I think of the prepping way of life as a way to get ready with as little money as possible. I spend enough of my cash just trying to get by in the world and don’t have a lot of extra left over for prepping.
I have found many ways to get many of my preps for little or no money. I’m pretty sure that no matter what your situation is, you can save money on your own gear and supplies by using one or more of these ideas.
Dumpster Diving
I’ll start with the free stuff, which is also where you should begin. I have found almost everything in the world by going through the trash.
Check out grocery stores if you need food. They throw away tons of fruit and vegetables. You can still use a lot of this. There will be bread, rolls, bagels, pies, cakes, frozen meals that have gone bad, cans with dents, and a lot more. You can eat it, feed it to your animals, cut it up and dry it to keep food on hand, or even trade it with other people.
Diving construction sites should supply you with all the building materials you will ever need.
Even though you probably won’t find many full-size sheets of plywood or full-length dimensional lumber, you should be able to find enough to build most prepper projects. Make sure you get permission from the foreman to go through the “Scrap.”
Most business dumpsters are full of cardboard, which you can take for free if you need it. You might find store returns that were thrown away in the dumpster. Sometimes these can be fixed, or they might not even be broken in the first place.
Most apartment dumpsters are pretty easy to hit at the end of the month. They have everything that the people who were living there before didn’t want to move. I’ve found a lot of food in boxes that someone had put next to the dumpster after emptying their pantry.
You might get lucky and know someone who works at the dump and is willing to let you look for things while they are there.
Just keep an eye out for things you can use or sell during all of this. Aluminum, brass, and copper are still worth a fair amount of money, and dumpsters are full of them.
You can find free supplies for prepping or things you can sell to buy those supplies in dumpsters. I’ve even found guns, money, tools, and things from the military.
Dollar Store
The dollar store challenge has been shown in a number of YouTube videos. You get $10 and have to buy enough to spend the night in the woods, start a fire, and make three meals.
After seeing a couple of these, I got my own ideas and went to the dollar store near me.
I found lighters, matches, and a 10×12 drop cloth that is used for painting. It is small and would be great for a bug-out bag.
If you were doing the challenge or didn’t have much money, you could use one of the $1 chef’s knives as a survival knife.
But what really surprised me about the dollar store is that they sell shelf-stable milk for a dollar a quart. The dates on most of it are at least six months away. There are also several other food items you might want to check out if you are keen on packing your own MRE-type meals.
Thrift Store
Thrift stores are hit or miss for me. When they work, they can be very profitable, but when they don’t, they can be kind of boring.
In the cooking section, look for cast iron pots, Dutch ovens, and skillets, as well as knives or other tools you might not have that would help you butcher, store, or otherwise prepare food for storage. Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of dehydrators. If you get one, make sure it has a fan to move the air. The ones that don’t move much don’t work well (that is why they are in thrift stores).
If they have a camping section, look it over well. There was a lot of Coleman stuff. I picked up my current two-burner stove for $5.
Look for good work boots in the clothing section. I bought up a pair of almost new Chippewa insulated work boots for $0.45, yes, that is cents. If you look hard enough, you can find camo and used BDUs.
Last, you should look at the books. I have seen things that look like someone’s crazy prepper uncle died and all his books were given away by his family.
You can find some great things at thrift stores for very little money. Here are 50 items that you can buy at a thrift store or yard sale to help you prepare.
Antique Stores
Antique stores are a great place to find that one thing you want or need but don’t want to buy new.
If a prepper needs a job done you can be sure that most likely someone 100 years ago needed that same type of job done. In an antique store, you can find out how people used to do that job in the past.
Flea Markets
A lot of us preppers like to look for deals on gear and supplies at flea markets. I have gotten way too many good deals to list them all, but you can find knives, guns, animal traps, military surplus, farm, and homesteading equipment, and even silver coins to invest in.
At a flea market, you never know what you might find.
Salvage Grocery Store
A few miles from our house is what people call a “salvage grocery store.” We try to go once a week to see what new things have been put in the sale bin.
These stores buy expired, close to expired, damaged, and overstocked groceries by the truckload and make them available to the public.
Ours is like a normal grocery store, except that the aisles are on the small side. It’s different because a lot of the stock changes every week. One week they might have a great deal on coffee (a lot of cheap brands), and the next week they might not have any.
We have found some amazing bargains. A few months ago, we saw tuna packed with oregano and olive oil. It looked like high-quality food, and since it was sealed in olive oil, it should last for a long time. At $.59 per can, we bought everything they had. When we got home, I looked it up online and found that it was 5 euros per can of European tuna.
These grocery stores can be great places to buy food to store, and if you’re lucky, you might even find some high-quality items at a good price.
Auctions
I love going to local auctions. I have bought a lot of gear at auctions for much less than it would cost me even in a surplus store. I have picked up a shotgun for $20, cheap ammo, prepper and survival books, Backwoodsman magazines (prime stuff there), and lots of other things, sometimes by the boxful, for a $1 bid.
Just make sure you don’t get caught up in the auction frenzy and pay too much for things.
Online Shopping
When I’m looking for something in particular, I keep an eye on eBay and Craigslist. I decide how much I want to pay and don’t spend more than that.
A few years ago, I decided that every member of my family should have a fiberglass hunting bow. It took me about a month, but I got each of them for less than $20, so now we all have one and a couple of extras.
Shop around and be ready for someone else to win that bid. It’s not a race.
Second Job
If you’ve tried everything and still can’t find the gear you need, you might have to bite the bullet and get a second job.
A friend of mine works as an accountant and makes a good living. He also works at a convenience store as a clerk. All of his second income goes into a separate bank account, which he uses to make purchases. Things like going on trips and going on vacations.
If you took a similar approach for your preps and designated one stream of income or a portion of one to buy gear and supplies, you should be able to set a budget and plan how to buy any piece of gear your heart desires.
Misc.
Remember to always look for ways to get it for less money or even for free. If you can get more than one of something for a good price, buy them all and trade them for something else you need. Also, keep your eyes open for things you could sell. You might not need it, but if you can sell it, you’ll have that extra cash.
Even though they didn’t have much money, our predecessors did it all right.
All you need is the right attitude and to keep an eye out for ways to keep your hard-earned money.