Prepping can be an expensive proposition. I really don’t know how much I’ve spent on my preps through the years, mostly because I gave up tracking the cost years ago. But one thing I can say about my own preps is that I’ve always looked for a bargain.
That doesn’t mean that I’ve always tried to buy cheap, because cheap also refers to low quality. Rather, I’ve tried to find places where I can buy a quality product at a good price.
That’s one of the reasons I like Target.
Compared to other similar stores, they seem to carry a little bit better quality products, while maintaining good prices.
They may not be as cheap as someone else for a particular item, but there’s a good reason for it when they aren’t.
The quality of the product they are selling is better. Without mentioning names, let me say that some of those stores push their suppliers to cut prices, sacrificing quality to do so.
Let me say something about quality here. The only quality that matters is what you and I, as consumers need. In the case of buying stuff for prepping, we don’t need beautiful products; we need rugged products that will work.
So paying extra for a “quality” knife that is called “quality” just because it is beautiful doesn’t do us any good if the knife isn’t made well and the blade is made of quality steel.
Related: How To Correctly Choose Your Survival Knife
So don’t accept what someone else says about quality if it doesn’t meet your criteria. Quality expressed in beauty isn’t the same as quality expressed in rugged materials.
The last thing that any of us needs is to have our gear fail when a disaster strikes and things go south.
That’s part of the reason why I shop at Target, looking to get the things I need, at a better price than I might find them elsewhere. I can’t find everything at Target, but I can find a lot.
The one thing I don’t shop for at Target is food, at least not food for prepping. They don’t really carry the bulk packages I look for as part of my prepping stockpile. So unless there is something I use a lot of that’s on sale, like spaghetti sauce, I buy my food elsewhere.
But there are several other things for prepping that I’ve found you can get at a good price at Target.
Camping Gear
Target carries an extensive line of camping gear, with even more available through their website.
This is the same gear that you would pay considerably more for at a sporting goods store; but at Target’s prices. I’ve found their prices on tents and sleeping bags to be particularly good.
Related: 5 Wilderness Survival “Rules” That Are Actually Myths
Their style of camping gear is more along the lines of pulling your car or truck into a campground, than backpacking. So I really wouldn’t try to set up the ideal bug-out bag from Target’s stock; but when it comes to bugging out in a car or equipping a survival retreat, they’ll save you money.
Rugged Clothing
One thing that a lot of preppers don’t really think of as survival gear is rugged clothing.
But unless you work outdoors, like a carpenter, you probably don’t have enough rugged clothing. Even the blue jeans that most people wear today aren’t made for mucking around in the woods.
Good rugged clothing is an essential, whether you are bugging in or bugging out.
Even bugging in you’re going to find yourself doing a lot of manual tasks, like cutting wood for the fire, that you didn’t do before. Normal office attire won’t survive that sort of abuse for long.
Cold-Weather Gear
Part of our wardrobe has to be the coats, hats and gloves that we need to have to survive the cold.
You can buy this stuff at a lot of places, but here the lower prices that Target can offer are a benefit.
You’ll be able to find rugged winter wear at a good price, without the clothing being poorly made that you run the risk of it falling apart on you.
Hiking Boots
The other part of your wardrobe that’s important is good footwear. While you may not think you need to be wearing hiking boots while cutting firewood in the backyard, I’d recommend it.
Related: How to Make Your Boots Last Longer
Not only do hiking boots bear up much better under hard use than tennis shoes can, but they also offer good ankle support. That’s important, so as to avoid an injury that could incapacitate you.
We don’t worry about that much in normal times, as we’re mostly walking on pavement or inside buildings; but in a time of crisis, any injury is a serious thing.
Cooking
Target is my go-to store for just about anything for the kitchen. Not only do they have a good selection at a good price, but their quality standard means that what I buy this month isn’t going to break next month. If you think about it, that’s important for prepping, as we won’t be able to readily replace anything that breaks on us.
Batteries
Batteries are going to be an essential supply, especially for flashlights and radios.
Fortunately, battery manufacturers have upped the shelf life of alkaline batteries, now claiming that they are good for ten years. That means we can stock up on them, without worrying about them going bad.
Storage Bins
I like storing my prepping supplies in plastic bins to protect them. While plastic bins can’t protect their contents from fire, they can protect food from almost all weather, as well as keeping varmints out of the food. At the same time, those bins make it much easier to inventory my food and other supplies, as well as moving it around.
