Posted: 2/24/2013 3:59:43 PM EDT
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Hi guys. A little background. I have recently had my eyes opened to what the future of this country holds.
I have never believed that we are headed for financial meltdown until now. With that being said, I am pretty much starting my prepping from square one.  I have a bonus coming up, and will have about $5k to spend on supplies.
We have started putting away some buckets of rice, beans, flour, salt and sugar in the last couple of weeks. Can you please give me some ideas on how to best spend my money? Thanks for your help!!!! |
| Get the large buckets of freeze dried meals from Mountain House. They taste great and last 25 years if the buckets aren't opened. Water purification is jus y as important and stored water. Get some jetboil as well for cooking incase propane runs out or natural gas is turned off. Call the guys at TruPrep.com and they will give you a good start. |
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Quoted: Quoted: some water barrels. how much water do you try to store? do you figure that 110 gallons is sufficient? Depends on where you live. If you live in the desert or an area going through a drought, water storage would be a top priority for me. Also make sure you can filter water. |
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Quoted:
Hi guys. A little background. I have recently had my eyes opened to what the future of this country holds. I have never believed that we are headed for financial meltdown until now. With that being said, I am pretty much starting my prepping from square one. I have a bonus coming up, and will have about $5k to spend on supplies.
We have started putting away some buckets of rice, beans, flour, salt and sugar in the last couple of weeks. Can you please give me some ideas on how to best spend my money? Thanks for your help!!!! I'd start with Nomex pocket protector. So the $$$ didn't burn a hole thru my pocket ---until I acquired the knowledge to make good prepping decisions. And getting it is TOUGH! Prolly much harder than scraping together $5k. 
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I'm guessing you already have your firearm needs on order. From a high level breakdown for a family of 4, I'd say:
- Target $400 for water storage and filtration.Lots of both. Check for once used 55 gallon food grade barrels they go for $15 or so. - Target $2400 for food: Use this to calculate your needs: http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm -- First food stop is your local Mormon cannery. -- Then go to Costco / Sams. -- Then honeyvillegrain.com (wait for a 15% off sale) -- Then other freeze dried foods, like Mountain House cans. -- Next stop is local food mart. -- Target $300 for medical supplies and equipment - including dental. -- Target $200 for night lighting - hurricane lamps, extra wicks, and lots of lamp oil -- Target $200 for ham / shortwave / police / AM/FM radio / comms - make sure you can use AA's. Could go much more $$ here. Learn local frequencies usage / repeaters -- Target $75 for high powered 18650 flashlights -- Target $100 for rechargeable AA/18650, with small solar panel -- Target $75 for gas / gas storage, 15-20gallons min. (for bug-out- you want 300 miles range). Get Pri-G for treatment. -- Target $150 for gas cooking stove and fuel. Propane stoves are easy to use but being able to use unleaded means you can re-purpose fuel supplies. -- Target $75 for gas heating (depending on where in TX you are) - extra propane will cost you. -- Target $25 for solar cooking. See: http://solarcooking.org/plans/ -- Target $250 for gardening -- seeds, soil, hand tools, more -- Target $100 for mason jars with extra lids (food storage). -- Target $100 for roof repair supplies and extra 2x4's, hardware -- Target $75 for important books: start with Encyclopedia of Country Living, when there is no doctor, gardening, food saving, seed saving -- Target $50 for NBC issues- n95 masks (not putting much here for $5K) Gas masks that actually work will cost a lot more- avoid cheap junk. -- Target $200 for durable house consumables- TP, paper towels, trash bags, tin foil (not for hats), soaps, toothpaste -- Target $50 for makeshift shower and bathroom (look for camp showers) -- Target $50 for laundry tools / soaps - look for old washboards on ebay / CL -- Target $25 for bleach and vinegar. -- Target $100 for bug-out tent/shelter/tarps - you could spend much more on a good tent. -- Target $100 for bug-out only supplies. That's your $5K, more or less. Important but not included: -- Much more extensive bug-out gear. Gear up backpacks, sleeping bags, etc like you were going on a 4 week hike. -- 3rd Gen night vision (with AR mount) - that's just about your $5K budget right there. 
-- Combat gear -- extended medical / field surgery tools -- Much more extended NBC gear- suits, masks, geiger counter, pills -- Chain saw with extra supplies, spare parts + splitting axe Nice to have: -- high efficiency Honda EU2000i generator (or similar) -- great for hurricanes, using power tools and recharging batteries (like cordless tools). -- high efficiency window A/C unit (near must for TX hurricanes) - needs generator -- full solar house -- custom redo's of house for defense / SHTF purposes -- high quality gas cans, but they cost a fortune now. -- heated gas shower -- outdoor brick oven |
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I'd spend your first $45 at a Sam's Club if you have one within reasonable distance of you.
