I've never been in a SHTF situation but I do live quite far from any major urban environment. Moved away from the city a few years ago and I love the traditional lifestyle. I will go to the supermarket usually every 7-14 days and have learned what stuff sends me back there the most.

For food I have two recommendations. First is rice and pasta for obvious reasons.

Second is mung beans. You can buy these as seeds in a big bag and they are very nutritious. You simply add water and wait 2-5 days. This way you will be eating fresh food, not dehydrated food.

I would also recommend to buy rice, grapeseed, olive oils in bulk. Hand soaps, dishwashing liquids, bleach and toilet paper. Get one of those rocket stoves that you can feed with twigs in the bottom and a hatchet plus a couple of bags of firewood to keep it going for a year.

But ultimately in my opinion if you live in a city you would be better off putting that money towards a deposit on a rural property where you can raise chickens, grow fresh food and hunt / fish, and keep warm with wood.

A real water filter or purifier. The Big Berkey is good.

What I did was start with the very basics items to get me through that will last and expand as money becomes available.

5lbs bags of rice with thick plastic (not brown rice as this goes bad if it sits). 5lbs bags are easy to move and store in your car. Freeze bags of rice for 3 days min so you kill the weevil eggs. I figure 1 bag of rice will last you 2 weeks if you eat normally but you can stretch that. Dried beans that you like in rice, probably black. Learn how to cook them in a pot and water. Spices, salt and pepper. Canned items, chicken, beans, soup, chili, only get items you actually eat. This stuff doesn't require to be cooked, doesn't create a smell to alert others.

Medical supplies, band-aids, creams, tools to clean and remove stuff like splinters and pills, muscle relaxers, pain medication, headache and stuff to fight infections.

Cooking and camping gear. You don't need much but a stainless steel container that can be used to collect and boil water. A metal canteen to cook food and boil water. Knife, backpack, clothes you need.

Weapons and ammo. At least get a pistol and holster with 250 rounds of ammo (9mm is probably best). I suggest 1k rounds of pistol and store it in your home.

I've built up my gear over the last few years and certain items can take awhile to get such as a gun and ammo. Expect to hunker down in your home, possible be forced to move and live in the woods so what do you need in both situations to survive? Food is good but you can find food along the way. Need a way to filter water and create a fire but in the end, you will likely be pushed out of your safe home and into the world and you can only take what you can carry.

https://poal.co/s/preppers/hot

Rice, Beans, pasta, as others have mentioned. Staple shelf foods that if stored properly last a very long time.

Worry more about your capability to obtain additional food, then the food you can manage to get stored would be my suggestion. Sure get some staples stored. But get together the items that are going to help you survive.

Build a bugout bag. web search it. there are hundreds of recommendations, from very expensive and elaborate to inexpensive and extremely basic. Define your level of capability and need and put that together.

Get a few nice to have supplementary items

• a 5 gallon BPA free bucket, with an airtight lid, is a godsend in situations. Ive several of these, and occasionally you can find rice and beans sold in them.

• powerbank capable of doubling as a car jump starter. I've got one. its small light weight. its started both a v8 and a turbo 4. it has a couple USB ports to charge my gadgets.

• a solar charging situation for the powerbank or gadgets, small portable. sure it doesn't put out as much power as you need, but you would be surprised what you'll gather if you get one you can strap on your pack. And a phone check in once every week is better than none at all at worst cases.

• a small rocket stove, or if in bright areas, a solar stove, these are usually larger, but most disassemble to be manageable, will work during the day when not enough burnables around. a solar stove can also be used to if you lose all other options .

Canning jars and a canner if you've already got your dry good sorted out. It's more applicable if you have a vegetable garden or hunt but does work for store bought stuff too.

A farm.

The first things I started with are canned goods you like to eat, dried bean, rice, water purification and storage.

Salt

Brick of bic lighters would prob be useful and good for trades should the situation arise.