# Practical Prepper Budget (where to start?)



## USPreppers (Dec 10, 2014)

Hello! Noobie here, and I'm having trouble setting aside money for preps.

How would one want to go about setting a practical budget for emergency stuff? I live paycheck to paycheck like most folks, and it's been difficult to know which items I should begin with.

Thanks!


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

Well, I think the very first thing to do is to assess what assets you currently have. SO... what do you currently have?

Following that, your priorities are water, food, clothing and shelter. 

IMHO the FIRST prep purchased should always be a water filter, even if it is nothing more than a $20 life straw.

Let me ask some questions before we go any farther.

Are you in a house or apartment?

Do you have storage space available or is space a concern?

What do you currently have that are emergency-compatible supplies?


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Begin with simple things.
The common thought for new folks is to do it all at once. You need to resist this.
When you shop, toss in an extra can or two of beans. Maybe an extra package of 24ct. water bottles.
Do this for a few months, and you'll be surprised how quickly it adds up.
Once you've got a good foothold on the necessities, you can start to expand into other areas like tools, fuel, energy, etc...
There is also a group of thought that says you should be able to protect what you've saved up.
This is not without merit, but I don't personally think it should come before you first have something worth protecting.
A full magazine and an empty cupboard will put a man in a desperate mental state. Best to avoid this, if possible.


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## USPreppers (Dec 10, 2014)

I've got an apartment and I'd estimate about a month of canned goods stored up. 
I haven't got a water filter quite yet, and I live in a fairly urban area by myself.
Space is tight, but I have a spare clothes closet in a guest room of mine that isn't used, and that's what
I plan on utilizing for future storage needs. Other than that closet though, I haven't got much.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

When I first started, I was better off than your self description, but not by much. I had just gotten back to work after 31 months of unemployment. I sat down and looked at my budget and pulled a couple of things that were less important than survival. Since I had a cell phone, I got rid of the land line and a $60 bill. I stopped the Starbucks on the way to work and started taking a travel mug from home, $100+ saving per month. Stopped going out every Saturday night with the guys, another $80 per month savings. I used half of the extra money to pay off bills and started prepping with the other half. 
I started going to garage sales and found a lot of "camping" stuff I needed at super cheap prices.

Like Kauboy said, add a few extra grocery items to your list and stash it away.


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## SARGE7402 (Nov 18, 2012)

Kauboy makes a good point.

Don't know where you live or what is in your area, but sometimes shopping at a dollar general store can make a $10.00 bill go a ways further.

If you drink soda in those 2 LTR plastic bottles rinse and fill with tap water in lieu of buying a case of bottled h2o. empty and refill every two weeks or so and it shouldn't go too stale

Welcome


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

USPreppers said:


> I've got an apartment and I'd estimate about a month of canned goods stored up.
> I haven't got a water filter quite yet, and I live in a fairly urban area by myself.
> Space is tight, but I have a spare clothes closet in a guest room of mine that isn't used, and that's what
> I plan on utilizing for future storage needs. Other than that closet though, I haven't got much.


I would definitely look into an inexpensive water filter first thing. I prefer the Sawyer one with the bag, it's under $30 but very flexible.

You can continue to expand your canned goods to 3 months worth without running yourself out of space, and you can do that inexpensively by buying 2 instead of one. Date the cans when you buy them, so that you can easily rotate them. Buy what you eat, and eat what you buy.

You are going to need a plan, and what that plan is will funnel your future purchases. Do you plan on bugging in or bugging out? If it's bugging out, where are you going and how are you going to get there? What supplies will you need to make this happen?

Some things to consider.


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## Big Country1 (Feb 10, 2014)

IMO, If you havent done it yet, put together a BOB (Bug-Out-Bag). After that id start with the "The Rule of Threes."
-You can survive for 3 Minutes without air (oxygen) or in icy water
-You can survive for 3 Hours without shelter in a harsh environment (unless in icy water)
-You can survive for 3 Days without water (if sheltered from a harsh environment)
-You can survive for 3 Weeks without food (if you have water and shelter)

Its best to set small goals that are easy to accomplish. 1 week, then 2 weeks. 1 month then 2 months.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

First - the most important part of being prepared is a total lack of debt. If you don't own property then you are probably going to lose your home and everything in it.

