[bekab]

I was just blessed with a $600 gift card for Costco from some friends. Woot! I love these people!

What would be good to get at Costco (never been there before) for emergency supplies?

We had tons of beans and rice, 25# of wheat berries, a couple emergency buckets (Costco brand from ebay), lots of canned milk and powdered eggs. Canned veggies.

What would you recommend?

 

[unregistered29228]

Ooo, What luck!

Since you already have enough staples, how about spices? Costco has large containers of chopped fresh garlic, bottles of black pepper, cinammon, bullion cubes, poultry seasoning, etc. I buy extra and then vacuum pack the whole container to help it stay fresh longer. They also have large bags of salt.

I get packs of canned tuna (18 cans I think in a shrink wrapped pack), salmon, anchovies, canned chicken (also in multi-packs), huge jars of pickles, artichoke hearts (a treat for hubby, not really a useful prep item), olives, peppers, mustard, ketchup, vinegar, and recently I've bought some packages of dried blueberries, mango, raisins, cranberries, prunes, etc. Also look for the bags of cooked, shredded bacon. I use it in bean soups, etc., and it can be stored outside the fridge/freezer until it's opened. I also have canned chili, soups, and some of those (gag!) Chef Boyardee canned stuff my kids love.

I have a large stock of laundry detergent - mostly Costco brand that comes in a plastic bucket. Tons of toilet paper (Kirkland brand is great), tissues, paper towels, large packs of AAA, AA, C and D batteries.

I could go on and on....oh what I'd do with $600! Have fun!

 

[Callieslamb]

How about a freezer?
Or shelves
Cleaning supplies
paper products
meats

 

[wottahuzzee]

Toilet paper :bouncy::bouncy:

 

[Aint2nuts]

Oh wow, what an Awesome gift.
First, I would determine, how much storage do you want to have? 1 Month? Three? a Year (which is my goal).

Then determine how much food you will need for that period of time. Determine what you actually USE. Wheat berries are useless if you don't have a grinder.

One of the ways I determined what I needed for a length of time is using a food calculator. There are several that you can use, I use the one I bought from Food Stoage Calculator on line. There is one on the LDS sight, that is good.

If you don't have 72 hour kits, think about getting the items for that.
If you don't have a stock of sugar, flour, yeast, baking soda, baking powder etc. think about those things.

If you have a freezer think about getting meat. However, look with an eye to what you actually use a month, and go from there.

I would personally concentrate on getting a YEAR to FIVE YEARS supply of rice and beans. You can buy oxegen absorbers on line. You can survive on those for a long time. A dehydrator if you think you might use one. L'Equip is the one I have and I love it. Don't know if costco carries it.

Medications might be an area you can stock up in. Sanitary supplies, toliet paper.

My list of what I would get for my family would be totally different from what you would purchase. I would buy a years worth of paper plates and utensils, I would purchase a years worth of toliet paper and the same for sanitary supplies (pads and tampons). I would purchase a years worth of vitamins and a variety of health care items, including a thermometer since mine just croaked and my kids broke my glass one to see what was inside. (Luckily it wasn't Mercury!)

I would purchase bandaides, gauze, tape etc...

If there were good deals on fruits and vegetables (which there is rarely) I would purchase items to dehydrate and use later.

I could go through 600 dollars in a half hour. I have mentally been walking through my Costco. I would have no problems spending it. LOL

 

[booklover]

What an amazing gift!

We love Costco for its frozen organic produce.

Vitamins, red meat (very high quality), booze (for bartering or consuming as you wish), butter, whipping cream, sundried tomatoes, olives, olive oil, cheese... these are all things we have bought in the past.

They have really good feta cheese. Can't think of anything else. Have fun!!!

 

[MoGrrrl]

I could go through 600 dollars in a half hour. I have mentally been walking through my Costco. I would have no problems spending it. LOL

It would take me about an hour!

Seriously, they have really good stuff there, at good prices, especially for the Kirkland brand. Vitamins, detergents, OTC meds.

Are there any areas in your preps that you are concerned about? We Costco shoppers can let you know if they typically have those items.

 

[Guest]

90% of it ONLY on those things you are already using.

10% of if on new stuff you've never used before that you'd like to try to see if you like it or not.

Edited to add: You don't have to spend it all at the same time you know.

.....Alan.

 

[MorrisonCorner]

Costco has bales of toilet paper.. but it the price is not the best you can do. You can do better at a grocery store loss leader sale.

Costco has great prices on spices, flour, sugar, salt, rice. Not so great prices on regular canned goods (again, you can do better at a regular grocery store loss leader sale). They have high quality meats, but we don't buy high quality meat. They have GREAT prices on generic medications (antihistamine for example), and competitive prices on prescription drugs. They've got discount pricing on iTunes gift cards and the odd weird bargain.. like photo albums.. in the corners. We've also discovered excellent pricing (4 for $10) prices on Kirkland (Costco brand) "smartwool" socks. These same socks would be $10 for a pair. $10 for 4 is a steal.

