There is good PREPPING advice on some of the links that Kartographer provides. I'm sure he will be glad to direct you to other sources too.
One trick I've discovered for saving money (on non-food items) is garage sales. I purchased two full 20 pound propane tanks this Saturday for five bucks each. I've bought camper stoves, Coleman lanterns, chain-saws canning pots/jars and power generators, etc for pennies on the dollar.
You may wish to review my just Updated Preparedness Manual Rev J available for FREEE down load at:
http://tomeaker.com/kart/Preparedness1j.pdf