# you have $500 to spend.... go!



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Do you buy:

kevlar vest?
an expensive food prep tool perhaps? Maybe the Country Living grain mill?
2000 rounds of ammo?
tools? if so what?
junk silver coins?
long term food preps?
garden materials?
livestock? if so, what kind, and what can you do for sustainable food for them?
???? 


no wrong answers here, I'm just curious what peoples reflex answer would be to burning $500 of fiat cash and turning it into something tangible for preps?


----------



## oldasrocks (Jun 30, 2012)

$500. of MacDonalds cheeseburgers.


----------



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

for my part, I'd like to get a lot more mason jars now that I've just started doing this, and I want to capitalize on the price of meat while it's cheap before the shortage hits.

On the other hand I would like a new kevlar vest, mine is ancient.

I'd also like night vision

There's still some things I need for reloading, more die sets and sizing dies etc.

hmmm. I have guns and boolitz for now, and I do have a lot of food preps, but I think food/water is something that shouldn't and can't be underestimated. 

Kevlar and night vision are both highly situational, which in my mind makes them windfall purchases. I should be doing the food and shooting hobby sustainment already on a weekly basis. If I get a windfall, I should buy something that I would normally have to budget for.


----------



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

oldasrocks said:


> $500. of MacDonalds cheeseburgers.


Those will last forever and you can store them on your desk! :eyebulge:


----------



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Canner, mason jars, rice beans chk stock, ammo, and lots of nonhybrid seeds. If thats what i have before bugout ill need fuel too. 500 just isnt enough. Cooking fuel, a pressure pump multifuel stove, nissan carry cooker. A bol with a well. The list of what i need is daunting. Deep breath. One thing at a time.


----------



## MsSage (Mar 3, 2012)

I would need $60 then I could get 24 pounds of homegrown beef and can 12 jars of meatloaf. Since I have 5~ 2 pound pkgs in the freezer I could do some pint jats of scrambled hamburger for getti and add cheese to a couple for cheesburger mac. I can have as many jars as I want to sterilize as long as I get them out of the old house. Of course I would share with my jar lady.

Oh hmm I miss read the amount LOL well then I would ok put the amount up to 104 pounds.
Then use the rest to get Grain mill with attachments and the different screens for my tomato strainer/berry chopper ( ok I dont know the name of the item LOL).


----------



## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

a big agnes seedhouse sl2 tent and a pair of merrell moab hicking boots


----------



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

FatTire said:


> a big agnes seedhouse sl2 tent and a pair of merrell moab hicking boots


Kalispell, that is TOO cool, a buddy just got back from his annual vacation, he's got family there. We half-jokingly kid about dumping our IT careers and becoming paramedics out there since we're both in the EMT courses.

It might not be so much of a joke since our company is for sale and radical things do sometimes happen in those kinds of transactions LOL! most people fear change... personally, I have no problem whatsoever leaving CA. I just need the impetus to do it.


----------



## showmegal (Sep 14, 2011)

Food and Ammo or Solar


----------



## Dustysmom (Oct 11, 2012)

Conversion kit for generator to propane $200
Materials toward root/storm cellar $300 plus all of our spare pennies for a while


----------



## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

it's a no brainer, people who have been paying attention are all prepped, so buy more long storage foods.rice,beans,wheat.


----------



## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

I have plenty of guns and bullets, water wont be a big problem in this area for a while.. so... non perishable food


----------



## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

I would like to start a runoff collection pond at the bottom of a revene beside my house. Bring in lots of gravel and sand, and pay friend to help core out a location.


----------



## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

More dehydrated food and perhaps another propane tank.


----------



## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Probably some cold-weather gear, as I don't have a lot of that which would be suitable to tactical uses. 
A few more rounds of ammo couldn't hurt. 
A good backpack to carry my gear, maybe something like saddlebags.


----------



## Startingout-Blair (Aug 28, 2012)

I hate to say it, but $500 doesn't go far today. Maybe a new 10/22 and ammo


----------



## NooB2ItAll (Apr 10, 2012)

A berkey (spelling) water filter

Maybe some milking goats or a piglet or two
Ammo
2 ruger 10/22's
A lot of jars and lids
A grain mill and grain
A whole lot more food
Gasoline


----------



## BillS (May 30, 2011)

That might cover the cost of canning 100 1-pound jars of hamburger. My wife and sister-in-law plan on doing that next month at a non-profit children's camp that my sister-in-law works for.


