Finally got a few bucks to play with

Now I'm trying to come up with a few things that I need. I want to get a new canner. The old antique canner that I've been using makes me nervous. It works well but it's from the 40s. I'll be getting one of those All American gasketless canners. I also want to get a better grain grinder to replace my corona. I'll probably just get a back to basics mill. I want the country living mill but it's a little more than I'm willing to spend for something that I probably won't use a whole lot. Of course, I'll be kicking myself if there ever comes a time when I do have to use it regularly. If anyone has a better suggestion for a grinder in the $100-$200 range I'm all ears. A set of Berkey filters are also on the list. I'm going to make a water purification unit out of a couple of 5 gallon buckets. I might also pick up some of those can organizers that Ryan at TSLR wrote about the other day.

As for food I'm pretty well set. I just buy stuff here and there when I have extra cash so I'm sitting pretty in that department. Most of my preps consist of canned food, rice, wheat and beans. I might pick up a few cases of freeze dried food to round things out a bit more and break the monotony. I'm past the point where I consider it a priority, though. I just need to get some more buckets so that I can pack up some of my beans, rice and wheat in mylar.

I'm really tempted to buy another gun. I've told myself that I'm only going to get one. I've been wanting a .308 bolt action for a while. I found a Remington 770 on clearance for $320 at a local store. That was tempting. Then I found a used Glock 19 at a pawn shop for $300. It's a little rough around the edges and it just comes with one high cap mag. It's a Glock, though. Mags are cheap and easy to find and...well...it's a Glock. They just work and they last forever. I've wanted a Glock 19 for a long time and that price is almost too good to pass up. I've already got a 9mm (and tons of ammo), though. On the other hand the only bolt action rifles I have are milsurp. I've got a few hundred rounds of .308 in the safe with no way to shoot it. Yeah, I know...a dozen guns in the safe and not one is for hunting.

I also want to put a little something towards precious metals. I buy a silver eagle here and there and I've got plenty of junk silver but now I can finally start to look at small amounts of gold. Unfortunately, everyone seems to want a ridiculous amount over spot for everything. Last time gold hit record highs it dropped back down to $800-$900 for a year. I predict that it's going to go a little higher but before it hits $1200 it's going to drop back down to $800-$900 or so. Then when the cracks in the economy keep getting bigger it's going to start creeping up again. When that happens it won't stop unless something in the economy changes. As long as the fed keeps trying to control everything we're headed for disaster.