10 Dollar Tree Items Mexican Households Buy Before Winter (And 5 They Never Touch)

Winter always finds the one thing a house forgot. The cold snap a week early, the storm that takes the lights, the three days the roads are ice. Getting ready does not take hundreds of dollars. My mother did it every October with almost nothing. Here are the ten things our families pick up at Dollar Tree before winter, and the five I walk right past. 📖 My mother's whole way of running a house is written down in one book, The Old Mexican Way: https://oldmexicanway.com The 10, counting down (Dollar Tree website prices this week, your store may differ): 10. La linterna: LED flashlight, $1.50. More than one, tested at the counter, batteries beside it, not inside 9. Las velas: unscented white emergency candles, 6 for $1.25. The backup light, with my mother's rules 8. Las bolsitas: freezer quart bags, 20 for $1.50. Matches, batteries and medicines, dry and together 7. La cobija de emergencia: silver emergency blanket, $1. Under the real blanket, and one in the car 6. El papel de baño: Angel Soft Mega Rolls, 4 for $4. Only the backup, and new behind, old in front 5. El marcador: Sharpie, $1.25. A date on every freezer bag, a name on every bin 4. Los guantes: nitrile gloves, 8 for $1.50. The right size, for the ugly winter jobs 3. Las pilas: AA alkaline, 4 for $3. Only the sizes your house actually uses 2. La taza de viaje: travel mug with a lid, $1.50. The morning café de olla, carried to the cold bedroom 1. Los calentadores de mano: HotHands, $1.25 a pair. Read the rules on the package And two more that are ours: the weatherstrip ($1.50, with la víbora at the bottom of the door) and la canela ($3 a bag). The 5 we never touch: 1. Tea lights as a heater: candles are for light, never for heat 2. Canned chafing fuel for heat: carbon monoxide has no color and no smell 3. The $7 pretty throw: fine for the sofa, not a winter blanket 4. Perfumed candles and wax warmers in a shut house: they can hide the smell of gas 5. The Christmas aisle in October: the list is for the cold The little things only fill the gaps. A house ready for winter also needs warm clothes and real blankets for everyone, a safe way to heat it, food and water for a few days, the medicines people take, a carbon monoxide alarm, and a way to hear the weather news when the power is out. Poco a poco se anda lejos: one or two of these every time you shop. Safety, said plainly: candles on a hard surface, nothing above them, never in a child's room, never left burning when the last person goes to sleep. Never heat a room with the oven, a grill, or canned fuel. If you smell gas: no switches, no lights, no phone inside, open the windows on your way out, call from outside. Hand warmers: not directly on bare skin, not while you sleep, not for a baby, ask your doctor if you have diabetes or poor circulation.