Who doesn't have a stock cupboard

Confuzzled

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

Chameleon have you read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV today? The media is more to blame for panic buying than any Osers on this board. They are screaming milk shortages today because of a blockade last night, so it will be the same as the petrol debacle tomorrow, watch and see.

i couldn't agree with you more, besides, we've been going on about this for weeks now but it's just now happening, last time i checked panic buying is more instantaneous than that!

most people that are panic buying probably don't spend a lot of time reading these kind of threads, especially buried deep within the OS section, thus probably why they are panic buying because they don't have a storecupboard!

the media is horrible for fear mongering, and whilst yes the odd person might come along see this and think the sky is falling i must buy buy buy, i think that 99% is media based frenzy

i do feel for you though, i too do online shops because i have problems with my knees and back etc and not getting a lot of what i ordered can be incredibly frustrating. one thing i might suggest is that asda at least give substitutes regardless of value with no extra charge if the item is more.

now one time they sent me an order and didn't include apples and some orange juice. i called the customer service line and told them that i failed to see how they had no apples or orange juice at all in their store and after speaking with a manager i was given a credit for free delivery so i could order again. i did have to push but i got it and rightfully so, they should have substituted them. it's the only time they have done that though, usually they are quite good, even if you order smart price stuff they will sub the more expensive stuff and no charge so it may be an option to consider them if you have problems like that in the future

if it was asda then i'd def call and complain that's just not on with their policy as it is.

optimistic

Prepareathme - thank you for sharing a most interesting and thought provoking post. How lucky your community has people like you in it.
I have a small store cupboard but aim to stock it up a bit more over the next few weeks, especially tins and dry goods.

robpw2

i keep doing the eat out of cuboards challenge then they seem to empty so i have t fill them again

adelight

Wow I've never looked in this thread before because I love my store cupboard and genuinely thought this was some anti-stocks thread!
Prepareathome I love your posts and really agree with them.

I am trying to hoard enough to feed an army for a year. Well, I throw a few extra bags of pulses/grains in the basket every shop and am trying to build up a stock of ~100kg (1kg each for me and OH per week for a year) to weather likely food price rises next year and prepare for the sort of things that would stop us getting to the shops for a few weeks. If nothing bad happens then I'll count my blessings and use and restock as normal.
Despite living in a town I have very few neighbours,the ones I do keep to themselves and I would never tell them about my stores. I don't want people knocking on my door, or worse even.

Popperwell that link is upsetting. Reading about people threatening to steal, stinking of booze and Romanians (I'm guessing they haven't printed all the comments about this it's a bit vague but there is a definite negative tone) makes you think twice about giving. What if what I give isn't good enough (mung beans are nutritious and can be sprouted without electricity!) and who is it going to? I know that isn't the best attitude to have but if I am saving less to help others I don't want to help people who don't try to help themselves. If I owned my own home and had less outgoings then I'd be more generous. I doubt government ministers do diddly squat in their private lives to help causes like that, and it's not as if they do much at work either!

Popperwell

adelight wrote: »

Wow I've never looked in this thread before because I love my store cupboard and genuinely thought this was some anti-stocks thread!
Prepareathome I love your posts and really agree with them.

I am trying to hoard enough to feed an army for a year. Well, I throw a few extra bags of pulses/grains in the basket every shop and am trying to build up a stock of ~100kg (1kg each for me and OH per week for a year) to weather likely food price rises next year and prepare for the sort of things that would stop us getting to the shops for a few weeks. If nothing bad happens then I'll count my blessings and use and restock as normal.
Despite living in a town I have very few neighbours,the ones I do keep to themselves and I would never tell them about my stores. I don't want people knocking on my door, or worse even.

