Hello Houston! Let’s prepare for your hurricane on a limited budget

HOUSTON – Hurricane season is here and your weather team is always here to help, whatever your budget.

According to FEMA, here are some essential things you’ll need to prepare for this year’s hurricane season.

• Water (one gallon per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation)
• Food (at least a several-day supply of non-perishable food)

• Battery-powered or crank-powered radio and NOAA weather radio with sound alert

• Flash light

• First aid kit

• Extra batteries

• Whistle (to signal for help)

• Dust mask (to help filter contaminated air)

• Wet wipes, trash bags and plastic ties (for personal hygiene)

• Manual can opener (for food)

• Local maps

• Mobile phone with chargers and battery backup

So we took the list to HEB and Dollar Tree to see what items we could find on this list.

Gallon of water:

• HEB $1.22

• Dollar tree: $1.25

Non-perishable foods:

• Branded tuna: $1.25 Dollar Tree

• Branded tuna in store: $1.08 HEB.

If you are looking for name brand items, Dollar Tree may be your best choice. But if you’re looking to save money, HEB store brands can actually save you money.

Toilet paper:

$1.25 Soft and comfortable toilet paper:

For 31 cents per roll, the “Soft and Comfy” brand of toilet paper offers the comfort and thickness it advertises.

$1.25 Batteries:

According to Consumer Reports, these batteries are a great deal if you use them for smaller devices, like remote controls.

Then I asked each store what hottest item was for them during hurricane season:

Dollar tree: $1.25 Body wipes.

They have a wide variety of body wipes to suit every need and for $1.25, it’s no surprise that people are lining up for this hurricane deal.

HEB: Coolers $11.98 +

But the secret to saving money on a cooler is to buy it during the holidays, not hurricane season.

If you are looking safety kits – you will need to know what you need to save money.

Dollar Tree offers a DIY kit instead. So if you only need a few items or just need to refresh your stock, this could save you money. But if you don’t know what you need or want, you could end up wasting money buying products you’ll never need.

HEB offers kits that are perfect if you’re starting from scratch or have a general idea of ​​what you need. If you have coupons or find in-store deals, you might end up saving more money.

And if you need to buy in bulk, do you need specialties or do you have dietary restrictions? Can you save money on these items too?

One of my favorite apps to use when I need to buy in bulk, a certain brand of dog food or even enjoy a bottle of wine, the Ibotta app, offers discounts on all these items. I also like to save throughout the year and withdraw money during the holidays to alleviate holiday stress.