Preparedness for when

notjustlaura

I quite agree, WCS and MrsLurcher - the way we were living pre-crunch simply wasn't sustainable. But I'm not unhappy with some of the changes in lifestyle - there's something lovely and wholesome about it

pineapple

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

and in the fullness of time when you are retired there will probably be a loft insulation and cavity wall insulation scheme to keep you more snug at home and save on fuel bills.

There's optimism for you Mrs L!
We might even look back on this time as the time of plenty...

BessieBooBoo

westcoastscot wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Looks like I have more reason to prep than ever - my arthritis is proving very aggressive and i've been advised that my long term ability to work is compromised. I work part-time at a job I love, but suspect they are right that working for a further 13 years will be challenging.

Seeing how benefits are being eroded I suspect they won't be there for me when I need them, so I'm looking to try to build some financial resilience to tide me over to state pension age if I have to stop working before then.

No plan as yet - I have some debt which will be cleared totally in 18 months/2 years, which will then give me a bit to save, and my mortgage is paid off already. I live on a very low income, always have, so don't need a huge amount of money, however shall need enough for council tax, utilities and food.

I'm swithering between working more hours now, with the potential risk to my health that may bring, or continue to work part-time and possibly work for longer - slow and steady and all that. I'm thinking probably continue with part-time work.

I need a plan!!!!

Would appreciate any input - I know its a bit of a lottery!

WCS

Hello WCS

So sorry to read what you are struggling with. I don't have proper medical advice/experience to offer, just personal experience of helping someone with illness.

My POV is that once your health is gone, that's it, there's no 'reserve' to go back to.

So, basically, I am saying I would preserve the health you have now as long as possible. Go slow and steady to last out as long as you can, keep as mobile as you can to stay at your maximum flexibility, and research as much as you can as to what you can possibly do (although you've probably done that already),

E.g. check your optimum diet needs, (I have heard that more acidic things don't help with joint inflammation?); recommended excercises;
take supplements if you can afford it;
erm, move somewhere drier! Although this last one might not be possible
- you will want to be where you get maximum family and support networks around you, one of the most vital aids you can have...

Lastly of course, keep prepping, keep stocks of food, toiletries, meds, etc. and think about 'future proofing' your needs as others have already helpfully suggested. If you can, move from a place with stairs to one that doesn't have/need them.

One of the reasons we bought a bungie is my OH had mobility problems, no way could I lift him upstairs when he needed, resorted to travelling backwards on his backside to get up them!

HTH take good care of yourself, you are the best asset you already have.

BBB

[Deleted User]

Hi PINEAPPLE I like to think that there will still be incentives for making your living spaces more sustainable, I'd personally rather the councils used the money for things like insulation than christmas lights and floral baskets in the summer. Councils are elected by the public and I know my vote always goes to the greenest minded candidate I can find. I'm certain that history will record this as the age of excesses and profligacy. If we'd known (hindsight is a wonderful thing!) what the utilisation of fossil fuels would lead to along with the industrial revolution I'm convinced we'd not have leapt gung ho fashion into using it all up at once, I might be wrong? We have left a legacy of appalling circumstances for humankind to face, they will not be kind in the summing up of the last few generations and our greedy, materialistic, avaracious,selfish,destructive ravishing of the finite resources of this small world. No history will not be kind in its recording of us!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

BessieBooBoo

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

WCS totally agree, we'll all have to adjust to very different standards in the future. I think it will take a monumental shift though to persuade the man/woman in the street that they can't be magpies any longer and even if they want 'it' all, they can't have 'it' all!!! I wonder how long and how many generations will have to experience the reality that life has become so much harder before mankind comes to realise that you might be 'worth it' but it's not your right to have 'it'? I don't have a great deal of faith that the NHS will be able to continue in its present format, I suspect that before long some things that are available now will either need a significant contribution from the patient or will not be available at all, and maybe there will be a limit put on how much each person is allocated for prescription drugs. We'll all have to belt tighten in some way and I suspect that we'll see soup kitchens to supplement the Food Banks, and maybe even a modern day equivalent to Poor Houses coming along as time goes on. Thank heavens for this thread where you'll never feel isolated or alone because of like minded people. Let's hope the national grid survives so we've still got this lifeline eh? Cheers Lyn xxx.

Hello Mrs LW

You are more right than you know. Before my 'holiday from work' (redundancy), our LA were spinning the latest agenda from national government:

Local inclusiveness aka getting the locals to do it all themselves, preferably as volunteers doing it for free

In essence, devolving responsibility/funding away from national gov (who don't have enough of either) to local councils 'working' with local organisations (aka charities/volunteers/anything else in existence that is active manned by anyone with a pulse...) all done as far as possible with no money exchanging hands, piles of paperwork, and the more feisty locals willing to take stuff on.

