THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

[Deleted User]

I am going to try my 2005 m/s money cd on my new windows 10 laptop today. I have the cd and also now an external usb cd/dvd player. It would be handy to have m/s money close at hand when I log onto my bank accounts. Argh I see visa is growing but I know I was tempted with a few well-fitting clothes and all my christmas bits. I just transferred more money into it today from my halifax current account and I see that I have a tax bill by 31 january. Looks as though I am going to have to raid my savings pot. Upside is that my freezer is full to the brim and I will be able to withstand a seige, I mean very cold weather

mardatha

Re money, I just leave exactly the right amount in the bank for the few D/Ds that we have, and take the rest out weekly from the mobile post office van. If I buy anything online I leave the exact amount in for that and withdraw the rest. But we haven't got a lot of money, which I think makes it all far simpler to manage.
If I go to a shop to buy anything, even bigger items like a washing machine or fridge freezer then we use cash. In JL we get hurried away to a special till in the far corner, in case we infect other customers with the ridiculous idea of paying cash. I always embarrass the RV buy asking loudly if this is the drug-dealers money -laundering till.
Sainsbugs will be bringing me a load on Saturday and we hit Costco yesterday for meat, so that's us stocked up.

GreyQueen

Mar, back in 2002, I bought this computer and all its bits & bobs and there was only a little change from £1.5k. They asked me if I wanted credit arrangement and I nonchalantly pulled an envelope of used twenties out of a pocket.

I would probably have caused less of a stir if I'd've pulled out an aardvark, they clearly weren't used to cash in quantity and each of the four shop assistants had to take turns counting it, to make sure it was correct. I was trying not to pmsl........ :rotfl:

dND

ivyleaf wrote: »

Nice to "see" you posting dND! How are you doing?

Thanks Ivyleaf. Still in France and still doing the opposite of prepping in some ways as I'm aiming to dramatically downsize

I tell myself I'm prepping for the future It does however mean I have to eat my way through all the food I've horded and that means when I rebuild my supplies back in the UK I can make sure it's only items I like and can prepare in various ways.:)

I'm also taking the time to sort out my BOB's and have decided to try and put together 3. One day to day one, one 1-3 day one and a SHTF one :eek:

I did however weaken during the cull of my books and I have to admit I've just bought 3 more (I got an Am*zon voucher for a recommendation and it was burning a hole in my online pocket).

About 6-7 years ago, a guy called Oded Schwartz was being recommended in the press for an out of print book on Preserving (see it is linked to prepping :rotfl:) Of course the copies of the book were online for £50, way out of what I could or would pay.

Well while aimlessly online window shopping I found a copy along with 2 more of his books. So...I bought
Preserving for a total of €4.99 inc p&p
Preserving fruit for €5.15 inc p&p
and
Preserving month by month for £2.80 (in with other stuff so can't say what the p&p would have been but it was £4.39 for all)
So I'm really chuffed. :j:j

I don't know if it works so well from the UK side, but Am*zon France has a section for books in English and I've frequently found books cheaper in there than in Am*zon UK or USA. So I would suggest a quick look if you are after specific books.

Next up on the list is to try and get on top of my (non-existant) finances. I've just downloaded a copy of Gnucash after being spectacularly unsucessful in getting MS money to run on my computer. Back in the day I used to use Quicken so I think that this will more than cover me here and be in place for when I return to the UK and will hopefully have some more income strings.

Take care in all the bad weather everone and I hope the winter colds and flu gives you all a miss. Dxx

westcoastscot

Merry Christmas everyone! Just popped in after such a long time to say hi! 2017 has been a dreadful year here at "west coast", but my preps have seen me through. My health has deteriorated significantly and I've almost given up work - going to be doing a few hours from home in 2018. I'm feeling much better now I've made the decision, and look forward to having more time to contribute over the coming year. We've already had significant snow - very pretty when you don't have to go out in it! Enjoy the hols,
WCS :xmassmile

GreyQueen

Lovely to 'see' you again, WCS, and I hope you and yours have a lovely Christmas, and that 2018 will be a kindlier year for you.

Karmacat

GreyQueen wrote: »

Lovely to 'see' you again, WCS, and I hope you and yours have a lovely Christmas, and that 2018 will be a kindlier year for you.

Hello WCS, best wishes from me too - and speaking as someone who retired early last year because of chronic health issues, more than 3 years from state pension age, it was really worth while. It didn't solve everything, but it made *such* a difference.

jk0

While we are shutting down our own coal stations, I'm sure you guys remember reading that Germany was shutting down its nuclear stations in favour of coal. (Even dirtier coal than we burned here.) Of course we wouldn't do anything so cynical as import energy from their coal stations to replace ours that have been demolished?

Well, I thought that too. However, as you guys know, I find the UK national grid status page fascinating.

http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

You can see there is around an extra 5GW in demand every day between about 4 & 7pm. How is that peak met without extra gas, coal, nuclear, or wind energy?

About 1GW is provided from pumped water storage, but the other 4GW is provided by France. Between 3.30 and 4.30, instead of us sending them 2 GW, they send us 2GW.

Now have a look at the French National grid status page:

http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/

Do you see any increase in nuclear, gas, or wind generation around 4pm? There is maybe 1-2GW extra hydro, but nothing like 4 GW.

However, have a look at German imports. These go from 1GW at 4pm to 5GW at 5pm. Thus, that explains where the missing 4GW comes from.

thriftwizard

Sorry to hear you've had an "annus horribilis", WCS. Here's hoping that 2018 will be a good one for all of us.

In other news, my dear mother & her live-in carer have mutually decided to "terminate their arrangement" on 24th December, due to an unfortunate series of misunderstandings. The resulting chaos of trying to find some kind of care provision for her at short notice, at the busiest time of the year, has kept me fairly quiet this week! She's coming here for Christmas dinner and we're taking her to my brother's on Boxing Day, but it's been a bit of a nightmare trying to organise cover for her for the rest of the time. I have a houseful, my middle brother has even more, eldest is away, and youngest is already booked up too. So - various things haven't been done and aren't going to be, now. We'll manage!

pollyanna_26

Just popping my head round the door to wish you all well whatever you're doing during the coming days . Very seldom have time to keep up with the threads but i do keep you all in mind .
WCS I'm so happy to see you , I've been wondering how you're managing and am relieved to see you will be working from home more . Take care and all the best to the family with safe landings for the Captain of the boat .

Take care and stay warm all . Solstice has arrived and we'll look forward to longer days in the months ahead and a return to the growing and plotting .

polly x