Popperwell that link is upsetting. Reading about people threatening to steal, stinking of booze and Romanians (I'm guessing they haven't printed all the comments about this it's a bit vague but there is a definite negative tone) makes you think twice about giving. What if what I give isn't good enough (mung beans are nutritious and can be sprouted without electricity!) and who is it going to? I know that isn't the best attitude to have but if I am saving less to help others I don't want to help people who don't try to help themselves. If I owned my own home and had less outgoings then I'd be more generous. I doubt government ministers do diddly squat in their private lives to help causes like that, and it's not as if they do much at work either!

I have had so many(I have told of my store)but who don't know me but mostly I have kept quiet. My neighbours as nice as they are, 99% of them keep themselves to themselves.

Those on either side of me are friendly but don't really mix. So I am very much alone, in some ways that's sad, in other ways, it can be better to have privacy but if I needed help I think they would help.

But I'm the kind of person that if I cooked too much of something or saw someone struggling, I would share a meal and hopefully they would with me. But no...

The business world and politicians have brought us to where we are, I doubt any have the solution to our problems and I fear what the future will bring.

We know something is coming but it's a bit like the calm before the storm.

I'm going to cointinue to add to my store as long and as much as I possibly can and should I have to move I hope there is room to take it with me, as long as I can keep a roof over my head which worries me.

And I will try and put it into some kind of organised order and get everything dated so the stock is on rotation. A few weeks ago I would never have thought of doing this but a drop in income, being alone and knowing how things are changing I feel that I must.

Kiwisaver_2

It serves as a reminder that a lot of people are in danger of becoming complacent that the supermarket and Government will provide. Whilst I am not that naive and do have a well stocked larder, I don't exactly have a proper disaster plan and I think we should.

I have for a while tried to gather up some bits and bobs, camping stove, wind up radio and lamp, candles and such like, yet I still feel that we're inadequately equipped if the worst should happen. Even if the worst, is 'just' a loss of job, it is probably the most likely event in this economic climate and would certainly rock my world.

I should know better, living on the pacific rim of fire and all but a few hundred miles from Christchurch, where people are still dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake some eighteen months on. People are still camping out in quake damaged homes, without water and power and using portaloos in the street, coping with the loss of work and little potential to find another job with half the city gone.

I should really get my act together but it is a continual process and often in fits and starts, sometimes we think about it more than others and need to be reminded of how fragile an existence we really do lead. I do have some water in the garage, but nowhere near the amounts I have read are required.

It's alright people saying they don't need to store food because they cook only with fresh food from scratch, I wonder whether they would be so choosy if they were in real need. To this end and spurred on a bit more by this thread I am going to start a proper disaster recovery food pack and menu plan. I bought two tins of Beef Stew for $5 this week and a big bag of cat-litter, plus bin liners. (Bin liners I recall in early days of the Christchurch earthquake were being advised to line a bucket for a makeshift toilet)

I do always keep some food in the larder that in all reality I probably would not ordinarily choose to eat, but I do still appreciate from my younger and unemployed days the value of a few stashed tins of veg. They may stay there a year or more gathering dust but I do often have a clearout and donate a few tins to charity collections for those less well off.

Now, where is the thread with your Zombie apocalypse meal plans? :rotfl: All joking aside, I am definitely going to put pen to paper and write some recipe, tips and notes to self, because when needs must I expect our immediate thougths won't necessarily be rational ones.

Kiwisaver_2

Popperwell wrote: »

I have had so many(I have told of my store)but who don't know me but mostly I have kept quiet. My neighbours as nice as they are, 99% of them keep themselves to themselves.

I think in the face of adversity you would be surprised how well people do come together to help one another. People were amazing at the time of the Christchurch earthquake, there were armies of students out with their shovels cleaning up, people baking and delivering food to anyone who wanted it, farmers rallied together to supply equipment and labour etc.

Some truly heartwarming stories and very few episodes of looting and disorder. People were offering accomodation, adopt a family schemes, free holidays for kids and places to get away from the continual stress of the aftershocks.

I expect a lot here will still have lingering and somewhat nostalgic memories of the 1970s. The 'three-day week' and the 'winter of discontent' and seemingly shortages of something every other week. I doubt many people today would cope under similar circumstances.

