There are some items I'm storing that I can't explain the reasons for, but I just feel I will eventually be glad I have them. They include several rolls of aluminum foil, empty containers (from 35mm film size up to Cool Whip tub size), and plastic tarps. Please add your items to the list.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), April 19, 1999

Answers

Hmmmmmmmmm! Maybe I am the odd one that is being stored! I have always had at least two of those big rolls of foil from Costco or Sams and the same with the plastic wrap. But while I have plastic containers, I long ago quit saving the ones from foods. It can become a compulsion. I have a mother in law that saves cottage cheese containers, empty paper towel rolls, rags, rags, and more rags, empty ketchep bottles, empty salad dressing bottles. Had to go in and muck it out last week. 19 bags of garbage!! A couple of things that I have bought are a new brass thimball and some darning thread. In my before y2k days, I would never use either!! If socks got a hole in them, out they went and and you got new ones. I have bought enuff socks and underwear at WalMart to clothe an orphanage!! I have bought two qts of printers ink for the computer printer. That will store better and far less expensive than new cartridges. Other than the darning thread, I can't think of anything that I have bought that we don't /won't use. And nothing wrong with those extra tarps. Here in hurricane country one should always have tarps.

-- Taz (Tassie @aol.com), April 19, 1999.

Vaseline (petroleum product), hot cocoa (comfort food), hair clips (long hair), scrabble game, cards, sculpture clay (artist), sandwich baggies, clothes pins, to name a few.

-- Leslie (***@***.net), April 19, 1999.

If you are stocking lots of tarps then have lots of bungies (tie downs). I have 90% of my food & water....will fill in about November with short shelf life food items and sports water bottles. I still need lots of meds and will be looking at vet supplies and a possible trip south of the border. I know I have overstocked on plastic buckets but I seem to have a fetish for them. I guess some extra fuel needs to wait until late November at which time all autos are kept full all of the time. I plan to get things such as Polaroid film, more undergarments, and all the sugar, salt and TP I can store.

Read a little and store a little and read a little and store a little for 256 more days.

-- oddjob (phxbanks@webtv.net), April 19, 1999.

Eight-track cassettes to play at my millenium blow-out. Right now I can get em for about 30 cents a piece. I'm looking hard for a Led Zeppelin. Now that would be a classic. And if it's a 1, I'll save em for the grandchildren.

-- KoFE (Your@town.USA), April 19, 1999.

Don't forget to store some items you don't use yourself but can use for barter. I've stored some aspirin, white sugar, and jars of instant coffee all items I don't use which could be traded for cans of soup, water or who knows??? Granny Holly

-- Hollaine Allen (Holly3325@juno.com), April 19, 1999.

DIRT... I'm storing dirt! Actually, it's seed-staring mix and good quality potting soil. I've had terrible results starting seeds in garden soil--damping off wiped out whole seed flats in a couple of days. But, I didn't lose one seedling this season because I used Jiffy-mix in my seed flats and later potted up the seedlings in good potting soil.

-- Ruby (geri498615@aol.com), April 19, 1999.

Store it all if you have the room, yes even used twist ties. Hey you can always throw it out later. Think non disposable society.

-- James D. (sibola@hotmail.com), April 19, 1999.

My Top Barter Items:

1. Liquor 2. Cigarettes 3. Chocolate 4. Common OTC Meds 5. Condoms 6. Toilet Paper

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), April 19, 1999.

Egg cartoons to start seeds in. Clothes pins and string.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), April 19, 1999.

Taz, old lightbulbs make great darning thingies! If you have a hole in the heel of a sock, put the light bulb under it so the darn has a nice curve when you've finished. You used to be able to get wooden "mushrooms" for darning--must ask Dad if he still has my mother's old ones.

Yup, clothes pins, me too, and clothes line. Am also stashing aluminum foil bakeware. Oh, books, haven't donated a paperback since I found out about Y2K. Will make great insulation, if nothing else. Also for toilet paper if things get desperate. Have stashed quite a bit of polar fleece yardage, both for blankets, draft stoppers and wraps--or barter. Don't think there's anything else remotely unusual. Oh, pet first-aid box and am beginning to stockpile med for animal with hyperthyroidism.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), April 19, 1999.

Every week when I grocery shop I buy another one of those funky 7-day religious candles for a buck - some are even rose scented! My husband laughs and I just shrug and tuck them away!

Super glue, tampons, canning jar lids.....