Target probably has the best selection of storage bins of any major retailer, making them the perfect place to shop for those bins. The wide selection means that I’ll get what I need, rather than settling for what’s available. At the same time, I’ll get it for a good price.
Burner Phones
It’s always a good idea to have a burner phone or two. For those who aren’t sure what I’m talking about, I’m talking about prepaid phones that can be used and thrown away, when needed.
Related: How To Charge Your Phone When There Is No Electricity
Throwing them away keeps the government and others from following you via the phone. You can buy them at several different places, but Target’s got a great price on them.
Personal Hygiene
We don’t often think of it, but personal hygiene is essential in a survival situation, as a means to avoiding the spread of disease.
This includes everything from washing your hands and brushing your teeth to things like feminine hygiene. Fortunately, most of these products store well.
I wait until Target has a sale on the products I use, then stock up on them.
Duffel Bags
While storage bins work well for storing prepping gear at home, I prefer duffel bags for packing things that will be taken in a bug out.
I’m not talking about a bug-out bag here; where everything is supposed to be in one bag that you can carry; I use a backpack for that.
What I’m talking about is everything else that goes within a vehicle bug out.
Packing things in duffels makes it easier to fit into the irregular spaces that car trunks offer, rather than just putting in a couple of suitcases or plastic bins and then having to fit a lot of loose things around the edges.
I want those “loose things” to be in something and a duffel bag works well.
Bicycles
A bicycle is one of the better forms of no-fuel transportation and may very well become an essential in a post-disaster world where we can’t get gasoline.
Target carries a good assortment of bicycles, from all the major brands. I’d recommend buying a better one, with lots of gears and disk brakes.
At Target’s prices, you can more easily afford that good bike, rather than trying to get those options at a bike shop or sporting goods store.
Be sure to upgrade the seat to something more comfortable, add some form of cargo-carrying capacity and buy some spare tires for it.
Cleaning Supplies and Paper Products
Many diseases are carried by insects and rodents, both of which are attracted to dirty homes, especially those where the “dirt” is actually food residue.
Keeping a clean home, and especially keeping a clean kitchen, is, therefore, an important part of maintaining health during a crisis.
Again, this is the type of thing to buy on sale. Fortunately, Target puts these products on sale fairly regularly, lowering their already low prices.
That saves money, which can be used to buy more or to buy other necessary things.
You can also use those supplies as part of your everyday cleaning, making sure that you’re not paying too much for them. With the inflation we’re experiencing, we need to save wherever we can.
You may also like:
Why You Should Put Peppers In Your Socks
10 Medical Supplies You Need To Stock Up Before It’s Too Late (Video)
Survival Uses For Drinking Straws You Normally Throw Away
Find Out What Areas Would Be Targeted by FEMA When SHTF (they’ll take your supplies)
So….. Welcome to what they normally sell at target how is this a article ? Like nobody knows whats at target ?
I don’t normally shop at Target…. haven’t been in one in over 20 years! So, this information is useful to me! I never thought about shopping for camping gear at Target…. I buy at Academy or Walmart. However, now, I am going to check out Target!!
Thanks for the info!
A few years ago the Marines were told “Toys for Tots” weren’t allowed to set up a table at Christmas time. Told them they were a french owned company and it had nothing to do with them. I’ve not spent a nickel in one since.
I had not a clue about Target. But now that I do…!
It’s an advertisement.
Raven is off his meds today.
I don’t believe burner phones are supported any longer. I think that ended at the end of 2021. Not sure ?
What are you even talking about? Pay as you go phones haven’t gone anywhere.
I don’t think that it s the same thing as “burner phones”. What you are probably talking about are services that provide a choice between plans or pay as you go. They are talking about “cardboard phones” that you use only once then you throw it away (after destroying it)
Whats the difference, if the SHTF there will be no phone service anywhere, not sure about satellite phones. Build Faraday boxes for short wave radios, CB’s and walkie-talkies as for communications.
Still around, look for non-branded convenience stores (not Magic Market or 7-11) owned/operated by middle-eastern or Indian persons. $25 will get you a phone with 30 min talk time and unlimited texting. Also get upgrade/refresh minute cards there too.