I remember lots of the neighbours rallied together to cook their dinner at our house cos we had a gas cooker, all us kids being sent on a mission to find a shop to buy a bag of sugar because you were allowed only one per customer. Walking miles to far away shops to see if they had any toilet paper left and funniest of all to me now, having to go to the local delicatessen to buy pasta when there were no potatoes. Pasta and rice were quite foreign to us, I don't think we had it before and it certainly wasn't the everyday staple that it is now. :eek:

the_frugal_frog

I am proud to say I now have a store cupboard, its coming along nicely!

So far I have 3 packs of economy tea bags ( quite like these, and 28p is a bargain)

10 uht milks
10 beans
12 cat foods
1000 sweetners
3 bags pasta dried
2 dried sphagetti
batch cooked a mushroom and onion pasanda into portions using reduced onions and mushrooms, cost pennies
12 loo rolls
toothpastes 4 colgate reduced to 60p wilkos.
shower gels 2
couple of bread mixes
and 10 odd tins of sweetcorn/veg etc

Not massive by any means but I managed this on just about £10 by buying basics/economy . I nipped into the stores on way home from work and got whatever was going cheap.

I am aiming at spending an extra 3 quid a week to keep topping the cupboard up. Money is really tight and my ten quid was from taking my penny jar to coinstar lol

prepareathome

Thank you those who liked my post do you know it brings tears to my eyes seeing people willing to be pro-active on building a store cupboard.

It won't let you down that I promise you.

I have been advocating them for many, many years even given talks about it, ran a website about preparing at home and group ( no not trying to get members am not even putting links in my page on here that is not what my post is about) to cope with disasters from illness, job losses, weather problems - these can cause power and water outrageous and maybe make it impossible for you to get to the shops or even for shops to open.

I haven't up till now said to much as I did not want to lecture from my soapbox as it really is my thing but when we start being attacked as causing panic buying I am afraid I could not take that as that is the last thing I believe in.

The idea is that you build up a nice stock cupboard and so if there is a panic you don't have to worry, as panics usually are over things that are seen as basics - milk, bread, sugar, petrol ( not advocating stocks of this I assure you, only ever store the legal limit never more), butter and cream are the main ones on the whole.

Kiwi you are right about the cat litter - must be the chalky type - put a bucket in your toilet, line with a big plastic bag fill it 1/4 full of cat litter - when you go wee then just add a scoop of cat litter over it, when its solid then use cat litter scoop to take out and put in a nappy sack ready to go in bin ( or if things were really bad you would put it in another bucket and bury it in garden well away from plants and where animals go but in a year or so you would have some lovely fertiliser) when bucket half full or so then tie it up and either put it in the bin or bury it in garden. If you live in a flat and no chance of it being collected soon then put another bin bag over it with tied up end in first then tie off and then do this again again with tied off end in first then tie off and place somewhere safe - remember to squeeze as much air out as you can when you tie up.

If like near Kiwi something like an earth quake has hit so services not going to come on again soon then you need if no garden to find a place to safely dump it.

Not something nice to thing about but it could happen.

We have via freecycyle just managed to get a brand new portapotty - but only as good as long as I have somewhere to dump the waste safely and have the chemicals to dissolve it ( have bought ones that help not harm the environment but they are not cheap and so far only have one bottle, so still keeping my stock of cat litter and bin bags and a bucket.

As I say I have been a long time advocate of preparing in your own home to deal with disasters big or small - when i first started I was laughed at as survivalist were people who went out and lived off the land and that is even today what most plan for, but over the years I have slowly seen people change and realise they need a plan to maybe stay in their homes not dash away - in UK not exactly many places you could set up home safely without other around anyway. Your home might be the best place to stay while others leave- but you must always be aware this might not be suitable it all depends on what is happening.