Get bulk rice, sugar. Check Amazon for a Katadyn Combi filter, get 2 of them, and extra charcoal packets for refills for the first element. Get Lithium Energizer AA's to store for long term. |
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SNIP Quoted:
Hi guys. A little background. I have recently had my eyes opened... I have never believed that we are headed for financial meltdown... starting my prepping from square one. $5k to spend on supplies. We have started putting away some buckets of rice, beans, flour, salt and sugar in the last couple of weeks. Can you please give me some ideas on how to best spend my money? Thanks for your help!!!! Slow down there tiger. $5000 is a nice chunk of change for a prepping budget. Next grocery trip, buy some extra common food. Continue this and start rotating. Fill your pantry and freezer with food that you currently eat. Get a generator. A lantern or two- propane, gas, or kerosene (or all). Find the way that makes the best sense for your family for back-up heat. Work on a way to prepare and cook your food. Set back some gas for the generator and your vehicles. Read this forum and ask questions and practice what you learn. These few things will help calm the nerves. When supplies meet knowledge, preparedness happens. Welcome to SF. |
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I can't thank you guys enough for all of the advice. Can I ask you, what do you think of this deal? Rip off?
https://www.readymaderesources.com/cart/storable-food-units/mountain-house-free-shipping-10-free-pre-1965-silver-dimes-for-each-100-spent/mh999234-mountain-house-survivor-system-210-cans-35-cases-free-shipping/prod_2821.html |
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Please don't run out and drop $5K on MH, or any other freeze-dried food solution -- at least not yet Research, define the problem you're trying to solve, and the most cost effective way to solve it. How many calories do you need for a day for you and your family? With this calorie requirement, how can you balance carbohydrate, protein, vitamin/mineral, etc. requirements? What do you normally eat? Have you tried the MH stuff? Maybe order a packet or two of it, then see if it's something you'd like to eat every day for a year. Or, if you're looking for a cheaper yet way to taste it, put some dried macaroni in your mouth with a teaspoon of salt. Stuff in a can (veggies, meats, stews, raviolis, etc) if orders of magnitude cheaper per serving than the MH stuff, and you already likely know what it tastes like. Buy extra of this stuff. For home cooked meals, what ingredients do you use? What other forms of those ingredients are available other than fresh and/or shelf-life limited? You can relatively cheaply get butter, milk, eggs, and many other basic ingredients if you look. Don't cook from scratch? Learn! It'll save you a ton of money in everyday life, and you'll eat much healthier. Don't get me wrong, there are some areas where FD foods make some sense, and dehydrated stuff even more (dehydrated is less expensive, but not cheap). What they aren't is the perfect solution-in-a can. Order a 72-hour kit of that stuff and you/family eat nothing but that for a weekend. Do you have a way to cook all of this stuff? What about a way to stay warm during a power outage in the winter? A way to collect/filter water in case the city water stops flowing or gets contaminated? Take a deep breath, assess your requirements for likely scenarios, research how to solve those problems, and procure items and learn skills as necessary. Don't waste your money. My $,02, -Slice |
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10 55 gallon water barrels (550 gallons stored water)
Berkey water filter Containers to transport water 10 2 liter water bottles (empty) for SODIS water pasturization $2k of assorted food from LDS storehouse (the #10 metal cans in boxes seem so much easier to store than buckets and fit under beds nicely. Coleman dual fuel stove Family size tent 5 tarps (different sizes) rope 3/4 plywood cut to your window sizes with someway to attach (labeled) Sleeping bags for entire family House repair items (nails, screws, 2x4s, plywood, duct tape etc) UV-5R ham radio and licenses for all family over 13 years of age Level II concealable vest for all adults I'm assuming you already have a rifle and pistol for all adults Make sure you have holsters/slings for all weapons LED headlamps, and LED lanterns that run off AA batteries 12v car AA battery charger 5 5 gallon gas cans filled with gas (rotate every 6 months) Use whatever is left of the $$ for a backup emergency fund |
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Any of these answers are suspect without lots more information from the OP. What area do you live in? Rural, Suburban, or Urban? What's your climate like? What are your various plans for SHTF situations (Fire, storms, civil unrest, etc)? Who do you have to take care of? What's your living situation now? Do you rent, own, or lease? Have some land, or not? What's your experience level? Do you have anyone you need to keep communicating with, or are you and your immediate family going solo? etc etc etc My plans as a suburban dweller are very different from plans that my friends have - but they live in rural areas. There's no ideal solution to anything. In general, for getting truly advanced in prepping you're going to be looking at years. It's not so much the material things, it's the knowledge gained from failing at projects, and the confidence that ensues when you figure out how to make things work in any situation that'll keep your ass alive during a bad situation. |
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I have never believed that we are headed for financial meltdown until now. I suppose a Roth IRA is out of the question, then. :) IMO the priority should be 1) emergency fund - all expenses to live for 3+ months in cash 2) very basic preparedness for 99% of likely events: single handgun + some ammo, a month food/water/fuel/etc 3) non-mortgage debt paid off 4) tax-advantaged retirement accounts fully funded (most likely threats first) 5) extend food/water supplies ... N) land for a BOL N+1) moar guns N+2) 3rd gen night vision and some IR lasers N+3) multicam BOB ... 30 years from now if/when SS is insolvent or has been inflated away to a sub-subsistence level, the cat food eaters will have plenty of time to rethink the wisdom of blowing off the 2013 Roth IRA contribution in favor of some more guns. |