I'm with Gettingreadymama above. Stick to basics for now. I'm a teen, living at home, with an incredibly small budget to prep on and over time I've built a nice set up to get us through a small to larger disaster. I'm I done? No. Have I put lots of time in? Yes. Did I start the right way? Most likely not, but that doesn't matter. I started on pennies and over time I've built up. Lets say you take 25 cents a hour for prepping. Assuming you work 40 hours a week that gives you 10 bucks. Say you set that aside for 4 weeks. That gives you 40 bucks. See how this stacks? At only a fraction of your pay and it gives a start.