Low-cost prepping isn’t just for newbies. These days we can all benefit from creative ways to save money. I’m going to share a few tricks I’ve learned over the years to help you find some of the essentials to get the newbies started and some of the higher value items that all preppers want and need!
Now many people talk about buying items slowly. I don’t promote hoarding, as in buying all the rice or toilet paper, etc… in one trip.
However, times are tough right now and more and more people are hopping on board the prepper train. And now more than ever people feel the need to be prepared for the next crazy event.
Low-Cost Prepping Techniques
I get that, so I’m not going to school you on buying food here and there, not that you shouldn’t do that. However, in this post, we will focus on buying some essentials. Let’s make sure you can buy a small food supply as quickly as possible (without emptying the shelves) and buying other prepper items all while saving money.
When you’re on a budget, this is what I recommend…Make a list of priorities. Then calculate how much it will cost. If you’re over budget remove items until you are within budget.
With tax returns and possibly other relief checks coming this year, you really should put some of that money into your prepper efforts!
Buying In Bulk
Instead of buying all of the rice off of the shelf at Walmart or other grocery stores, you can buy bulk bags at your local Costco. I bought a 50lbs. bag of rice for just a little over $17! You can also buy a large bag of beans, quinoa, sugar, and flour from Costco.
There are many other stores that sell in bulk. However, Costco has really good prices. You might also buy at natural food stores or Sam’s club, but I don’t really shop there and don’t know the availability or prices.
Buying in bulk can help you get a quick and hefty food supply without emptying the shelves and leaving nothing for other people.
Here’s a list of things to buy in bulk – at least at Costco:
- Toilet paper
- Paper towels
- Paper plates
- Saran wrap
- Tinfoil
- Cleaning supplies
- Rice
- Beans
- Quinoa
- Flour
- Sugar
- Canned Food (They have a limited supply, but buy what you can if the price is right).
- Bottled water
- Coffee
- Coffee Creamer
How To Find Low-Cost Prepping Deals
Before we get into what items you should buy let’s talk about how to get the best deals, the easiest way!
Tracking Price Changes & Buying Low
One of the ways I stay up to date on the current prices of prepper items I’m looking to buy is using Honey to track price changes!
This is a huge game-changer. Especially if you’re anything like me, and buy from Amazon a lot. Did you know sellers can change their pricing often? Sometimes they even change the price only for a few hours before changing it back or increasing the price!
Honey has this thing called a droplist, and it will email me when the price changes. I can also check out the price changes within the last few months for items on Amazon and other supported websites.
The best way to buy is when items are on the low end of pricing. You can check the price changes on some products going back a total of 120 days. This way you can see the lowest selling point and try to buy when it’s low.
Coupons & Promo Codes!
Yes, why not use coupons? Besides using Amazon many companies online have promo codes that can be used to grab a discount. Sometimes they are really good and sometimes it’s just free shipping.
Honey actually keeps a database of promo codes. When you install the browser extension you’ll have the ability to run honey’s promo codes against your cart before you check out on supported websites.
You can also use Retail Me Not, although their system doesn’t support the Amazon website yet. That’s weird!
Shop The Dollar Stores For Low Cost Prepping Supplies
It’s hard to believe, but there are tons of prepper supplies you can get at dollar stores for only a dollar. The quality won’t be great, however, when you’re on a budget something is better than nothing.
I wrote a blog post on bug out bag supplies you can buy at the Dollar Tree. Check out 42 frugal bug out bag supplies.
Low-Cost Prepping (Food Items)
So if you’re on a budget but you want to build up your supply of food for survival, you might look into buying cheap food items that keep long term.
Below I’m going to make a list of cheap foods you can buy and add to your stockpile. Learn more about how to store a long term food supply on my other prepper posts, like Storing Food For Survival.
Most of these items are under $10, however, the rice, flour, and egg replacers are usually about $20 or so, but you get a good amount! There are a few items that are around $2-3 though. These items are peanut butter and crackers. The beans I linked to were for 4lbs and they were a good deal at the time both under $10. Prices may vary, they change quite often.
- Oats
- Peanut Butter
- Grits
- Rice
- Pasta
- Instant Mashed Potatoes
- Crackers – Saltines are typically pretty cheap.
- Dry Beans – Some beans are more expensive than others. Choose some that are on the cheaper side. (Black beans, pinto beans)
- Cornmeal – for making cornbread and such
- Flour – There are all kinds of flour you might want to buy eventually, but start out with some good ole’ all-purpose flour.
