Everyone should have a good selection of tools on hand to be able to fix almost anything. Whether you are a prepper or a homesteader, you will rely on these tools to build and fix most things. If you are into frugal living, you want these tools to help you extend the life of your items and be able to fix them.

This is a basic list that we came up with. These are the tools we cannot live without because we use them so much. You will see them in our house and shop toolboxes. Yes, that’s right. We have two separate toolboxes and we keep multiples of these tools. That is how important they are to us!

With this list of tools, you should be able to fix almost anything:

1. Hammer for pounding nails, removing nails, prying things apart, and “gently” coaxing something in or out of place.

2. Set of screwdrivers – Phillips and standard to loosen or unloosen screws.

3. Socket Set – standard and metric sockets for working on household projects and vehicle maintenance.

4. Wrenches – standard and metric. Also, a set of crescent (adjustable) wrenches for working on household projects and vehicle maintenance.

5. Pliers – regular, needle nose, and side cutters for holding things in place while you work on them, for twisting things into or out of place, and to cut wires or zip ties.

6. Vise grips (locking) pliers for clamping things in place or to get a better grip to loosen up items that seem to be stuck.

7. Hand Saw for cutting boards. A Hack Saw is also very handy to have to cut styrofoam, to shorten screws. and to cut some plastics like hose or PVC.

8. Utility Knife for making straight cuts, cutting something off, scraping away caulk or glue, and can be used in place of scissors.

9. Tape Measure to measure items and rooms as well as where to cut a board.

10. Carpenter L Square for measuring accurate corners for cutting and to make certain your corners/walls are square.

11. Level to make sure you are attaching something to the wall right and level. You also use this for making walls, stairs, and much more to make sure everything is straight.

12. Carpenters Pencil and/or a Permanent Marker for making the mark to know where to attach something or screw something in as well as knowing where to cut.

You need to get yourself a good toolbox to store these in. The number of tools may be too much to store in a portable toolbox, but these standalone toolboxes are great for storage and organization.

We know some of you will argue that if the grid goes down, you will need more including a hand drill. We get it. However, this is a basic ‘everyone should have these tools’ kind of list. You should have these tools on hand whether you live in a van, apartment, or house, are single or married, college student or older, and urban or rural dweller. 

Fixing your own things will save you so much money. Nowadays, if you don’t know how to fix something, there is probably a video online that will teach you! The Family Handyman website is also a great source of do-it-yourself and fix-it-yourself information!

Thanks for reading,
Erica and Rob

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