Preparedness for when

moneyistooshorttomention

GreyQueen

Do you think I could "find a use" for my nfh after all?:rotfl:

Set her up as guard dog around here. After all she thinks she can tell everyone/but everyone what to do anyway. She met her match in me - but I think she could still do a pretty convincing "make with the fearsomeness" bit on other people. She can make grown men recoil at 20 paces - I've witnessed it with my own eyes more than once.

That being the case - errrrm....I'm just wondering if you sent Nursie in my direction?:cool: Put it this way - if you didn't, then can I borrow her please?:) I've got a Henry the Vac to keep her company. Do you think that's incentive enough?

jk0

GQ talking about sacrificial cash and jewellery reminds me of nearly thirty years ago I had a sacrificial car radio.

Maybe 'decoy' would be a bettter word.

Like most young men, I was very keen on putting the best car hifi system in that I could afford. My first car was sadly broken into while I was at Coventry Poly, and my CB radio, tapes & glasses stolen. (Who steals someone's glasses !!!!!!?)

When I came to replace my car, the new one came with a centre console containing a cheapo Motorola LW/MW radio and a single speaker. I removed the speaker, stuck the grill to a piece of wood, and made it hinged at the bottom, so that the grill could be opened or closed.

Below the grill I installed a piece of aluminium covered in woodgrain Fablon, with suitable holes for my Philips radio cassette & equaliser. It worked a treat. I had that car for ten years, and no-one ever broke into it, as it just looked like it had a bog standard rubbish radio in it.

nuatha

grandma247 wrote: »

Re-useable canning lids do now exist. These are gaining in popularity in America.

Old beans etc cook very well when pressure canned and some people have used the small camping gas rings. One lady who was canning during an electricity outage said the gas lasted about an hour and she had another ready for when it ran out. Not too bad considering I can do 7 quarts or 21 pints in one go.

Thank you for that.
One of the reasons I'd been uncertain about a canner whas whether my hob would take the weight (information that's not readily available from European manufacturers) but I do have access to a couple of standalone cast iron gas rings - I'll investigate further.

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

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!

I have a set of cups rather than the cone - though I mainly use digital scales for accuracy, I keep my hand and eye in with a set of pan balances.
I do have a manual processor, it will handle smaller quantities than my electric version but is good at what it does.
Incidentally I find a mandolin style slicer to be invaluable, I'm far more likely to use that than set up a food processor or Chef.

mardatha

I think anybody on this thread who is dependent on benefits or banks for their income needs to get a stash started now. Even the fairly well-off who get tax credits etc.

nuatha

Karmacat wrote: »

Nuatha - best wishes for your MiL from me too - to actually have *made* a bug out plan, and then be prepared to alter it, is a huge thing. Does she know you're preppers, does she understand what that means? Will you be able to make the alterations and add to the water stores as necessary? I know that last summer, when I heard about the potential for increased numbers of water mains breaking, I tried to get my mum to store a couple of 2 litre bottles of water - she often stores that amount fruit juice, for heaven's sakes! She wouldn't though, because she fills the kettle every night before she goes to bed, and thats enough :eek:

She knows we generally keep a good larder and are the go to people for things she might need. I don't think she actually understands the prepping mindset, though her late husband did.
While she was in hospital I dropped kit and supplies into hers as we were spending huge amounts of time either at hers or at the hospital. I moved some additional kit and supplies yesterday.
I have 100 litres of water stored there, not enough in a real emergency but enough to get us through a fairly major hump. But I can fully understand your frustration, MiL won't even fill the kettle in the evening as that makes the water stale. My excuse was I'm redoing the holiday home and have to store the gear somewhere and therefore using her garage - which she's fine about.
The holiday home is actually the bugout location (Bolo) bought twenty odd years ago and completely off grid - deliberately so, no solar either. Water is from a spring and is a 600 yard carry. I bought it with a couple of friends as an escape from the 20th century and as somewhere we could safely practise skills we believed we'd need. In the meantime its also done duty as a holiday space.
Bugout (or any prepping plans) that don't change as circumstances change aren't of much use. I believe that plans should be reviewed regularly and amended if needed. My health isn't as good as it was 20 years ago, Herself's isn't the best it could be. Therefore we would have to decide that the Bolo would no longer work for us in the next few years, changing to match the current circumstances makes sense to us.

We're trying to predict the unpredictable, whether we need to make adaptations to MiL's dwelling both to aid her mobility and to accommodate a bugout, or to buy a more suitable property for both our needs. That largely depends on how well she copes now that she's home.

To me prepping isn't about kit or several months supplies (both of which I admit to having) its about keeping options open, thinking through the what-ifs and trying to create optimum outcomes (sorry, jargon). Flexibility is one of the better tools in achieving this.

That turned into a rather long answer.

Karmacat

nuatha wrote: »

That turned into a rather long answer.

But a thoughtful and helpful answer, much appreciated, as always

I'm reviewing my own situation in light of changing health, and changing expectations - I've always thought to hang on to my freehold house at almost any cost - and now, I'm thinking, well, quality of life is actually more important. I'll hang on to it if I can, but I'm also preparing for another downsize. Enough storage is still crucial, tho

AnimalTribe

mardatha wrote: »

Soup mixes are soups, stews, and gravy.
All are easy to store.

I'm still a few pages behind as usual but just wanted to say that soup mixes also have some things that can be sprouted and eaten as greens - whole peas and green lentils are the two that I've tried from soup mixes. I even planted the sprouted green lentils and they were pretty, delicate little plants.

AnimalTribe

Frugalsod wrote: »

The food processor . . . and possibly butter.

After Xmas I buy a load of YS cream and use it to make butter in the food processor. It only takes a couple of minutes. I just use a couple of small chopping boards to make a sandwich to squeeze the water out of the butter. The watery remains get made into scones.

Frugalsod

mardatha wrote: »

I think anybody on this thread who is dependent on benefits or banks for their income needs to get a stash started now. Even the fairly well-off who get tax credits etc.

If you are on benefits you are tied to banks anyway. So are doubly impacted.

Penny-Wise_4

Anyone else tried Goblin brand stewed steak? I've found it online for 99p a tin & free delivery if you spend over £30. BBE 2018

I'm interested because it doesn't have wheat in it and I'm intolerant to wheat. But if it's so cheap as to be inedible is it worth buying?