Is $ 500 your total budget , or your budget for the firearm itself . You ' ll need to consider additional expenses such as a holster , a sturdy belt , practice ammo , range fees , self defense ammo , etc . Depending on your location there may also be expenses related to acquiring your concealed permit . I took a quick glance through your post history to see if I could find any clues . What I did notice is that you posted about a drunk driver hitting your vehicle several hours ago . I would encourage you to take your time when purchasing a firearm , especially since you may have additional expenses or a deductible to fix your truck . In the posting history that I checked I did not see anything related to previous firearm experience . If you are inexperienced I would encourage you to count on spending extra money on ammo to ensure that you are properly trained . Lastly , you made a previous post about starting your journey in another users weightloss post . I hope you ' ve had success so far , but be aware that different body types are more accommodating to different styles of concealment . It is definitely worth looking into before you spend the money on a concealment setup .