If you've got pets, we feed Kirkland brand pet food.. and their kitty litter is a big heavy box at a reasonable price.

And you know what is a stupidly great deal? Spray starch. Go figure. Four big cans for what you'd pay for one at the grocery store.

Oh, and Costco has the best prices we've ever found on dried fruit and cashew nuts... but the dried fruit can be pretty weird things (mango for example) that you'd rarely use.

Someone should warn you that $600 sounds like a lot of money... until you get to Costco. The store is designed to make money go away... POOF. Part of it is the large sizes... things bound into caseload lots... but part of it is the lulled into a false sense of bargain. So flour (King Arthur 25 pound bag) is $18 at Costco. At the factory outlet it is $25. At the grocery store it was $28.

Whoo-hoo! Bargain!

But tinned soups on sale at the grocery, with a coupon, are usually $1/can. $1.50 or so at Costco.

Shop cautiously... and don't be afraid to walk through the whole store slowly. My husband buys synthetic oil at Costco.. but not windshield wipers or washer fluid. Some cheeses are a good deal.. others aren't. They have some GREAT bakery deals.. if you've got freezer space or a big family.

I love Costco but I feel like I'm gearing up for battle every time I go in there!

 

[farmergirl]

A friend of mine who has many, many dogs and used to do dog rescue buys all of her dog and cat food from Costco. She says it's good quality at a reasonable price.

I would also stock up on any nice clothing items they have at your local Costco. The ones we've been to over the years always have mens socks and sweatshirts.

 

[MoGrrrl]

Costco has great prices on spices, flour, sugar, salt, rice. Not so great prices on regular canned goods (again, you can do better at a regular grocery store loss leader sale).

It's funny, I get much better prices on spices at our seed store. But I never catch good sales on canned soups.

Anyway, to the OP, I guess the key is to know your best prices.

And you can spend it real quick! I know if we didn't have good knives and a KitchenAid mixer, that would be a way to spend more than half of that money real quick.

 

[bekab]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We are being totally sensible about it and there's really nothing we want, just looking for things we may need.

First thing that came to mind was coffee. It would truly be the end of the world for anyone within a 100 mile radius of me if I ran out of coffee. I'm a huge baker, too, so I'm thinking flour, though our Kroger has a 25# bag for about $9 or so. Y'alls are expensive!

Spices are a good idea. Toilet paper always a good idea. We're extremely thrifty, so we won't blow it on specialty foods or stuff like that. Hubby does need a new meat grinder if they have those??

Then again...Christmas is coming and I have a hundred kids.

 

[unregistered29228]

One of the big splurges we have in our budget is coffee, I forgot that in my first post. I buy the Costco bags of Starbuck's French Roast. Hubby doesn't like any other kind, and believe me I've bought them all, looking. I grind it in the blender (it's whole bean).

I also buy the Kirkland brand of Rice and Lamb dog food for our beagle. Much cheaper than Iams, and better quality than grocery store brand.

 

[mnn2501]

booze for bartering

If the S really does HTF do you want people around you liquored up? I sure don't want idiots with liquid courage anywhere near me.

 

[Aint2nuts]

If the S really does HTF do you want people around you liquored up? I sure don't want idiots with liquid courage anywhere near me.

There is so much more that alcohol can be used for. Disinfecting, a primitive anethesia.

If the SHTF,.. it won't be just for parties anymore.

 

[AngieM2]

I've found a shot glass of blackberry wine helps get rid of acid reflux the few times I get it. Something about the acid cancelling out the acid.

Lots of house hold and medicinal liqueur uses.

Even Vodka with vanilla beans to make vanilla extract (or buy that instead).

Angie

 

[Mackerel]

Hubby does need a new meat grinder if they have those??

Just checked their website and found this. Made in China, though.

 

[Kari]

I was just blessed with a $600 gift card for Costco from some friends. Woot! I love these people!

What would be good to get at Costco (never been there before) for emergency supplies?

What would you recommend?

Many of those Costco cards are counterfeit. I recommend that you send me the card to test and if in the off-chance I get caught...I take the fall for you.

 

[Spinner]

I'd be stocking up on canning jars & lids, but you may not need near as many as I think I do.

The next thing I'd look for would be cast iron pans, and maybe some camping gear like sleeping bags, back packs, etc.

I guess I'd try to fill in any gaps I have in the preps. Things that I can't normally afford to budget into my paychecks.

 

[stranger]

I was just blessed with a $600 gift card for Costco from some friends. Woot! I love these people!

What would be good to get at Costco (never been there before) for emergency supplies?

We had tons of beans and rice, 25# of wheat berries, a couple emergency buckets (Costco brand from ebay), lots of canned milk and powdered eggs. Canned veggies.

What would you recommend?

cash it in and buy Costco stock, food stock should do great this comming yr.