Preparedness for when

mardatha

I'm beginning to think old age is the ultimate and worst S that HTF. On top of the constant ME exhaustion I now seem to have aches and pain in places I never noticed before - along with the gallstones/gerd/lactose & gluten intolerance. And complete imsomnia. I wish to hell I could hibernate lol

nuatha

Ryanna2599 wrote: »

I was curious reading your post Frugalsod - what are Wonderbags? I've since googled "Wonerbags" and they look perfect for times with little energy or even camping trips. Have you used yours in anger? Any idea what the difference between the different models are? Thanks

There is a thread somewhere on this board discussing wonderbags and equivalents. Memory Girl's website has several recipes as well as an article on making something very similar. I've long been a fan of hayboxes which is a slightly lower tech version and have used them for stews and the like for some 30 years.

thriftwizard wrote: »

And whenever a little spare cash has come our way, I've invested it in good cookware, or high-thread-count sheets, or in the last instance, having the stove installed. It's excellent & I'm well pleased; when we light it, the central heating goes off, the washing actually dries & the whole house seems to glow. We can boil a kettle or keep a casserole simmering on it too.

Interestingly, many of our neighbours are also dropping liners down their chimneys. Talking to folks at a local funeral last week, more & more people are losing faith in the just-in-time system & supply lines, and are taking action to prepare for the unexpected, though they'll say, "Well, the chimney needed repointing/pot needed replacing/slates were slipping; it seemed daft not to whilst we had the scaffolding up..." then follow it up with half a hint about not trusting power supplies.

We Are Not Alone...

Talking to a local builder recently, his firm now specialise in installing stoves. From being a struggling jobbing builder outfit 6 years ago, they've doubled in size and are looking at taking on another couple of bods in the new year. Their work is fairly evenly split between reinstalling Victorian/Edwardian fireplaces and modern multi-fuel stoves.
Though I've heard of a few people installing wood burners because "wood is free" this won't be the case as more people want it. (And in one particular case, they were assuming they could just drive up to a tree, use a newly acquired chainsaw to turn it into logs and have a roaring fire that night.)

nuatha

mardatha wrote: »

I'm beginning to think old age is the ultimate and worst S that HTF. On top of the constant ME exhaustion I now seem to have aches and pain in places I never noticed before - along with the gallstones/gerd/lactose & gluten intolerance. And complete imsomnia. I wish to hell I could hibernate lol

Its the SHTF scenario that is most likely to hit the majority of us, and one few people seem to prep for.

[Deleted User]

mar is completely right about shtf and old age, it creeps on us, insidiously and I found myself tossing and turning all night what with hip aches and gerd. We just recently used savings and bought top of the range expensive beds, which were delivered 4 days ago. The men were struggling to get the bases upstairs and then the mattresses, two singles, next to each other as we sleep much better like this. The bed is very high but I haven`t woken with hip ache since getting the bed. Hypnos with a hideaway base. I was thinking of this thread when they unpacked the base. It is a very solid full bed size compartment and perfect for storing. The top picture and the central flap lifts up as well as the two end curtains
http://www.hypnosbeds.com/our-beds/storage/hideaway.aspx

The bed is yet another big purchase to help as we get older. I have already bought 4 thermostatically timed electric oil heaters as we won`t always be able to hoist fuel for the stove. We went from low sofa to relaxing recliners and so on. The thing that we really want to change one day is our ground level oven, what a stupid height for oldies or anyone with bad knees or backache

danih

Mar and JKO - hope you are feeling a bit better now, sounds miserable!


I'm very lucky in that myself and my partner have good health, with no major issues yet. We are being checked out due to a bewildering lack of babies - both turning 34 in a few weeks, so fingers crossed its just a timing thing. Results all coming back fine so far. I also have a bad back - all muscular due to too many years working in nursing homes, moving and handling folk with poor training and inadequate equipment. Both issues a pain, but manageable.


I was just thinking today I really want to get really good towels and bedclothes after Xmas. Lots of mismatched stuff at the mo, plan to turn them into pet beds / bathing stuff for myself and local animal shelter. We take in a lot of stray fluffy things - when babies take their time, void gets filled with random kittens, guinea pigs, all sorts. Rehome some, keep some. Anyhow, what brands of towels and bedclothes should I be looking for? What would the BMD generation have bought?

jk0

danih wrote: »

Mar and JKO - hope you are feeling a bit better now, sounds miserable!


I'm very lucky in that myself and my partner have good health, with no major issues yet. We are being checked out due to a bewildering lack of babies - both turning 34 in a few weeks, so fingers crossed its just a timing thing. Results all coming back fine so far. I also have a bad back - all muscular due to too many years working in nursing homes, moving and handling folk with poor training and inadequate equipment. Both issues a pain, but manageable.


I was just thinking today I really want to get really good towels and bedclothes after Xmas. Lots of mismatched stuff at the mo, plan to turn them into pet beds / bathing stuff for myself and local animal shelter. We take in a lot of stray fluffy things - when babies take their time, void gets filled with random kittens, guinea pigs, all sorts. Rehome some, keep some. Anyhow, what brands of towels and bedclothes should I be looking for? What would the BMD generation have bought?

Thanks Danih.

