Who doesn't have a stock cupboard

prepareathome

I have posted on the £7 a week thread and will mention it here, maybe I am to much of a sceptic but to me her posts don't ring 100% true, not when she mentioned about MSEs enjoying a challenge.

What I am worried about and there have been a few similar posts over past few weeks all newbies, is the government trying to find out how little its possible to live on so they can then bring out lists of food and recipes ( all from everyone on here) to give to people saying "see how generous your benefits are you can live on less than what we give you here's how". Even though those lists are only for short term living as if you tried to live on them long term health problems would arise from lack of nutrients and soon you would be fed up eating the same thing over and over again.

If this will mean and even more cut in benefits I do not know but by golly makes it more important in my mind to try and build as best a store cupboard as I can but not one full of all of the same things but with as much as a mixture as possible so we only do have to eat the same thing once a week not more as nothing more soul destroying that having to eat the same thing day in and out or every other day.

So when looking at what you have in don't just think well I have 4 tins of meat, 3 of mince, 4 tuna, 2 chicken and a tin of hot dogs so that is two weeks meals in as unless you have the extras to make the meat, mince and tuna into totally different things each time you are going to be very bored of the sameness of it all. You don't want to be dreading what you are going to eat, you want to be looking forward to it, especially if you are eating out of your store cupboard because you are waiting for benefits to arrive, or stuck at home through weather or something. Mealtimes can be the highlight of the day sometimes so variety is important to not just your body but you mind.

Even prisoners get a good variety of meals as they realised getting the same thing day in day out was not good for morale.

Fuddle you have every right to pat yourself on the back girl, you have used what happened as a learning experience and moved on, so many would just sit around bemoaning what happened and repeated their mistakes over and over - not you girl, you will continue to go up and up. I know most woman on here like me older enough to be your mother would be proud to have a daughter like you. :A

Right better go and do my BOBs - RL has been getting in the way, but at least dehydrator is full of potatoes again, so more will be in freezer tonight:)

adelight

butterfly brain that sounds like a really useful lesson and I think we could do with that for kids these days!

prepareathome have you considered a vacuum food sealer for your dehydrated bits that you want to store long term? A decent one costs as little as £50 and you don't have to buy the bags, you can make custom sized bags from a roll of the plastic. Similar to mylar bags, not as good but infinitely cheaper.

As of today you can get blue inhalers from the dispensary at Asda without a prescription. I doubt you can buy crates at once but you could go once every fewweeks to build up a few spares.

Benefits system changing plus the poor harvests this year just doesn't look good. I do worry about the people it will affect directly but also those of us who are getting by okay right now but may well find ourselves up poop creek without a paddle.
Please noone laugh but I am seriously looking into basically living (legally on a campsite, not full time) in a touring caravan! I keep looking at the figures and it would halve my living and travel costs :eek: The savings are so good it would make the obvious downsides worth it. Stock cupboard under the bed?

fuddle

Aw thanks pah I would like to do a BOB but worried incase it might be a step too far for DH and him thinking I have finally cracked up what with all the anxiety issues re: our safety. I think I'll do a list for now, not physically get a bag together.

Off I go to clean out my store because of the revelations (that we all knew were coming anyway) on the tougher thread about corn in America.

wifefaefife

[QUOTE=

however we may move to dunfermline when the lease is up here so it's good to know there is a B&M there, i'm sure i'll be frequenting it on days i take full advantage of bus day pass [/QUOTE]

The B&M in Dunfermline is really big. It's at the retail park beside Asda and homebase. The home bargains and B&M are right next to each other in Leven so I usually go in there if I'm along that way as the parking is good. I find that they are usually cheaper than the £1 shops. I think I'm a bit of a home bargains addict I can never pass on without going in lol

I was thinking about going through to costco with a friend, does anyone on here have any recomendations on why to buy?

Butterfly_Brain

Even though I managed the first week I was upset that the only vegetables were frozen plus the lettuce and tomatoes, and I couldn't put fruit down because it is expensive, hardly you 5 a day is it?
I find it sad that we no longer trust anyone, after all as others have said we are faceless friends. Anyone could so easily be a government spy trying to see just how far they can cut benefits back to the bare bones, I know it sounds paranoid, but I really do not trust any of our political parties any more.
What a sad country we are living in now , it is getting more like the 18th and 19th centuries and not at all what we should be expecting or accepting in the 21st century

Kiwisaver_2

Popperwell wrote: »

I don't have a go/bug out bag as such but could turn my ruck sack into one quite quickly and stick a few things into it at short notice. Or if I stop using it for shopping(and use the shopping trolley all the time in future instead)but I'd have decide what is important to put inside.