I have one I bought at Home Shopping on clearance last year for around $60, with a year’s service. It’s an LG, works fine. They have phone cards at Target….how ’bout that? A product tie-in!
Our Target has a decent grocery section, too, and I’ve found shelf stable food there to add to my preps – no bulk stuff, but nice for one or two people. They also sell wine and beer. Again, not for everyone, but a little wine is nice when you’re cooking sometimes. You can even put it in the food!??
Watch their pull-dates. Every once in a while I will find that they’re selling things past their pull date. They also have had canned food for sale with a dent close to the sealing edge.
My local Target has a very limited supply of wet dog food, for some reason. A couple of years ago, those shelves were stuffed.
Arrrrggghh! Bicycles at Target ! Yeah their bicycles are cheaper than at your local bike store. There is a reason for that. As many long time followers of this list know, I was a long time bicycle commuter and long distance rider for a good part of my life.
Quality in a bicycle is not readily visible to the casual observer. In addition, assembling a bicycle takes someone who has been trained in it either OJT in a bike shop or at a bicycle repair school. Yes there are actual schools that teach bicycle repair. At Target, the back room clerk assembles the bicycles following the instructions written in Chinglish. Got an after sale problem? Try taking it back to Target to get it fixed. I hope you made careful note of where the bicycle repair department was before you bought the Tarcycle.
I wont go into what I think you should look for in a bug-out bicycle. I already did that a couple of years ago. If you want a durable bike for an EOTW scenario you won’t find it at Target.
Oh, but Target sells Schwin bicycles. Sorry, boys and girls, but Schwin is no longer made in the U.S. The Schwin brand is a mass market, built by the lowest bidder in China bike. There are no Shimano parts on a Schwin bike. Yes, Shimano, a Japanese firm still makes the best bike parts in the world. If you are going to buy a bike at Target you might as well go to WallyWorld and get it $10 cheaper.
LCC..
Quality does count for a whole lot on bikes and other tools, but none of us know what a SHTF situation will be like. In your case, you had to bug out because of a fire. In that situation, a high dollar bicycle just took up extra storage space. If the world goes to pot, and we have a grid down or riot situation, then the nicer the “tool”, the more likely you will become a target. Give me a beat-up POS vehicle that looks like it won’t make it over the next hill. I will be bypassed for the person driving the Escalade. Same with bikes.
I am not trying to belittle your post, because it has valid information, and I agree that if someone just has to run out and spend money on a bike, buy that bike in the most economical way possible, but be wise about your decision.
Prepper: Agree 100%. Get the best value for your money every time. Look back through the archives and dredge up my articles on a bug out bike. You will find I stress durability over flash and dash. You won’t find the latest 30 speed, 7.5# carbon fiber $10,000 skinny tire, Bicycling magazine bike of the year on my list of desirable features in a bike for the EOTW.
The problem with low end bikes generally isn’t with the frames, although frame geometry strongly influences bike handling beyond go-fast capability, it is with all the other components. You want strong wheels which require decent metal in the wheel frame and spikes. You won’t go far with a taco’d front wheel. The 21 gears won’t help you a bit if the derailleur is a piece of junk cobbled together in some back alley shop in China. When the ei cheapo chain is stretched so that it no longer can shift without jumping the chain ring and jamming between two chain rings you will curse the day that you bought a bike nobody would bother stealing. I can attest that prying a chain out from between two chain rings is a time consuming, frustrating process, especially if you have two or three el cheapo aluminum chain rings which you must carefully avoid bending because if you bend them, then your shifting problems have just started.
If there is a wrong way to do it on a bicycle, with my life-long love affair with the most economical, most fuel efficient form of rapid transportation ever invented, you can be assured that I have been there and done that. Pried the chain from being jammed between two chain rings? Done that more times than I can count. Broken a cheap chain? Been and done that. That is almost as dangerous as having a stem break which is guaranteed to toss you head first over the front of the bike usually resulting in a broken collar bone. Have not done that for which I am very grateful. The list of parts failure is very long all of which militate against the overpriced $500 bike at WallyWorld or Tarjay.
Besides, I think if Donny Desperate is looking for a set of wheels, he is not going to wait until the ultimate trail bike comes down the road. He is going to hijack the first thing that rolls into his purview. I think the urban legend of driving a junker looking vehicle is misguided. Desperate folks are going to latch on to the first rolling stock they can successfully hijack and seek to hijack another if their first hijacked vehicle fails.