- Active Dry Yeast – for making bread or other baked goods. You may also want to buy some egg replacer if you plan to cook more baked goods.
If you purchased everything on this list, it would come out to just a little over a hundred dollars. You would have several pounds of food to add to your long term food supply.
Freeze-Dried Food That Won’t Break The Budget
I’m going to list some items that tend to have better prices than the rest. However, I will warn you these prices go up and down all the time, that’s why it’s important to use a third party like Honey that can help you track those price changes!
Why would you want freeze-dried food? Because they have a 25-year shelf life! I would buy these when they are $15 or less.
- Vegetable Stew Blend – I add this to my Chicken Quinoa Soup, I made a stovetop and camping recipe!
- Peanut Butter Powder
- Cheese Blend Powder – Make a cheesy soup, or add to popcorn.
- Dehydrated Bell Peppers – Great to add to soups or stir fry
- Dehydrated Chopped Onions – Great for soups, eggs, etc…
- Creamy Wheat Cereal
- Pancake Mix
- 10 lbs. Rolled Oats!
- Tomato Powder – Made from dehydrated tomatoes. This is used to make pizza sauce, pasta sauce, or tomato paste.
- Spinach Powder – Great to add to baked goods, soup, pasta, etc…
- Dried Celery
- Dried Broccoli
- Dried Carrots
- Dried Corn
- Dried Peas
- Dried Potato Dices
Canned Food
Obviously, canned food is inexpensive and considered non-perishable which is great for stockpiling. However, cans won’t last as long as freeze-dried foods.
If buying canned goods get a little bit of everything. Canned meat, veggies, & fruit.
Low-Cost Prepping Supplies
Water – Supplies & Storage
Water is one of the most important things to stock and prepare. Storing a backup water supply is easy but storing it can be expensive. Water barrels are usually somewhat expensive.
Lost-Cost Prepping Water Supplies & Storage
You not only want to stock water, but you need to know how to properly stock water so it's good for drinking.
WaterBOB Bathtub Emergency Water Storage
You can store around 100 gallons of water in your bathtub using this bathtub bladder.
This bathtub bladder comes with a siphon to help you extract water when you need it. The bathtub bladder is fairly inexpensive. It typically runs anywhere from $25-$40.
The only downsides are that it has to stay in the tub once you fill it, and you kinda have to predict a disaster and fill it before something happens. Plus, it can only store water for up to 16 weeks.
5 Gallon Samson Stackers
There are water brick sets that you can buy that are expensive but they stack nicely.
Aqua-Tainer 7 Gallon
Alternatively, this 7-gallon container is sold separately at a little over $10. A downside is that I don't believe it's stackable.
LifeStraw Personal Water Filter
This is a must-have if you ask me. I would personally love to also have a Berkey system, but it's just not affordable right now. Clean water is one of the most important items we can have. So also think about getting some rain barrels.
Cleaning and Personal Hygiene Supplies
Keeping clean is so important to health, so don’t forget about these important items. There are many items you can learn about making yourself too. I’ll link to a few products you can buy and a few that you can make.
Low-Cost Personal Hygiene Supplies And Cleaning Products
Everyone should include hygiene and consider it to be very important in their preps. Being dirty can lead to a great deal of issues.
Scott Toilet Paper
When it comes to survival I try to buy the cheapest toilet paper. Much of the time that means buying thin or 1 ply toilet paper. It might seem crazy, but you will use less toilet paper even if you have to triple it up to wipe!
Trust me, we buy Scott's because our teen boys cover their hand in toilet paper to wipe with. When they use thicker toilet paper the toilet gets clogged often. However, if we use Scott's the toilet doesn't have issues! YAY!
Hand Sanitizer
Buying in bulk can greatly reduce the price. I bought a bulk container at Costco, in the pharmacy area. It was a good price. Plus, if you're anything like me, you already have several small bottles to refill.
o.b. Applicator Free Tampons,
Tampons without applicators are best for survival situations. You can get these in all kinds of sizes even ULTRA. As far as tampons go, you can get 40 of these for almost half the price of other popular brands. So it's cost-effective too.
Menstrual Cups
Menstrual cups are the best option for SHTF situation for ladies. You won't ever have to worry about your supply running out, which to me is huge!
Reusable Menstrual Pads
These are priced really well and the reviews are great. I haven't tried them, but they are on my list of things to buy.
Having washable pads and panty liners are important in a SHTF situation.
Homemade Baby Wipes Recipe
The best part about making your own wipes it that you know all the ingredients! If you have a baby with sensitive skin, these wipes are usually pretty gentle on skin.
