Preparation on a budget

[PA PATRIOT]

We often hear how people pour thousands of dollars into SHTF gear buying the very best there is, now in todays economy most people are laid off, reduced working hours with ever mounting bills. So with a very limited SHTF budget say $1500.00 lets see what we can put together to help are fellow SHTF brothers and sisters survive in bad times. Lets not make this a wish list but what $1500.00 would actually buy in todays market.

Just the basics

If you See A Good Deal on Items which can be used in times of need then POST it up in this thread

[Outlander Systems]

Having been furloughed 20 hours a week, my income has been reduced in half, and prospects for getting back on 40 are looking extremely slim.

$1500 could assemble a very good amount of food. My actual preps primarily focus on food, and all else is secondary. I typically buy food with a long shelf life, that I normally eat, or wouldn't mind eating.

Yesterday I bought 35 lbs of spaghetti for $21.00. A grocery store chain here in the Southeast was running a BOGO on Ronzoni. I may go back and get some more today.

Also, the best deal on Rice is at COSTCO, where a 50 lb bag will set you bag a measly $15.00. I've been buying those when I get a chance, and stuffing them in Paint Buckets. At WAL*MART, the 5 gallon plastic paint buckets are approximately $4.00, and can hold roughly 30-35 lbs of rice. The best lids for these buckets are available at Home Depot, as the HD lids have rubber o-rings. If you go to the paint department at WAL*MART, the white 5-gallon buckets ARE food-grade, they're just not marketed as such.

At $15.00 for 50 lbs of rice, you can hoard a ton of the stuff, and if you are working with a budget of $1500.00, it will barely put a dent in it.

The good thing about prepping is that I'm still eating food I got at the end of '07/beginning of '08, that's still a year out from expiration.

When you see how quickly prices go up, you can really appreciate the stockpiling factor. I bought canned Chicken of the Sea albacore for $0.65 back in '07, and the prices have gone up in a ridiculous way, making me truly appreciate buying as much as I did.

Despite not nearly having enough 5.56 ammo on hand, gun stuff is taking a back seat to food, medical/first-aid supplies, etc.

I used to be able to get lamp oil at the 'Mart, but they've since stopped carrying the Lamplighter brand in the giant bottles. It was insane cheap, and that was my only supplier of such, thusly I'm thinking I'm stuck with what I've got on hand.

I was fortunate to be able to get my emergency candles at $1.00 for 10, but it's been awhile since I've seen those as well.

The 'Mart has the best prices on Mountain House, as well, but the selection isn't anything close to REI's.

My brother manages to beat me out on "doomer deals", hands down. He picked up a Windmill Trekker for $5.00, an in-line Camelbak water filter for $9.00, an Aquastar UV filter for $5.00, and a CFP-90 for $30, among other insane bargains.

ETA: If you're staying on a budget, shopping deals, sales, and using coupons is mandatory. Here in the SE, there is an awesome site that acts as a pre-mission briefing on hitting the grocery stores like an apocalyptic commando:

http://www.southernsavers.com/

[perna]

WOW!!! Nice site, thanks for posting it!

All the grocery stores here email their weekly specials every week. I normally only shop at 1 store, I only go somewhere else if they have real good deals and more than 1 good deal. Like when they have 4/$1 for canned vegetables or tuna.

But back to the original post, food and water are the most important things when you are on a budget.

[00leland00]

Something you can do that costs practically nothing is work on your skill sets. Fire building, snares/traps, morse code, etc. Taking all of your important documents and copying to a zip drive. Any good manuals or general shtf type information you find on the net can be printed off and hard copies saved for when the power goes out and might not be back on for a while.

[MarshallDodge]

I tend to be a bit of a scrounger.

A couple months ago I was helping move some stuff at my office building and the manager was getting rid of two generators. I got one running, the other needs some work on the electrical side, probably brushes.

I picked up a slightly used 2000 watt inverter for $10 and am looking for some used golf cart batteries so that I don't have to run the genny full time.

My wife shops the sales. She picked up Life cereal for $1 a box the other day and maxed out the 10 box limit. Check out the clearance isle at your grocery store, they always have some good sales similar to what The Landlord found.

I found her a Magic Mill at the pawn shop for $125. The same models are going for $450 on Ebay. We have ground corn, wheat, rice, and dried beans in it for different recipes. Dry goods are really cheap. Typically less than $10 for 50lbs of any of the above mentioned items.

We picked up 55 gallon soda syrup containers at the local bottling plant for $10 each. They needed rinsing a couple times to get the syrup out but once filled can be used for water storage.

You can start a garden for next to nothing. $50 would get you a couple tools, seeds, and some fertilizer.

If you can't afford an AR then get a shotgun. I have seen many deals on used Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 shotguns for $100-150. A couple boxes of 00 buck and a 100 pack of birdshot will get you started. You can defend your residence and bring home some game with it. As time goes on you can save up for something better but it will get you something that is reliable and will do the job.

A friend recently was cleaning out his garage recently and gave me a 12 gauge MEC press, wads, 50 pounds of shot, and about 10 pounds of powder. All it needs is some shells and primers and it's ready to go.

Start off with a 72 hour kit and work your way up from there. We started this a couple years ago and have amassed a huge amount of stuff by shopping around and having the cash in hand to snatch up the deal as it arose.

