If things get tougher?

D&DD

Well I for one would hate people to read this thread and start panicking..It's not about that, its about how we can best prepare ourselves IF things get worse.I think it has been and still is very interesting to read everyones thoughts.
That said I think most of the regular posters on here *including myself* have the same sort of mindset of 'being prepared'.:D

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing and having lived through times when we were so in debt and so skint we literally didn't have anything in the cupboards with which to make a meal I for one would never like to be in that position EVER again.
I do hope this thread continues to give people support where needed in the way OStyle always has

Cinny91

I agree with D&DD, this isn't meant to scare people, but to prepare them. It's happened before so why couldn't it happen again? Like everyone says. Better safe than sorry!


(first post on here, been a lurker for weeks! Hi!)

mumoftwo

Don't be scared, be prepared. And if things turn out not to be that bad, you still use all your cupboard food and save money on heating etc. and then have money spare to do other things, win-win situation. And it is in times of hardship when people pull together. We all learn from eachother on here and I am very grateful for all the tips and ideas. No one knows exactly what is going to happen at any time, redundancy can strike at any time, or illness or unexpected repairs to appliances. My family lives in Holland and if something happens to my elderly mum or my sisters family, I need to go there and money needs to be available for flights etc. So crisis or not, it is always good to be prepared!

MRSMCAWBER

D&DD

I put my "hoarding mentality" down to similar to you..once -having come off work through ill health, and living on my own and having little or nothing to live on whilst it was decided if i was elligible for IB... Any time i had a few pennies i would buy the cheapest tins I could find..at the time it was kwiksave beans @5p a tin or tinned spaghetti @3p a tin -probably the reason i also now hate tinned spaghetti :rotfl: theres only so much spaghetti on toast a girl can stomach
I wouldn't say I panic now at all...but thats probably because Im organised and have a decent suply of longlife foods "just in case" .... Its nice to be on here sharing hints n tips... we are all in this together -and think we will get through any bad times better because of it :T
I always look at the worst case senario..then anything else is a bonus

Hello Cinny

Pipkin

Mrs M, reference the Remoska, be careful.

Same thing happened to us.. lovely new iron costing 50 squid.. delivered.. seen by several people in the package in the office.. disappeared.. some nice person took it home with them!.. of course no one knew who..

Very annoyed I was as I still had to pay for it despite never reciving it, as it had techinically been recieved :mad: (I'm glad Lakeland are not like that!)

Primrose

I think we'll all have to be very careful about guarding our possessions as times get harder. Somebody even pinched my swimming costume at the gym when it was hanging up a few weeks ago! And during the last recession when I was working, we had a whole spate of thefts of spectacles left lying around on desks. It seems that people were stealing other peoples' glasses to avoid having to buy new frames and were just having their new presciption lens fitted into them. It's horrible to think that you can't leave your handbags, wallets, etc. around safely at work, but the sad reality is that behind the facades people present to their colleagues you never know how financially desperate some people are behind the scenes, which triggers them to do these things.

mardatha

I love this thread and all the people in it !

balmaiden

Have followed this thread with much interest since the begining. I just wanted to say great posts Moanymoany and Haribojunkie.

Things are tough and will get tougher, I have lived through two recessions One as a single person and one raising my family so like most people on this thread have experienced real bad times. It taught me lessons on surviving which stand me in great stead for today.

What do I need to survive,? well food obviously so my two freezers are packed to the gunnels with home grown fruit and veg as well as foraged blackberries and apples. The garden is now in the throes of producing winter veg for us.I have a modest store cupboard that houses the staples of life usually bought as bargains and I am great friends with my local butcher who as always supplied the least glamorous cuts of meat which I am so glad I learned to make into tasty meals all those years ago.
I need warmth, so the garage again is stacked with with foraged wood from the hedges and fields and driftwood from the beaches ready for when the real cold weather begins. Meanwhile I sit cosily wrapped in my fleece blanket.

I need water, so yes I have cut back on wasting water. I went from baths to showers to now showering every other day with a good old strip wash in between. After all I come from the generation who only bathed once a week in a tin bath in front of the fire!

I need entertainment so I have my computer and I have the wonderful library. As well as glorious walks on my doorstep.

I need companionship and I am so thankful to have my wonderful husband lovely daughters and my adorable Granchildren and great friends.

I stiil have money that is earmarked for SKI-ing ( spending kids inheritance) when the fancy takes us.

I for one look forward to a society that is not full of greed and "must have the best of everything mentality" which I hope this current crisis may bring.

D&DD

balmaiden wrote: »

I for one look forward to a society that is not full of greed and "must have the best of everything mentality" which I hope this current crisis may bring.

Balmaiden I too long to live in a society like that but just looking around me where I live I just don't think it'll happen sadly..

In the States some credit card issuers are now not allowing any further credit I think that would be the 'tipping point' here as quite a lot of our friends are currently living on their cards.
I really don't know how people would react over here if they were faced with having no roof over their head or not being able to feed their kids.:eek: For a lot of people where I live its never been a real worry they've never had to live with the consequences before..

I would hope that the spirit of communties would kick in again as it did where we lived in the last recession but sadly I think that society has changed beyond all recognition since then

moanymoany

I was chatting to dh at lunchtime and I told him about this thread and one I had read on DFW where the op had really not had the lbm.

He said that the coming financial crisis is a bit like three people who have to cross the desert, one is a Native American who is used to living and surviving in the desert - the old stylers - the others are a couple who have never been to the desert before - the people with the debt and still spending.

Wonder who is going to come out the other side in good shape?