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If things get tougher?

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  • mardatha
    mardatha Posts: 15,612 Forumite
    Just came in here to say that same thing Mum2 ! - Jamanda, dont fret over what you can't help. Do what you can , and then after that trust in your commonsense and skill to cope from day to day . People have been through worse and managed . xxx OHMMMMMMMM ! :)
  • I have been mulling this over, I had got a small stock of frozen veg in already, not too much because of lack of freezer space. I had thought about that when we had forecasts of rain earlier in the summer. When you get to my age you will probably have gone through a potato shortage, bread shortage etc, so it won`t be a new problem.

    As we cannot store food for evermore (unless you are like one of those American survivalists) what do you think is a reasonable amount of time to have food that will keep the family going for? Two weeks, a month, three months?

    I am sure that some ingenious soul somewhere will find recipes that can be adapted to what is available, like in WWII, but how long do you think that is reasonable for an ordinary person to prepare for?

    I did see a week or two ago some politician advising the general public to get some stores of bottled water and food in. I think he said it was because national systems could be hacked into (by foreign bods) thus disrupting food distribution.
    The more I see of men, the more I love dogs - Madame de Sevigne
  • Beccatje
    Beccatje Posts: 728 Forumite
    jamanda wrote: »
    Is everybody else getting a bit scared about managing, what with food, fuel, etc? I've never been this nervous before, and I've never known such a lot of "bad news" coming through. I think if it wasn't for reading this thread I would be starting to panic a bit. I know I'll be able to manage one way or another, but I think there are a lot of people who won't through no fault of their own.


    Oh you're not alone in that! It's scaring the thingy out of me. As my sis said: it being on the scottish news.. pffff... scary stuff.
    But we will manage, I'm sure we will!! With the support here and all the tips we'll be fine. Well, we'll not be hungry or cold anyway.

    Stocking up on oats is a great idea!! (I love porridge!)

    :D

    What about the rest of you all. What would you eat if there is no wheat (thus no bread) and no corn available. Potato prices going through the roof as well...

    Becca
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 12,492 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    jamanda we WILL cope, together :grouphug:

    right this is what I am in the process of getting into my big boxes:
    oats, rice, pasta, cous cous, split peas, lentils and flour. Oil too

    Don`t forget that there are other grains that can be used instead of rice, like buckwheat plus it is very nice and good for you

    All my flour arrived today and I wasn`t quite ready for it and the boxes for the flour haven`t arrived. lol, my dh didn`t blink when I asked him to wrap it all up in plastic so it is weavel proof

    The lentils and split peas are on the list because they make very nourishing soups and cook quickly. The oil to go into my bread or to mix with pasta
  • mardatha
    mardatha Posts: 15,612 Forumite
    Kittie, what do you think as to flour stored in a shed ? its certainly cool but what would keep mice out ?? Like those big tupperware bins from ikea maybe?
  • lindseykim13
    lindseykim13 Posts: 2,978 Forumite
    Hi Becca

    My kids are 5,8,9,10 and 12 and so are a similar age to yours :) I think your kids will learn from you and if you don't act like 'living like the old times' is a hardship then they will not think of it as such.

    We don't live like many others our age do, for instance, we don't have a TV, so the kids don't get the constant 'buy this, want that' based advertising 24/7 - I think that this has really helped them gain some idea of what is a want and what is a need. We don't buy branded foods, they rarely get new clothes (friends hand-me-downs seem to have been only worn once or twice before being discarded), we grow most of our own veg, spend loads of time out walking and foraging, the kids cook as and when they wish to - they love to experiment with home grown and foraged food, and - I believe this is important - we involve them in any money decisions.

    I have been told many times by friends and family that it is cruel to make children wear second hand clothes / not to have a TV / etc. etc. but, you know, my kids really don't mind. I don't believe generations previous to mine had these things and they all seemed to grow up quite healthy. My 12yo has many conversations with his friends about his 'recycled' clothes verses their named sportswear and he often tells me that he believes that the other kids are too worried about what others think about what they wear, and how he is surprised by how wasteful other kids are.

    What I am trying to say is, we went through a really hard time financially a few years ago, we explained to the children why we were choosing to live a certain way and they understood. I think most children can drop the 'as long as I am happy' stage quite quickly and are able to understand what is important and what reallyis just peer-pressure.