[PA PATRIOT]

Here's how I list my priorities for a BUG-IN SHTF event,

Water: Collecting, Purifying, Storing

Food: Collecting, Preserving, Storing

Security: Firearm, Ammunition, Maintenance and Repair, Securing the BUG-IN Location

First AID: Kits for just about any emergency I can handle at my skill level

Basics: Clothing for the seasons, inside Solar/Battery run LED lighting at night, Heat for the winter

Secondary comfort items: A few items which reduce stress at extreme low cost.

[davidguetta402]

Something you can do that costs practically nothing is work on your skill sets. Fire building, snares/traps, morse code, etc. Taking all of your important documents and copying to a zip drive. Any good manuals or general shtf type information you find on the net can be printed off and hard copies saved for when the power goes out and might not be back on for a while.

Really Such A Great Information.

---------------

[pete57]

Thanks for reviving this thread. It seems like the prepping trend has faded or at least the sense of urgency to it has faded, which is probably a good thing. Urgency can make for bad buying decisions. Somehow "prepping" got focused on apocalyptic scenarios and practical scenarios suffered. I think prepping should be more associated with being a responsible adult and less to do with surviving zombies. So in keeping with this budget thread I'll add that just getting organized is a great way to get prepared.
It may sound counter-intuitive, but throwing out all the junk you have is so helpful. Go through everything you own in your basement and garage. Get rid of clothes, worn out boots, dull saws from harbor freight, etc. Organize everything in Rubbermaid bins and label them. It's ok to have empty spots on shelves. It's good for your soul to stop hording junk you'll never use. After you go through everything you own and discard lots of it you will have a new perspective. After watching yourself throw money in the trash from discarding all the junk you've accumulated, you'll hate buying stuff because you will see it as a burden to carry. You'll only buy one really good pair of boots and resist buying 3 so-so pairs instead. You'll rather have a thicker wallet than a new phone you don't need. I know the "one is none and two is one" is a popular idea, but it comes with some caveats. 1 wool garment is better than 5 cotton garments...1 is 1, and 5 is none. Buy good quality, don't accumulate stuff, get organized.

[obucina]

Having been furloughed 20 hours a week, my income has been reduced in half, and prospects for getting back on 40 are looking extremely slim.

$1500 could assemble a very good amount of food. My actual preps primarily focus on food, and all else is secondary. I typically buy food with a long shelf life, that I normally eat, or wouldn't mind eating.

Yesterday I bought 35 lbs of spaghetti for $21.00. A grocery store chain here in the Southeast was running a BOGO on Ronzoni. I may go back and get some more today.

Also, the best deal on Rice is at COSTCO, where a 50 lb bag will set you bag a measly $15.00. I've been buying those when I get a chance, and stuffing them in Paint Buckets. At WAL*MART, the 5 gallon plastic paint buckets are approximately $4.00, and can hold roughly 30-35 lbs of rice. The best lids for these buckets are available at Home Depot, as the HD lids have rubber o-rings. If you go to the paint department at WAL*MART, the white 5-gallon buckets ARE food-grade, they're just not marketed as such.

At $15.00 for 50 lbs of rice, you can hoard a ton of the stuff, and if you are working with a budget of $1500.00, it will barely put a dent in it.

The good thing about prepping is that I'm still eating food I got at the end of '07/beginning of '08, that's still a year out from expiration.

When you see how quickly prices go up, you can really appreciate the stockpiling factor. I bought canned Chicken of the Sea albacore for $0.65 back in '07, and the prices have gone up in a ridiculous way, making me truly appreciate buying as much as I did.

Despite not nearly having enough 5.56 ammo on hand, gun stuff is taking a back seat to food, medical/first-aid supplies, etc.

I used to be able to get lamp oil at the 'Mart, but they've since stopped carrying the Lamplighter brand in the giant bottles. It was insane cheap, and that was my only supplier of such, thusly I'm thinking I'm stuck with what I've got on hand.

I was fortunate to be able to get my emergency candles at $1.00 for 10, but it's been awhile since I've seen those as well.

The 'Mart has the best prices on Mountain House, as well, but the selection isn't anything close to REI's.

My brother manages to beat me out on "doomer deals", hands down. He picked up a Windmill Trekker for $5.00, an in-line Camelbak water filter for $9.00, an Aquastar UV filter for $5.00, and a CFP-90 for $30, among other insane bargains.

ETA: If you're staying on a budget, shopping deals, sales, and using coupons is mandatory. Here in the SE, there is an awesome site that acts as a pre-mission briefing on hitting the grocery stores like an apocalyptic commando:

http://www.southernsavers.com/

I would assume that the containers for the rice and pasta are sealed, no? I am employed by this certain grocery chain and he have issues in the summer with contaminated rice and pasta. Primarily weevils, the heat and humidity especially when being warehoused seem to be the largest issue..of course, per our regulations, the product is a "dispose at store level" which means scan and trash...

on a side note...toward the end of hurricane season, many of our items like tarps, larger flashlights, self heating meals, etc...are marked down for inventory control purposes and weather band radios are currently on sale right now

[Outlander Systems]

I would assume that the containers for the rice and pasta are sealed, no? I am employed by this certain grocery chain and he have issues in the summer with contaminated rice and pasta. Primarily weevils, the heat and humidity especially when being warehoused seem to be the largest issue..of course, per our regulations, the product is a "dispose at store level" which means scan and trash...

on a side note...toward the end of hurricane season, many of our items like tarps, larger flashlights, self heating meals, etc...are marked down for inventory control purposes and weather band radios are currently on sale right now

A very wise man, named Kino, recommends freezing the pasta before storage to kill weevil eggs.

The rice is in sealed buckets.