If there is a big fire in factory near you then leaving your home would be prudent but if home is flooded on ground floor then staying upstairs might be better than going to an evac centre. For these times a bug out bag as they are called is sensible to have - a bag which contains a change of clothes, some food to do you three days, water, important papers or photo copies of them, and other items you might like to have with you - don't forget food for pets or theirs or your medications either.

Don't fill your store cupboard with foods you never eat - having a sack of wheat that needs ground and you don't have a grinder or have bought one and never used is not really much help in a disaster - you want ready to eat food that uses minimum fuel to cook and is warming and nourishing.

You want food you eat - even if you cook from scratch with fresh daily if things went pear shaped you want the same things in tinned and dried form, ok not as tasty but at least what you are used.

If you are coping with anything from job loss so income going right down to a major disaster that affects you getting supplies you want to have to hand things all the family likes in storeable form. You will have enough to cope with without trying to eat things you do not like. Same with juices and things to drink - no use buying in orange juice as you saw it on offer if everyone only likes apple juice.

I do not feel we are going to go over the edge just yet no matter what those who tout the Maya calendar say - our civilisation is not just going to come to a halt. At worst we will follow the pattern of past civilisations, slowly fall apart so there is plenty of time to build up a stock cupboard even if you can only afford one item a week. At best we will slowly recover and more and more people will find jobs as money is put into new business - but not going to hold my breath over this one.

Over the years my own store cupboard has seen us through some major problems - me taking ill and not being able to work again we went from high income to low as I was always main bread winner suddenly we had only hubbys income but our store cupboard kept us from getting into serious debt while we adjusted to our new lifestyle. Then hubby was off for 8 months in 2004/5 on SSP so that gave us £65 a week total to live on. It took a while to sort out HB and CTB and it was someone in the DWP that told me I should be claiming benefits on my own, I had never done so and was surprised when i was entitled to IB and now am on ESA and after a slight hiccup in the support group but hubby went from full time to part time last November ( firm fighting to stay afloat) so income is down again but my trusty store cupboard has helped us through all this and now we are used to new level of income again I have been able to start to add to it again ( why I was able to help out the other week).

I have also added non food supplies like some toilet rolls, soap powder, soap, shampoo etc., not because I think there is going to be shortage but because if money goes down again we have a supply in to keep us going for a while until again we are used to new level of income - it takes a while to adjust comfortably.

I also have picked up non electrical versions of things like a hand powered food porcessor - you turn a handle and round it goes, with all different blades just like an electric one. I have fondue sets which could be used to heat up things like beans, soups etc on a tee light or using meths. Most of these type of things come via cs as people either buy them thinking how great after watching an infomercial on tv and then never take them out of the box or are given them as gifts so all are brand new unopened and all bought for peanuts almost.


To me having alternative ways to cook, light and heat my home is very important but I try to buy things that can be put to more than one use if possible ( I tend to be a lateral thinker on the whole which helps).

You don't have to spend a fortune on fancy stoves and other expensive equipment to do this.

Skills wise I am slowly learning - used to always love camping but had forgotten so much so am relearning. Our British climate is not exactly one that is suited to living off the land long term but if the unthinkable happened I hope to at least be able to if not myself go out and do things can at least teach others to do so. Keeps my mind active if nothing else.

Most will read this and say what on earth is she wittering on about this is about a store cupboard in the home, so why on earth go on about outdoor skills - sorry to me they all go hand in hand storing up food and knowledge on how to keep my family and me fed, warm and be able to see what they are doing.

I promise no more big posts on here just wanted you all to know how great I think you all are.:A

mcjordi

coinstar:eek::eek::eek: takes about 9% of what you whack in...

im gonna do a rosspa shop when i next get some money (friday) as i forgot quite a bit on my asda shop.. i even wrote a list and didnt stick to it..

any one know where i can buy (online please hate going out to shop) meal storage thingys for the freezer? i had 2 plastic containers from the chinkies takeaway from ages ago both of which now contain a beef stewy broth stuff..