Recall to mind that 99.9 percent of us have never been in an EOTW situation. Even when I had to flee the fire, I knew that once out of the immediate fire zone everything was going about in a perfectly normal situation, totally unaffected by the localized situation a few hundred were involved in. Even when stuck in traffic fleeing a looming hurricane, you are secure in the fact that once out of the path of the hurricane, you will find normal, everyday American style life.
Even at the height of the panic buying during the faux epidemic, life pretty generally went on as usual. Water still ran when we turned on the faucet. Lights usually went on when we flipped the switch, the toilet flushed even if we had to use other means to cleanse ourselves because we had overlooked stockpiling toilet paper.
Because I have been prepping for so long, I had enough to share with close relatives who had poo-pooed my “pack-ratting” tendencies before they were down to the last roll. Suddenly I went from a pack-ratting old eccentric to a far seeing savant. I am no longer considered the family eccentric.
So while we disagree about the vulnerability of a quality bike versus an el cheapo from Tarjay or WallyWorld, any situation we encounter short of a true EOTW scenario will leave us without a true understanding of what we will face in that circumstance. I hope none of us on this list ever face that circumstance.
Buy the quality that you can ‘afford’ to buy. Never go into debt when purchasing equipment or tools. If you don’t have the ‘ready money’ or can’t afford something, save up for it. Being in debt cripples you down the road if you ‘really need’ something, but your money is going towards your debt. Keep in mind that some places, not all… as inflation goes up, money gets tight and profits start to drop…some will be looking for a way to demand full payment on what you owe. Maybe a late or missed payment will do it. Many times, the terms of the debt can change, even though you signed a contract that supposedly holds them to the terms. Read the ‘fine print’ and you might find that the terms can change in certain circumstances…such as being late or missing a payment. At the very least…your interest rate will climb to the legal max, which I ‘think’ is about 29%. Remember too, if you only make ‘minimum payments’ it will take about 10+ years to pay it off.
That should be wheels AND SPOKES, not wheel and spikes. Damnation I hate testing on my phone.
LCC, what about “beach cruisers”? They sell these at the Navy Exchange, look solid, have huge tires, and simplistic gears. How can someone tell if it’s quality or crap?
do: Not to regurgitate my articles on bugging out by bike and what to look for in a bike keep in mind you want something durable. You want something that you can ride all day and cover decent mileage. The beach cruisers and the banana bikes if you were riding a bike in the 60s are considered suitable for casual riding. Look at those tires. Do you think you can push them 50 miles and do it again the next day and the day after that? I am convinced those fat tire bikes are a fad and will wind up spending more time in the garage than on the road.
A mountain bike with low gearing is more desirable in my opinion or a commuting bike. In an EOTW situation you want to be riding heads up scanning for obstacles and booby traps. You want a bike that supports heads up riding.
You aren’t going to be “training” for some road race, riding 15 – 20 mph with your head down. If you can cruise on level ground at 10-12 mph, that should be all you expect to do. You will be heavily laden with panniers and/or a trailer. You want to have both liners and Slime in your tubes and as opposed to knobby tires, I recommend the widest road tire that can fit on your rims and clear the stays.
What? Doesn’t that negate what I just said about those extra wide tires on beach cruisers? Not at all. Those are designed to give you traction on the beach. If you lived in snow country, they would be fine on your winter bike. I would not bug out in January in Minnesota unless I absolutely, positively had to.
You know how you take your snow tires off as soon as you have — well, I seem to recall that you are from SoCal, so you don’t put snow tires on at the first real snow storm. Folks who live in snow country usually have two sets of tires. One set is for winter driving and the other set is for driving during the seasons when the roads aren’t covered with snow. I won’t go into why, ask one of your neighbors who lived in snow country about it.
If most of your bugout route is over rough terrain, then you want the nobby tire on the rear wheel for sure and if there is a lot of loose gravel or deep dust like the trails on SoCal, on the front wheel too. If your route is mostly paved, go with road tires.
I don’t want to turn this into a treatise on bugging out by bike. I wrote at least 3 articles and possibly 4 with lots of comments in reply to questions a few years ago. Look them up. I think if you read them and the comments it will answer most of the questions you have about bugging out by bike and bike configurations.
