>>428491As for the expensive part, sorry if this sounds like shilling... REI membership lets you in on the Garage Sales they host every so often and they do random members get an extra 20-30% of the clearance price sales too.
SteepandCheap.com has decent prices, really good prices sometimes. CostCo/Sams Club/Walmart for cases of canned goods. Check Craigslist for gear too, bunches of folks buy stuff they use once and then end up selling it to clear out the closet. regular garage sales for this too. occasionly Woot or Amazon, has good deals on gear. Try to wait for holiday sales or clearances of you can. And not just Christmas, lots of places do summer sales on gear during 3-day weekends.
Once you have your home taken care of, another aspect to consider is a small pack kept in your car. In case disaster hits and you have to get home. That's more of a "get home bag" thing, but worth thinking about.
You already have the "don't obsess, nor become a paranoid hermit" mentality so you should be fine.
