Preparedness for when

mcjordi

annie123 wrote: »

Don't let it go to court, you'll only get court costs added to it and what they are trying to do is get you to pay up thinking you can afford it and won't pay, rather than can't afford it.

Speak to them, give them a statement of your finances and offer what you can, even if it's £2-£5 pm off the arrears in addition to usual rent.
If they refuse (which I would be surprised if they did) then a judge can see you have offered what you can afford, rather than not paying because you won't but could afford it. Judge won't evict and will direct them to accept offer if it is all you could afford.

I helped someone last year with 3 months arrears and arranged for them to pay it off over 3 years. That was agreed 3 days before the court date. Good luck

EDIT: If it's the bedroom tax, rent out the spare room if you want to stay put.

it was sorted same day with an arrangement.. they said the court letter was automated.. with a proper signature.. hmmm... ahh well

westlothianlass

Hi all,
Another sweltering day, so hiding inside every now and again to cool down. Ds just asked if we had a fan and I remembered the small electric heater we keep for emergencies has a cold fan setting, so I now have a very chirpy teenager:D.
Hope everyone is okay, sending hugs wondercollie, hope your getting some relaxing you time to recover.
Wll x

daz378

day off today, went into Mcr town centre . tried a Byron burger meal, tasted ok but for 17 quid should have done....food court in future....went in to Aldi for one of them water bag holders.... but they had non in:( ...chicken salad for tea back in work tomorrow..... stay cool and hydrated out there

GreyQueen

craigywv wrote: »

evening all, lovely weather we all having. wheres grey queen? probally in her lottie brandishing her spade at the slugs. well i off on hols on wed but wont be posting but will be reading as i hate my phone and cant type on it. big plans for prepping for my return. 2t great your enjoing thailand good luck xxx and i hope you all have a lovely next few weeks. so until then happy prepping xxx

I'm just back from 2 weeks on a [STRIKE]self-basting[/STRIKE] ooops, meant to say, camping holiday.

Y'know, it's the first ever camping holiday where huge amounts of preciptation weren't involved. Should have left the sleeping bag, fleece and waterproof jacket at home, but how was I to know I'd be in a Level 3 heatwave area?

Top tips for keeping cool are to have a cotton scarf and regularly immerse it in water and wrap around your heat. And drink lots. And don't go for a 10 mile hike in about 27 degrees.....my poor feetses are cursing me.

Glad to be back at the homestead; had the fridge off to save some juice and was able to get sraight into one of the stock UHT milks from t'cupboard. Have done laundry.

You can cool a hot room by having damp textiles lying about, particularly over the windows. And keep the curtains closed to protect the room from overheating, especially if ut faces south/ south-west.

Bob, I've picked up several tiny lanterns to hold the tealights, for a bit more safety, but really want to get a few free-standing mirrors, esp those hinged jobbies with the three panes like smaller versions of the dressing-table mirrors. I haven't got any mirrors bar those which are screwed to the walls and figure a little emergency mirrorage would magnify the candleflames.

Pale walls would also be helpful in times of low light, wouldn't they? To maximise both natural and artificial light sources.

Right, gonna get the kettle on. Am continuing to rotate around the water stocks, making sure that everything is up-to-date and ready. If/ when SHTF, it won't have the courtesy to give us a lengthy warning to get our head in the game, it'll just be Pfftttt!!!!!!!

I may go to a bootsale tomorrow, if it's on. And there may be preptastic things done on the allotmentino, depending on how the broad beans have done in my absence.

Laters, my lovelies, laters. GQ xx

pineapple

GreyQueen wrote: »

Top tips for keeping cool are to have a cotton scarf and regularly immerse it in water and wrap around your heat.

Also a damp scarf round your neck.
Was looking for something for the lung compromised dog and came across doggie cooling coats. You wet them - apparently they don't make the dog wet but wick away heat. Guess what - my preferred make is sold out till next week! By which time, knowing this country, it'll probably be snowing .
I've been using a microfibre camping towel which I wet and throw around her when we have had to make an essential trip outdoors
Fortunately the cottage with it's thick stone walls keeps reasonably cool but still not cool enough for the hound in her condition. So from sundown to bed I've been keeping the doors and windows open (fortunately a safe area). I bring in a couple of solar lights and chillax in front of the TV/radio. If I had the lights on, every wee beastie in Yorkshire would be flying in :eek:
It's actually cooler today with a fine drizzle. Been up the garden to pick my first ever blackcurrants to eat with the home made yoghurt. Who needs Muller Corner eh? Had fresh picked potatoes for the last fortnight and I'm all lettuced out. :rotfl: The runner beans are flowering, the chilli plants are the best ever and the nasturtiums are bloomin lovely. :beer:

metherer

Morning all. Haven't been onto MSE for a while, but spent the last couple of evenings working through some of this thread. My, what a big one! ;-)

Hubby and I consider ourselves relatively well prepared, but our food stores had got a bit lax. This thread has given me the kick up the backside that I needed.

