The Ultimate Costco List for Preppers

Thinking the world is going to end soon? Maybe the tariff wars still have you wondering what the future holds? I’m right there with you! In fact, I’m heading off to my local Costco today, in part, for our monthly grocery run but also to add to our preps. If you love Costco as much as I do, consider the advice in the following video about what items you should consider stockpiling for preparedness. I also have a few thoughts about the video, which you can scroll further down to read.

• He recommends grabbing batteries each time you go, but that’s probably going overboard on AA and AAA alkaline batteries since each pack includes something like 40 or more batteries per package. We rarely use that many batteries on a daily basis to need restocking monthly. Rather, consider Eneloop rechargeable AA and AAA battery options if you want redundancy for small electronics.
• He suggests buying toilet paper each time you go, and that you should have at least 100 rolls in your house, which is fine. But if you fear another TP shortage, consider a toilet bidet. We’ve used them for a year or two now and they definitely cut down on TP usage.
• Be careful about some of his recommend bulk purchases because you could end up wasting money. The large bottle of soy sauce is a good example, but it could be anything that you may use sparingly or which sounds like a useful prepping purchase which you may never use. I’m thinking of things like motor oil if you don’t know how (or don’t have the tools) to change your car’s engine oil.
• Although most of your money should be spend on food at a place like Costco, I like how he recommends additional items, such as trash bags, paper goods (e.g., paper plates, napkins), large rolls of aluminum foil, smoke alarms, motion-activated lights, and more because these are all useful additions and precisely the items I recommend in my Sold Out Forever book.
• I didn’t realize just how much extra preparedness-related items Costco has, such as cast iron cookware, a Foodsaver, mason jars, freeze-dried food, and so much more. Granted, this could be specific to his local store, but it can’t hurt to look around because they usually have competitive prices if you need these sorts of things.

Anyway, I hope that gives you some thought-starters if you need a reason to spend a grand or two this month. 🙂