----------



## db2469 (Jun 11, 2012)

Bar my windows...


----------



## db2469 (Jun 11, 2012)

NooB2ItAll said:


> A berkey (spelling) water filter
> 
> Maybe some milking goats or a piglet or two
> Ammo
> ...


That'll put you way over $500...sorry!


----------



## invision (Aug 14, 2012)

Split even - food and ammo


----------



## urbanprepper (May 15, 2012)

Lottery tickets, easiest way to turn a few dollars into millions!!

Realistically I would get my m&p .40, of mossberg 500.


----------



## oldvet (Jun 29, 2010)

invision said:


> Split even - food and ammo


$225.00 long shelf life food, $225.00 ammo, and $50.00 basic first aid supplies and some small inexpensive survival essentials.


----------



## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

Gasoline.


----------



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Ammo. Just ammo.

($500 doesn't go far, and we are woefully pathetic on ammo.)


----------



## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

Homesteading wise $500 goes nowhere. But an unexpected $500 and prepping only, the next on the list would be salt, bicarbonate of soda, citric acid and DE. Just incase you're curious I define homestead supplies as anything I have less than 12/24 months worth of and prepping as extreme stores plus a few extras like medical or things for visitors that we don't personally need.


----------



## Redtail (Oct 17, 2008)

A replacement 7.62x25mm barrel ($25-40) and a new 9x19 barrel (40ish) for my Tokarev, a new hammer group ($70ish), and spend the rest cleaning up my car. 

Got plenty of ammo, and I'm confident with how my food storage is coming along. I worry about some of the aspects of my automobile starting to cause trouble in the near future though, rather cut that out of the equation and stay the course otherwise.


----------



## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

Dakine said:


> Do you buy:
> 
> kevlar vest?
> an expensive food prep tool perhaps? Maybe the Country Living grain mill?
> ...


More cold weather clothing or blankets for the elderly in our home. More Medications for those that need them. More heavy wool blankets.

It gets darn cold here during most winters. All of our basics are covered but it sure would be nice to not have the older folks be cold or be in need of medications over the winter. Most of us will be fine in the lower temps but the "old foggies" start wrapping up in blankets just after Labor Day.

Five hundred bucks could make the difference for many of the forum members. That amount of money could really help out for them. We are truly blessed here and are not in want for anything that we are aware of ( There is always that....AHA moment).

Back to the OP. Maybe some extra Coleman fuel, some extra gasoline, perhaps some extra charitable food stuffs, a Bible or three, a few extra candles and a charitable donation to my church to assist the the needy.

Tugs


----------



## pandamonium (Feb 6, 2011)

Mossberg model 500 with pistol grip. $250.00

Heirloom seeds. $125.00

Powder and primers. $125.00


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

$500 wouldn't even cover the concrete for my fence around my backyard / sideyard, but, it would be a start. 

$500 would probably be a good portion of the money needed to build a rocket-mass-heater in my basement. 

$500 would get me an electric smoker (and chips) that is on sale right now at PrincessAuto, and, while there I would probably snag a meat-mixer and a sausage-stuffer - ya - the hunting food-prep stuff is on sale next week :factor10:

$500 would get me a Mossberg J-I-C kit and maybe a laser for my Taurus.

$500 would get me two weeks of fuel so that I can goto work ... I think I'll just keep goin' to work.





Ya, $500 doesn't go very far, but, it could be a nice little boost


----------



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

NaeKid said:


> $500 would get me two weeks of fuel so that I can goto work ... I think I'll just keep goin' to work.


 And I thought my $150 a week was bad.

I think I would use the $500 for a half a tank of diesel. Yeah, $500 doesn't go far.


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

UncleJoe said:


> And I thought my $150 a week was bad.
> 
> I think I would use the $500 for a half a tank of diesel. Yeah, $500 doesn't go far.


