For any Prepper, building a first aid kit is a must. If you’re on a budget, check out this dollar store first aid haul tips to save some cash.
Smart preppers take advantage of the dollar store deals and understand that there are limitations and trade-off to getting things for cheap. However, you can be highly effective if you hit a dollar store with a $50 and a desire to boost your level of overall medical preparedness.
I think the appeal is just that. While there are exceptions to some first aid items at the dollar store, there are some great gains that can be made if you know what to buy and how to make those purchases work for you.
There are a few things that I wouldn’t recommend buying from the dollar store and those things are thermometers and Band-Aids. They sell them, but they are not reliable. The thermometers are of poor quality and the band-aids will not stick to anything for long.
Here is the dollar store first aid haul you should get:
1. OTC MEDS
Whether you know it or not the dollar store is loaded with OTC Medications. There are standards that must be met for all of these medications to be produced and sold in the US.
These manufacturing guidelines cannot be changed for dollar store products, so the active ingredients are present, and the rest of the ingredients are as safe as any other OTC medication.
Often times, the difference in dollar store medication is the size of the bottle, pill count, and amount of the active ingredient. In other words, you pay more money for more milligrams of the active ingredient so a dollar store medication will just have less.
Pain Relievers
Fever Reducers
Flu Medications
Allergy Medications
Antacids
Pink Bismuth (Pepto)
2. The Wound Bucket
A simple but effective first aid prep is the creation of something called the wound bucket. The wound bucket sounds like the name of a novel but it is very much a bucket of items you can use for dealing with wounds.
The dollar store presents some great options when it comes to building this bucket out. Here are the items to buy and fill your bucket with when it comes to building out this kit. With just $20, you can get a bunch of these items.
Medical Tape
Rolled Gauze
Rubber Gloves
A Variety of Gauze and Sandwiches
Pack a 5-gallon bucket to the top and seal it with a lid. Once that is done you can simply start a new one and stack them somewhere safe. Remember, serious wounds need the bandages changed often and the average home first aid kit just doesn’t have the resources to deal with one serious wound let alone many.
3. Potions
I joke when I call them potions but, in many ways, it is what they resemble. The items on this list are simply perfect to buy at the dollar store and can be stashed away for when you need them.
Some of them have a bit of shelf life so you have to be careful about things like rotation. However, if you lose something due to age it is a 1$ investment!
Witch Hazel
Hydrogen Peroxide
Rubbing Alcohol
Eye Drops
Vapor Rub
Hydrocortisone
These are all important things to have on hand when you are dealing with first aid and medical issues.
4. Supports and Braces
Interestingly enough, you can also make some gains in dealing with things like nagging sprains, old injuries, and basic problems that require supports and braces. Even if you don’t have an injury today, you are going to want to own the wears that you need to deal with things like muscle injuries.
There is a good chance you will be fatigued in a disaster or emergency. That is when injuries happen!
Arthritis and Sports Heat Rub
Sore Muscle Rub
Ankle Supports
Knee Supports
Elbow Supports
Wrist Supports
Athletic Tape
Gel Cushions for Shoes
5. Cotton and Paper
Smart & Simple Bath Tissue image by Dollar General
The dollar stores sell all kinds of paper and cotton products. We do not really appreciate these until they are gone but to stock up on them for cheap is a great way to bolster that in-home first aid kit.
Cotton Balls
Cotton Swabs
Tissues
6. Tests!
Assured Ovulation Predictor image by Dollar Tree
You can also stock up on a number of important test kits for things like pregnancy, drug use, and ovulation. These will all be especially important in a disaster so be sure you have these on hand.
Of course, understand why many people will be nervous about depending on a dollar store pregnancy test just know that these things have been tested and you can see the results here.
Conclusion
No one can deny the legitimacy of dollar store preps. While your day to day life may not include a bunch of dollar store foods or items, believe that there are deal opportunities in these stores. You can rapidly build up preps by shopping for the right items at $1 each.
Look at it this way. If you bought one of every item we mentioned in this article, it would cost you $30! Now, that is a value, and it will make a difference in your level of medical preparedness.
What other dollar store first aid haul and hacks can you recommend? Shout out in the comments section below!
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