one, make a tepee.  I was thinking for a week or so, how will I pull this off?  I researched the basic teppee and it's construction.  Basically it is a half circle stretched on some poles.  Hmm, I thought, he's a little guy and I could scale this down from twenty foot poles to 1" by 2" firring strips. hmmmm.  Then what do you know, someone gave my son the painter some canvas boat covers.  He kept one for drop cloths or covers and gave me one.  hmmmm, laid out flat and turning the pattern in my mind until I had all the grommets lined up where I needed them, I cut the canvas so I could lace the tepee together at the front and VIOLA!.  It was red.  Two coats of latex exterior paint and it was white and weather sealed.  Fifteen years later, it is still in a storage shed waiting for him to hand it down to his children.

      To get what you need:  
      Be careful with your money
      Shop wisely
      Use coupons, store discounts and sales
      Be creative

     

junk jewelry and the prepper

     The spring yard sale season is warming up.  Still, it is early and a weekend with high winds or a chill can cause people to put off their sales for a better day.  It was like that when I left to run my weekend errands on Saturday.  I wasn't even looking for signs for sales.  I got all my errands done and found some time to visit a family member along my route.  I bought some plants and plant food at Lowe's and headed home.  

     On the way home, I saw a sign about two blocks before my turn-off from the main highway.  I have been to sales down that road before.  Those people camp!  I flipped on that right turn signal and slowed down to a roll.  I could see the sale items from the road.  Some odds and ends tools and home decor, not much, but not bad.  I stopped.  I have a son who is collecting ax heads and files so I thought, maybe.  I looked around, no price tags.  A lady called out, "make an offer I want it gone."  So I said a dollar for the ax, and what do you think about this watch?  

     I was looking at a wind up watch with a very vintage look and I liked it.  She said, "$5 for all of it."  I looked down at the table where the junk jewelry was spread out and said, "If I fill this bowl with all of it, is it still $5?"  She said yup and it came home.  I filled a Pyrex bowl full of all the junk pieces on the table, I just scooped it up and dropped six dollars on the checkout table and said thank you several times as I grabbed my ax and left.  

     As a prepper, of course you know the ax will be in my tool 'shed' or if it seems I have enough (3) it will be given to the son with the greatest need for axes.  But, the junk jewelry you ask.  What pray tell does junk jewelry have to do with prepping?  Well, 'lemme' tell you.  

     In the jumble of chains and pins and watches and a lint and hair, I found three pieces of silver.  Three pieces of solid silver that could be sold or traded for bulk silver coins or bouillon.  They weigh about 1/3 of an ounce.  That alone is more than $5.  I also found three pieces of collectible signed designer costume jewelry.  These pieces will go into a lot of jewelry to be sold to collectors online later.  They will be valued between $15 and $20.  So far, that alone made the deal a 'real deal'.  

     After all the watches were sorted out of the pile, I separated out the quartz watches from the wind up watches and checked both piles for quality, name, country of origin, working condition and generally whether I liked it or not.  There was gold to be found here.  Yes, a little gold bezel on one watch, about $40 worth of scrap gold.  There was also a MIDO Swiss watch (not pictured) , currently a similar watch on Ebay is listed at $399.  There were two working Timex watches, A siboney swiss watch, all working and keeping good time.  There are another six wind up watches, two are 17 jewel, that are not working.  They were over wound.  Two I will have repaired, the rest will go into a watch lot to be sold online.  All this adds up to more than the $5 spent and will bring in income to fill the prep coffers.  

Quartz watches and junk

17 jewel, wind up, swiss and american made

    The wind up watches I am keeping are of such high quality that I have no doubt I will pass them on to my grandchildren.  I am keeping them in the prep supply inventory in the case of an EM pulse.  The quartz watches in current use will be useless.  Wind up watches will keep ticking.

     To prepare for hard times, be clever.  A second source of income to use to build up your bank of prep supplies or pay for a retreat is a good thing.  Finding things you can use or barter at today's low price is virtual income.  You may cash in some now, some later.  Junk jewelry is a hobby of mine.  It gives me great pleasure to purchase other's treasure and sell it for more than I paid.  Some of it comes to live with me and some of it is given to others who appreciate it.  I only paid $5 for over thirty useful pieces.  Oh, yeah, and I got an ax!  I also forgot to count the Pyrex dish.  They are pricey when purchased new and mine came full of junk jewelry!

What $15 Will Buy

     I am on a roll!  I hope the last list posted inspired you to use a few dollars here and there to start your preparedness supplies.  Just a  few items in the preparedness closet will help you and your family survive longer than those who have nothing.  
     Being prepared and supplied is fairly painless when you break it down into small amounts and reserve that money and those supplies for only an emergency.  When you do the math, $10 a week is $520 and hundreds of items.  $15 a week is more.  

What $15 will buy:
four gallons of gas.  But, from Lowe's or Home Depot: Sta-bil fuel preservative, 32 oz. for around $12.

