Who doesn't have a stock cupboard

GreyQueen

fuddle wrote: »

Wow :eek: I had no idea. I'dbetter leave my beagle collie cross behind then. He'll end up killing me :eek:

Pulling your leg hun, really, really interesting. That fact will stay with me now. I just hope I don't need to draw upon it :eek:

Is that because he catches rabbits.......? Surely you wouldn't eat the dog?!

My Nan had her first Christmas as a married woman in 1940. Things were so bad in their village that Xmas dinner was.....rabbit. And as she said woefully last year; I don't even like rabbit. Mum spent time as a destitute child in the East End foraging too; for things to eat under stones on bombsites. She had malnutition sores on her legs which took 20 months to heal, and that was once she was being properly fed in the children's home. We have the same bone structure but I'm 6 inches taller so I guess her growth was permanantly stunted, too.

The origin of school meals was that when men were called to serve in WW1, the vast majority of them were too stunted and malnourished to be soldiers.

Grandad was only out of work one time, when Dad and Auntie were small and he applied for National Assistance, as it was then. To the end of his days he was bitter about the horrible little state jobsworth in the suit who came around and poked into everything and even factored in the 6 hens, then offered a weekly sum for this family of 4 which would have bought ONE SMALL LOAF. Grandad politely showed him the door and said if he was ever that desperate for one loaf, he had family and friends who'd give him it without going through the State.

The good old days, eh?

Gothicfairy

I live in a caravan so space is limited to say the least. I do have a small store cupboard though and could manage about 2 weeks off it I think.
I always keep a stock of milk powder and flour in as that seems to cover most problems for me.
Pasta and tin toms are also a must.
I get veg local and there is a honesty box scheme for eggs and the like so that keeps me fed pretty well and to be honest as I have to get water and sort out the waste etc just not going out is not an option anyway.

When I lived in a house though I had a massive store cupboard and could easy do a month or so without any panic at all

Popperwell

Gothicfairy wrote: »

I live in a caravan so space is limited to say the least. I do have a small store cupboard though and could manage about 2 weeks off it I think.
I always keep a stock of milk powder and flour in as that seems to cover most problems for me.
Pasta and tin toms are also a must.
I get veg local and there is a honesty box scheme for eggs and the like so that keeps me fed pretty well and to be honest as I have to get water and sort out the waste etc just not going out is not an option anyway.

When I lived in a house though I had a massive store cupboard and could easy do a month or so without any panic at all

Well done Gothic Fairy:)
For trying to keep some kind of store, as you say it is possible to have a basic one and probably eggs, bacon, baked beans, tomatoes, salad, milk, some veg, potatoes, powdered milk, flour, tea and coffee are basics. If you have a fridge, I suppose some ready meals have to be considered but that's not bad...And the turn around of food is quite quick I assume.

It probably also depends how close you are to a shopping area or if on site you have a shop there.

But what is interesting is how many people have had a store of goods for years or are starting to. As you say you had one when in your own house.

I had no idea and I must admit I had never thought of doing it myself until I found money to be tight, being concerned about the future with changes to the benefits system and even wondering if I'll be forced to downsize.

I try to eat on a very small budget daily but eat well but I am eating less and probably more simply than ever before, going back to comfort food or mixing some covenience foods with what might be called good food so as a joint of meat would be too much for me I might have sliced pork but then I'll portion out some frozen veg(or prepared fresh veg) and potatoes possibly one of those ready made Yorkshire puddings and some gravy and that probably works out at between 90p-£1.20 and the rest of the day it will be something like a little snack or just cereal, fruit and milk.

I don't think I could get it down by much more...what's that approx £10-£12 a week...but it's nuice if you can an odd treat here and there.

There is a blog about school meals and they pay £2 or more for the one meal and it never looks as though there is much on the plate...

Confuzzled

sonastin wrote: »

For those living in fear of armageddon, surely you'd be better off learning how to be self-sufficient than creating a stockpile. An education in how to grow your own, treat water, forage for edible wild foods, etc will surely keep you going far longer than a cupboard full of tins and bottles that you don't have the means to replace, and you'll be in a better position to share with the other armageddon survivors

i wouldn't say i personally live in fear of armageddon however i do BOTH. i'm slowly preparing a bug out bag, and have been reading about and practicing self sufficiency skills for years, long before i had any real concern about needing them

the things i'm passing on to my daughter are made to be fun activities and whilst i occasionally point out how useful some of the skills will be if the zombie apocalypse comes (i use this as an example because it's NOT going to happen and because she knows i watch the walking dead series). i don't want her living in fear so she is taught survival techniques as part of fun family time

actually, unless you live in a very built up area, staying in your home is better for as long as possible, and many of us stocking up aren't doing it for an end of the world scenario anyway, more financial ruin, sky high inflation, food shortages (something that even the WHO has been worried about for some time due to serious overpopulation), unemployment etc

but you're right, if you prepare for one possibility you should at least have a basic working knowledge of what to do should those go a step further, and hey hopefully you'll never need those skills but you can impress your friends by starting a fire with seemingly nothing and making an excellent stew from foraged foods (some of which i willing seek out each year cuz they are so tasty!)

