Snow day. The stores are already cleaned out, yet there are LONG lines for everything. Milk, bread, TP, batteries, ice melt...

Coming from CA, I always thought this was quite odd. If it's winter and you live in a cold climate, why not stay prepared?

Milk, I always have powdered and evaporated on hand, just in case. Bread, in the freezer, and also staples (yeast, flour, etc.) in case I have time to bake. Great for a snowy day, and the smell and warmth from the oven helps keeps the chill out from our patio door. TP, stocked up on last month, good sale, double coupons, room in basement to store it. Ice melt, MD ran out on Saturday and picked up the first of the season, put it out BEFORE the ice came. I HATE THE ICE UNDER THE SNOW. We didn't have that in California :-).

Batteries, I check and restock in the summer, when they have sales. Each summer we have horrible lightning storms and the power is out several times a week, so each summer I put together a "lights out" kit. Unscented pillar candles ($1 each), matches and a lighter, battery operated lanterns (gift for MDs birthday), microbial hand wipes (no power, no pump, no water, since we are on a well), etc. It all goes in a big plastic storage box in the garage, easy access, and has glow in the dark stickers from a halloween clearance sale all over the outside so we can find it in the dark.

Part of the holiday decor is thick polar fleece blankets, festive but always ready to snuggle in if the heat goes. A few duraflame logs and some firestarter sticks from a clearance last winter.

The one thing I am wasting money on, I always buy windshield wash fluid with deicer in it, and somehow MD never fills the jeep with it, and it gets buried in the garage until I buy another gallon. We have quite a supply now. Hopefully we'll use it this year!