    Edit to add - loving this thread and reading all your memories, thanks so much for shareing them :)


    Totally agree with you my kids are 6 and 3 planning another lol but we don't buy any new clothes, hand me downs, charity shop or boot sale. We did consider ditching the telly but we do use it to enjoy now and again as a treat so is kept for family watching films etc.
    Grow our own veg and get things we need off freecycle or second hand or even out of a skip! Mend anything we can before chucking or as we did with our old washing machine stripped it for the metal and traded it in for a few quid lol i even used the drum as a parsnip pot!
    All my kids xmas pressies (not a lot) comes from ebay, boot sales or charity shops. I hate having to buy anything new! I knit blankets every summer to keep us warm in the winter and avoid the heating.
    I'm 24 and i didn't learn any of this from my own parents i had to pick this all up for myself struggling with money when my first was a baby. I also home educate so i can teach my own kids the important things in life like how to look after themselves. The friends i have left think i'm mad and i tend to get on with all the elder members of mine and dh's families.
    Odd that those i know who think i'm mad are the ones who complain about money! :rotfl:
  • mary43
    mary43 Posts: 5,845 Forumite
    originally posted by BilberryCharlotte
    I am sure that some ingenious soul somewhere will find recipes that can be adapted to what is available, like in WWII, but how long do you think that is reasonable for an ordinary person to prepare for?

    If you put 'WW11 recipes' into Google I think there's a load of them come up..whether they'd adapt to present day I'm no sure. Been a while since I had a look at them myself -as for preparation time then, not sure they had much of that to be honest but my lot werent the best off of families so never had a lot to start with.
    Mary

    I'm creative -you can't expect me to be neat too !
    (Good Enough Member No.48)
  • MRSMCAWBER
    MRSMCAWBER Posts: 5,442 Forumite
    Evening all

    I have been following this thread with increasing interest..... Today -someone was smiling on me.. we nipped to the NAAFI for Tesco bread flour -still had none in -so we decided to go to one a bit further out..its normally €1.49 a bag... the last lot i got was on offer @ 74c... amazingly today the 2nd NAAFI had 13 bags left so i loaded it all in ... got to the checkout and it went through at 37c a bag :T ... I did ask if they had anymore in -but it seems its an end of stock item as they are stopping dealing with tesco :confused: .. So at least i now have 20 bags -enough for 60 loaves -about 30 weeks worth if we are good so with fresh yeast, salt etc (i don't use fat or milk) im going to be able to make loaves for approx 12p plus gas:D

    Now i just need to get more rice n pasta and a few other essentials for winter -just in case we get a bad one out here... so veg suet, emergency longlife milk, lentils, beans etc for hubbies soups for work etc

    We are lucky out here as come autumn/winter huge nets of onions, carrots, cabbage will start turning up in the supermarkets ...they even sell apples/oranges by the bucket :p
    Im roasting and freezing tomatoes, peppers, courgettes etc from the tubs in the garden -so they will come in usefull for winter... but im running out of freezer space:rolleyes:
    I think this weekend will be spent making draught excluders and lists of things i want to get on standby...
    I don't think im in panic mode yet -but as there is only me n hubby it isn't quite so bad..but its great to have other people on here as im sure you will mention things i had never thought of :p
    keep at it everyone -we will get through it as always :D
    -6 -8 -3 -1.5 -2.5 -3 -1.5-3.5
  • Charis
    Charis Posts: 1,302 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    kittie wrote: »
    All my flour arrived today and I wasn`t quite ready for it and the boxes for the flour haven`t arrived. lol, my dh didn`t blink when I asked him to wrap it all up in plastic so it is weavel proof
    Wrapping it up won't save it if there are already weevil eggs in there. They usually arrive in the flour if they do occur. The good news is that if you freeze each bag for 24 hrs, return to room temperature and allow to dry out (condensation makes the bag wet when the cold flour meets the warmer room air) it kills the eggs which are so minute they normally go unnoticed. Then wrap or box the flour to prevent more nasties getting in.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 12,492 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    yes re weavils. I am assuming that the flour from the millers is already weavil free so I am not going to let any hop from one source to another. It only takes one weavil courting couple!! Touch wood I only had weavils once, about 12 years ago in the other house

    I always pack my grains in lock and lock and went to get my barley the other week. It had small insects in it!!! luckily was only from a 500g bag. I absolutely needed the barley for a recipe so put water in and the insects floated to the top and I rinsed and re-rinsed loads of times, assuming that any other debris would fall through the seive after I had poured the insects off. Lol, I then pressure cooked in a soup and told no-one. I am glad I am paranoid about getting grains into airtight boxes asap because nothing else in my cupboard was affected

    mardatha yes too re the boxes. Just tape up the gaps in case there are any mites etc lurking anywhere in the shed

    I am off shopping now for a few more bits to add to my staples
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