7 Essential Toiletries To Stock Up On

Yes, you do have more than 7 toiletries on your shelf, but I listed what I consider essential, and then listed the nice-to-haves. Nice-to-haves are items you might not need (or find) after a disaster, but you use them everyday, and boy they would be nice to have if you ever became unemployed. Essentials are necessary for hygiene. You could definitely argue the point and move some nice-to-haves to the essentials list and vice versa. But if finances are tight, I recommend gathering a supply of the 7 Essential Toiletries first. Then some of the nice-to-haves. Then tendency to buy things only as they run out will leave you helpless when disaster strikes.

Because I encourage taking a mini-inventory of your food and home storage each week, this list coordinates with my 52-Week Food Storage Inventory. In the past, I listed toilet paper and facial tissue on the Paper & Plastics inventory list; but I’ve reconsidered and think they are much easier to count with other toiletries.

Obviously your toiletries will be quicker to count if they are in a centralized location, but that doesn’t work if you put some personal items in your basement, some in a bathroom cupboard, and some in the garage. You might want to work on a bit of organizing. But as long as you know where they are, you’ll be okay taking an inventory. Obviously you have other items in your cupboards that you could add to the list as well.

The nice thing about toiletries is you can buy them everywhere, and there are lots of sales and coupons. But I warn you; Costco makes a lot of money on toiletries. So, the list below only shows a few items I buy at Costco. However, convenience sometimes wins out.

If your home storage space is tight, focus on a 1 to 3 month supply of toiletries. Or buy one item to use and one for your shelf. Having a smaller stock means you will need to replace items more often.

My last bit of advice is don’t go overboard and buy a year’s supply of every toiletry or you won’t have any money left for food storage. The stuff that keeps you alive. Moderation is a good thing. You’ve watched shows like Extreme Couponing. Well . . . that’s extreme. A year’s supply of toilet paper in your tiny apartment or a year’s supply of peanut butter. You choose.

Adjust the list. Eliminate what you don’t want. Use it as a starting place.

SUGGESTED INVENTORY: every 3 months


# OF TOILETRIES TO STORE per person