Preparedness for when

mardatha

Anybody know how long lentils do keep for? Red split ordinary lentils? I've had mine a good few years now, keep them in the fridge but they were in the freezer.

Frugalsod

GreyQueen wrote: »

My bug-out vehicles are sitting on the ends of my legs. Or the pushbike. Bearing in mind how gridlocked this city gets in an ordinary rush hour, and how crazy things are if one of the principle roads is wholly or partially blocked by an accident/ fallen tree, I can see no way in hell of driving out of an urban environment unless you have plenty of warning/ a tank to drive over anything in your path (plus the will to murder anybody who happens to be inside anything in your path).

I completely agree. My ideas of bugging out have morphed as I have learned about problems and pitfalls. Now personally I am not worried about bugging out, and have based my preps about bugging in, as it is far more practical and realistic.

I think the whole concept of bugging out might be more appropriate in America where there is still scope to buy a cheap bug out location which is reasonably isolated. In the UK it is not so easy. Plus if things get really hairy I do not see bugging out as viable for large numbers. In such situations I suspect that we will become refugees. Climate change will turn hundreds of millions of us into refugees possibly within the country or across borders to avoid rising flood waters.

Doveling

Just read a snippet on the bbc news (science and environment )that a US study has found that the earth is moving into a new extinction phase :eek:

Might not bother doing the ironing then :rotfl:

Would it be an idea to work out a months meal plan using only tins, packets etc then x twelve? Plus treats and the makings of drinks. We couldn't store enough water for that length of time.

This is not for the end of the world as we know it - just for the blip in Doveling world.:rotfl:

My stores are a bit random so need to be sorted sensibly. Humanity can not survive on Fray Bentos alone!
Any ideas?

I would like to be twelve months ahead of ourselves when redundancy happens December 2016. It's a luxury having a time frame to prepare in.

Frugalsod

GreyQueen wrote: »

Memo to the ruling caste; you need the rest of us, we don't need you, and you're only alive because we haven't suffered enough to take you out - yet.

There was an article recently on Zero Hedge about the luxury bunkers for billionaires. It made me think where is safe for a billionaire in a case of upheaval?

Private jets can be downed by a revolutions airforce or even simple missiles.

Private yachts will be easy to find and almost none have any provision for growing crops or creating what you need on board.

Bunkers can be buried under concrete to trap the occupants. How many bunkers have the facilities to dig themselves out? Even a safe room in a fortified house might keep people out for long enough but the plan might change to keep you in your safe room permanently.

If they flee across borders a vengeful regime could simply hunt them down with drones and agents. The Russians have been killing dissidents like this for years.

mardatha

Doveling its not so much meal plans as getting lots of the right ingreds, things that are versatile. Porridge oats are breakfast, soup & stew thickeners and flapjacks. Soup mixes are soups, stews, and gravy. Suet is a terrific filler in cold weather as doughballs or pastry. Semolina,pasta,rice
All are easy to store.

moneyistooshorttomention

Teeny thought on dried beans/lentils. On a shorter-term basis - what I do is soak and then cook up a vast quantity of something (eg chickpeas) and then store in zip-top bags in freezer and just haul out the amount I want when required. That's in place of opening a can of them - cheaper and healthier.

[Deleted User]

Lentils keep for a good couple of years but like all pulses they do become harder as they age and eventually either take forever and a day to soften or won't soften at all. Preps here always include tins of fruit, I buy in juice rather than syrup but they're cheer you up food when you get a craving for something sweet and long term when all the chocolate and sweeties and sugar stocks have been used honey and tinned fruit/dried fruit will give that sweet hit missing in your diet. As such they would be extremely good barter items too as most folks have a sweet tooth don't they?

nuatha

Doveling wrote: »

Would it be an idea to work out a months meal plan using only tins, packets etc then x twelve? Plus treats and the makings of drinks. We couldn't store enough water for that length of time.

This is not for the end of the world as we know it - just for the blip in Doveling world.:rotfl:

My stores are a bit random so need to be sorted sensibly. Humanity can not survive on Fray Bentos alone!
Any ideas?

I would like to be twelve months ahead of ourselves when redundancy happens December 2016. It's a luxury having a time frame to prepare in.

I know you said its not for TEOTWAWKI, packets tend to require water, so while they have the advantage of portability and being easier to store, they would be useless without access to potable water.
Certainly building a month's meal plan and multiplying it by x months will work. Though if you were to only do this with tinned food you'd need a lot of storage space. An additional issue would be variations for the seasons, our meals differ considerably between winter and summer.
My approach is a mixture of tinned dried and packet foods, with an emphasis on flexibility in meal construction rather than specific menu plans.
Though with the redundancy scenario there is no need to rule out frozen and chilled stores unless you are looking at reducing electricity consumption.
With 18 months notice, I would also be looking at growing some foods, if nothing else salad leaves and herbs, to help break up what could otherwise be a monotonous diet. I've found boredom to be a major appetite killer and not eating is not going to keep you healthy.
As I don't have GQ and Mar's technical issue with storing sweet goods I can confess to having several kilos of chocolate on hand as well as considerable baking supplies - my weakness is biscuits, so I make as I want rather than keep readymade supplies.

I'd also take a leaf out of Frugalsod's approach, both reducing expenditure now to what the anticipated post redundancy income is likely to be with part of those savings being used to invest in the stores and kit to keep you going afterwards and part to provide a better financial cushion/emergency fund.

HTH

Frugalsod

nuatha wrote: »

I'd also take a leaf out of Frugalsod's approach, both reducing expenditure now to what the anticipated post redundancy income is likely to be with part of those savings being used to invest in the stores and kit to keep you going afterwards and part to provide a better financial cushion/emergency fund.

HTH

I would add that you can use that temporary increase in disposable income to invest in things about the home, that could be used to generate an income or further cut the living costs. I used my savings to buy an expensive food mixer. Completely extravagant but it has enabled me to further cut the costs of feeding myself even further.

Once you have that surplus you could use it to make things even cheaper. Such as annual insurance can be more expensive if paid in instalments so get the free savings from paying in a single payment rather than over a year.

To make life tolerable use some to buy treats that you may never get the opportunity again.

[Deleted User]

I small idea to throw into the melting pot.....invest in manual versions of equipment if you can find them, in the case of TEOTWAWKI and no electricity/unreliable electricity supplies all the powered aids in the world will avail you nought! Some things I have, as simple as a hand grater and vegetable peeler and a seed sprouter cost much less than £5, some like my recently aquired spiraliser and others owned for many years like the Mouli Julienne and Mouli Legumes are under £30 and one of those measuring cones that measure anything from flour to mls via rice, oats and dried fruit is so useful if your electronic scales run out of battery and there are no more to be had. All of the above sit in a cupboard in my kitchen and are used regularly, the thing I use least is my food processor but it's jolly useful to have on the odd occasion when I've something to blitz!