Preparedness for when

westcoastscot

Pineapple we're £400/month for three adults, and that's cooking practically everything from scratch as we have food allergies. We don't have access to any of the large supermarkets, except a tiny tesco and the petrol station. We have a medium sized co-op, but we're limited to what we can purchase there as even the salad's have gone over to pre-packaging and its too risky for us. We rely on local shops, with a "big" shop every 6 - 8 weeks in the city and what we can grow. We don't have home delivery, although it is coming, as the next village has it from tesco.
The nearest tesco, aldi and lidl are a 70 mile round trip - takes about 1.25 hours either way on roads that are challenging, or if we want bigger supermarkets its a 160 mile around trip to Glasgow - 2.5 hours each way.

It has loads of other advantages living here though!

WCS

Hollyberry

GQ - I am in awe of your food spend. I have been monitoring mine for the past six months, and it's nowhere near that impressive. Admittedly I need lactose-free milk (currently £1.28 per litre) and I do have the occasional treat of M&S gluten free bread (one of the few that tastes like real person food ), but even so, I could and should be doing a lot better in reducing my budget. I reckon my store cupboards and the freezer should keep me going for a good 3 months, so perhaps I need to set myself a New Year challenge of buying fresh only for a couple of months. I wish I had your greengrocer, though! :cool:

Mrs L - I agree wholeheartedly about prepping being a mindset. My nan was my main carer as a kid, and I was used to helping with the garden, harvesting and bottling. We also lived in the back of beyond with public transport a goodly walk away, and then only 2 days a week. So definitely no nipping round to the shop if you forgot something. Sometimes when I get cross with OH for going shopping and not buying something we need but may not use until later that week, I need to remember that he grew up in the city where everything was easily accessible and storage at home very limited. I'm still of the view that "two is one and one is none" but I'm getting a bit better at compromising.

WCS - We're about the same spend pro rata, also with allergies and cooking from scratch. But we do have access to lots more shopping options (my back of beyond was nowhere near as beyond as yours ), so I feel I should do better in spending terms. One resolution is to get on with more in the garden this year.

westcoastscot

Hollyberry its difficult isn't it? The only things I can really save money on in the city are soya milk and pure marg - both usually heavily discounted in big supermarkets. I also get to take advantage of larger packages of flour etc which saves some. A lot of the value ranges have dairy in, so useless to us, ditto prepared stuff, so your savings will realistically be minimal I suspect. I guess where you could save is stuff like laundry liquid etc - although with our allergies we stick with a couple of branded products that we know are safe, and we don't use much in the line of cleaning products etc, feeling safer with elbow grease (same price everywhere!!).
Good luck! WCS

Pollyjuice

Hi everyone.

I'm a long time lurker. I found this thread when search for solar panels. I was taken in by your charms and am now definitely hooked. I started reading from page 1 at the start of September and have finally caught up, hurray.

I don't know if you're still accepting members but I'd love to be a member of C.R.A.P R.O.L.L.Z.

I know the secret password although I'm not a member yet : TOPSECRET OLDSTYLE PARANOID DUNGBEETLE MAD MUTANT ZOMBIE EEGITS. I even have in my possession the Emergency alternate password: brrraaaaaaiiiiiins backup emergency password: safety pins!)
Positive of membership? (must be able to demonstrate at least three of the following):

ownership of a paracord bracelet or similar (a ball of string or an elastic band is a perfectly acceptable alternate) - I have neither but I do have a number of rolls of duck tape. I'm going to ask for a paracord bracelet for Christmas.[/COLOR]

a stock of at least 4 toilet rolls in the house (or the shed or garage or car) - I have started to collect and now have 20 at the moment.

a manual tin opener (and use of same)
Have an oxo good grips which is so easy to use, and an old fashion type.

basic first aid knowledge (such as being able to dial 999, find a blanket, know where the plasters are)
After almost a year of nagging work they finally put me on a 1 day course. I'm now qualified to recognise when I need to put a plaster on a graze. Especailly useful when blackberry picking.


ability to read through the lines (essential)
I'm getting there, though sometimes over read and draw wierd conclusions.


