Most of the central and eastern United States are facing a big winter storm in the next week so I wanted to share some of the weirder prep things I do because everyone already knows to stock up on food, drip your faucets and salt icy surfaces.

Take out the Trash

Okay, not starting with the most sexy but very practical. If you’re going to be stuck inside for days at a time the trash will pile up. No one wants to take it out in the snow so gather up all the trash bags and take it out now. If you have rolling bins, consider moving one close to the back door so you can reach it if the storm lingers. Otherwise, you might be tempted to throw thrash bags outside where they’ll be ravaged by animals, the weather and time, making a bigger mess later.

Move Your Car

If feasible, reposition your car so the front faces east.

I don’t know if someone actually taught me this or I learned it in college from practical experience but if you do need to drive sometime during the cold weather storms, you’ll need time to warm up your car before driving and have to clear snow from the top and windows.

If you face the car east, the rising sun will begin the work of melting snow and ice and even your engine block under the hood. It might not make a difference if you’re leaving at 5am but later in the day it’ll definitely make getting your car warmed up easier.

Put Ice Melt Inside

Not pour it inside your house, but that bag or bucket of ice melt should be accessible when you open the door, not across the yard in your shed or hidden in the garage.

You may also want to put a snow shovel within reaching distance so there’s no trek to find it in the bitter cold.

Bonus here: put an extra ice scraper for the car in the house. I have nightmares in college of trying to break ice from the car door to get in the car for the de-icing tool.

Finish the Laundry

If there’s the threat that power will go out, now is not the time to catch up on all your laundry. However, you should get any laundry in the machines dry and out before the storm comes. Then, if you lose power you’ll have a chore to do in putting it away and there’s less risk of your clothes getting musty in the washer for days.

You probably won’t be piling up a lot of dirty clothes, unless you insist on getting sweaty shoveling snow, so catching up after a storm should be simpler.

If you have some time to prep, clear space by the entrance doors to hang jackets, boots and other outer ware to dry. Snow prints throughout the house just make a bigger mess to clean so designate some space for de-frocking.

Throw Down a Rug Outside

If you have pets who are averse to going to the bathroom outside when they can’t see the grass, find an old rug and put it outside. For smaller storms you’ll be able to lift up the rug to reveal a snow free potty place. Obviously, you may want to throw away this rug when the storm passes.

I’ve also seen this done with large sheets of plywood and plastic kiddie swimming pools so look around and see what’s available.

Because it takes some time to put on your own boots and jacket and possibly get a dog sweater on, consider routine potty breaks every 2 hours so that you’re never rushing out the door to avoid an accident.

Gather your 1800s Kit

While everyone is focused on generators, flashlights and phone battery banks, you may also want to go back further. Gather candles and lighters, bring in wood for your fireplace, and think about some old fashioned hobbies to spend your time. It might be take to take up that knitting project again, read the book you bought months ago, put together a puzzle or painting something by the firelight.

Once, when I lost power in my first home, it took me a half hour to light all the candles and I loved the effect! So it was a little annoying when the power came back just as I finished lighting the last candle. I turned off the lights and had an evening reading by the fire.

The goal of these tips is to ensure that storms have a lesser impact on our daily lives and to be prepared if you lose power, get snowed in or public services shut down.

There’s tons of practical advice out there too, such as:

• Check your stock of medications and get refills on any that are critical
• Consolidate your activity in one room with the most heat
• Have shelf stable food to eat or an alternative source of cooking, such as gas
• Let your faucets drip very slowly to keep water flowing and prevent freezing (and bursting!) pipes