Preparedness for when

JayneC

ALI and anyone else you may be interested in taking a look at this
http://www.localfutures.org/ladakh-project
I watched a video about this place as part of my Permaculture Design Course and it was an eye opener. Basically the village was as you describe, the whole community working together, everyone happy and happy to share, everyone valued and had a role. They worked hard for 4 months to grow food for the village and then basically played for the rest of the year! Then the road came and virtually destroyed the place by showing them 'Civilization'

westcoastscot

just wrote a huge essay:) but decided not to post it - a little too political I suspect.
stay safe, well and upbeat everyone - I suspect things are going to get a lot worse.
WCS

[Deleted User]

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

£4.10 is a good price but I found some even cheaper than that:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006PFJXBQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2UPEUFKGCCUSR

I've got a couple of those, in chrome.

TBH. They're not as good as the 12" ones.

Maybe something to do with the design (perhaps the extra 2" of clearance above the wick) but, in my experience, the flame isn't quite as bright.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're rubbish or anything.

They're just not quite as bright.

Unless I was really desperately strapped for cash, I think I'd spend the extra £1-50 on the 12" model.

bluebag

2tonsils wrote: »

Thanks for that...we have enough for a few months bills but at the moment are keeping it in sterling, not euros.

US dollars are good and accepted worldwide more readily than sterling. I would also suggest the bank of sealy.

[Deleted User]

VJsmum wrote: »

We used to keep the paraffin container outside the back door (which in itself is :eek:) when I was a child

We kept ours (along with the coal) in the "Coal House", which was a three sided 3'x3' brick room, with a wooden door, built into the corner of the kitchen.

mardatha

When I moved into this house there was a coal cellar just like that in the kitchen at the back door. We naturally knocked it down because it was "old fashioned", along with the perfect pantry next to it.... arggggh stupid! I wish I had the pantry now and many times we wished we still had the coal cellar instead of going outside in a blizzard to fetch the coal!

NewStartGoneWrong

Hi

Not only are some people unemployed of working age bieng hit by bedroom tax but also by having to pay a contribution towards there council tax.

I phoned my local district council on Friday, to see how I would be affected:eek::eek: they have set my contribution of council tax at 20%.......

Now my income is £71 per week JSA and until March this year I have been entitled to full Housing Benefit and a 25% discount as a single person and the rest of my council tax paid in full.

I downsized at my divorce from a three bedroomed house to this lovley one bedroomed bungalow as soon as I heard the rumblings about bedroom tax last year.

Before Xmas they redetermined my bungalow as a 2 bedroom bungalow as it had a largeish box room/storage area.:eek::eek::eek
Appeals rants raves at them have been to no avail..so now I have to find an extra £12 per week towards my rent and £4.75 per week towards my council tax, where I am going to find this £14.75 per week extra from my £71 per week JSA I don't know. this leaves £56.25 per week to live on.

I have no debts, and my TV Licence, Electric & Gas,Water Rates cost £25 per week leaving £31.25 to feed and clothe myself which is perfectly doable provided I have no major emergencies or anything breaks down like TV Cooker etc.

I am a 56 year old single lady, I have worked from the age of 15 until the company I worked for went bust. No warning no redundancey pay no last months wages, all I had in the bank that day was £475 and that's nearly gone now.

I thought tough it out till you retire at 60, nope I have to wait another few years after 60 to get a state pension......

I was never in a highly paid job so have not amassed any savings, the ex husband has now declared himself Bankrupt and now the mortgage arrears fall to me:eek: they were clear when I left him and the abusive marriage.

I have applied for over 1000 jobs from cleaning loos to care homes to office jobs, you name it, if it was a job I have applied for it, I have done all the work schemes the Jobcentre have sent me on, in all that time off sending off applications for jobs I have had 18 replies telling me I have not gotten the job, too old one said...too overqualified and they reckoned I would leave if something better came along, not qualified enough...there excuses were laughable sometimes.

So I've been a good upstanding citizen, paid my taxes and National Insurance Contributions when in employment and told I'm not looking hard enough to find a job, yet when challenged to find me that job they reckon is out there for me the Jobcentre wallah declined my challenge.

I am disheartened most of the time, sometimes even darkest thoughts creep in in my moments of low mood, I had a bright future 12 months ago, but something called Life turned off that lightbulb.

I have to just go with the flow and not give in, but realise it only needs me not bieng able tp pay my rent contribution that I'm only a whisker away from bieng homeless, hungry invisible in this life.

I have been a long time quiet lurker on the DFW and OldStyle forums, they have given me the tools to cope with the changes in my life.


Now if the Housing Association want me to move to a one bedroom place then I hope they can find me one as there are 500 plus folk need to downsize due to bedroom tax in this area and 75 one bed places.....I can see anarchy in the streets and if you see a brown haired lady with a red coat swinging a placard and bieng led off by the police it might well be me:rotfl::rotfl:

I can laugh at my situation at the moment, I'm coping, just getting by, though I'm sure there's more little surprises waiting in the wings to pop up and deplete my meagre weekly money, I shall cope I have survival instincts...have a decent start on my SHTF stores etc.....I won't go down quietly :rotfl:

craigywv

evening all been awol AGAIN for a few days..............drumroll please.......................i got a job , start on monday! deep joy everything suits me distance,hours tc.... so been running around sorting clothing etc out. did a big batch of spag bol / chilli/shep pie for next week also made pancakes and froze loads so i just thebasics to do when i get in from work, well i wont have to as oh still not employed as he made redundant at christmas so he can fix dinner. he also has a job planned for end of month fingers crossed seems near sure he will get it:) we ok money wise for a while as he got payoff but i just needed out again amongst people and i not used to being a sahm....it was great i would never knock it as i got to be there for my little boy but this job i have gotten lets me leave him to school as i dont start till 10 am and i will be there to collect him after school as i finish at 2 pm. so we still see each other the same amount. been reading all about Cyprus and its awfully worrying scary that this can happen. i was so scared when i read the posts i went prepping and sorting my stash out. i need a few things but will get them tomorrow as although i start work tomorrow im actually off for the day as its a bank holiday over here so will nip out and get what i want. fancy one or 2 of those paraffin lamps:D our local garage sells the paraffin so will get some to. planted my red onions today and scallions in between sleet showers:cool: well i have rambled on enough have a lovely evening all xxx

mardatha

NSGW you stay in here with us pet, we're all holding each other up. And never say never - this is a fight to the end !! get outside when the weather picks up and plant stuff that will feed you - salad stuff for summer and soup stuff for later on. Porridge and home made soup will keep body & soul together when all else fails. (And a nice plate of rice pud wont go wrong either). Hang in there !

ginnyknit

I have just been to one of those bargain type shops and bought some outdoor solar lights for £1 each, I thought apart from making the back garden look pretty we could use them if we have to cook outside and any light is better than none. They had some hurricane type lamps and my eyes lit up but they were battery not solar shame they could have been useful.

As for the bedroom tax Im not even going to get into it as I am fuming and stressed about it.

The situation in Cyprus and Greece is very worrying, I was talking to a friend about it today, its actually starting to worry non prepping types now. I am trying so hard to save every penny I can and prep too. I have still got a coal shed at the front of the house which empties into what is now my pantry and keeps everything lovely and cool unfortunately it also opens into my little office so that is somewhat cool too.