With regard to the bikes used by the VC on the HCM Trail, those bikes were intended to be pushed most of the way. They were only ridden downhill. My recollection is that it took them 6 weeks to traverse the 1600 miles of the HCM Trail. That’s about 40 miles a day which considering they were hauling approx 400 pounds is damned good. In fact breaking it down like that, I seriously doubt that they covered 1600 miles in six weeks. I think a 25 mile daily average would be more likely, especially since they frequently had to pull off the trail to dodge hostile a/c.
You would do much better with a midline trail or commuter bike geared for hauling a heavy load up hill.
I have been looking at electric bikes but so far like electric cars, their rang is restricted and they take a long time to charge.
I recently corresponded with Montague, not a well known brand, but a long time bike maker. They have a folding electric bike that looks quite interesting except it’s range is only 25 miles (optimum) and takes 4 hours to recharge. It does not recharge as you pedal or coast down a hill. They said it would be possible to use a solar panel to recharge but they hadn’t explored that at all and referred me to the electric motor manufacturer. I haven’t followed up. A solar charger you could mount on a bike trailer would take forever to recharge the battery.
Unless your commute is about 20 miles and you still have your boyish or girlish figure, electric bikes are still not suitable for a bugout situation. Nothing beats the old safety bike (that’s what they were called when first introduced because the big wheel bikes were very dangerous to ride) with panniers and/or trailer for a bugout vehicle in an end of the world situation.
I’m not spending f big bucks in n something that I might use once. But thanks for the usual diatribe. A bit short this time, fingers getting tired?
most of the items on this list you can purchase at a garage sale or secondhand store for a lot cheaper prices.
Sure, but you never know what you’re going to get at a garage sale, while Target almost always carries the same stuff. Garage sales are a great way to FIND prepper gear, but they are a horrible way to SHOP for it.
Necro:
True.
Also, if I need to really depend on something to work in an emergency, I would rather buy it new.
Buying any used merchandise, you run the risk of finding out there’s damage or missing pieces, even if you think you have checked it out thoroughly before buying it.
If you buy from a yard sale, thrift store, or estate sale, all merchandise is sold as is, and nonreturnable/nonrefundable.
Buying from a regular store, you usually have at least a month to return it if it’s damaged or missing pieces, and sometimes longer.
Checking out any emergency items before you actually need to use them: priceless.
Kitty,
I like to buy new as well but sometimes it is better to purchase used and tested rather than new and ready to fail on the first use. I can’t suggest how to know or when to do which, though. But I do get a LOT of crap from Amazon that doesn’t work out of the box even though others rave about the product.
If you are a knowledgeable biker rider and do a lot of your own repair work on your bike and know how to inspect a bike then second hand stores and garage sales are prime territory. I don’t know how far you think you will have to bug out to a region where you think it is safe or where you have your cabin on 40 acres with a stocked lake. If you are heading out any distance and using panniers and/or a trailer, you will want a durable bike in good condition.
No, instead of writing a long reply, I think I will write an article on what to look for in a used bike and maybe Claude will run it as an article v
I stopped going to Target some years ago for ethical reasons. They declared that men who feel at that moment that they are really a woman can use their women’s room.
If someone can show that they have backed down from this absurd and dangerous stance, I would be happy to look to Target again as a place to shop. Until then, I will not set foot in the place, even to buy diamonds for a dime a dozen.
BillH:
Good to know – I won’t be using the bathroom there unless it’s a single seater.
Yeah I gave up on Target when they decided everyone could use the same rest room.
A small quibble: plastic totes to protect from rodents/vermin: I had squirrels chew though a Colman molded plastic ice chest to get at the bird seed inside. A single wall tote will not stop them for long.
So very true
when I was stationed overseas even the ants and roaches would eat through plastic and mylar bags to get inside, and here in the states we have had rodents chew through plastic containers to get inside.
Still around, look for non-branded convenience stores (not Magic Market or 7-11) owned/operated by middle-eastern or Indian persons. $25 will get you a phone with 30 min talk time and unlimited texting. Also get upgrade/refresh minute cards there too.
I’m pretty sure the law requires identifiable documentation to activate them now – since 9/11, I think.
Squirrels DO eat plastic, and are especially drawn to red plastic in my neighborhood. Yes, they chewed two of my 5 gal gasoline cans, guess their BOV needed fuel. Still fighting them off.
careful if you kill them DZ and Red think shooting anything is wrong and those rodents have rights.
