i keep a notebook.  its divided into months. i write down every single prep purchase i make that month.  now i have bought a TON of field type gear this year. i have bought things like.

1. polypro underwear ( 4 sets) for everyone. ( 4 people)
2. 6-8 goretex jackets, with 3 sets of pants
3. some bdu uniforms. planning more.
4. 4 sets of the new army tac vests
5. drip/ bucket water filter
6. 3 dual fuel lanterns
7.  2 dual fuel stoves
8. 1 dozen canteens, / canteen cups/ canteen stoves
9. polypro neck gaitors, and gloves, and balavacas.
10. 2 superlarge blackhawk rucks/ 3 large army rucks/ 2 blackhawk 3 day packs/
11. got a nice b.o.v. , its needs a little more work, but runs and drives great.
12. dug i gigantic hole in the backyard, towards building a tornado/ fallout shelter

plus a ton of other random cold weather, wet weather, gear, clothing, pistol belts, fleece hats, blackhawk holsters, magazines, several nice guns,  on, and on, and on.  

  i think i accomplished a lot this year.  each month looks good, however,  i really need more boots/ cold weather gear / sleeping bags/ and some other high need stuff.  

the messed up thing is.. i checked my ammo purchases. i thought i had bought a lot this year. but no. i bought
400 9mm
80 buckshot
1000 .22lr( 2 bulk packs)
200 45acp (jhp)
80 .308
100 5.56

                   now this is just what i bought THIS year. i have a decent round count on everything, i just need a lot more. like 3x what i have right now.  im good on guns, although im planning a few more.

       i just thought i had bought so much more.  i really need to pick up my ammo/ food  buying.  im kinda worried about what 2012 will hold, for panic buying with a election, and the supposed end of the world.
i sold my .40 s&w guns, to go to all 9mm and 45acp, but im low on both calibers. ( maybe 1000 of each) ....

i just really thought i had bought a lot more ammo. i bought a rcbs reloading press the other day, ( it will take a couple months to get the entire set up im planning), and i have made great progress this year. i just need a  lot more, ammo/ food/ fuel. * sigh*

I'm in the same boat.  I'm trying to decide if I should buy my first AK or build another AR.  The advantage of building another AR is that I only need to stock type of mag and one caliber and yet an AK would be nice "just to have something different" with less maintenance required but that means a whole different set of mag and ammo needs.

Prepping for a family is a daunting task but you've done well so far IMO.  Since winter is coming, get the cold weather gear and food next, then worry about ammo.

It sounds like you did very well compaired to me.

If anything I would concentrate on food since the inflation rate on it makes it

a high yeild investment imo.

Don't sweat it we do the best we can with what we have when it all goes down.

How much did you get to practice with your weapons?  Got to make a pile of

brass at least a few times a year..

first chance i get, im planning to buy 4, woodland army sleep systems, with the goretex bivy's. they are awesome bags. they are a little heavy, but you can add and remove layers do to the tempature.  i also need some thermarest sleep matts.   those and some cold weather clothing, think extreme cold, parka, and overpants, is on the list next.

Buck you might be truly atrocitized by my prep action this year.

actually did quite a bit of shooting. im usually better at buying ammo, than shooting ammo.  i have two, s&w ar15-.22 rifles. i have put several thousand rounds thru them getting practice, and getting my daughters shooting practice for cheap, also have done a lot more handgun shooting.  did a little ar15 shooting. mostly using the smith .22's to help the kids learn the drill for loading, shooting, changing mags. its exactly the same on the .22, and great practice.   i just bought the wife a glock 19, ( picking it up today).

im lucky enough i received several small settlements over the last couple years working on my va disability. i was able to buy a nice generator a couple years ago, stock up a few nice ar rifles, and other stuff.  im expecting at least one more payment, maybe one large one. if i get it, i will be pretty much set gear/ food/ ammo wise. even having to buy my wife junk, i will have my shelter built, and stocked. its probably not going to happen until next spring though.  

  i have been pretty lucky, and have to give thanks for what i do have.  i am really low on the food side. i am planning on buying some 1 year supplys of the lts stuff from sams club, hopefully at least 2, 1 year supplys, then a bunch of normal food. i really need the shelter done, as it will be my only climate controlled storage i have. the house does not have room for much storage of stuff like food etc.

as in.... you did a lot MORE than me, or i did a lot MORE than you?   quit using those 5 dollar words pa.

If you knew what it cost me to learn those words then you would delight in using them too.  Kinda like having a buddy tell you to take care of his Ferrari, and keep the gas fresh by rotating, while he goes out of town.