Homemade Lip Balm Recipe
This should make around 200 tubes. The wax/oil mix is really hot, so please be careful!
Homemade Powder Laundry Detergent
This recipe can even be used after SHTF situation. It's a good idea to be prepared to wash your clothes without electricity.
DIY Whipped Shea Butter Moisturizer
Make your own moisturizer using shea butter. It's very easy to do. Knowing how to make your own stuff will serve you well.
Bleach
Some people use bleach to clean water, see backup water supply for more info. Bleach used to be inexpensive, but they are raking in the big bucks now and it is overpriced much like masks, hand sanitizer, etc...
Dr. Bronner’s - Pure-Castile Liquid Soap
Best soap! This soap is super concentrated. It is expensive. However, once unconcentrated it will last a very long time.
I add a 1/4 of soap to a foaming hand soap container and the rest water. Shake it and you have hand soap! It's also great for cleaning coffee mug stains without leaving a nasty residue.
There are many scents. Citrus is one of my favorites, but I also suggest getting unscented for dishwashing, bathing babies, etc...
It has so many uses, I'll list them below...
- Body Wash
- Shampoo
- Dishes
- Laundry
- Pets
- Mopping
- All-purpose Cleaning
White Vinegar
I use diluted vinegar as a natural cleaning product. It's way cheaper in the store. It should only be $3-4 per gallon.
Fluoride Free Toothpaste
Obviously, you will need toothpaste. This is a favorite of mine free of SLS & fluoride!
Travel Toothbrush
Whether your stocking your pantry or your bug out bags, travel toothbrushes are compact and ready to go when you are.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is used in cleaning and cleanliness...Some people even use it as a deodorant. This is a must-have low-cost prepping item.
This is a 5lb. bag and it usually costs around $10.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Peroxide can be used as a cleaner and in first aid. Combine water and peroxide 1 to 1 ratio in a spray bottle and use to clean around the home.
Compressed Towel
These compressed towels are like a very nice paper towel. These can be used to wipe your face and clean yourself or even dishes. You can even wipe your stinky butt with them.
These can be reused, however, don't reuse butt wipes! Mmkay?
Bamboo Paper Towels
I like these because they feel like the real thing. It's a good idea to have washable paper towels if you tend to use them in your home. After SHTF, you won't have to have them, in fact, you can just use a washrag to clean up spills or dry your hands.
However, if you're anything like my husband, you'll want to buy paper towels.
Tools, Blades, Weapons
Good blades are really important. If you can’t afford good blades, buy cheap for now and get better blades when you can afford them. I’m not going to include weapons or ammo on the list, since they have become harder and harder to find.
However, you should definitely be stocked and prepared to use them. Alternative weapons such as throwing knives, bow and arrow, etc…are a good thing to have since they are silent.
Tools & Blades: Preppers On A Budget
Stock up on tools and blades, whether you're on a budget or not, you'll need some good tools. Buy cheap now, and save up to buy better blades and tools later.
P-38 Can Openers
These can openers (p-38) are very small and can be used for small cans. They also have a slightly bigger model called the P-51 that can be used on big cans like those of #10 cans.
Place P-51 can openers under the plastic lid of an unopened #10 can, so you are prepared to open that can anytime anywhere.
These are fairly inexpensive, and every bug out bag, and prepper's pantry should have a few.
Kershaw Machete
These come in handy when you need to gather wood for fire or make a path through dense woodlands and for so many other reasons.
Kershaw Folding Pocketknife
A good pocket knife is really important. Kershaw makes a good blade. This is one of the cheapest Kershaws you can find on Amazon. They have a wide variety to choose from with prices that range from 22 and upwards toward a hundred dollars.
Uncle Flint's Survival Fishing Kit
Every prepper should have a good supply of fishing gear. You should also have small kits like this in all of your bug out bags. or you can build your own fishing kit like I did, using empty tins.
I wrap fishing line around an old store card, the same way I do with duct tape.
Emergency Solar Hand Crank Portable Radio
Some people have this emergency radio. You can also use it to charge things like your cell phone, plus it's a flashlight too. So that's helpful.
I don't have one of these, instead we have handheld walkies that have the NOAA weather and communications. I'll link to those below this, but they are more expensive.
NOTE: Solar power has come a long way. However, I wouldn't rely on solar-powered flashlights, radios, or power banks. Simply because for some reason they don't use solar tech that works in these items. Check out the reviews on these products and you will see a slew of people complaining! This also means you will need an alternate source of energy. So keep that in mind.
