My plans include:

getting another 5 gals of gasoline procured/stored
getting more canned goods
getting more dried goods
getting more white gas (camping stoves & lantern)
getting more small bottles of propane (lantern)
get more .357mag ammo

make a better roof for my air intake filter
re-arrange garage to make shelter conversion quicker
complete "Honey Do's" so there will be peace in the kingdom!

"complete "Honey Do's" so there will be peace in the kingdom!"

Not sure about how it works at your house, but my Honey-Do-List NEVER gets completed. As I get near the bottom (happens very rarely) the list magically gets longer.

Putting away more food and water, canles and batteries. Rotating my BOB supplies and my Bug-In food stores.

Nice topic because my birthday is in May, so I will get a little money to play with (probably $100 total) which doesn't happen too often. I am thinking a spotting scope but I am open to suggestions, and seeing this thread might give me some Ideas. Maybe a CB?

Goal for this week: Apply at local sheriff's office for permit to purchase handgun.

I try to spend a set amount ($40) a month on emergency/disaster supplies each month. Because I can't afford to spend a lot of money at once, I've been taking the "ant's" approach to acquisition and storage of supplies. My goals for May:

• Purchase another ounce of silver (I buy an ounce every month to prepare for any complete financial collapse)
• Buy two more days of non-perishable meals (freeze-dried, canned goods, etc.)
• Complete my research on which non-hybrid seeds to store for TEOTWAWKI
• Buy 3 packs of non-hybrid seeds (probably include zucchini in the packs. If I remember correctly from my youth, I plant seemed to produce about 5,000 zucchinis)
• Puchase another pack of storm matches from REI and continue building my tinder kits.

Interesting idea on the silver each month. Are you buying coins from the mint or what?

I got the idea after reading the novel "Lights Out" that was circulating on these boards during March. Some seem to think that if TEOTWAWKI occurs, paper currency would be useless, although silver and gold coins could still be used in trading.

I started by shopping around different dealers and explaining my objective: acquire silver in small amounts each month to prepare for a financial crisis. I explain that because I'm a school teacher, I can't afford large bars. I'm also not interested in collector quality coins - I'm basically interested in silver only. Gold is too expensive for my budget at the present prices.

There's quite a few gold/silver dealers in the DFW area to choose from. I'm using two methods. The first is to buy a silver round (1 ounce) type of coin. There's no official denomination or country of origin, but they often are created by large precious metals dealers (like Eberhard). I could just buy a small one-ounce bar. Both are fairly close to the exchange price of silver.

A second method is to go through the "junk boxes" of some coin dealers. Sometimes they have pre-1965 silver quarters or dimes that are not in a collectable condition. They usually charge a little above face in order to get rid of them.

A final method, although more expensive, is to purchase silver coins produced by the US mint: Silver Eagles. There is a markup on these (perhaps $1 - $1.50) per ounce because collectors sometimes seek these coins rather than just silver accumulators.

If anyone has suggestions on how to do this effectively and cheaply, I'm all ears

As far as I know, the best silver to buy as investment or survival coins are Silver American Eagles or pre-1965 90% silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars. This article gives a pretty good description of what kind of currency you would want in a total financial meltdown. There is also a service I found called SmartSilver that will send you a chosen amount’s worth of pre-1965 90% silver coins every month. (I have not used this service, so this is not an endorsement. For informational purposes only.)

Since BrianTexas mentioned buying his silver an ounce at a time, I would think he is referring to the Silver American Eagles or something very similar.

Thanks for the article. I'll take a look at the smart silver site. I don't like paying shipping and handling because DFW has so many dealers that it's often not far out of my way. One place is not far from Turner Hardware, which is one of my favorite new shopping places (and locally owned!)

5,000 may be a little high

Zucchini is something that I currently grow & have extra seeds stored in the freezer. It is near the top of my list of best survival veggies because:

1. Don't need to spray it - no insect or disease problems here in Missouri. (If you've never gardened before you have no idea how important this would be post TEO...)

2. Produces a lot of food per plant

3. Can still grow well on medium to poor soil (though the better the soil the better the yield)

4. Plenty of sunshine & water & 100 plants could feed a family of four for a couple months not to mention the hundreds of quarts that could be canned for winter.

If you are planning on gardening then start stocking away fertilizer as well.

If you haven't before try slicing it about 3/8 to 1/4 in thick - spray with cooking spray on both sides & throw it on the grill - brown on both sides & then salt it. Very tasty.

The only plant I would put higher on my best survival plants list would be Jerusalem Artichoke.