I'd start by making a list of likeliest threats (hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, terrorism). Then two lists of needs: one for sheltering-in and one for bugging out.

Then I'd inventory what you already have and plug it into those lists.

Preparedness is not just buying new stuff, it's also organizing what you have so you can quickly grab it in a crisis. Preparedness is acquired knowledge.

It's imagining what you would need in the next 30 seconds if a tanker truck full of some toxic chemical crashed in your neighborhood and your family had to leave NOW!!!!

Preparedness is never letting your gas tank drop below half full and topping it off when you can. It's keeping your cars in good mechanical condition and having air in your spare. It's having a cash stash. It's having jugs of water and rotating them (and being mindful that your hot water heater stores many gallons of water). It's having more groceries in your cupboard (and extra food for your pets). Essential medications. It's having batteries for the flashlight you already own.

One cost-effective means of getting more prepared is to get your family to enjoy camping vacations. Tent, sleeping bags, campstove, headlamps, lantern, cooler -- the essentials of tent camping -- can be absolutely priceless in a crisis.

That's how I backed into preparedness. I had recently begun acquiring camping gear (early 1990s), shortly before a week-long series of ice storms, extreme low temps and recurrent power outages ("rolling blackouts"). That week I wouldn't have sold my zero-degree sleeping bag and candle lantern for a thousand bucks.

Good luck!