After Church this morning we called into B&M, as hubs wanted to check out the price of watering cans. (4.99. He bought two large buckets instead at 99p. Will hold more water, and saved plenty of pennies.)

I picked up a couple of large tins:
Vacuum packed corn on the cob (x 4 cobs). The date is the end of August 13, but I have a fairly relaxed attitude to dates. 59p.
Borlotti beans - 800g tin (465g drained) by Cross and Blackwell. Date September 2016. 49p.

I think I'll go back for some more of the beans, as my concern for wtshtf is that water will be at a premium. I don't want to store loads of dried beans only to not be able to reconstitute them.

Also got 7 disposable lighters for 99p.


Our main concern is lower level shtf situations, like flooding meaning food doesn't get through to the Supermarket, or bad snows. Hubs is disabled (artificial leg amongst other problems) so bad weather means he is house bound. I work full time, but have to take time off if he is ill. A prolonged illness would mean taking time off unpaid. So, it pays to be prepared.

We've oodles of blankets etc, but hubs is weighing up the cost of a woodburning stove, as we've a gas fire and gas central heating. The fire works in a power cut but the central heating doesn't. And what if gas prices skyrocketed?

Cooking wise, we've a gas hob (works in power cuts) and an electric oven. Also, a barbecue and a working knowledge of how to make a decent camp fire pit if we needed to. I have my eye on a Kelly Kettle or a hex stove too.

In a true teotwawki situation (anyone else have to sing the song to get the letters right??), we'd head up dale to the family farm with our pets and our stores. Family would try to come down for us, and we'd take all our veg seed & chickens with us. Also the self sufficiency and gardening/poultry books. We're a pretty handy crew:
Hubs, BIL, Sister and Mum are keen gardeners (veg as well as pretty stuff).
BIL is a trained butcher who works for my dad as farmhand - Cows and Sheep - meals on legs.
Mum knits, sis and I crochet, and we do various other handicrafts.
Mum, sis and I all bake and cook, and hubs cooks too.
As you can see, between us, we'd do ok. Our big concern would be hubs. Beside the metal leg he has a colostomy bag, epilepsy, and leg ulcers, and without the proper equipment/medication he could soon end up in trouble. Lets pray it never comes to such a situation.

So anyway, thanks for giving me the kick up the backside that I needed.

Metherer

pineapple

metherer wrote: »

We've oodles of blankets etc, but hubs is weighing up the cost of a woodburning stove, as we've a gas fire and gas central heating. The fire works in a power cut but the central heating doesn't. And what if gas prices skyrocketed?

Somewhere here there is a thread about the running costs of solid fuel stoves. Mine is a dual purpose one. It's mainly solid fuel but if I take out the bars I can burn logs. But I don't because I don't have a cheap source of wood and find it more expensive than the smokeless cobs that I use. Even then I find the stove more expensive than my gas ch (though a lot nicer). Maybe it's just a rubbish stove. Sigh...

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I an having an ouper sort out of my cupboards today...especially after reading this

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jul/21/tesco-boss-cheap-food-over

even though we know food prices are going up and up., we don't know when they will stop/slow down:o

Someone mentioned about buying buckets instead of watering cans, I am now going to invest in metal buckets, and I am finding anything plastic for the garden doesn't last, especially plastic buckets....

SHTF for me is all about price increases, and being able to survive/keep our heads above the financial water.

I need to find the fine line between stockpiling and hoarding:cool::D:rotfl:

metherer

pineapple wrote: »

Somewhere here there is a thread about the running costs of solid fuel stoves. Mine is a dual purpose one. It's mainly solid fuel but if I take out the bars I can burn logs. But I don't because I don't have a cheap source of wood and find it more expensive than the smokeless cobs that I use. Even then I find the stove more expensive than my gas ch (though a lot nicer). Maybe it's just a rubbish stove. Sigh...

Thanks Pineapple, I'll look that one up. We're in a smokeless zone, so would need to burn solid fuel or well seasoned wood.

the_cake

Quite agree, food futures is the way to go! But I'm afraid if OH and I relied on my food growing skills we would starve quite quickly - the bloomin' birds and squirrels have had all the redcurrants, some of the blackcurrants (now netted), all the ripe strawberries (grrr) and some of the gooseberries (now all harvested and about to be turned into jam). I had appalling hay fever at the crucial time, so having made a good start on the veg. growing, it all went pear shaped whilst I lurked indoors, sneezing and snivelling. And they were not edible pears .... my broad beans have fallen over, the radishes and turnips have gone (spectacularly!) to seed, and I can't even find the spring onions. However, the black Tuscan kale is wonderful, and we have lots, and lots, and soon to be lots more courgettes, which I am dehydrating. Luckily I have plenty of tinned food in the larder! Will make a fresh start on the garden when I'm back from our hols - it might be a bit cooler, too. Hey ho. The best laid plans, and all that.