UHT and dried milk (even if dairy intolerant) -
No UHT, had it once in France which put me off - had a funny taste. Definately have dried milk. Use this in the bread maker and in tea when I run out of the wet stuff.


shop at ald! and or pound1and (receipt acceptable if store cupboard is not accessible) - Started shopping at ald! and surprised myself that I like more of there food. Only thing not liked so far is their tomato ketchup, oh and their Christmas minced pies are rather bitter.


a camping stove (preferably several with different fuels) - I have one of those stoves Bedsit Bob keeps on about and 8 gas canisters, a pocket rocket, various back packing stoves to be used with screw on gas cylinders. I excel at trench fires (easy to cook on cover your tracks with). But I would love a Ghillie Kettle, but am also tempted by the M Kettle.

grab bag (or at least a mental list of what would be needed evne tho you'll probably never put it together) - I have a small pouch with some bits and bobs in. Working on the grab bag.

safety pin functionality (preferably with a pin stashed about your person at all times) - I have a pin on watch as don't like wearing one, does this count?

homemade cake consumption (baking skills a definite advantage) - I make a mean sticky toffee pudding and lemon drizzle cake. My carrot cake isn't so bad either.

a love of tea (or coffee, or diet coke, or any other beverage except water which needs to be preserved for in the event of emergency) -
Tea for me every time.

pinch of salt (key element to survival in all eventualities) -
5 bags of this - think I may have over done this. (Can also take a lot of comments made on this thread with it :-)

toothbrush (sharpened if possible) -
Got one but has a rubbery end that refuses to be sharpened.

kevlar suit (to fend off backstabbing) -
Sadly, no but I have a wet suit (only three quarter length).

a blind eye (turnable) -
A skill learnt at school.

Personal extras include keeping chickens, my last lot lived 10 years!. Was a Scout/Cub leader for 10 years and have recently learnt how to butcher a pheasant Can I have membership, pretty please?

westlothianlass

Welcome to the madhouse Pollyjuice:D
I love sticky toffee pudding, and you have reminded me I haven't had any in ages, (wanders off stage left looking for marbles and a recipe).
Lovely to meet you
WLL x

VJsmum

Pollyjuice wrote: »

Hi everyone.

I'm a long time lurker. I found this thread when search for solar panels. I was taken in by your charms and am now definitely hooked. I started reading from page 1 at the start of September and have finally caught up, hurray.

I don't know if you're still accepting members but I'd love to be a member of C.R.A.P R.O.L.L.Z.

I know the secret password although I'm not a member yet : TOPSECRET OLDSTYLE PARANOID DUNGBEETLE MAD MUTANT ZOMBIE EEGITS. I even have in my possession the Emergency alternate password: brrraaaaaaiiiiiins backup emergency password: safety pins!)
Positive of membership? (must be able to demonstrate at least three of the following):

ownership of a paracord bracelet or similar (a ball of string or an elastic band is a perfectly acceptable alternate) - I have neither but I do have a number of rolls of duck tape. I'm going to ask for a paracord bracelet for Christmas.[/COLOR]

a stock of at least 4 toilet rolls in the house (or the shed or garage or car) - I have started to collect and now have 20 at the moment.

a manual tin opener (and use of same)
Have an oxo good grips which is so easy to use, and an old fashion type.

basic first aid knowledge (such as being able to dial 999, find a blanket, know where the plasters are)
After almost a year of nagging work they finally put me on a 1 day course. I'm now qualified to recognise when I need to put a plaster on a graze. Especailly useful when blackberry picking.


ability to read through the lines (essential)
I'm getting there, though sometimes over read and draw wierd conclusions.


