# Prepping and your Budget



## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

Hi. My name is TC and i am a spendaholic. I just purchased a 3 seasons tactical waterproof jacket, 3 pocket organizers for various purposes and a mini am/fm sw weather band 7 radio. 

I cant stop picking up things to help me with my EDC, car and BOB as well as camping season is just around the corner. 

It seems i feel under prepared and i am trying to catch up. Again. I know i may never need some preps. And that would be a good thing. But i cant stop myself from thinkimg what could happen if i dont have some preps and i really need them. 

And that is where i seek council from you, my prepping brethern. I need to back it down. Or i will run up a debt.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Just don't go in debt to get your preps. Paying interest means less money per month for buying preps.


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## Big Country1 (Feb 10, 2014)

Me and the wife have a set amount we spend/put back out of every paycheck. Its not always alot, and I do feel underprepared now and then, but we have to make ends met while we are preparing for the inevitable. Tho I am thankful for what we do have. You just have to find a balance that fits you.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Priorities. And you might have to go a month or without buying anything to get a big ticket item like a generator.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

Gotta learn to be flexible and make do with what you have. 10 minutes into SHTF you could lose all your preps. You will be screwed unless you learn to adapt, improvise and overcome.


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## LONE WOLF (Dec 12, 2014)

Very true Sasquatch ^^^


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Budget Budget Budget

TC,

Create a Budget and assign every dollar that you earn to a Specific Line Item on your budget. Think of your personal income as a business, because it is.


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## Diver (Nov 22, 2014)

Your issue is not with prepping but with budgeting. The first thing you need to do is write down your budget, for everything, not just prepping. Once you have that done track your actual expenses for 3 months (and I mean everything!). Compare your actual spending to your budget. They won't match. Now you need to make some adjustments to your budget and some adjustments to your spending. Repeat the 90 days of tracking your expenses and compare to your new budget. They should be closer though again they won't match. If they are close enough to be workable, include an "Other" category in your budget and call it good. If not, then keep repeating the cycle until your budget is actually a reasonable plan for what you are really spending.

Only when you have a good budget can you figure out whether there is room in it for more spending on preps or anything else.


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

Live off your preps. 

Prep for how you live. 

Basically, just prep/buy things that help you live NOW "pre SHTF". Kinda live post SHTF for a bit and you'll see what you really need (or don't need)

I've stopped cooking indoors. Just about every meal is prepared over my fire pit using wood. Only time I cook indoors is if there is a storm outside (pouring rain/freezing temps, etc.) because I have no overhead protection from the elements outside. 

I bought (piece by piece) a rainwater setup. I water my fruit trees and garden exclusively with stored rainwater. If the water grid goes down, so what. I'm already used to not really having it. 

No power preps though. Plenty of candles though (as that's what I only really use electricity for anyways at night is a light or 2). Don't have cable, and am used to not watching TV. So no big loss there. 

I don't use the heater in my house. Instead, I bundle up or use an extra blanket. Last night it got down to 50* in my house. I was walking around half naked getting dressed and the cold didn't bother me (you will adapt or die). 

Today, I've been outside all day doing yard work. About to head inside to make a sammich. Then I'll be back outside pulling more weeds. I figure post SHTF, I'll be bored and doing yard work anyways. So no real lifestyle change there. 

Basically, put what you prep to use. Use it during your everyday life. You will soon see that what you think you need to buy (prep wise) could be potentially useless and a waste of hard earned $$$$$ that could have gone towards a big ticket item! 

What got me into prepping was being broke and worried that something life changing (SHTF) would happen and I'd be sol because I was too broke to prep. 

Once I realized that prepping is a lifestyle, and not a part time "just in case, so I'm doing it on the side" thing, I started buying stuff that helped me in my everyday life. 

Am I as prepped as I want to be? Nope. I'm in the same boat. I have no money for preps. But I'm confident that if SHTF tomorrow, the only thing I'd miss is electricity


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## oddapple (Dec 9, 2013)

Learn to make what you are buying or start learning to do without it. Buy things to make stuff.


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## Hawaii Volcano Squad (Sep 25, 2013)

Unless Iran & Israel start openly shooting at each other, which could happen any day, take your time in prepping. There is still all kinds of stuff I need but am not going to buy everything all at once. Take prepping slow & easy, Unless WW III break out.