Prepping is about becoming independent and maintaining it.

You want to have air to breathe and a place to stay - something you own.
You need to have an uninterrupted supply of water. 
You need to raise your own food or be an active member of a cooperative farm, ranch, etc. in which you are a part owner.
You need to be able to access health care without going to the doctor - or at least minimizing your use of a health care system that can fail.
You need to keep and store vital papers - proof of ownership of property, proof of citizenship, and up-to-date health records. (include insurance, wills, and a list of contacts)
You need to have a means of protecting what you have.
You need to have a backup plan for survival if it becomes necessary to leave your home.
You need to have some form of currency that can be used to pay taxes after an emergency is over.

The list is in the order of priority - if you don't own your property or you have large debts that can be used to leverage the property you do own nothing else will be of use to you.


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## CourtSwagger (Jan 3, 2013)

US Prepper- MOST IMPORTANT THING - Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Baby steps.


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## CourtSwagger (Jan 3, 2013)

As far as freeing up income for prepping, figure out how much you can save out of every paycheck. If it is $10 that's fine. Religiously put that away each paycheck. Let that build until you have a decent budget to play with. Don't go blow it on the coolest new gadgets. Simple things. Food. Water. Knife. GUNS!!!! That last one is my favorite part. Also, lots of great videos on YouTube about how to get started on the cheap. Then, once you have a pretty good base, you can start replacing parts of your gear with more expensive stuff. Finally, Dave Ramsey is a great resource to help manage financials.


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## tango (Apr 12, 2013)

Make a plan
Start slow, but work steady (as you can)
Work your plan


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Change your views. When you think of going to the store think not what can I buy, rather what do I need - right now - that will aid me in the future.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

All excellent suggestions! These guys (and gals) know their stuff!

Little by little, bit by bit you'll get there. Plan to reduce/eliminate debt is a great idea. Shelter, Water, Food, Defense, Medical and some Luxury items when you can afford them. Life's short, make the best of it. Smile and have fun. Read, Research, Trial, Experiment. Good luck.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

It's easy to feel overwhelmed and near panic at first. You will feel like you started too late and that the BIG EVENT that ends civilization is going to occur before you are ready. Just take it one step at a time like everyone has suggested. You are already 90% more prepared than most. I like to think about prepping for a local emergency first - one month's worth of supplies. Then think of a bigger event and shoot for 3-6 months. Start adding redundancy to your preps. Then go for a year, but incorporate ways to sustain yourself after the supplies are gone. 

Besides a BOB, think about a smaller Get-Home-Bag - a smaller pack to have in your car in case you need to hoof it home.


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## Diver (Nov 22, 2014)

From the sounds of it your problem is not lack of a prepper budget, but lack of a budget. Make a budget for all your income and expenses. Figure out how to improve that and you'll have more to work with.


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## Oddcaliber (Feb 17, 2014)

As said by others,stay out of debt,take baby steps,and get the 3 B's in order. Once that happens you can move on to other areas that need attention. Rome was not built in a day! Stay the cores and keep prepping.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

It's all said here. When I started I had almost no income. I'd get a contract gig and set $10-20 aside for stores. Later when I had a bare min cash flow I evaluated every expense. My biggest day to day waste was food. I learned to eat for less and less. It's not hard it's just not what you want. Incorporate a beans, rice, minimal prepper meal into your weekly routine, then twice, and right there I bet you save $10 a week.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

You need to make your money go further

What store do you purchase your groceries from now.. Seriously - I will do some coupon checking for you


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

Your not goimg to.find mich better advice than the advice listed these pepps know there chit. 

I would chime in only some reiteration and strategy. 