By the way, just received my Honeyville bulk food order (after 2 months wait) today - what a relief: TVP, milk, etc.....yummy~~~~~~

-- Kristi (securx@Succeed.Net), April 20, 1999.

Lots of book matches for bartering!!!! Very inexpensive, but when they are scarce, high value!!!

-- smitty (smitty@sandiego.com), April 20, 1999.

you may not want to admit going to fast food, but since you're there you should ask for extra of the condiments! Those little packs last forever it seems!!! And it makes it easier than trying to keep a bottle of ketchup clean until it is empty. And how do you store mayonaise without refridgeration? In those little packs! You deserve a break today.....

-- J (jart5@bellsouth.net), April 20, 1999.

Also plastic bags. Ziploc types are very useful and can be used over and over if you clean them well. Of course I wouldn't put leftovers in one that had dirty socks in it first no matter how well you cleaned it! Just use common sense and demote them after each use. Eventually they can hold garbage while being garbage and keep the smell down so varmints won't visit. [Also helpful with fly control] We also keep the bags from the store when shopping, but I feel that we need more of the paper than plastic here, but I can't explain why! And I know that the paper bags for some reason attract roaches but I still want them. Good to start the coals with for one thing, I guess.

Since the house will get painted this year, we will keep the paint buckets afterwards. The five gallon plastic ones are great! Did you know that the tops snap onto the turbine 'throat'? What I mean is, after Andrew, I had two 'holes' in the roof from where the turbines [those spinning roundish things for venting] were. The bases where okay but the spin tops were gone. I put the paint can tops on and used stretch wrap to seal them tight. PERFECT! Hey! You think I could get me a hometime t-shirt?

-- J (jart5@bellsouth.net), April 20, 1999.

"100 mile an hour tape" (a.k.a. military duct tape); nylon parachute cord; GI can openers (B-52's, 'cause I couldn't find any of the older, smaller John Waynes).

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), April 20, 1999.

J- or anyone, do you know where a regular person could buy those little packets of mayo and relish?

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), April 20, 1999.

Every time I go into a Dollar Store, I buy a hand operated can opener. They will be great bartering items. A couple of them don't work too well (I tried them out when cooking supper), If you want to buy those smaller packs of condiments, try Costco or BJ's or Sam's buying club. My lease is up in August, and I will definitely be moving, so that affects what I keep. Even tho' I'm moving, I am filling two liter soda bottles with tap water and six drops of bleach. On moving day I will have someone take them in their station wagon if there's time. Once I get moved, I will be saving the plastic bags my groceries come in. I want to get a couple dozen cloth diapers and some diaper pins. I don't have anyone in mind to give those to, but still . . . . Back in the fifties my dad studied animal husbandry. I have asked my mom to give me any of his old textbooks that she runs across. The supermarket near me has weekly "1/2 off" items. I pick up multi-vitamins and over-the-counter (OTC) meds that way.

-- Wallflower (y2kwallflr@aol.com), April 20, 1999.

Yes, I agree on the baggies. I even save the plastic bags from bread. Could come in handy. I use them alot for various items. Newspaper, and any old mag/book is hanging around for while. Got tree toppers to drop off loads of chips too. Can use for landscaping or firestarters!:>

Try going to some farms/stables and taking bags buckets etc and getting their manure to store for fertilizer. At least you can grow a good garden if necessary! You may not be able to get there when you need it. It will just compost as you wait.

Talked with friend in California...fuel up to 1.99 a gal. Could be important to what you are storing....

Like the idea of the small packages on condiments...Going into town today...catch you all later.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), April 20, 1999.

I wouldn't call this "odd" to store, but one thing that makes sense is teabags, even if you're not a tea drinker. Good barter item if Other doesn't have a percolator or ran out of the soft drinks w/ caffeine they're accustomed to. Another thing I've been doing is changing the rolls of toilet paper before they're used up. If I have folks in dire straits coming to my door, I can always hand them a can of tuna, a dollar store can opener, and a nearly-used-up roll of toilet paper and then ask them to leave.

-- Wallflower (y2kwallflr@aol.com), April 20, 1999.

Yes, I bought a two man crosscut saw....Yeah like I'm going to go out and saw firewood with that thing!

LM Due to Y2K the light at the end of the tunnel is no longer functioning.

-- LM (latemarch@usa.net), April 20, 1999.

marsh, I was at Sam's in Oklahoma City yesterday and saw individual serving size packets of mayo, jelly, salt and pepper. I thought I would wait another couple of months before I bought these sort of items.

My particular weakness seems to be plastic grocery sacks. I probably have several hundred. Why? Beats me.

