Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

info re spammer with a foul mouth

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5082593

oh mse do want us to press the spam button

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Last day of my annual leave and am so happy not to have to go out in the pouring rain here atm. Actually, it's been raining since last night, so the water butts at the allotment which were 3/4 full yesterday are now completely full, I reckon.

The allotments have their own piped water supply which is on 6 months of the year and has just gone off again, so if you want any water to wash your paws, or wash mud off spades etc, you need the butts. I also have a policy of minimal watering in general, as I figure things are better off getting on with it; spuds always take their chances, I might water fast-growing things like beans and seedlings, but otherwise, they get on with it.

It's always surprised me that perfectly sensible allotment neighbours, who are good gardeners, will come up in the middle of a blazing hot day and water their plots with hose pipes. Whereupon most of the water will evaporate, of course. I prefer not to water things at all, but would only use the tap water if there was no rainwater in the butts, both of which have failed to run dry at the same time.

ZTD, I have a lot of tinned spuds in reserve, as I regard them a useful (and water-based) prep, excellent point, thank you.

I find myself generally not liking the way things are going in the global west, as various grubbyments work really hard to steer us into accepting gross impositions on our rights and freedoms in the so-called fight against terrorism. That'll be those people funded by the Americans for donkey's years then, like the T@liban.

The biggest danger to most of us is cardiovascular disease and cancer, frankly. With alcoholism and road traffic accidents a not inconsiderable risk. Part of my block of flats blew up one night; not a terrorist in sight, just a blinking drunken idiot faffing with the gas. Still demolished several flats and it's a wonder no one died.

Righty, better see what the wicked of the world are up to, then crack on with some chores. Laters, GQ xx

calicocat

kittie wrote: »

info re spammer with a foul mouth

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5082593

oh mse do want us to press the spam button

Not meaning this in bad taste, so apologies if anyone has been effected by this......but this geazer is worse than Ebola at the moment!

Frugalsod

daz378 wrote: »

5 days of painkillers and rest and shoulders still not improved....what id give for a good nights sleep... ..still theres people in lot worse situations than me, ... onwards and upwards

Is it a muscle problem? Have you tried Deep Heat or a hot bath? If you have had the pain for several days it might be best to see a doctor.

Any way get well soon.

GreyQueen

:mad: Ruddy spammer, just worked my way down Page 1 hitting the spam button and then flipped onto Page 2 and it's full of them. How dare this foul-mouthed !!!!!! try to spoil everyone's enjoyment of the forums?!

As MSE Andrea has said that it helps them if we report as spam, I shall go and make another cuppa and report some more.

daz, appreciate you mightn't have the funds or be interested, but is it an option to go for something like shiatsu massage/ chiro/osteopathy? Sorry to hear that it isn't improving and that you're not getting proper rest. Get well soon.

Frugalsod

melanzana wrote: »

hello there.

I started stocking up on bits and pieces. Mostly batteries and torches and a few tinned goods plus bottled water.

How many of you out there have had to use your stocks recently? and how long do you prep for?

It is just that I worry about spending money on things that might never happen.

But I have the basics. Water is the main thing IMV, and after that some tinned corned beef and beans and spaghetti. Defrosted bread in the freezer if a power cut.

I have lots of edible stuff in the freezer that I would eat cold if I was starving, for example if the freezer has defrosted in a long power cut. Bread, butter, cream, milk and so on.

I don't want to over prep, but be prepared at the same time!

I don't have nor want a paraffin stove for cooking. Really what I want to achieve is survival for several days on non cooked stuff.

Thanks.

It all depends on your own personal circumstances and fears. If you are concerned about wasting money on things that might not be needed then try and see if there is some other use that you can use for it. For example I am planning on getting some Kelly Kettles. I will however be using them for camping so it is not really a waste. If there is a gas shortage you might miss the odd hot drink so a gas stove of some kind to boil water will be handy, even if you have plenty of food that can be eaten cold. If you get a rocket stove or some other stove that uses bio fuel then you could use barbecue briquettes as your fuel and if there is no disaster then you can use them on a fire or a barbecue. It also makes a difference when it strikes. A problem with the gas supply will be more than a cooking problem. You will want some heat. If you can at least heat water you can give everyone hot water bottles.