Again for us it's pretty standard advice that we have bag packed ready to go at a moments notice. Certainly we're not talking survival kit, just a grab-bag in case we might need to evacuate to a civil defence shelter.

I have a small back-pack with our passports and some little bits of cash and loose change in case we can get transport somewhere or can phone or buy something. Basic wash kit, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap and a towel. Some underwear, a couple of t-shirts and warm socks. Recently I got some free samples of sachets of shampoo and a pair of latex gloves, which I just bunged in there. I will revisit that bag again as it would be a good idea to have a reccie of what is in there and perhaps refresh the towel and clothing. Not sure if I have any painkillers as that's alway my fear that we could well be injured and in pain.

fuddle wrote: »

Aw thanks pah I would like to do a BOB but worried incase it might be a step too far for DH and him thinking I have finally cracked up what with all the anxiety issues re: our safety.

Mine doesn't know half the things I have done and I don't feel at all compelled to tell him. He may mock but someday he may thank me for helping to save his life or make some hellish event a little bit more comfortable.

I bought myself a roll of duct tape and a box of matches today.

fuddle

I can have a bag sitting at the bottom of my wardrobe I guess. Anyone know where to get cheap back packs?

Have I missed all the bob stuff, what do you put in a bob bag?

Sunshine4

Hope you dont mind me joining in,
Lost my job a couple of weeks ago, OH is retired .
I cant look for a new job as I am going to have some work done on my shoulder late Aug and it will be out of action for a while.

I have started my stock storage cupboard, and I have an extra 35pounds that I made on E_ay. So I have gone through my stock and have done an online shop at Mr S and it was delivery free.
So have got lots of porridge,pasta,rice,lentils,tea bags,bread flour, tinned vegs, potatoes and fruit and loads more.

So I feel alittle better also my friend brother owns a farm here and shes bringing me some Potatoes, eggs, and HM jam as I looked after her home for a few days as they were away, so thats extra too.

Malfiore

fuddle wrote: »

Parenting. That's where it stands for me. My mam has never had a store cupboard and still shops hand to mouth every single day at the coop. She's nothing in her cupboards and never does a weekly shop to get basics in.

My mam never taught me anything about OS, coping, craft, make do and mend. Nothing. What has got me here is the worst financial difficulties there are. We're through it now and on the other side. I am turning into a trooper of a woman, even if I do say so myself.

Had that not happened though, I would still be happily living in the throw away, demanding society I grew up in. I was forced to learn these skills and I'm pleased I was.

When schools do realise that they should be preparing children about financial awareness and the wrong kind of decisions I would also advocate that home economics drastically change from just basic cooking to basic OS ways and how to run a home.

This is very similar to me actually. My mum didn't do much cooking from scratch, everything was from jars, or ready meal type foods. I never learnt basic things such as cooking and sewing, even ironing as she didn't like me doing it as I was slow!!

I left home at 18 and was useless! Eating takeaways, frozen pizzas, thinking that 2 for £5 offers on something ridiculous like burgers was good value.

At 30, I have now taught myself to cook (and thanks to my illness which goes through ups and downs I can cook all manner of foods from meat to vegan to allergy friendly), I can budget (after getting into debt and hitting rock bottom I finally am sorted although have a few years left on the repayments), I have learnt how to have fun without spending money and most importantly I am happy with my life now.

There is however, no educating my mum - she bought me a present the other day to say thank you for something (a beautiful casserole dish that was actually on offer!), and she gave me the receipt in case I wanted to change it. It was a very short receipt and so I thought it just had the dish and a few bits for a top up shop - the total not including the dish which was £15, was £98. This was on ready made sausage rolls, pizza, oven chips, jars of branded pasta sauce etc, and this WAS just a top up shop. I wouldn't mind so much if my family were loaded, but they're not, in fact they're in debt. I have tried to speak to her about this but I get told off and to mind my own business etc!! It's sad when there is a running freezer with a bag of oven chips in and nothing else and rubbish in the fridge not being stored properly and out of date things because no-one has checked the dates.

Sorry for the rant there, but I think it shows that the average person can be so naive as to not even have basics in, and if something did go wrong, there is no education there as to how to make your food/money etc stretch.

miss_emmajane

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

You were lucky that you had some stock, but to try to live on £7 a week for two people these days when you have absolutely nothing in your cupboards or freezer is nigh on impossible. I am working on another week menu plan at the moment, but with prices rising it is very very scary to think that there are so many out there who really will suffer especially when the benefits system changes next year.

I didn't mean to sound like this is easy and they should have had food stored - I can see why she had so little money because they completely messed up our bursaries. I was just trying to point out it isn't everyone in their early twenties who has lost sight/was never taught the OS way.