Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

Karmacat wrote: »

1Tonsil - yes, I shop online all the time. Christmas slots, though, are like gold dust - you actually need to be hovering over the site as they're released, I'm afraid.

And do *you* need to be there to have them delivered? What about flight delays? Or even flooding, York is really well known for that.

HTH

No mention of Clarkson fisticuffs?

mardatha

I get online shops all the time, it costs me £1 - far far less than it would cost me in petrol to go and get it myself. I don't have any trouble at xmas either but that's because it's quiet up here.

1Tonsil

If I ordered a delivery around the 17th of December do you think I would have any problems? I will be doing the cooking so it will be food for Christmas and healthy food, and some gluten free bread.

[Deleted User]

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

We also have one of those small camping stoves from the pound stores-they all do them usually around £10-£15 for the stove

Home Bargains have them for £8-99.

http://d19q6sbi4e9o9b.cloudfront.net/Handlers/ImageHandler.ashx?id=9975&targetSize=300

Also worth considering, as a backup for the Home Bargains type stove, is this one from Amazon UK.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004U8CP88?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

Costing just £3-75, including delivery, although not as stable as the Home Bargains type, it will accept assorted sizes of gas canisters, from the squat Coleman type, to the tall slender Parasene type, meaning you have a better chance of obtaining more canisters, during shortages.

It's also powerful, at 3000W.

[Deleted User]

Frugalsod wrote: »

Just check the rated capacity of the filter. Some will filter 100 000 gallons some only 150 gallons.

This one will filter up to 100,000 gallons, which, for £17 is pretty good going.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FA2RLX2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

Frugalsod

1Tonsil wrote: »

If I ordered a delivery around the 17th of December do you think I would have any problems? I will be doing the cooking so it will be food for Christmas and healthy food, and some gluten free bread.

You can order everything a week or more ahead and then ask for delivery around the 17th, and you could be perfectly fine. I think it is sufficiently ahead of the peak last few days. It will help if you are there when the delivery arrives incase there are substitutions to the order. Some can be next to useless. So you can reject it when it arrives.

I use mysupermarket and just keep adding items months in advance and then order. They also will split the delivery so you may get two deliveries from different stores but will still save money.

Butterfly_Brain

Congratulations 1tonsil, lovely name

Threellamas
I have kept a stock cupboard since we had redundncies hit us. Since then I try to keep at least 2 months worth of food and enough to pay the billsfor two to three months. I am trying to get more behind us, but it is difficult because we are on a tight budget.
The gestapo at the DWP can take two months for your claim to go through and it isn't nearly enough to live on.
So we have a freezer full of meat and veg (classed as short term storage)
We have tins of meat,fish, FB pies (Princes are not a patch on FB), vegetables, soups dried and canned, crackers, baguettes and tortillas which have a one month shelf life, shelf stable primula cheese, baked beans all flour, yeast, bicarb, sugar, long life milk,evaporated milk, coffee mate, tea, coffee, tinned fruit and cream, jelly, herbs and spices, bisto, stock cubes, pasta, cheese and curry sauces cereal, porridge, syrup etc
Not to mention lentils, dried and tinned beans, rice and pasta and of course some biscuits, sweets and chocolate.

We grow our own food from heritage seeds and have fruit bushes and trees in the garden. We are pretty rural so we go foraging as well, in our town we also have an incredible edible scheme.

The best thing to do is draw up a list of 14 meals that you and your family might eat and make them to try them. Then you can find out your family likes and dislikes.

Any less than 14 meals and your family will get fed up pretty quickly.

When you find meals that everyone likes then start buying the ingredients for the recipethat you are using.

Don't forget that when there is no power you could just have crackers with cream cheese, peanut butter or jam

Nargleblast

1Tonsil - I suggest you start an online order through your chosen supermarket at the end of November/beginning of December, booking the delivery date for anywhere around 17 December as you stated. Complete the order, going through the checkout as normal. Take a printout of the order so you can refer to it if needed. At any time up to the day before delivery you can log in again and make whatever alterations you like
The money will not be debited from your account until the day of delivery.

You don't have to be there in person, as long as an adult is there who can take in the shopping and sign for receiving it.

Online shopping for Christmas is a lifesaver, cuts down the time spent fighting your way through the supermarket with the rest of the world and his dog. If you want delivery a few days before Christmas Day then you have to book early, by early December at latest, as the delivery slots go quickly. The 17th shouldn't be too much of a problem, though.

moneyistooshorttomention

Yep...I've not been on the receiving end of DWP's roughest tactics personally - but I was only overhearing a conversation today about just how many weeks someone had been left with NO income at all because of them and thinking "Yikes!".

So - yep....full freezers/larders or cupboards etc is very much the order of the day if anyone is at risk of that sort of thing. Then at least you get to eat - whatever else you haven't got money for...

Karmacat

Frugalsod wrote: »

I usually opt for a late evening delivery as it means the roads will be clearer for the drivers and most people will have wanted it out of the way.

Thats a good idea! The late deliveries really aren't popular

Congratulations on your new great grand daughter.

From me too :j

Frugalsod wrote: »

No mention of Clarkson fisticuffs?

I think Amazon might ensure he always has hot food at the end of the day from now on

1Tonsil wrote: »

If I ordered a delivery around the 17th of December do you think I would have any problems? I will be doing the cooking so it will be food for Christmas and healthy food, and some gluten free bread.

Like everyone else, I think thats enough ahead of the curve. But you should still book it as soon as it becomes available, to be honest.




I've been playing with heatsticks made from flowerpots - about £3 for the pots, and I ended up spending about 50p on some washers to tidy things up. Otherwise, all the heat retention stuff was things I had lying around :j

Another thing I have lying around is fireproof cement, from another little project - if I coat part of the outer flowerpot with that, and then stick a bit more spare metal in it (old keys, old screws, stuff like that) am I doing something useful, or am I creating a shrapnel experience for myself if I use it? :eek: