Preparedness for when

daz378

call myself a prepper......went to everyday cupboard and had no tinned veg what so ever.... had to get from prepps cupboard will be remedied today though......at my mates last night trying to rescue his computer from a browser hijacker called do search.... its more difficult that computer is six yrs old and only has 1/2gig of ram, will have another go for him later

happy prepping enjoy your weekend

GreyQueen

You speak great good sense, as always, MrsLW.

I also consider that prepping is a lifestyle. Please don't imagine that I'm saving up for a fallout shelter of my very own, or that I spend my weekends running around the woods dressed in camofluage and playing paintball. Although as a one-off, I could be persuaded.......

But I do tend to look at things through a preptastic filter. Such as having alternate sources of just about everything, in checking the BB dates on canned and packaged goods, on thinking various What If.....? scenarios.

I've always been a bit odd and people I've worked with have commented on my ability to think outside the box, around the corners and prolly over the hills and far away. It's not necessarily a helpful thing at all times, but it does mean that I'm very seldom surprised and often have mentally-rehearsed a suitable response.

Sometimes, I've bounced back quite handily from bad situations and been baffled when onlookers have remarked on my luck. Excuse me, what you just saw was the pre-prepared Plan B. Or C or D, depending on how far from the expected outcome we have deviated at that time. Luck wasn't in the picture, what you were seeing was preparation in action.

I've given a fair amount of thought to modern life, particularly modern life in an advanced industrial society with a welfare state. I think that it is having a detrimental effect on the commonsense and resilience of a lot of people. There is a perception that anything which happens to you is Someone Else's Fault and that Someone Should Be Blamed and that you're "entitled" to be compensated for all sorts of things.

Add to this the perception that They will pick you up and protect you from each and every blip which a normal life will throw at most people, and you have a lot of folks who will probably be passive in the face of a disaster and suffer unnecessarily because of it.

I blame a lot of this on education. Where once we were taught to cook, people are now taught all sorts of things related to the food industry. Great wheeze, this delivering of a generation of consumers who cannot shift for themselves in the kitchen.

Of course, education isn't just what happens in a set place between 9 and 3 but if you have incompetant or idle parents with no interest in teaching you useful skills, schooling can be a chance to get these skills. One of my relatives has a husband in his early fifties, who went to one of the very good comprehensives and what he learned, in everything from woodworking to welding, has served him very well in adult life. I know I'm envious and would have rather been doing that than dismantling Jane Austen line by line, week after week.

I was chatting to a young man, probably in his late teens, working checkout at a discount store the other week. As an aside to what I was buying, he mentioned that he can't cook and lives on kebabs and other takeout foods.

It made me feel quite sad. He wouldn't be earning much money where he was working, and would be spending far more on food than he would if he could do some basic cooking. Plus he would be low on vitamins and could be setting himself up for poorer health and a shorter life than someone who could cook for themselves.

I've just done the accounts for November and the food spend was £48.74 which was almost identical to October at £48.57. And I've lived very well on that money, and have added stuff into the stores such as 5kg of breadflour which I won't be starting into for another 1-2 weeks.

Righty, time for some more tea..........

katep23

GreyQueen wrote: »

There is a perception that anything which happens to you is Someone Else's Fault and that Someone Should Be Blamed and that you're "entitled" to be compensated for all sorts of things.

This is so true. Several years go in heavy rains a street in Langley, Slough flooded and the residents were cut off and stranded. After the floods subsided the residents were demanding to know "whose fault it was" and why the authorities didn't get them food and water sooner, one comment was that they were treated worse than refugees in a camp :cool:

GreyQueen

katep23 wrote: »

This is so true. Several years go in heavy rains a street in Langley, Slough flooded and the residents were cut off and stranded. After the floods subsided the residents were demanding to know "whose fault it was" and why the authorities didn't get them food and water sooner, one comment was that they were treated worse than refugees in a camp :cool:

There's a lot of it about, and that comment about the refugees in the camp demonstrates that whoever made it had absolutely no clue about the wretched reality of such a place.

Sometimes, stuff just happens, or people don't look where they're going, or don't pick their feet up properly and fall over on a paved street. Those of robust temperament shrug, pick themself up and get on with life.

You'd be amazed at the number of people who call the local authority complaining that they fell over in the mall and demanding a compensation form. Such a delight to tell them that it's private property in there and they'll have to talk to the mall owners.............:rotfl:

mardatha

I've never heard or even seen a police helicopter but we get the RAF strafing us often and scaring the sheep lol
GQ how the hell do you live on £12 a week??? God I wish I could!

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

I've never heard or even seen a police helicopter but we get the RAF strafing us often and scaring the sheep lol
GQ how the hell do you live on £12 a week??? God I wish I could!

I'm blessed if I know what people are spending all this grocery money on, although I acknowedge as a city-dweller I have access to a range of stores, which wouldn't be the case for people living in remote areas. And my housekeeping figure includes things like TP, cleaning materials etc.