 

the whole point of this thread though...... was i was so damn surprised i had bought so little ammo. and i bought almost all of that, when i put the new tires on my bov, with my income tax.  iv been slacking.... i also managed to spend the ENTIRE income tax, between 4 new mud tires, that small amount of ammo, fuel cans, some silver, ( i later sold for a nice profit), and other preps.   wifes get really pissed when you spend 2k, and they dont get to spend any of it...

hopefully ill get properly prepped, BEFORE i end up divorced.

im no word smith.  i wish i was, i guess im just a traveled country boy overall.      however ! ! ! !   if you like reading zombie/ shtf fiction you really need to go to these spots. there is a guy writing some paw/ zombie fiction, over at.
http://www.adriansundeaddiary.com/     this is a diary story. its pretty good. the forum though, has a EXCELLENT STORY. best writing for a amateur i have ever read.
http://www.adriansundeaddiary.com/forums/?page=post&id=567A26A5-A055-459C-B534-3C71D401DC8F&fid=45B7ED2E-6192-47DE-9910-652265083E0D

Well don't do it unless you have a lot of time to kill and don't mind loseing it. I've got a thread going over in the zombie central forum... A.U.D. is da debil!..

K.

yeah..it does suck you in, luckily i have a lot of free time, ( according to me, wife thinks i need to be scrubbing the floors every second she is gone to work. lol ) i spent a couple weeks, 8 hours a day reading zombie fiction...lol   they have a lot of good stuff. i just recently found the forum stories, they are really good. im trying to write my own, but i kinda suck.   that story i highlighted, that guy wrote 300,000 words in just a few months. i honestly think its good enough to print.

Same here.



I would say a lot of the stuff on OP's list should be prioritized ahead of ammo if he's got some stock anyway.





 

While i get the feeling your on hand ammo quantities are atrociously low.(by my standards)

It isn't a horrible thing you didn't buy a lot so far this year.
Prices currently seem to be falling / good "sales" (for the times) keep popping up.
Now seems like a "better" time than earlier this year if you need to buy ammo.....

I feel for you guys who weren't stacking it deep during the "good times" but in retrospect my money would've done better if i bought gold sold it and bought ammo now

Since 1 Jan 2011, I have bought:

15120 rounds 5.45x39
4200 rounds 5.56 (1200 IMI M855 & 3000 Golden Tiger)
5000 rounds 9mm (1000 RA9T & 4000 various FMJ/practice ammo)
11,000 rounds .22LR (2 x 10 packs of 550 Federal from Wal-Mart)
3520 rounds 7.62x54R


There's so much 5.45 'cause a guy here in town was moving to a MUCH smaller place in DC and wanted to get rid of it quick. I happened to have the cash, and bought 14 tins of 7n6 for $1120. I also bought the 8 tins of  7.62x54R from him for $480.

The .22LR was on sale for $11.93/550 rounds at a Wal-Mart in Pensacola. I bought all they had. $254.

The 5.56 & 9mm is about my annual consumption. I don't reload yet, but YCBYA that I'm saving my brass when when I do. Just don't have the space for a reloading table right now.

Holy shit!



Got food and water?
 

Just the wife and I, so I have ~100 of those Zephyerhills 3 liter water bottles stacked in the closet, and a good three months worth of non-perishable food. Yeah, there're cheaper ways to get the water, but they fit in the space I had available for them. Overall, I think I'm doing alright for our ~1100 square foot apartment.

Good news.  Hope you've got a reinforced floor in that appt where your ammo is stacked!
 

Even better, I'm on the ground floor, and the ammo's spread out over three different rooms. The landlord was a bit worried about the safe that I had bolted to the ground in the closet, but the guy that installed it showed her before and after pics that he had taken when he moved another customer's safe and repaired the carpet afterwards.

Just gotta do something about a generator. OTOH, I'm pretty close to a major electrical substation, ~180 feet above sea level, and ~20 miles inland. Even if a hurricane does roll through, I'll be amongst the first to have power back.

ETA: Saving up for some NVG's right now. :D

i gotta get some buying done... no telling what 2012 will be like, with a election, and the end of the world in nov, and dec...       i dont need another 2008, to be looking for ammo and reloading components.

Buck...  Don't beat yourself about it.  Really, you've done good.  Based on what and how much you've purchased/acquired, your significant other seems ok with it - half the battle sometimes.  We're all in the same boat, struggle with what's the best thing to do, what's the right strategy, etc.  I'm very mechanical, but anal when it comes to figuring things out, meticulous.  I figured for what I need for SHTF/TEOTWAWKI, I'd need $1-2Million.  Damn, I don't even have a yearly budget anywhere near 0.5% of that; that is, it'll take me 200years.  All I do is search for great deals & grab them, test & eval for less expensive things that can do the same job, save for quality & most vital stuff, and get most important things first; and adjust, adapt, and evolve strategy.

Now, I know I just said a lot at a very high level, but let me explain.  I thought this year I'd buy more stripped AR lowers, ammo, and MOLLE gear.  Govt auction netted me a great deal on 2 pallets of great condition ammo cans.  Delivered cost was still half the best online prices BEFORE shipping.  I have yet to buy more MOLLE gear or ammo.  But I bought a handgun& shotgun.  Palmetto had a $50 lower sale, but missed it.  But bought one of their lowers at a gunshow, along with an AERO and LAR.  Built them out and went thru the paces.  The AERO lowers came out on top for fnish, fit, and total delivered cost. Working with a great out-of-state dealer & a local FFL, I got 16 AERO lowers for under $70ea delivered & transferred.  Still short on ammo, gear, uppers, survival stuff.   Hurricane season this year also didn't look good, so I tried out, then got MH freeze-dried pouches (at Walmart), then three 10# cans online.  Also bought a dzn MRE's.  Never thought I'd get this but it got me thinking.  So the plans changed.  Next year, it's more stripped lowers, until I reach 55 in all built or stripped (I plan to build out each one; the uppers is another story tho), and more good cheap mil-surplus MOLLE gear, plus field cook/prep gear, food & water provisions.