Linda

-- newbiebutnodummy (linda@home.com), April 20, 1999.

Fishing Yo-Yo's or " limb lines "

They work great. It's a roll of braided line with a swivel for attaching your hook. The idea is to tie one end to a small willow branch. pull out an amount of line then bait hook . cast out from the bank the mechanism is spring loaded and will keep tension on the line once a fish is on. Prevents loss from slack line. Available @ Gabela's or Bass pro....

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), April 20, 1999.

For some reason my previous post here didn't appear. Those condiment packets can be dangerous if they swell up with botulism. They get rotated at restaurants, but maybe not at your house. Be careful!

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), April 20, 1999.

Planting blueberry bushes, sunflowers, cherry tree (fruit in a year.

large buck saw for large tree cutting.

taping my favorite radio shows (nostalgia)

matches (good for bartering)

winter clothes (Michigan a bit cold in January)

Alco-Brite 4-hour heat/cooking cans.

CASH (small bills)

composting material (got fertilizer?)

could go on for awhile.....

-- PJC (paulchri@msn.com), April 20, 1999.

Lots of Duct Tape (cheap at SAM's) 10 sheets of 4x8 1/2" chipboard (if windows get broken, or whatever) Lots of 55 gal drum liners (big plastic bags) Expendables for the cars and truck: Lots of extra OIL 12 oil filters for each vehicle 3 air filters for each vehicle 2 complete sets of spare light bulbs (exterior only) for each vehicle I'm getting new tires for the truck this summer and plan to SAVE the old ones. (Why?) 12 really cheapo "space" blankets (use or give away) Lots of those long "Scripto" brand lighters. 2 years worth of Toilet paper (for 8 people) Lots of Spaghetti Oh's (for the grandkids, or others) Lots of Hershey's syrup for the Instant Non-fat Dried Milk (yeech) a set of Night Vision GOGGLES. (you wear them)

All of these are items I would NOT normally have laying around or in any bulk quantity. The Night Vision goggle purchase came after I got to use a pair that friend bought for a Giant Camera he made. The interior of the camera was a small room made out of plywood and with the Night Vision goggles, he could work in TOTAL darkness and focus down to 6 inches. I can also read in bed without the light being on. They may come in handy.........

-- Isetta (do_not_reply_@hotmail.com), April 20, 1999.

oh, another thing: I went to the bank and got a "box" of quarters.

-- Isetta (do_not_reply_@hotmail.com), April 20, 1999.

Cheesecloth, multiple pairs of latex gloves, bottles of rubbing alcohol, tarps and ropes of various strengths and lengths.

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), April 20, 1999.

Solvents (acetone, mineral spirits, MEK, etc.) lots of pairs of leather gloves sunscreen lotion (SPF 30) tubes of silicone caulk wet line to fill my own 20 lb propane cylinders from the 1000 gal tank

-- Bob Watson (janebob99@aol.com), April 20, 1999.

Isetta, your not from E.P. are ya? I thought there was only one (cool name)

-- KoFE (your@town.USA), April 20, 1999.

To KoFE: yes I own an Isetta and there are about 800 scattered about the US. I drive it all the time.

No I am not from "E.P." wherever that is.

and unlike most everyone else here, the email address listed is valid.

surprise!

-- Isetta (do_not_reply_@hotmail.com), April 21, 1999.

It pays to be a pack rat. Before you throw something away, think about ways that you can re-use the item or part of its components.

For example, we had to replace our washing machine. Before we had the old one hauled away, we did a little brainstorming and noticed that the tub that you put the clothes in had some possible uses.

After removing the tub from the machine, we came up with the following possiblities:

1. Storage container
2. Since the tub has holes, it could be used as a heavy duty strainer
3. If you place it on some bricks and put a wire rack on top, the tub can be a cheap wood stove/barbeque. As the wood burns, the ashes are fine enough so that they go through the holes on the bottom and the sides when your stir the fire.

It all started out in jest, but we tried #3 and it works...amazing :-)

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), April 21, 1999.

Thanks for the reminders about the importance of RECYCLING! Like the idea about the stove, Tim. Anyone else have some good recycling ideas, or should this be a new thread in itself?

-- Jenny (nosnart@GI.com), April 21, 1999.

Started collecting and saving old telephone books (TP alternative). Even had my kids getting them from friends at school etc. So, I guess this is a little bit of both, recycling & saving/collecting strange things.

-- Cary Mc from Tx (Caretha@compuserve.com), April 21, 1999.