I presently have a pillowcase on my bed with a little red label inside saying Harvey Nichols of Knightsbridge. It must be older than me, as I can't ever remember us shopping there.

I guess that's the sort of shop to buy such stuff from, but I bet it's not cheap.

GreyQueen

Hi danih, I wouldn't bother with J Lewis' bedlinen based on recent experiences they've lost the plot re quality. I'd recommend buying the highest quality your budget will stretch to, but getting it on sale. Or slight seconds, if you have somewhere like an outlet store which deals with household linens.

Some of the best linen purchased in recent years was Utility Brand plain white cotton sheets, so made either during or just after WW2, and had sat in their wrapper until turning up in a secondhand store in the Noughties. Lovely things, makes you realise how carp a lot of modern stuff is.

Chazzers sometimes get decent cotton bedlinen hoofed out by people who have to clear a relative's house and don't recognise quality. Apparently it can be hard for the chazzers to sell as people don't want anything which needs ironing.

Have been hanging with a pal this afternoon and we went to buy a really big axe as a present for a rellie of hers who has just got a woodburner and wants to do Manly Things with a Big Chopper (see how I'm leaving an innuendo-opening there for Bedsit Bob to play with. )

They don't have axes on the shop floor. Mattocks and lump hammers with great big handles are OK but an axe is too dangerous.......hmm.

And I resolved the light-bulb problem by spending £2.49 instead of £5.95. Pure happiness...............:p

calicocat

I was just discussing the older age thing the other night.

I have already started collecting bed linen and towels etc so I don't have these to buy hopefully once retired. .......

And was discussing furniture etc the other night. My sofas are new, so will last year's yet, but the plan for the next purchase will be ones that will hopefully see me through old age, and will be of a type to be useful for those years.

I'm also planning in my head the type of bed to get.....the all singing all dancing ones aren't cheap, so I may just get a new mattress for the next few years, and save up for the all singing and dancing one over a few years.

My plan, as much as I can control it anyway, is to have pretty much everything I will need for retirement in the way of household stuff, then just have to buy everyday basics and house repairs with retirement monies....plus fun stuff of course. I already have a 'garden' fund started. As once retired I will have more time on my hands to grow things.

This year I moved my fence along the side of my house to maximise on space available, this can be my tomato area. I was going to block pave a larger area at the front next year....but not sure about this as if needed, this could be growing space for food.

Getting a good set of pans is a good idea....that will go onto my list....also the whole height of the cooker if I re-do the kitchen.


I am going to stop buying rubbish this next year when I go to the shops, and make everything I buy have a 'long term' advantage............:) I will be able to set up my own linen shop buy the time I have finished.......:D.


If someone had told me a few years ago I would be planning like this I would have said they needed their head looking at.....:rotfl: but there is something very satisfying and secure about having a bit of a plan, and having things ready and in place. ...:)

Karmacat

I'm having a bit of a personal shtf right now - cancelling going to my mum's for Christmas, etc etc, with flu - puffing and panting to get up the stairs, tho I feel a bit less subhuman today.

Brands - I was talking about this with my sister the other day, and we agreed that Christie's towels and whatnot are great. This shop http://www.utilitygreatbritain.co.uk/ has kelley kettles in the window and a textiles section in the online shop.

Very interesting discussion about money ... thing is, when its your pension savings, what do you do? I can't keep the money thats being put by for my pension in the house ... has anybody got any safeguards in place for that? **Are** there any?

greenbee

nuatha wrote: »

There is a thread somewhere on this board discussing wonderbags and equivalents. Memory Girl's website has several recipes as well as an article on making something very similar. I've long been a fan of hayboxes which is a slightly lower tech version and have used them for stews and the like for some 30 years.

I have one of Memorygirl's thermal bags and it has been incredibly useful. I'm on oil and electric, and work from home, so it has been a great way of having hot soup at lunchtime. I also use it for cooking pulses and it does chickpeas perfectly.

nuatha wrote: »

Though I've heard of a few people installing wood burners because "wood is free" this won't be the case as more people want it. (And in one particular case, they were assuming they could just drive up to a tree, use a newly acquired chainsaw to turn it into logs and have a roaring fire that night.)

Hopefully they manage not to end up in A&E as a result... I'm currently chainsawing and splitting the last 1/3 of trees felled last year. I finally have my log store built (of pallets, I think GQ gave me the idea) It is 6 pallets long and half a pallet deep, so takes quite a lot of wood but I'm rapidly running out of space and may need to extend it. It's handy having separate sections created by each pallet, as it allows me to manage the seasoning process and use up the logs in the right order.

GreyQueen wrote: »

Have been hanging with a pal this afternoon and we went to buy a really big axe as a present for a rellie of hers who has just got a woodburner and wants to do Manly Things with a Big Chopper (see how I'm leaving an innuendo-opening there for Bedsit Bob to play with. )

They don't have axes on the shop floor. Mattocks and lump hammers with great big handles are OK but an axe is too dangerous.......hmm.

I'm debating getting a new axe, as my current one belonged to my grandfather. I can see where the head has been fixed, and it has a very heavy wooden handle. However, I've had it for years and know how to work with it. I borrowed my brother's flashy new one and couldn't even hit the log. However, to up the stakes in the gadget, I do have an electric log splitter with a 7-tonne hydraulic press