Others have mentioned disposable rubber gloves, and yes these can be used while cleaning or painting or other tasks around the home. So while these are on my wish list I am not going to be needing them right now.

Food stocks should be rotated anyway. So if you have three months food then maybe you could use some of it so it does not get out of date. The money saved could be used for its replacement. As you try out the food stocks you might discover that you no longer like something and so can use it up and replace it with something else. At the moment I am running down my food stocks so I can replace it with new items. Though generally I have only a weeks dairy items and up to 6 months of other items. It is different for everyone.

If you have any concerns then just think about alternative uses so that it will at least have some use and not be a complete waste of money. Though remember if it is major SHTF situation then even if it had no other purpose it will have more than justified itself in that one event. Think of all your preps like insurance, try and work out what the risks to you really are. Flooding, fire civil unrest etc. then prep around that.

GreyQueen

Apart from candles, which aren't in routine everyday use, I'd struggle to think of anything I'd consider a prep which isn't rotated through general household use, such as foodstuffs and consumables like TP and basic toiletries. As Frugalsod said, some things are actually camping supplies, so not in use all year, but are multi-purpose.

I just have rather more by me than the average bear. I take canned and packaged food, although the majority of my diet is fresh food, from a cupboard in the kitchen where there are 2-6 examples of most things. When those 2-6 items are used, I restock from the larder, which is mostly under the bed, and then restock that from the shops, when I see a good price.

It's like having your own personal corner shop. It also means that I don't have to run out to the real shop if I run out of something, because I probably have 20-odd of them in the larder.:rotfl:

One thing I have noticed about prepping is that it makes me more aware of the quantities of various things which I use, and thus more efficient at keeping the right amount of stuff in. Plus you tend to look at use-by dates, and I buy sardines in oil rather than tomato sauce, because they have many more years' worth of dates on them.

A common-enough catastrophe is loss of employment, due to redundancy or ill-health. Even if you are entitled to social security benefits, you're probably looking at a month + before they're paid, and they're paid in arrears. Yes, hopefully your preps include money in the bank, but if you have a good storecupboard, you won't instantly have to start dipping into your cash to fund all that month's groceries.

Last week, I asked my folks to get me a 5 kg sack of wholemeal breadflour from the windmill people who come to a farmer's market they visit once a month. They have it, and I'll collect and pay for that once I'm visiting them in a few weeks' time, and by that time the current flour sack will be heading towards empty. I also keep an eye for the 3 for 2 offer on baking supplies which comes around in Tosco every few months and use the opportunity to stock up on dried yeast for breadmaking, so I never have to pay full-price.

By keeping an eye on sales cycles, you can run your household a bit more economically than you would if you waited to run out and had to buy at whatever price was being charged on the day.

Last week I wanted a bottle of cola to strip some rust off something, so got a 17p 2 litre bottle of cheapy cola from the supermarket, used it, and then washed and repurposed the bottle to store water. Same price as a bottle of basics water, but served two purposes.

One thing I would encourage you to do, and it's easier to do it from the beginning rather than run around doing it afterwards, is to keep a tally of what you have and where it is. I have a cheap A4 spiral notebook, with those post-it tags on the pages, and write the inventory in pencil so it can easily be adjusted as the contents change. HTH.

Nargleblast

Spammer still at it....

Karmacat

There's an mse post linked to on Pippi Longstocking's dfw diary, the forum hasn't been hacked, but the mse peeps are doing behind the scenes stuff thats temporarily mucked up the sigs, I think. Mine, anyway!

[Deleted User]

my soap has arrived, amazingly quick. I also go a bottle of ellimans rub that dh is drooling over, says it reminds him of playing football and changing rooms. I am drooling over the evocative sunlight soap and the lovely knights castile that contains nice ingredients. I got a lot of soap to get the free p and p but hey ho, I won`t run out for a long while, now to make space somewhere out of smelly range