Preparedness Items to get in After Halloween Sales

Stock up on preparedness items during the post-halloween sales! Get a list of great items to store for emergencies.

Seasonal sales are great times to pick up product that might be useful to you in a preparedness situation. I know it’s not quite halloween yet, but many stores begin doing their sales before halloween even arrives to clear out product. Even if stores in your local area do wait until Nov. 1 to put product on sale, here is a list that you can have in mind beforehand to make the most out of post-halloween sales!

And if you are a family that doesn’t celebrate halloween (like us), don’t turn your head at the selection. More and more stores are expanding their Thanksgiving/fall offerings in this same area and you can take advantage of the same sales. They’ll go on clearance at the same time since they will want to clear out all this product for Christmas.

Candy – Candy can be a great comfort item and can be stocked in your long-term food storage easily. Even chocolate can be vacuum “canned” to keep it from going bad quickly (or you can freeze it til the next candy-giving occasion to help save some money for your preparedness goals). You’ll just need a jar attachment for your vacuum sealer machine.
Glow Sticks – These are must-have items. Not only for minor local power outages, but in bug out bags, in your car, in a backpack, for a post-emergency situation, and for long term outages. I prefer a paqlite mini since it can be recharged, but you can’t beat the post halloween sales for glow sticks. (btw…paqlites also come in room sized sheets which you really can’t do with a single glowstick).
Face Paint – now don’t walk away thinking I’m crazy, but grab a few of the camo makeup kits for kids. It won’t be as good as the real thing, but it would be handy to have, just in case. Be sure to keep an eye out for the spray on hair coloring, too. You may even be able to pick up a few realistic items to help with urban camouflage.
Lighting – You may be able to find great LED lighting items that would help in a power outage – lanterns, small LED candles for inside of pumpkins, etc. While this would need to also include some long-term storage options for batteries, LED lights last much longer than typical bulbs, so make a great storage option in case. You might be able to find decent flashlights in this section, too. Candles would also be another item that you might be able to find on super clearance. I don’t advocate having candles with scents, and many candles used for holiday decorating are really cheap and burn fast, but you might find some great ones in the decorating sections of large box stores or hobby shops.
Linens – if you don’t care what your towels and rags look like, this might be a good time to pick up some super cheap linens to keep in your closet.
Bakeware/Kitchenware – You’ll find storage pieces, bakeware, food, dinnerware and more in many stores. As the season becomes more popular, more becomes avaialble.
Paper Goods – also another great item to have stockpiled in case water is an issue, paper plates, napkins and cups might be at a great price to pick up to store.

Updated 2015 – I’ve noticed more and more that stores are carrying the small hay bales for decorating probably made of timothy hay. Has anyone read anythingon the safety of growing in these? I’m thinking of the cheap clearance prices they’ll come in and how they’d make good mediums for small plantings and even mushrooms!