Essentials man. Keep it simple. Water first. Life straw and others are out there. You could drink from a toilet with one. Sawyer makes good affordable stuff to. When you buy groceries throw in an extra case of water. Pretend its not there. Store it somewhere else in a closet or whatever. Get a stack 8 high. Move onto food. Every time you run into a store buy a 3 dollar bag of dried beans or whatever you can. Store it. Its not there. Build that up. Start with 3 days. Then a week. Then 2 weeks. By then you will have an idea of how long it takes to store food etc. Then you can see in x months i will have y weeks of food. Skip the bar one night and put that 100 bucks into preps. Buy a bottle instead. Drink it while sitting on your hoard of food like smaug on the dwarves treasure secure in your ability to provide should the worse occur. 

Any prepping is good prepping so dont think you need a big start up budget. Just start. One can of beans at a time.


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## Gunner's Mate (Aug 13, 2013)

First and Foremost find a job that pays better / do some work on the side / Part time Job, Tutoring, Music lessons, Construction work, Computer work, this will make your prepping budget do more.


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## MaterielGeneral (Jan 27, 2015)

Here is a thread that may give you some ideas.

http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/general-prepper-survival-talk/14970-where-begin-new-prepper.html


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

my suggestion- learn skills. Just a few skills such as which plants you can eat, how to make a make shift shelter, basic BFE survival stuff like how to make and use a fire bow from scratch , basic wilderness(or ditch medicine) first aid this is stuff that you can learn and do on the cheap and has no expiration date. This stuff can reduce your dependency on supplies and build your confidence so that it doesn't matter were you find yourself you can survive.


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

You could also container garden if you don't own any property. 

Save your spare change. Yesterday, I bought 50rds of .22lr with pennies, nickels and dimes. All change I've set aside that I didn't miss. 

I have a little less than 1 year of food. Buy it one can at a time if you had to (1 extra can of what you eat when you go shopping). It'll add up quick!

I started off with a 20lb bag of beans and rice. I've been eating from them the past few weeks. Yes. Weeks. Beans and rice go a LONG way. 

Anything you prep, you are only storing for the next guy if you can't defend it. Get a gun. Most LGS around here offer lay away. I had to do that a couple times. At the time, I was shoveling chit on a horse ranch. Hey, money is money and it was better then no job!

One of the best and worst things I did was buy a gun cabinet. Best because it consolidated my guns/ammo, but worse because now my OCD kicked in and I feel I have to fill the bottom shelf with ammo! I buy 1 box minimum each odd job I do. If I make $100 that day, I buy a box of 30.06. If I make $60, it's .22lr, or 9mm. 

Of course, this is all after my bills are paid, money put into savings (even if it's a $10 bill) and money into my road trip fund. 

It's easy to fall into the trap that you feel you won't be ready or have enough preps, because the "Event" is right around the corner. Don't fall into that trap!!!!


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

Any prepping is better than none and few will self sustain if an event occurs. We will need others to get everything we need.


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## warrior4 (Oct 16, 2013)

The other thing to consider is what happens when you get a sudden windfall. I had a plan to save up gradually for a pistol I had been wanting. It would have taken some time, and it would have meant not spending money on other things, but the plan was there and I was going to stick to it. Then my wife and I figured out our taxes for this year and it was very significant. So now we have a lot of extra money that we had not planned into our budget. Half of it went right into our savings to keep building that up. The other half means now we can pay for some purchases outright that we had been planning on taking time to save up for. For me it meant I got my first pistol, ammo, cleaning supplies, a small safe, and a few other supplies. My wife was able to pay back her mother for a few things.

The point is that prepping isn't just about collecting supplies, it's about the mentality behind collecting supplies, and all that other stuff. We were prepared to do it the hard way so that when an unexpected bonus came our way we were able to use it to full advantage. While we may prepare for the worst, hoping for the best is helpful too and makes this whole prepping thing a lot more fun.


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## Piratesailor (Nov 9, 2012)

you have received some outstanding suggestions and recommendations. Sounds like you have a start with a months worth of food. Water next and you have recommedations for that too. Look at your budget and what you spend. Car's, etc, eat up the money. That aside, start small as was suggested and buy an extra can or two every time you shop.. any "extra" of what you eat and could eat without power. Get a few months under your belt and then look at other areas to prep.


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