At about $4.68 / gallon of fuel here in Canada ($1.17 / litre), it doesn't take long to spend that kind of money going to and from work driving my Jeep. Summer time when I am riding my motorbike to and from work, its about $8 / day ... my Jeep seems to average about $28 / day ... :eyebulge:


----------



## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

Goal Zero 39002 Silver/Black Large Extreme 350 Adventure Kit 
Ok so its on sale for $519
http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Zero-390...UTF8&qid=1349204233&sr=1-8&keywords=Goal+Zero


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

biobacon said:


> Goal Zero 39002 Silver/Black Large Extreme 350 Adventure Kit
> Ok so its on sale for $519
> http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Zero-390...UTF8&qid=1349204233&sr=1-8&keywords=Goal+Zero


Interesting idea, but, I think that you could probably do better than that by building up your own system with more capability and less coinage.

I have a battery-pack w/ 800 CCA, 400w inverter, 12-volt power, booster-cables and air-compressor for about $100. It can be direct-connected to a solar-panel (standard 2-pin DIN) and can be scaled up through the use of deep-cycle RV-batteries ... ya, it can loose portability as you scale up, but, my cost for all my stuff so far doesn't come to that price-tag ...


----------



## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

A crossbow or on of the new inverter style generators. 

The crossbow is for obvious reasons.

The generator needs some explaining. I walk my dogs through a large sate park everyday. There are 2 large RV parks inside of the park and sometimes I walk through those areas. On a few occasions, the campers would have one of the new low Db inverter type generators running and I can't hear it till I get within 20 feet (very impressive)! If Opsec is a main priority, one of these generators would allow charging of batteries, radio listening, or what ever you need even in close proximity to other homes or people.


----------



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Tweto said:


> A crossbow or on of the new inverter style generators.
> 
> The crossbow is for obvious reasons.
> 
> The generator needs some explaining. I walk my dogs through a large sate park everyday. There are 2 large RV parks inside of the park and sometimes I walk through those areas. On a few occasions, the campers would have one of the new low Db inverter type generators running and I can't hear it till I get within 20 feet (very impressive)! If Opsec is a main priority, one of these generators would allow charging of batteries, radio listening, or what ever you need even in close proximity to other homes or people.


Your crossbow reminds me that getting my bows recabled needs to get a bump in priority. But only if I also spend the money on new arrows at the same time. Doing one and not the other is just pushing it halfway into the done column and that would divert money from things that would truly be 100% win.


----------



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

There's a lot of really great answers, thanks! 

a lot of people are in different stages of being self sufficient. Whether their status derives from an "awakening", or moving away from home and starting their own family, or transitioning out of a 20+ year career in the military where in their day to day life, most of their immediate personal needs might be taken for granted. 

Also I wanted to set the money amount low, because I wanted to make it enough that someone could say "I'll start half a dozen garden boxes tomorrow" or I'll buy 2k rounds of ammo, or I'll buy 8 buckets of 300 servings TVP off of costco.com but not say "i'll buy the shit hawt whiz bang sniper scope 3000 deluxe, with the auto range finding satellite guided projectiles!!!!"

putting a low cap on the money means someone has to reason about is it worth doing now, instead of something else... and black friday is coming up, there will be massive sales going on. 

I dont know about others, but I get more done, more efficiently when I set an artificial time deadline for an imaginary "zombie day" and I look at what is my biggest weakness? And then I try to correct it. I do big fixes all at once. And sometimes they really dont cost that much, for example I bought 6 of those 55 gallon water barrels. I already had 2, now I've got enough to do 400+ gallons blue water storage and gray water from rain if the PAW hits and that cost me like $120, to some thats a huge amount of cash and I understand that, but in that case, buy just 1 barrel, start there!! Same thing with food and my new pressure canner, I've now got 3 dozen 1 pint jars... I am going to find skinless boneless chicken on sale at one of the local grocers and I'm going to fill those jars with 1 lb each. and then I'm going to replace the jars back into my preps and fill the new ones! 

It's also important to not only recognize the weakness but also capitalize on the success... spending 200 bucks on my All American canner is neat!!!! but like I mentioned above, it's really just money poorly spent if all I'm doing is pointing at a cardboard box new from the manufacturer instead of pointing at the shelves of food I canned.

set small achievable goals. make sure you complete them, then expand on them and broaden your abilities!


----------



## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

500 bonus cash safe from an contest?

Hiking boots and water filter for my GHB. Probably have a little left over to get those space blankets, glow sticks, etc other crap that I haven't added to the GHB, BoB, or home kit. You know the little stuff that gets a back page and you'll really hate yourself for not having if something happens that isn't a total disaster.


----------