So, you ARE off your meds Blackbird of happiness?
Just when I had hope you were becoming somewhat useful in comments.
To keep on this thread (and hoping the “Expert” actually says something useful) yard sales and thrift stores often have great deals.
Even better deals if you bring the thrift store folks a box of doughnuts now and then mentioning how unsaleable items you might be interested in before they toss them into the dumpster. I’ve gotten stained jeans and odd colored blankets for free that way.
I have no problem killing pests. Nor did anyone post to depend on a handgun as your main weapon, another of your lies. Firearms are tools, you have to choose the right tool for the job, and sometimes it’s a rifle, sometimes a shotgun, sometimes it’s a handgun, and sometimes it’s more “unconventional” methods.
raven droppings: Again, you lie and cheat. Shame on you for lying about the image of G’d. If you knew Bible, which you can’t, then you’d know the Bible likes natural methods. There’s a world of difference between killing something for pleasure, beavers, say, and baiting rodent that carry plagues. Agreed with Michael, please get back on your meds.
I thought Raven was being facetious.
They ate through the plastic gas tank on my push mower. Squirrels eat anything.
Dale: Tree rats. niio
ok what about pain relief i go for wild lettuce extract which grow in the wild, book on edible plants, is also helpful
Rich, you may have talked me into getting a card for Target. I’ve been going to Costco, but their prices are high. While I’m all for organic, there are too many times price overrides it. niio
red, I don’t think Target is a membership store, it used to be open to everyone, then they supported the trans to enter the women’s restrooms and I never went back, never will. I just saw the post that Target also denied the Marines to set up a “Toys for Tots” table, so they are double damned for that, now I’m going to promote everyone to boycott Target.
In 2015 Target also removed all gender labels from toys. When they went woke they went all the way.
dz: ah! OK, stick with Costco and a few others. Gas today at costco was 4.25/gallon. That’s .25c less than any place else. niio
Last year, my local Target had a tall display of newborn to toddler clothing with various fake rainbow symbols to celebrate “pride” month. Target is not the bastion of having a clear moral compass for many reasons.
Sorry but this sounds like a major advert for Target! There are other stores with quality just as good as Target at a lower price. Take a look at K Mart for instance, their quality is excellent and their price would be at least 20 to 25% less than Target. I’m not saying one is better than the other, all I mean is you need to shop around, don’t just rely on the one store. Sometimes the most obscure shop will have the quality you want at a price that’s better that the two of them. For instance, I found a malty tool gadget, like a Swiss army knife, which has a hammer head, knife, saw, cork screw, bottle opener, hole punch, screw drivers and a file. I live on seven acres and have used this on all sorts of jobs and found the quality to be great, in fact I’m still using it and have bought another one with a shifting spanner head instead of a hammer head, they also have one with a tomahawk head. How much you ask? I found them for $10AU. So it does pay to shop around.
They’ve done Walmart and Dollar Tree in the past. It’s just Target’s turn. I’m not sure if they’ve done Academy. If not, I’d like to see that. Maybe online Wish & Amazon, too.
K-mart?
The last K-Mart left my part of the county several years ago.
Same here, I just searched and there are only three K-Marts still in the business killing state of Kalifornication.
Not in my part of the world for the last decade or more.
target’s name is appropriate the target is on you.. Just a high priced walmart. There are much better places to shop. Don’t think you’ll find a geiger counter in there.
I wonder if they will get around to promoting other stores such as Bi-Mart, Payless, and Fred Myers found in the Northwest?
If you want a durable bike look to the third world models, like the kind that hauled the cargo down the Ho Chi Min trail. Those things carried huge loads. I’ve see they are available places like Pakistan. Should be available somewhere.
Mark, and what does it cost to import a bike from overseas?
Mark: Very good idea. those bikes were made with wheels and bamboo. They had a 200 lbs capacity, as I recall, and were very easy to repair. I’m always looking for old Garden Way carts and so on and now you gave us something else. niio
Michael:
That’ll probably work better for smaller, private thrifts run by local churches. The big chains like Salvation Army and Goodwill have very strict rules about giving away stuff. Salvation Army is really bad that way, depending on who their “officer/managers” are. I used to work at one years ago. They treated the staff horribly, used convict labor for pennies an hour to sort and distribute the donations at the district warehouse and were quick to take really valuable items themselves. Yep, the Captain once had the truck guys take a whole houseful of antiques to his own home for “evaluation”, and threatened them with being found in violation and being sent back to jail if they snitched on him. He also had a guy sent back up for buying a toy for his little girl’s birthday on his break – real compassionate. (He was considered to be on company time.)
