wheat - 55 cents/lb in bulk in early 07 at whole foods, same prices as in 04 i think , maybe even same as 01.
Get it now while you can. My wife was just telling me yesterday that she read wheat prices are expected to rise significantly. I still have to catch up on that myself and check the validity of that projection.
Wheat by itself is of course almost useless. Better have a grain mill with that, preferably hand-cranked. But the shelf life of wheat is amazing, when properly stored.
Processed flour doesn't keep quite as long but it's still 5+ years. I just picked up 50 more pounds this week, and expect to pick up another 100 pounds next week. We prefer bread flour as it seems to be the most versatile. And we go through it pretty quickly, being a family of five, and we do a lot of our own baking. My wife is upstairs making cinammon rolls right now, as a matter of fact. I think she's going to make pizza later tonight. I think most Americans our age have forgotten how to use flour and would rather just buy pre-made goods at the market.
sterno: On ebay best price was $77, $1.08 each for lot of 72, each lasting 2 hrs, km sterno lasts 2.5 hrs per 8 oz. part of kit at kmart hooksett, at wal mart 12/07 costs 2 bucks a can
4 hr sterno 24 pack for 55 bucks
6 hr sterno 9 oz 59 bucks incl. shipping for pack of 24
As an alternative consider getting an alcohol stove. You can get the fuel at Home Depot fairly cheap in the paint section, probably cheaper at Wal*Mart and other discount stores. Tinny at
Mini Bull Design makes some great stoves out of almost 100% recycled materials. He has lots of demo videos of how his stoves work on YouTube. I carry one of his stoves and a few days worth of fuel in my
tactical manpurse (that blog entry is very dated... I carry an even more comprehensive manpurse now).
50 ft camo cord 1.45
Be
very very careful about where you get your paracord from. I have blogged about
cheap imitation paracord as well. The cheap stuff coming over from Asia isn't composed of the same inner strands as the quality US-made paracord and is nowhere near as versatile. Possibly not as strong (though I haven't tested that hypothesis).
propane: 32 oz. for $4.77 wal mart
Again, consider the option of using alcohol to replace both sterno and propane. If you run out of fuel with an alcohol stove you can even use liquor or rubbing alcohol as a fuel in a pinch but it doesn't burn as well.
beans .37 cents a can Amherst wal mart prices 5/07 , aka 39.5 cents/ lb . same price 10/07
Canned beans are okay for a short-term kit but they take up a lot of pantry space and are not as portable due to the can and water weight. For long term storage, I advocate dried beans. It's a little more work to prepare them but it is much easier to store dried beans in bulk quantities.
I also advocate loading up on rice. Rice and beans are cheap in bulk, pretty good for you nutritionally, and can act as a good foundation for adding other stored foods in smaller quantities to thin out your supplies over a longer duration. For example, a can of soup can be split four ways if served over rice and beans.
jerky: 8.97/lb best price wal mart amherst 9/07
The cheapest jerky is easily made at home. You can do it with an oven or better yet a dehydrator. A good dehydrator will cost about $60-$70. You can find cheaper ones, though. Once you have a dehydrator it opens you up to many other low cost long-term food storage possibilities.
hammer home depot cheapest: 5.00
Check out Harbor Freight for inexpensive tools. I don't know if you have them in New Hampshire but we have them in Raleigh and at least as far north as Philadelphia. They often run sales with steep discounts. It's all imported Chinese stuff but the quality is pretty good for the price. They will often have other tools that you won't find at Home Depot (like my anvil).
equate mouthwash large 1.56/qt wm
Consider 3% hydrogen peroxide as an alternative. It doubles as a topical antiseptic, stain remover, etc. Usually cheaper than mouthwash.
socks - 75 cents/ pair best price at first glance in wal mart for white
For socks and other clothes cheap, check out cheaperthandirt.com and sportsmansguide.com. With sportsmansguide I've found it worthwhile to join their buyer's club if you think you're going to really be stocking up. They will often send you coupons on top of the discounts that will give you $10 or $20 off of a $100 order. So I order stuff from there $100 at a time to get the best discounts. You can split things up with friends to make this easier. They also have a lot of other preparedness goods worth checking out.
hand sanitizer 8oz for one buck dollar tree includes dispenser , germ x 29 bucks a gallon at market basket for small size, best price i've seen as of 1/08 is 1 buck for 12 oz...dollar tree keene
Most people don't seem to know it, but this stuff makes for a handy fire accelerant. Squirt some out on your kindling, light it, and enjoy the easiest fire you've ever lit.

double razors: 8 for on buck at dollar tree for one buck hooksett
I'm not going to say this is economical for short term planning or anything, but long term you can't beat this. Vintage straight razor fully honed & restored on eBay for $45. Strop it between every use, give it a fine honing once or twice a year, and it will last you several generations. You can find them much cheaper if you're willing to do the initial full honing and restoration yourself. I've got a trio here that I paid $11 for on eBay, and one of them arrived ugly but pretty much ready to shave with.
EDIT: More on straight razor in
this blog entry