Wanting to prepare and having assets to prepare are two different things. If I knew I was almost to that point, I would stop paying my bills and pay for food. But where does one draw the line when there is no extra cash for that 30 days’ worth of food?
In the mean time, make some plans and create a list of items you need. Maybe secure a credit card and leave it untouched until you can see the point where you need to act.
I've advocated preparing for the worst. This means having the skills and basic tools for hiding/living like our nomadic ancestors have for thousands of years.
Start with some basics, some you may already have and others can be picked up from garage sales and thrift shops. Knowledge can be acquired basically for free, online and especially Youtube. Practicing skills can be fun and replace money spent on entertainment (e.g. going to the movies).
Basic items you need are shelter like a decent tent, packs, sleeping bags, warm clothing, transportation (i.e. cart, bicycle) suitable footwear, cooking utensils that will last and able to be used over an open fire, fire making kits, containers for transporting water, a good water filter system, a mill or grinder to turn grains into digestible flour, devices/weapons for trapping, killing or catching game of all kinds and defense (some kind of .22 caliber gun comes to mind), tools like small shovel, Ax, saw, several knives, a light of some kind, basic supplies like string, thread, needles, maps, compass, cordage, tape, insect screens/repellent, medicines, sanitary supplies, salt and pepper and etc.
Prioritize a list of the things you don't currently have and start working on getting everything on you list ASAP.
After you prepare for the worst, you can adjust upwards.
For food, a 50lb bag of rice will run you about $15 and a 25lb of red beans will run about the same. Follow with a decent supply of salt, sugar and cooking oil. You can last months on your body fat and these basic foods. And don't worry about getting tired of beans. After you've went a few days without anything to eat, they'll be delicious!
Everything above can be put together for a few hundred dollars, by looking around and by scrounging. It will require that an individual get off their butt and start working on it though. Things will begin to disappear and the remaining items will become expensive!
Research what the native peoples used in their day to day lives in your area; substitute those items with modern alternatives. If they could survive for thousands of years using stone, leather and wooden implements, I know you can make it using plastic, steel, today's medicines, chemicals, fabrics, gunpowder and the knowledge of how to use them.
There's no doubt in my mind, that the effort to get through this coming tribulation will be worth it, as the prophets in the Bible tell us.