Sorry for the digression – anyway, smaller thrifts might not let you take the stuff free unless you know them, but they might let you make a pile and give them $5 for the stuff.
You can also get good stuff dumpster diving after hours – just be discreet.
they convicted one of the top management types at one of the donation charities, like Goodwill, of embezzlement & conversion >>> he had a side deal going with a rag dealer to send bundles of donated clothes directly to scrap >>>> talking some BIG $$$$ ….
if you want to pizz people off – have the rummage sale workers be seen carrying out sale goods out to their cars before the doors open to the public >> gets around real fast that the rummage sales allows items to be cherry picked by the select few ….
My local Salvation Army put out a 55 page training manual that was designed to make people of a certain shade to feel guilty and to apologize. Word got out about this so donations dropped way down. The top Salvation Army guy in the area was on the radio trying to distract the public from that training manual. He did such a poor job of this and was not clear on his beliefs that it didn’t help matters at all – donations still stayed down.
The history of the Salvation Army is fine and honorable. They followed that goal for over a hundred years but something happened to them. They have lost sight of the true goal.
If my daughter or wife can go into the ladies restroom and then Target allows a man who “feels feminine” to visit the ladies restroom as well…. I’ll NEVER shop at Target!
Realize that if a “man” is dressed as a woman and on estrogen treatments, “he” will be going into restrooms in all retail facilities and you probably won’t even realize it’s not a woman. It’s not just Target or Walmart or Academy. It’s the grocery stores, the movie theaters, restaurants, Bass Pro Shop. Everywhere. As a guy, you won’t know if it’s a “woman” in the stall next to you in the men’s restroom either.
Yes however it DOES make a difference when you do know it’s happening and when an establishment ENDORSES the practice.
The problem is with establishments that ‘support’ this type of behavior. The biology, that is…the DNA of the individual…doesn’t change. Many, too, use it as an excuse to go into the ‘wrong’ restroom. We have had incidents where men have used this excuse and molested young girls. ‘Gender Dysphoria’ has been classified as a mental illness. Places that support this delusion only encourage it more.
Was in a “Wallyworld” in fall of 2020. My wife and niece stopped in the ladies room before hitting the aisles.
A deep voiced, “adams appled” deviant was walking towards the entrance with his “girlfriend”. Mountain Marc stepped in front of them and said, NOPE ! When MY girls get out they will be free to do what they want but until then, they are welcome to go to the men’s room or wait. The shrills could have woken the dead. “I’m getting the manager” HE said in his Johnny Cash voice. He did. Before the manager showed up on the scene, MY girls exited the rest room and we continued on our shopping adventure.
Said manager dealt with the whinny children attempting to FORCE their mentally ill delusions on the world and never said a word to us.
We MUST stand up to these demons to stop the madness.
Do so . . . BOLDLY.
MM
My wife is handicapped and always in a wheel chair when we’re out. I always go into the women’s room with her to help her. Most often, women wait for us to come out but sometimes they just can’t hold it and go anyway.
I always thank those that do articles. At least they make an attempt to be helpful.
Target is not a place I spend my money on outdoor gear or supplies.
Academy Sports, Walmart, on occasion Bass pro shop. Places you can pick up items they put on sale for a decent price and quality. Academy has most common ammo at the going price too.
Some really good places are estate sales and yard sales. Cast iron pans and pots can be found as well as needed tools for a fair price.
I buy my bulk rice, beans, pasta etc. at Sam’s Wholesale.
Mylar bags and oxy absorbers on amazon.
Target’s women’s restroom isn’t the only problem. Men can also use the women’s dressing rooms.
Sorry about that, I’m in Australia and K Mart is everywhere 🙂 But the malty tool gadget I was talking about was in one of those $2 shops, not sure what they are called in the states. Just one of those cheap shops that has lots of cheap Chinese stuff, but the quality of this tool surprised the hell out of me 🙂