If push comes to shove...?

Poosmate

I just had another thought. There is of course stockpiling, as some of you are able to preserve and stockpile your own grown produce, we could also stockpile tinned and dried produce that you can't grow/produce yourself such as tinned fish, meats, rice, pasta, noodles, anything with a long shelf life or non consumables (I have 47 toilet rolls left now).

Also, if you're working and you have a month that you know things are going to be tight anyway, i.e. car needs work done for MOT, car insurance due, you might consider booking a week off to save on the travelling (petrol) costs. I never book half days off work, always full days, it costs the same to go for 4 hours or 8. A week off would save me about £30 in petrol so enough to feed myself easily for a week.

Just a couple more thoughts.

Poo

Davesnave

I think your last point about stockpiling is a good one, Poo. This is something different from panic buying, which I don't like. Since the economic chaos that began in late 2007, we've kept a good supply of tins & dried food, such as rice & pasta, which works well, so long as careful rotation is practised. It also makes good economic sense to buy things one would use anyway, when it's on BOGOF or a strong reduction. These aren't measures which will see any of us through in the long run, but they would help smooth out supply fluctuations.

I also worry that all the fruit and bartered meat carefully stored in the freezers would be gone if we had a 48hr power outage, which is all the more reason for generating some of our own asap. We've done bottling before and we have all the jars Kilner jars etc, but if I'm honest, stuff we preserved that way in the past tended to stay in the cupboard under the stairs.

lostinrates

Stockpiling is useful for quite ormal reasons. When living in London I used to do my groceries then get the bus home. Big and heavy things necessitated a taxi or an online shop. (increasing costs.) I used to order loo roll/tins in very large quantities when on offer to save runs. In the same way now once I have a larder/storage and a veg garden I hope to get shops down to monthly...saving diesel AND time.

Kirri

Don't you all find it gets very cluttered though stockpiling? I keep 1-2 months worth of things or if doing an online order I will order more if I will use it, to get free postage, but in the summer I have enough veg alone hanging around let alone all the mass toilet rolls!

lostinrates

Kirri wrote: »

Don't you all find it gets very cluttered though stockpiling? I keep 1-2 months worth of things or if doing an online order I will order more if I will use it, to get free postage, but in the summer I have enough veg alone hanging around let alone all the mass toilet rolls!

Not really. Loo roll can go in hard to get places if sealed...the attic or a dry garage. And tins.

Poosmate

Kirri wrote: »

Don't you all find it gets very cluttered though stockpiling? I keep 1-2 months worth of things or if doing an online order I will order more if I will use it, to get free postage, but in the summer I have enough veg alone hanging around let alone all the mass toilet rolls!

I suppose it depends on how many are in your family and the storage space you have available to you. I guess I'm lucky in that I have a spare bedroom and a largish garage. I also live alone so I actually have empty cupboards in my kitchen!

As LIR stated though, loo rolls could go in the loft and some tinned stuff too, but obviously it's a little more inaccessable.

brb.

dreaming

I hope you don't mind me posting this. It is something I have been wondering about for some time and can't quite sort out in my head, so I hope I don't confuse/upset anyone. It's just that sometimes I think one way, then I think another. Then I think "what if this happens?" or "what if it doesn't?"
Anyway, when I see questions such as the one the OP has asked it often seems to me that the things people talk about trying to grow and/or stockpile are often imported or seasonal foodstuffs, and that this would only be temporary measures. However, depending on how hard/widespread the "push becomes shove" then what is probablyy needed is to radically restructure our way of life, and in that case we would have to go back to basics (to coin a phrase) and grow/produce whatever we could. It also depends on what causes the "shove" and whether it is on a personal level (e.g. losing one's job) or a larger scale (e.g. war etc.). I do grow some bits and pieces in my little garden - salad/tomatoes/peppers/strawberries. However this is more of a hobby than a necessity and I guess that in extreme circumstances I would switch over to more staple stuff (potatoes/carrots?), maybe keep some chickens. The main problem with this, of course, is that the changes could not be made very quickly so should one start living this way now (just in case), keep one's fingers crossed and hope it never happens, or try to find some sort of mid-way point? It is a very difficult question to answer without a crystal ball.
These sort of things have always intrigued me (fortunately only in a theoretical way so far) and when I have watched "disaster" type programmes it seems that the 2 most common scenarios are either total breakdown of society and survival of the strongest and/or a return to some form of communal living. I don't really have any answers or plans as to what I would do. I always have kept a store-cupboard of basics in, but as I mentioned earlier a lot of what I (and many others) consider "everyday" is imported and I do occasionally think how I would live without some of my favourites. Being born in the 50s (and quite poor) I do remember how monotonous meals could be, and do enjoy the variety we have these days, but I think a lot of people would be able to adapt if they had to.
Sorry - I said it was all a muddle in my head.

Poosmate

Back! Sorry, had to nip to shop for milk! It's a bit more expensive from my local shop but I don't mind because I'd rather pay a few pence extra a few times a week than find I have to jump in my car and trek off to the nearest "open 24hrs" supermarket if I ever run out of anything.

Anyway, back to loo rolls and pushing and shoving............

Another way to reduce your expenditure is to use products in a different way to what they were intended. For instance, I used to buy kitchen roll. But then it seemed expensive for what it was so I bought a cheaper brand. But the cheaper (cheapest) brand just didn't seem up to the job. Then I spotted 12 Morrisons "Value" toilet rolls for £1.29. I now use those as kitchen rolls. They work out cheaper than "proper" kitchen roll and I believe are more efficient, I can use 1 sheet if it's just a cup/mug ring to wipe up or several sheets for bigger spills.

Poo

Kirri

Poosmate wrote: »

I suppose it depends on how many are in your family and the storage space you have available to you. I guess I'm lucky in that I have a spare bedroom and a largish garage. I also live alone so I actually have empty cupboards in my kitchen!

As LIR stated though, loo rolls could go in the loft and some tinned stuff too, but obviously it's a little more inaccessable.

brb.

Oh to have an empty kitchen cupboard... (maybe I would if I didn't have 1-2 months worth of food 'in case'!) I actually think I would feel more stressed to have loads of stuff stored, even if I had spare rooms or cupboards, but then guess it's not for me! It's already been bugging me that I bought 12 rolls of loo roll before Christmas as it's all stacked up!! I am struggling with liking both minimalist surroundings but wanting to save money!

lostinrates

dreaming wrote: »

so should one start living this way now (just in case), keep one's fingers crossed and hope it never happens, or try to find some sort of mid-way point? It is a very difficult question to answer without a crystal ball..

I keep chickens because I like to. I plan to stockpile to reduce shopping because I want to. I think its sensible to have stuff in for a fortnight or so to survive....think ice and driving conditions.

BUT if I did not want chickens and did not like gardening then,IMO, I wouldn't do more than have that fortnight's worth of dried goods. Because otherwise you have been your own push and shove and not preparing to live how you can if the chances are you might need to but rather are living in a way that compromises your choices for certain. So: I vote the midway point: the way that lets you do some sensible precautions that don't interfere with the way you live your life.