While you are thinking Home Depot or Lowe's or another larger home improvement store like Ace or whatever is close to you....$15 will buy:
Four vegetable plants like tomato, pepper, cucumber, spinach or herbs.  
For about a dollar each, you could get some annual flowers that ward off pests such as geraniums for snakes and marigolds for bugs.  

Twenty pounds of assorted dried beans from Save-a-Lot, Aldi or your local discount grocers.
Twenty to twenty-five pounds of white rice.
four flats of bottled spring water.

Thirty cans of canned fruit or vegetable at .49 per can, Thirty eight cans at .39 each can be bought and stored in the prep closet.

Fourteen items and some change left for tax on those items from any dollar store like Dollar Tree.  With $14 you can buy a shoe box and fill it with a flashlight (l.e.d.) batteries for the flashlight, an FM scanner radio and replacement batteries for it, a pack of assorted size band-aids, a tube of triple antibiotic cream, a two pack of hand sanitizer, a pack of headache relief tablets, a multi tool  (wrench, pliers,Knife), and some food items like a six pack of granola bars, vitamins and assorted snack packs of fruit.  You will have thirteen (or more) items in a shoe box with room to add more and less than $15.

At http://www.harborfreight.com you can get an 8" survival knife with these items in the handle for 11.99 (8.99) on sale.  So, add battery tester or a flashlight or any number of other items to fill in the $15 for this exercise.

From Cheaperthandirt.com: you can get a five gallon water bag with rope handles and a nylon tent repair kit.  They have a lot of weapons and ammo and larger items, but if you look, you will find $15 worth of supplies you can use.

Majorsurplus .com offers this Survival, Department of the Army, Field Manual FM 21-76 for $7.99 a field manual!  And, you might as well get this one or something like it Map Reading & Land Navigation for $6.95.



I found this water filter at this site:http://www.survivalkitsonline.com on sale for $13.99.
They have a nice selection of kits and basic bug out bags too, but I did find the same straw filter at Cheaper than Dirt for $9.99.  Shop and compare.  Shop and compare!

Walmart offers a 123 pack of Ball half pint jars with lids and bands for $14.97. These jars are available online but the packs of lids and bands are available in store only so I cannot verify prices but last I purchased them at about $2.50 a pack.  SO, let's say four packs of lids and bands.  I caution anyone from shopping without a list, but if you are going to Walmart, head to the sporting goods department and for $15 pick up some waterproof matches, replacement mantles for propane or duel fuel lanterns, a pack of cutlery for camping, three packs of replacement wicks for tiki lights or four packs of replacement wicks for kerosene lanterns, or a starter fishing kit.  Be careful not to splurge or impulse shop.

What $10 will buy

What $10 or less will buy:

Twenty pounds of long grain enriched rice (Save-a-Lot, GFS, and ALDI)

Five to eight pounds of brown rice (ALDI and GFS)

Eight lbs. of sugar (Save-a-Lot and ALDI)

One package of ten earplugs, A bottle of 250mg aspirin, A foot brace, 12 oz. Peroxide (Dollar General Store)

Ten items from any dollar store like Dollar Tree

2.5 gallons of gas

Two packs of cigarettes

12 Ball jars and lids (Big Lots)

Half a gallon of Citronella lamp oil (Dollar General, Family Dollar Store, Big Lots)

Two boxes of Miracle Grow, a plant & veggie fertilizer and a rose food to promote flowering (Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot)

Three vegetable plants (Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart)

Three herb plants (Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart)

Three 27 L E D portable flashlights on sale from Harbor Freight, not on sale, two

A four pack of rechargeable AA batteries (Radio Shack)

Four lbs of Maxwell House Coffee (Save-a-Lot)

Five boxes of 100 ct Tea (Save-a-Lot)

Ten lots of Kool-Aid or Flavor aid; flavor aid is sold 5 or 10 for a dollar and Kool-Aid is 3 to 5 for a dollar

Produce is a price fluctuating commodity that cannot be accurately listed here $10 of produce is $10

Twenty 49 cent cans of vegetables 
Twelve cans of 79 cent fruits or vegetables

Ten packs of dehydrated mashed potatoes ( Winn-Dixie on sale, Save-a-Lot)

Twenty packs of seeds (Dollar General) five - eight packs of seeds (Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s)

Eight to twelve pounds of beans (Save-a-Lot, Winn-Dixie, ALDI)

Ten spices including dehydrated onion or garlic flakes (Big Lots)

Ten pounds salt (Save-a-Lot)
Ten dollar Survival Kit (www.zombiehunters.org)
Five Dehydrated Granola with Milk & Blueberries LRP (Long Range Patrol) (www.beprepared.com)

Bucket White Five Gallon Food Grade Bucket (www.cheaperthandirt.com)
Gun Storage Bag No Rust No Corrosion 12X52" ProTec (www.cheaperthandirt.com)
Fishing Yo-Yo(http://www.budkcatalog.com)
5 emergency sleeping blankets (Http://Www.Budkcatalog.Com)
Auto Reel "Yo Yo" (3 Pack) (http://www.majorsurplus.com)