Talk about things coming full circle.

Thinking about medieval walled towns battling with a centralised power (church, aristo's, gov) against being sucked into national anonymity. :cool: Getting deep here, but, this cycle is already under way: freecycle, LETS bartering, local markets, etc.

(Re-inforces colander with more foil and puts prepping hat on)

BBB

ArthriticOldThing

Hello everyone. Do you mind if I join this thread - I've been a lurker for a long time. Wish had found it before I 'retired'.

I so understand where you're coming from WCS, my arthritis affects my hands and feet most so I worry about how I will manage in an emergency.

Will have to start following all the good advice on here and get myself prepping.

[Deleted User]

Hello AOT, come and play, we love it when friends drop in specially when we know you from other threads, lots of practical common sense here so you'll fit right in, welcome, Lyn xxx.

thriftwizard

pineapple wrote: »

Just to add to our woes - here is a warning about the precarious state of our computerised age. Of course it could just be a boring day in newsland - but a useful reminder nonetheless. Let's not forget the not so distant banking glitches.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/23/nasdaq-crash-data
I've been a bit lax, running down my cash on hand as well as stores.
Will have to start trying to build both back up

Thanks, Pineapple, that's a very timely reminder, both from the point of view that never mind credit bubbles & rogue bankers, a tiny computer glitch could bring the whole financial house of cards down, and from the point of view that we really shouldn't rely on the Cloud as anything more than backup; it may not always be there when we need it.

My stores are in disarray and cash-on-hand needs to be sorted out as soon as we get back from our holiday in September; too much to pack in before then. The jam shelves are beginning to look good, though, after a two-year hiatus in jam-making, but I need to make apple butter (wonderful stuff!) with my windfalls, pickles and chutneys too. Some dehydrating of harvest bounty & a trip to the Mill soon would also be a good idea. Then a couple of quiet months eating from the freezer & the pantry in the run-up to Christmas!

thriftwizard

BessieBooBoo wrote: »

Hello Mrs LW

You are more right than you know. Before my 'holiday from work' (redundancy), our LA were spinning the latest agenda from national government:

Local inclusiveness aka getting the locals to do it all themselves, preferably as volunteers doing it for free

In essence, devolving responsibility/funding away from national gov (who don't have enough of either) to local councils 'working' with local organisations (aka charities/volunteers/anything else in existence that is active manned by anyone with a pulse...) all done as far as possible with no money exchanging hands, piles of paperwork, and the more feisty locals willing to take stuff on.

Talk about things coming full circle.

Thinking about medieval walled towns battling with a centralised power (church, aristo's, gov) against being sucked into national anonymity. :cool: Getting deep here, but, this cycle is already under way: freecycle, LETS bartering, local markets, etc.

(Re-inforces colander with more foil and puts prepping hat on)

BBB

Aha! I'd rather wondered whether the "Big Society" was actually an attempt to weasel out of half the things that Governments used to occupy themselves with. I wonder what else they'll consider to be better managed at a local/voluntary level? Education, perchance? Health? How about defence? IIRC income tax was put into place to pay for the Napoleonic Wars, which I have a feeling ended some time ago... But somehow I suspect they won't like it if we point out that that's what we were paying our taxes for, so they won't be needing those any more, will they?

I often think of medieval towns as a relatively sensible & stable living arrangement compared to, say, suburbia, where you have to drive miles to get to a shop that probably doesn't actually have whatever you wanted anyway. I'm sure they weren't all sweetness & light, particularly if you fell foul of whichever bigwigs were currently in charge (cutting your hand off for petty theft springs to mind) but I think they worked for most of the people, most of the time.

Wandering off now to see if I can bodge up an antenna for my colander with an old wire coat hanger...

pineapple

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

We have left a legacy of appalling circumstances for humankind to face, they will not be kind in the summing up of the last few generations and our greedy, materialistic, avaracious,selfish,destructive ravishing of the finite resources of this small world. No history will not be kind in its recording of us!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

Unfortunately many of those who feel cheated and dispossessed are laying the blame for everything on the current 'babyboomers'. As a 'babyboomer' myself, I find it a tad worrying that if and when resentment overspills - it could well turn in my direction.
I don't think the younger generation would have been any different had they been born at the same time as us. There was in my younger days, a general trust in authority. We were not to know the books were not being balanced etc etc. For example are ordinary people supposed to have sat down with calculators to work out a projection of national income v pension pay outs? :huh:
Plus now of course we have better communication through 't'internet' and are much more savvy about globalist etc goings on.
Maybe the direction of travel has been inexorable. Civilisations and empires grow till the system can't sustain itself and then the re-set button is pushed. I suspect we are at that tipping point now. Makes life interesting I suppose