10 Low-Cost Ways to Prep

Today, it’s all about 10 low-cost ways to prep. I find myself constantly encouraging and challenging people to be prepared well ahead of the storm, whether it’s a tornado, hurricane, wildfire, or earthquake that you may face someday. With all of the disasters and calamities happening more and more all around us, I can’t stress prepping enough with you. Let’s talk about these 10 low-cost ways to prep. In case you missed my post, Thrift Store Items To Stock Up On

Some of My Favorite Items:

Bushnell Lantern

Oflashlights

EverBrite 9-LED Flashlight 6-Pack

Low-Cost Ways to Prep 

People often tell me they don’t have the finances to make emergency preparedness happen, and I understand where they’re coming from. Maybe this sounds like your current situation. Prepping can seem costly, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on the idea. 

Prepping on a tight budget may be tougher, but it is possible, and I’d love to show you how. Here are 10 low-cost ways to prep when your money is tight. When your budget allows, I highly recommend some WaterBricks. They are stackable, and if your bed frame is high enough, you can put some under your bed out of sight.

Don’t Prep While on a Shopping Spree

Something that I’d encourage you not to do is to head out and buy everything all at once or make the mistake of waiting until it’s too late and the natural disaster is already knocking at your door. Prepping is all about being patient while finding the best deals. 

Do your research ahead of time instead of heading to the store or going online while trying to get everything all at once. Yes, this will require many trips over time, but you’ll save a bunch of money by taking your time, shopping for the lowest prices, and not buying things you don’t need. 

Prioritize What’s Important

When starting with prepping, you must prioritize everything based on your emergency plan. Think short-term. Don’t get caught up buying the cool survival gear that should come much later for when you’re planning to “bug out.” 

Prepping for disasters is not cheap, so buy the things that matter the most first. This includes gathering enough food and water for everyone in your family to last you for at least 72 hours. Think about what you’ll need for shelter, clothing, and ways of cooking your meals. 

Ask For It

Have family or loved ones ever asked you what you want for your birthday or Christmas every year? If so, now’s the perfect opportunity to ask them for survival gear and other prepping equipment without having to feel bad or end up with something that you’ll never use or didn’t want in the first place. 

Add Prepping to Your Budget

Since prepping should be considered a long-term goal, why not add it to your budget? You might think you don’t have any wiggle room in your budget for budget-friendly prepping items, but I’d be willing to bet otherwise. 

You’d have to be willing to make a few sacrifices along the way, whether it’s with your weekend entertainment or how often your family eats out each week. Consider all the other areas in your budget that aren’t necessities where you could cut back.

In a disaster situation, grocery stores are often closed or hard to get to. As part of your emergency plan, you need to consider what foods your family likes, when is the most cost-effective time of year to purchase your food storage, and how best to store items. These considerations make your grocery list and grocery shopping before the disaster a natural step to effective prepping. 

Buy In Bulk While Going Generic

When it comes to your food supplies, there are several different methods that you can use, and they are all lower-cost. I’d encourage you to shop in bulk when you have a larger family. 

• Though you’ll pay more upfront with just one visit, you’ll pay much less over time. You can buy large bags of rice and dried beans for only a few pennies a pound. They’re both filling and contain the protein your family needs.
• Shopping for generic foods is also not the wrong way to go. Yes, there may be a few times when generic is not priced as you’d like, but in most cases, it’s comparable to the national brands when you pick up the right product. You’ll also have another advantage of paying less for generic food when you can purchase things in bulk. 
• Budget meal prep is a goal we should all strive for as part of our disaster meal planning. Consider discounts by buying store brands, cut coupons from the newspaper, weekly mail flyers, and other sources. By essential items like soups, stews, canned foods like fruits, vegetables, and meats.
• Buy shelf-stable items like grains, pasta, rice, sugar, honey, spices, and other items you’ll need as ingredients in disaster-based recipes. You want your meal dishes to be healthy and tasty, so buy things that tend to stay fresh longer.  

Shop for Non-perishable Foods at Food Banks

This one may require some of you to swallow your pride to even step foot in one of these stores, but food banks are an extremely cheap way (even accessible for those who qualify) to stock up on canned goods and other non-perishable food items. Just remember to rotate your stock at least once a year so you’re not stuck with spoiled food when you need it the most. 

Hit Up the Dollar Store

As a prepper, you can save hundreds of dollars by heading to your local dollar stores for several prepping needs. After all, there’s no need to buy something more expensive in retail stores when a dollar store item could just as easily be used in the same way when a disaster hits. 

Why would you spend much money on something you’ll only use once, or maybe never?    

You can find first aid supplies, medicines (pain relief, allergy medicine, etc.), flashlights, and personal hygiene supplies (hand sanitizer, baby wipes, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc.) at a dollar store. When you visit, you may even come across rain ponchos, t-shirts, socks, and underwear. Even though they may seem to be of lesser quality, dollar stores sometimes have small hardware items, such as hammers, blades, screws, washers, and other cheap items that will more than serve their purposes.  

Don’t Forget Your Local Thrift Shops 

Thrift shops are another great place to look when preparing for disasters on a budget. There’s nothing wrong with purchasing items that have barely been used and where you’ll only wind up spending a fraction of the cost compared to buying brand new. 

You can track down flashlights, lanterns, rain and winter gear, clothing, blankets, medical supplies, sleeping bags, camping gear, tools, and cooking ware. The list goes on and on, but you’ll need to be patient and be willing to visit several times to find what you’re looking for.        

Stay Warm with Space Technology

The everyday typical blanket at any retail store will run you around $10-$30. But when you have several members in your family, that can quickly add up. Why not use these emergency space blankets you can find for free or under $4? They use your body’s heat to keep you warm during an emergency.    

Don’t Go Skimpy on Your Drinking Water

While you may be looking for ways to save money on all your other prepping needs, your drinking water shouldn’t be one of them. You don’t want to be left drinking contaminated water that can make you and your family sick. 

Water is arguably the most critical item you’ll need. So, whether you buy several cases of bottled water or purchase a handful of portable water filters that can be used on any water source, don’t wait until after the disaster has struck. Your tap water may no longer be drinkable. Bottles like these are great as well. I have several. Filtered Bottles

To be safe, you should consider buying a water filtering system that can be used when you’re unsure of the water source’s quality. I’ve mentioned before, I like Big Berkey and PortaWell water filtering systems and have both. Big Berkey units rely on gravity to pull the water through their filters. They work great, but it can take some time for much volume. The PortaWell units have a battery-powered pump and can generate 60 gallons of filtered water per hour. An option available is the use of solar panels to recharge the battery if your power is out.

Final Word

Prepping for disasters does cost a bit of money, but with extra planning and patience, you’ll be able to cut those costs by over half while using some of my budgeting tips. However, I don’t want to lead you astray. You don’t want to go cheap on some items regarding your survival gear. For instance, you have to be willing to pay a little extra for good-quality sleeping bags so that your family is not freezing outside during the night. What other low-cost ways of saving money when prepping that you’ve encountered? May God Bless this world, Linda. 

Copyright Images: Small Town Thrift Shop AdobeStock_42713813 by smp928s, Thrift Store Stack of Blue Jeans AdobeStock_582822072 By Svittlana