UHT and dried milk (even if dairy intolerant) -
No UHT, had it once in France which put me off - had a funny taste. Definately have dried milk. Use this in the bread maker and in tea when I run out of the wet stuff.


shop at ald! and or pound1and (receipt acceptable if store cupboard is not accessible) - Started shopping at ald! and surprised myself that I like more of there food. Only thing not liked so far is their tomato ketchup, oh and their Christmas minced pies are rather bitter.


a camping stove (preferably several with different fuels) - I have one of those stoves Bedsit Bob keeps on about and 8 gas canisters, a pocket rocket, various back packing stoves to be used with screw on gas cylinders. I excel at trench fires (easy to cook on cover your tracks with). But I would love a Ghillie Kettle, but am also tempted by the M Kettle.

grab bag (or at least a mental list of what would be needed evne tho you'll probably never put it together) - I have a small pouch with some bits and bobs in. Working on the grab bag.

safety pin functionality (preferably with a pin stashed about your person at all times) - I have a pin on watch as don't like wearing one, does this count?

homemade cake consumption (baking skills a definite advantage) - I make a mean sticky toffee pudding and lemon drizzle cake. My carrot cake isn't so bad either.

a love of tea (or coffee, or diet coke, or any other beverage except water which needs to be preserved for in the event of emergency) -
Tea for me every time.

pinch of salt (key element to survival in all eventualities) -
5 bags of this - think I may have over done this. (Can also take a lot of comments made on this thread with it :-)

toothbrush (sharpened if possible) -
Got one but has a rubbery end that refuses to be sharpened.

kevlar suit (to fend off backstabbing) -
Sadly, no but I have a wet suit (only three quarter length).

a blind eye (turnable) -
A skill learnt at school.

Personal extras include keeping chickens, my last lot lived 10 years!. Was a Scout/Cub leader for 10 years and have recently learnt how to butcher a pheasant Can I have membership, pretty please?

I think she'd better have my place

GreyQueen

:hello: Welcome to Pollyjuice, you sound like exactly our kind of person.

I am in awe of you reading the whole SHTF thread and would like to nominate you for some kind of award but am blanking on the detail (am ingesting tea and Liddly half-price chocolate (19p!) as we speak to try and bring my brain up to operational speed).

C'mon, you witty people you, what gong can we award our newest de-cloaking member?

Errm, I hope I haven't given anyone bad feelings about my grocery spend......wasn't aiming to be competitive or anything. I eat pretty well and could cut back the spends but I do like my treats and am far from scrawniness. Heck, I could probably live off my rear end for a few famine weeks.

Makes a change from talking thru it, I suppose........:rotfl:

Drew a blank at Tosspots this afternoon as nothing reduced by more than a few pence just before closing time. Eyeballed The Usual Suspects, a thoroughly-civilised bunch of yellow-sticker regulars. Heard one mutter to the other about going up to Sainsbobs but that's hardcore. I live near Tosspots and Sains is half a mile away.

Turned out my seed storage situation in the lottie shed and fetched them down. A large carrier bagful of homesaved and shop-bought stuff. Need to have a damned good sort out and work out what's lacking for the growing season to come. Don't want to either over or under buy.

Prepping is good for my self-discipline, as I tend to round stuff up, sort it out and count it out. Then write it in my inventory book.

I haven't finished totalling the candle-stash yet but, on present showings, I will be doing fine for a protacted powercut, with spares to trade for :spam: or even actual foodstuffs, should things get that bad.

Hollyberry

Pollyjuice - You're going to fit in so well!

I am wondering if I should really admit on this thread that we currently have only *3* loo rolls in stock until OH goes big shops tomorrow. So if gastric TEOTWAWKI strikes overnight, I shall have only myself to blame... :rotfl:

GQ - more power to your (archery) elbow with the grocery shopping! It's inspirational to try and cut down a bit here. Although I'm with WCS on the branded detergent - psoriasis here, and too many bad cases of the itchies to make it worthwhile trying a load of cheaper stuff at random. Although I could ward off anyone trying to steal my stash by scratching lots when they came anywhere near - after all, I *might* be contagious...

Butterfly_Brain

Welcome Pollyjuice you sound as [STRIKE]mad[/STRIKE] sane as the rest of us, you are also now enrolled in the batty bat club

[Deleted User]

Hello POLLYJUICE the whole thread? you read all of it? Dedication indeed, you've earned your Batty Club Membership in that case. Welcome in to the thread, always nice to have new friends to chat with and share ideas with.

HOLLYBERRY we had a trip to Mak*o with a friend last week and they had an offer on 40 rolls of Vel*et Loo Rolls for £7.99 so we got two packs and we only had two 36 roll packs in store and I was feeling a little gap on the shelves, all fine now though!!! Lyn xxx.