Tips for Prepping on a Tight Budget

In modern society many have grown accustomed to simply throwing out items when they've served their primary purpose or stopped working. I won't spend time discussing the benefits of repairing and maintaining what you currently own, however that is absolutely relative to prepping on a budget instead we'll focus on re purposing items. This really comes down to use of your imagination and creativity.... also don't forget to browse our articles at Omega Group Consultants and also look for ideas on social boards. Pinterest is a great one. A few of the ways I use re purposing in my house are :

• Scentsy Wax - My wife uses this fragrant wax in various containers around the house. When it looses the scent rather than toss it I melt it in an old crock pot (designated for this use) and use it towards emergency stoves or homemade candles. I do the same with other various wax products as well (crayons, candle bottoms, etc..)
• Dryer Lint - This seemingly useless byproduct makes an excellent fire tinder. Mixed lightly with Vaseline even gives it that extra ignition power. You can store it in various ways. One of my favorites is old discarded dip (chewing tobacco) cans; you can also use empty toilet paper rolls, paper towel roles, and for single packs I like to use a small pieced of tightly folded aluminum foil.
• Tuna Cans and the like . I like to use old cans such as these to make small emergency heater/stoves aka Buddy Burner. We'll do a video or article in the near future to walk you through the process, but in the meantime a quick search of youtube will give you a number of videos. These are just a few of the numerous opportunities to re purpose items that would otherwise be discarded. With a little creativity you would be surprised at how many free resources you have available sitting around.

OGC considers fitness a high priority in prepping. This is for numerous reasons but the simplest explanation is this. If you're fit then you are less likely to become ill and your more agile for self defense and the various manual labor task that self reliant living entails. Although it is very easy to spend alot of money on fitness you can easily get in shape with no money involved as well. Once again be creative and spend a little time on research. Check out our fitness homepage HERE for excellent tips, videos, products and articles to help you along the way.

Something I often observe in the prepping community is a focus on stuff. While I agree that stuff is excellent to have; just as important is a proficient level of skill to employ the stuff you have. That's where practice comes in. This isn't just limited to firearms use, this goes for everything you can imagine yourself needing to do in a SHTF scenario. I would encourage you to do your own home repairs , and vehicle maintenance when able and if not able watch and learn as the expert does. Bottom line practice as much as possible in all aspects you can. If you can squeeze it in your budget to conduct some training by an expert then all means do it will pay off well especially for laying a proper foundation.
One more note on weapons training. Often I hear how expensive it is to practice with a firearm. While I agree that ammo is expensive (consider reloading) you don't have to shoot a tremendous amount to be proficient with a weapon. While it definitely helps, don't let a limited budget cause you to give up all together. There are plenty of DRY drills you can employ to assist you in proficiency as well. Check out our Tacticts Homepage HERE for more great info on this.

This tip is pretty self explanatory. Gardening is an excellent and I would argue necessary skill set to have for true self reliance and therefore should be a part of everyone's prepping agenda. Besides being a cheap (although you can make it expensive) hobby to get into once you get to producing foods you'll actually save money on your groceries that allow you to put more towards your preps.

You've likely heard the saying one mans junk is another mans treasure.... well that is absolutely true for a frugal prepper. I love the thrift store. You never know what excellent items you may find there. A few of my favorites are books and kitchen supplies. I've bought quite a few bread-makers I have bought at a thrift store for typically 5-10 dollars; an excellent deal.

Much like Thrift Stores, yard sales are a hidden trove of treasures. The awesome thing about yard sales are you can occasionally find items you won't find at a Thrift Store such as ammunition and firearms. In addition at a yard sale you can haggle the price which I highly recommend.

Learn to coupon!!! Almost every thing you see in the picture cost me almost nothing. Literally. Many stores run various cash back and voucher promos. With a little effort you can quickly stock up on tons of free things. I will add that I don't really do this any longer because it is a bit time consuming (to take it to that level), however that's not to say it's not worth it... Regardless normal couponing will allow you to often capitalize on great deals and takes little effort. There is really no reason not to.

Bartering can be an excellent way to acquire what you don't have with something you no longer need. I used to barter for guns quite alot through various internet venues such as Craigslist (although they forbid it now) and Armslist etc.. With that said you can barter for virtually anything and if you're good at it you can continue to upgrade through bartering eventually ending up with a much more valuable item than what you started with. Try it out.

LEGAL NOTE: Firearms sales and trades (even personal) are regulated variously in different areas. Ensure you know and operate within the law of your location. As a side note if you live in an unfriendly gun area I highly recommend doing what you can to relocate to a different area, but that's for a different article all together.

I'm like a kid at Christmas in the Dollar Store. The abundant selection of products for only 1.00 is awesome. If you haven't been lately or haven't looked at it through a preppers mindset I would highly recommend checking one out near you.

Although it may seem like an odd one to make the list I have to include books. I am a prepper with an extensive and continually growing library. In fact books are one of my must have items in prepping. Here is my reasoning. I try and learn as many skill sets as I can, but at the end of the day many I will never be proficient and I will never know everything, however there are few things I'm not confident I could do with the use of instruction and books provide that instruction. I recommend grabbing books of every how to type that you could imagine ever needing. Better to have and not need than to need and not have. I've already touched on a few great sources to acquire cheap books, but I would be remiss if I didn't include Amazon. You can almost always beat retail prices by going through Amazon. In addition if you're not familiar with the Prime program they offer I highly recommend it as well. I've had it since it first become available years ago and still do. Among the many great benefits of Prime is free two day shipping on many items they offer. Check it our HERE.

Ok ,
This is a shameless plug, but it does have merit. Come hang out with us in person or on our website. At OGC (Omega Group Consultants) we have numerous resources available for you. Check us out and don't forget to sign up for our Newsletter as well. CHECK US OUT HERE