Popperwell

Actually when all is well and if you don't need transport and mobility is good, the shops are close by...you can shop daily and use the supermarket as a big fridge/freezer and your own personal food store and that is an ideal situation then all you'd need in the home is a few basics.

Butterfly_Brain

Popperwell wrote: »

For me 2, 3 and 4 are most relevent. As for your wonderful
shop on frozen veg at Farmfoods, I'd never get that in my fridge/freezer perhaps I do need an additional freezer but with money tight and the cost of electric and if I am forced to move and it's smaller space, could be a problem.

And we don't have a Farmfoods nearby...Again it would mean adding bus or taxi fares, it's a pity because there are some good food stores 5-6 miles away and that's not bad distance wise by taxi adding going there and back that's £25+ and by bus on a return ticket approx £7 but on a bus you cannot carry a lot. The cheapest you could do it would be travel one way by bus and return by taxi and that still would cost approx £17.

You miss access to your own transport(but over the year with road tax, petrol, mot, insurance and repairs)I'm not sure it's any better. It would nice if I had family or a friend who might say they'll give you a lift.

No wonder many feel a prisoner in their homes...there is much to be said for some people needing access to the internet and having goods delivered where possible. But getting out even just to shop for an hour when living alone is good for the soul...and sometimes you like to see what you are buying.

Popperwell I have a huge chest freezer (I could put DH in it easily :rotfl:) But I do feed 4 adults, 5 if you count DD's BF who is here quite regularly. So I do need one and it is actually cheaper to run than my fridge freezer especially when it is kept full.

Confuzzled

i just took delivery of my huge stock up from mr T (cuz i had vouchers and extra points codes and free delivery, not cuz it's my preferred store) and i'm happy to report that i had no substitutions and no missing items despite ordering tons of frozen fruit and veg (approx 15kg, i already had about 5kg between chest and fridge/freezer), tinned and dried fruit and some tinned veg,flour (just a bit we have tons of stuff) and milk, bottled water etc

if you have access an online order may be better for some if doing a large stock up, they tend to do their best to provide everything ordered and orders get picked first thing in the morning as far as i'm aware so you have the best chance if stocking up. for many who have to pay bus fares or petrol and sometimes parking the cheap slots
(as low as £2.75) if you can manage them are comparable, for me it's cheaper than going into town and THEY bring everything upstairs for me!

we'll be very well stocked for months on end for fruit and veg now thankfully, i will use and replenish as normal but feel safe knowing that we're inflation proofed for a long while, if, come december or so, prices don't shoot up then i'll stop buying replacement fruit and veg and have reduced grocery bills for 4-5 months which will have my freezer emptied around the time i plan on moving next year, win win situation in my eyes

Possession

Confuzzled wrote: »

i just took delivery of my huge stock up from mr T (cuz i had vouchers and extra points codes and free delivery, not cuz it's my preferred store) and i'm happy to report that i had no substitutions and no missing items despite ordering tons of frozen fruit and veg (approx 15kg, i already had about 5kg between chest and fridge/freezer), tinned and dried fruit and some tinned veg,flour (just a bit we have tons of stuff) and milk, bottled water etc

Ditto!!:D Am having to have a sit down now and I've only put half of it away. Phew! My freezers are bursting and I'm very glad I cleared out the garage this morning. Trying out lots of everday value stuff too so will see if we change to that version.
And I found that these:
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=264330337
are only 69p. Is this their usual price does anyone know? Seems ever so cheap.

Disdisbiff

Have just been to Mr T and MrM to stock up on tinned vegs,passata and tinned potatoes. I noticed a price rise on the potatoes they were up to 23p per tin for |MrM savers potaotes dont know if this has anything to do with the weather and the potato crops.
Biff

fuddle

Possession wrote: »

Ditto!!:D Am having to have a sit down now and I've only put half of it away. Phew! My freezers are bursting and I'm very glad I cleared out the garage this morning. Trying out lots of everday value stuff too so will see if we change to that version.
And I found that these:
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=264330337
are only 69p. Is this their usual price does anyone know? Seems ever so cheap.

good find. I've never come across fish that cheap.