- NOAA Weather Radio
- AM/FM
- LED Flashlight
- Reading Lamp
- 2000mAh Power Bank
- USB Charger
- SOS Alarm
Midland 50 Channel Waterproof GMRS Two-Way Radio
Communication is important. Most people recommend the Baofeng brand, but they are even more expensive. These Midland radios are a decent price and work just fine.
- 2-way Radios
- 35-mile Range
- Privacy Codes
- NOAA Weather Scan + Alert
- Water/Splash Resistant
- SOS Siren
- GMRS
Men's Heavy Duty Work Gloves
Gloves are a good idea. These leather gloves are perfect for picking up wood and plenty of other jobs.
You may look into getting some winter gloves if you live in the North.
Cheap work gloves for stuff like gardening.
Lastly, it's a good idea to have some disposable gloves for gross jobs.
Duct Tape
Duct tape can be wrapped around an old store card for easier storage in a bug out bag. Duct tape has thousands of uses and definitely something necessary for a SHTF situation.
First Aid Supplies
Having a good supply of first aid and medicine is really important. It’s up to you if you want to purchase a first aid kit or purchase your supplies separately. Kits often don’t contain all the items I would suggest having on hand, however they can be a good start. Here’s a list of items I suggest having on hand and a few first aid kits to choose from.
I also suggest taking a first aid class. If you can’t afford to pay for a class you can take this free class by First Aid For Free. It’s a pretty good class considering it’s totally free.
- Bandages of all shapes and sizes – Non-stick pads, finger bandages, extra-large
- Gauze
- Medical Scissors
- Tourniquet
- Antibiotic Ointment, betadine, poviodine, peroxide, rubbing alcohol, bactine
- Pain Reliever – Acetaminophen, Aspirin, Ibuprofen
- Burn Cream, sting relief pads, Benedryl, hydrocortisone
- Emergency Mylar Blankets
- Emergency Whistle
- Signal Mirror
- Plastic Tape, Cloth Tape
- Brown Elastic Wrap – finger splints, ankle splints, arm & leg splints
- Suture Kit – You can actually buy “practice” suture kits and learn how to suture. Yes, I have one, and yes it’s great. I’ve practiced, by watching videos on YouTube!
- Stethoscope
Miscellaneous Supplies
Low-Cost Prepping | Prepper Supplies On A Budget
This list includes essential prepper supplies but also some random items you'll want, such as duct tape!
3 Day Assault Pack
If you're serious about being a prepper, you'll need a good bug out bag. I have a bag like this. I've had many bags but this is my favorite one so far. It has tons of pockets and I love the Molle system.
- Molle System
- Tons of pockets
- High-Density Fabric
- Double Stitched
- Heavy Duty
- Compression System
- Ventilated Mesh - padded back are
- Shoulder strap - breathable and comfortable
- Large capacity
Survival Garden Seeds
Being able to feed yourself long term is very important. Start gardening where you are, save seeds from everything!
BIC Classic Lighters
Fire is among one of the top essentials of survival. It can provide heat, hot food, and even boost moods in the midst of disaster.
Pop-up Tent
It's a good idea to get a tent. Small pop up tents are good for placing inside. These can help you keep warm in a home without power. The one I linked to is a 2 person pop up tent.
Drilled Ferro Rod Fire Starter 6 pcs
You'll want some ferrocerium rods and strikers. I bought this set, because I wanted ferro rods with a hole so that I could attach the striker to them.
There are several sets that you can buy on Amazon, but it's typically cheaper to buy them separately.
We tried these out with the strikers I'm linking to below and they work well. My son actually made fire in less than 10 strikes.
Ferro Rod Scraper
These are the scrapers I got to go with the Ferro rods. They also include a concave serrated end, a hex wrench, a bottle opener, and a ruler.
10 Pack Reusable Sandwich Bags
Having reusable bags like these can replace disposable plastic zipper bags. These come in handy for storing food and other things.
Emergency Lanterns
Lanterns come in handy when the power goes out. if you have to go to the bathroom, you'll want to be able to set the light down somewhere, without it disturbing the illumination so you can see what the heck you are doing.
Reusable Mesh Produce Bags
If you're gardening these bags will come in handy for storing potatoes, onions, garlic, etc...You can also use them at the store instead of the plastic bags that the store provides.
Overall, prepping isn’t cheap. I want to remind you to make a supply list of priorities. Buy what you can right now out of the top priorities. Even if you have to buy cheaper items, it’s better to have something than nothing at all.
Don’t forget to sign up for Honey and save money while you shop!
Tell me, what’s #1 on your prepper supply priority list (in the comments).
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