So here's what I have so far:
36 AR lowers, of which 6 are full assemblies, 30 stripped.
6 complete uppers, various high to midrange brands, waiting on my first piston version.
6 LPK's, various other AR parts
60 MOLLE USGI mil-surplus LBV vests in DCU.
400 MOLLE USGI mil-surplus Dual M4 Mag Pouches, in DCU.
711 AR 30rd mags, mostly AL USGI's.
5k rds 223/5.56, 62gr, brass; 1000rds 9mm
9mm handgun, XDm, 12ga shotgun, Mossberg 500
5000 brass 5.56NATO (not commercial brass) once-fired casings, 7000 9mm once-fired brass casings
Basic reloading setup from Lee, (but I want a progressive setup)
84 40mm Ammo Cans on two military transport pallets
Two mil-spec Hardigg containers, 32" x24"x52", like a Pelican but a helluva lot bigger.
20 20mm Ammo cans, 12 50cal ammo cans, 4 30cal ammo cans, four 6 gal water containers, four 5gal fuel cans
Dozen MRE's (1 case), three 10# cans and 12 pouches of Mountain House Freeze Dry
Like you, I Wish I had more!!!!

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

I have felt in the last year that I am as prepped as I am ever going to be.  My lifestyle right now is basically how I will live when SHTF.  I grow or hunt 90% of what I eat - the remaining 10% (eggs, milk, etc.) I get from neighbors.  I make my own beer and wine.  My house is heated with wood.....etc. etc.

So, my preps now are more spiritual.  I am trying my best to be charitable and trying as best I can to follow Christ.   My physical preps may ultimately be for someone else but my spiritual preps are for me and those I love.

I'd be depressed if that was all the ammo I bought in a year, too.  Because that would mean I basically didn't train AT ALL.  Why don't you budget some range visits, or even better a class or two? Much more valuable and useful than another weapon, 1k rounds of ammo, etc.

Even my wife wants another class before she gets another gun. Of course she is pregnant so that will be several months from now.

edit: Just saw where you responded to a similar post; still, train! Plinking doesn't cut it but it's good to hear someone is training their family. That's rare these days.

Hell yea!



We don't mess around in FL!



 

Just because I love this damn picture:

I think you're good on lowers: maybe more food,water?

im not going to be buying a lot of lowers, i might buy 2-4, lwrc lowers, then sbr them  then/ and  order the uppers. ( have the uppers sent to my father in law, who lives next door and owns no ar rifles),  . i own 4 ar 5.56, and one lwrc, repr .308. ( with other guns thrown in. )

i am planning on buying at least two, lwrc, m6a2 sbr rifles. i love those damn rifles. bolt feels like its on ball bearings. piston seems to make the ar a lot more reliable, plus after shooting the inside is clean not really dirty at all.  they really were not around when i bought my rock river rifles, ( which i love), however i really am nuts about the lwrc stuff. its just expensive.

i have been impressed with the piston on my lwrc repr. inside stays really clean, spotless compared to the older gas impingement.  im definately buying a couple of them to sbr.

i have the training.... 20 years army, plus deployments. i received some pretty good training. im doing a lot of shooting with my .22 s&w, ar15- .22 rifles and a mark III handgun. i have a lot of 22 ammo. 15 k or so.

i had my 14 year old daughter training a couple months ago. she fired about 100, 9mm, ( 3 rounds at a time, to do a lot of mag changes, 300 .22, 5 round in mags, to practice rifle mag changes, and about 60 ar15  rounds. im working on markingship, ( with the .22s), and gun handling, and reloading.. she had a lot of fun, and learned a lot more about operating the guns, and was 1000% better when the session was over.   she is on jrotc at school, and i fully expect her to make the rifle team try outs coming up next month....... shes pretty sharp.

we also are training to transition from rifle to handgun, when the rifle jams, or is empty. its good training, and the smith being a basic exact copy function wise for a ar15, it does offer a lot, with large ammo savings.    i can shoot all day for $20 bucks.   that only buys about 40-60 ar-15 rounds. vs/ 550 .22 rounds.

its harder with the wife, she just does not want to get into the training. she likes shooting though, and since she got her own gun, ( glock), and her female friend just bought her own 9mm, she seems into it more. .........lately, she is getting better though. next time we go, ill make her use 3 round mags, and ill load them, while she shoots. ill also add some snap caps, to practice malfunctions. she really needs famialarity, so she can operate the gun faster and more confidently.