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

Some good advice and a sound budget is good for everyone not just a prepared person. I'm thinking I need to start prioritizing needs from nice to haves and getting a few very important preps off the list. I realize we all live in different conditions and areas and we need to prep accordingly to those. My ultimate goal would be a secondary location that is off grid and can still be powered via solar wind or both. Propane is another good thing to consider maybe as it's cheaper and lasts a long time - like in trailers that use it for hot water and the fridge. But now we are talking bigger dollars than say extra food water tools and supplies. And that is where things are heading. I need to research the shelf life of propane.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I have a set limit for preps each month. Some times I know big ticket household bill is coming due and I can't spend anything on preps. But any monh that has money left over, half goes into preps, the other goes into rainy day fund.


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

Figuring a budget is a 3 step process...

1... Calculate what your life and that of your family (if applicable) is worth.

2... Find out what the monthly premium for insurance in this amount would be.

3... Don't spend more than that amount per month.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

There is one gentlemen in our church group who, at the last meeting, said he felt "prepared" for the first time in his life. He'd been spending about $100 a month on preparations for the last two years. Two others in the group are about 1/3rd to 1/2 of the way through the plan we set out for them. It doesn't include bug out property or any kind of arsenal but it did include a shotgun, plenty of food items, and renewable water supplies with treatment. No they don't have a good package for communications yet, and lots of other things still lack but they are probably better off then 99.9% of the country. 

BTW they used an envelope method. On the first pay day they'd put $100 into an envelope, and when they went grocery shopping they added up the "extras" and took that out of the envelope to add back to their accounts. The envelopes built up over time and they made bigger ticket purchases like the shotgun.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Slippy said:


> Budget Budget Budget
> 
> TC,
> 
> Create a Budget and assign every dollar that you earn to a Specific Line Item on your budget. Think of your personal income as a business, because it is.


Slip is right. Make a budget and stick to it. Now me? I am staying on budget till I find that woman who is going to take care of me in the manner in which I want be accustomed.:grin: Alas.....the search continues.


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

I get extra money here and there. Last week I got some overtime and bought a Military modular sleep system, some things for my Army cot, 3 boxes of ammo and another Mosin Nagant M-44.


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## Spice (Dec 21, 2014)

It may help if you keep in mind that there are different kinds of situations to prep for. If you go into debt to prep, and the crises that arrives is a temporary loss of income, you could be way more hurt by having the debt than by not having the nifty jacket. And which kind of crisis is more likely to occur in the next year anyway? Lack of debt is a Great prep for income loss.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

We have always started slow, when shopping for food, the same things are always on the list. Get to know a good deal on whatever and buy 3 or 4. The price is always gonna go up. This applies if you're buggin in.jmo. We only spend a few bucks over the essentials and build our stock.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

When I was 20 I did not know what a budget was and had no reason to care. Then I got married and we had children. Wife taught me what a budget was an the kids forced me to live with. Now 39 years latter it has proven to be a good thing.
You must take care of today first or prepping won't madder anyway.


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## warrior4 (Oct 16, 2013)

My wife and I just got done putting together our first really thought out budget plan. Our main priority is paying off our student loans, which unfortunately are quite extensive, as quickly as we can. To the effect we don't have any credit cards, we don't have smart phones, we're still in an apartment rather than a house, and other things like that. This has meant I'm not able to have as much money to prep with as I was used to before and it means if I want a big ticket item I'll need to save up for a few months to get it. However that's what we've decided is out priority and we're going to stick with it. 

While I may want to go out and buy that bright shiny new thingamabob I know I'll rest easier knowing we've been able to take another 3K off our loans at the end of the month instead.


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

Check out thrift shops. They have good deals. And you never know what you'll find!


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

Spring is coming....garage sales are great for tools, propane tanks, generators, and just about anything else.

We had a church member just frought with concern. One of our group helped him with diet changes, shopping changes for food, and he found new more affordable meals. He was quickly saving $20 a week and eeked out the $100 a month. He has been on that for 11 months now and is shopping for a used shotgun.



kevincali said:


> Check out thrift shops. They have good deals. And you never know what you'll find!


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

kevincali said:


> Live off your preps.
> 
> Prep for how you live.
> 
> ...


BRAVO!!!!!! Seriously. Take a bow. :applause:


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## DadofTheFamily (Feb 19, 2015)

Trade or barter.


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