Preparation on a budget

[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.