Typical weekly items would be £1 for 4 pints of milk (Iceland or Liddly), £1 for 15 eggs (F Foods), some HG veg, £1 on fruit or veg at The Magic Greengrocer, possibly some YS bargains at Tosspots on a Sunday afternoon, although it's been a drought there the past 2 weeks, bread cooked from flour from the windmillers (£6 for 5 kg) plus dried yeast bought on 3 of 2 at Tosspots every few months.

Bottle of cooking oil and 1 kg of porridge oats a month, £1.39 and 75p respectively, bacon at 3 large packs for £6 at FF. Tea from Sainsbugs at 27p/ 80 bags (lasts about 3 weeks), workday lunch is HM bread roll with peanut butter (62p a jar).

Yesterday my Greengrocer sold me the following for £1; 8 bananas, a punnet of plums, 3 oranges, 2 apples and a large hand of ginger root. I whipped a pork chop out of the freezer last night (60p on YS) and will be doing summat with ginger and the chop. With HG spuds and broad beans or shopbought mix veg from the freezer. And I may have plums and Basics custard for pudding, with or without a slice of Jamaican Ginger Cake (39p at FF).

Any recipe suggestions for pork and ginger would be gratefully received......

It's not exactly bread and scrape, is it?:rotfl:Plus the storecupboards are full.

short_bird

GreyQueen wrote: »

Actually, when I drew my curtains this morning, there was a Police car parked right outside my window. Nobody in it and I don't know which flat they went to. My conscience is clear but I did think, I hope they don't come to my door, bit embarrassing to be still in my jammies at 9.30 am...........:rotfl:

I wouldn't worry too much, I know that Him Indoors answers the door clad in his dressing gown up to 11.30. Then again, he does work from home. At least you aren't walking to the corner shop in slippers, jammies and dressing gown like some I could mention round here:rotfl: I sound like my Mum; her neighbour cooked, brewed her own beer, impaccable house but... in the words of my Mum: She Didn't Iron Her Nets:eek:

Oh, signs of the times on a church fence: a banner for the If campaign, (enough food for everyone) next to details of a Slimmer's World meeting. You couldn't make it up. (NB I am not having a pop at slimmers.)

GreyQueen

:eek: Ironing nets? Never even occured to me to try ironing things made of pure nylon. I do have some on my living room window (g/f flat with carpark just outside) but just take them straight from the washer and put them right back up again (after having cleaned the window, don't want anyone to think I'm a sloven or summat. )

I was watching one of my neighbours wandering around the carpark in a onesie and cartoon stuffed animal slippers at 1 am the other morning (she'd woken me by banging their door). Whilst texting.............people are straannnge and it's not just The Doors who think so.

Right, I'm outta here and headed to the lottie. See ya laters, GQ xx

westcoastscot

Hi Mar, we've no chance of living on that - I paid £1.62 for 4 pints of milk and cannot even buy 8 bananas for £1, let alone the rest!!!! I'm quite envious of those who have access to less expensive shops and more choice, but I try and console myself that at least i'm not tempted to buy things I don't need - I just don't have the money. Youngest came off the fishing boat today at 11.30 after an early start and fancied, of all things, a Fray Bentos pie - he has them occasionally and finds them delish, although a bit wee for him. I picked one up with my milk - £1.89 for a tiny one!! literally about 4 inches across???? Smells very tasty I have to say in the oven as we speak (along with baking) but really??? £1.89 to keep a sparrow alive??? Shall have to look when in the city and see if I can find a wee store of them.

So sad to read of the Glasgow accident - it's a pub i've frequented often when down there - a real community pub. You cannot really prep for such things can you? although I read of a young woman with a torch in her handbag leading others to safety. The worst thing that I envisage happening here is a house fire - we live in a wooden house - and we keep important papers in a fire-proof tin, duplicated at a solicitors office. Otherwise i've always lived like this - keeping one step ahead of the weather, fluctuations in income and health.

Slight setback on the health front this morning - I appear to have lost a lot of movement in my right arm - doesn't go even far enough back to fasten my pinny. Doesn't feel like shoulder or elbow damage, so suspect tendonitis - pretty common with my form of arthritis. It's my right hand too - so so tedious this poor health business. Going to have to set aside some time somehow to pay more attention to keeping the health i've got left.

Hope christmas preps are going well for everyone - Mar I treated myself to the women's weekly christmas episode, and there's loads of sweetie recipes in there.
WCS

pineapple

I think it is possible to live fairly nutritiously quite cheaply. In my case it's all those little 'extras' over and above basics that hike up the cost. The bottle of mayo, the extra virgin olive oil, the organic ground coffee, the sesame seed oil, the good blue cheese... The other day I won at least 5 gold stars for shopping in Aldi then lost most of them by being unable to resist their Christmas panforte (not panettone) which can be difficult to find, two bars of scrumptious Aldi chocolate and a 'bargain' bottle of wine.
They were all cheaper than elsewhere - which doesn't alter the fact that this alone practically doubled the shopping bill. :(:(